I'm supposed to be completing my assignments. What even am I doing. 😆
"Thank you, Anna*," Surbhi chirped to the young waiter as he handed her her early morning latte. It was barely 8 o'clock, and she was already on her way to office. Her mother had almost fainted when she had seen Surbhi up and about so early, on a Monday morning nonetheless.
Truth was, she couldn't sit still anymore. She had printed out a couple of the best pictures they had managed to capture on their phones, to hang on the bulletin board. They would suffice till the ones taken on the professional cam arrived.
The watchman opened the doors at sharp 8.00, and Surbhi rushed in. Placing all her bags down at the reception table, she went in to get thumb pins to put the photos up. Discarding her empty cup in the trash can, she rummaged through the stationary drawer for the pins.
"If you're searching for thumb pins, they're on the top shelf," a voice startled her. Clutching her chest in shock, she turned back and let out a sigh of relief.
"You're here early," she smiled at Priya. "As are you. Who are we kidding? I couldn't wait to put up write ups about the wedding!" They shared a hearty laugh, before going out to put up the photos as well as the small write ups Priya had brought along.
Around half an hour later, satisfied with their work, they took a few steps away to admire it. "I totally love it!" Priya exclaimed, looking all over the board as Surbhi nodded.
It was really no less than an exquisite work of art, the way they had decked it up. The right corner was filled with small write ups, with pictures accompanying them, about Chakor's Saree, about Suraj in a veshti, their momentary hug during the tying of the thaali, and the last one was a picture of Chakor, Suraj and Yuvi, the latter being carried by Suraj as Chakor stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him. All the photos were beautiful, radiating happiness all over, and the write ups were icing on the cake, especially the one describing the sacred moment when the thaali was tied.
But the one that stood out among the rest, the most breath taking photo of all, was the large one occupying the entire left side.
It was a candid picture of the couple, Suraj laughing merrily as he pushed Chakor on the flower decorated swing, and Chakor smiling up at him, a hand on his cheek.
Priya almost teared up looking at the photo. "So long since she's been this happy," Surbhi thought out loud, sighing and hugging Priya as she stared at the photo. Priya nodded, unable to speak at the moment.
Surbhi glanced at her watch. "More than an hour for start of work hours. What say we go grab a bite to eat before that?" "Uh huh. Priya's tummy agrees." Priya giggled. Surbhi poked her stomach. "And Priya tummy also getting chubby. Tch, tch." She made a face.
"What does a foodie care?" Priya shrugged, laughing. She glanced at the table, and curiously, picked up a copy of the last photo, the one with all the three of them. She held it up for Surbhi to see, an eyebrow raised questioningly. Surbhi grinned. "For Chakor's table," she replied. "Nice replacement, don't you think?" Priya nodded her head vigorously. It was high time that the year old photo on Chakor's table be replaced.
"Alright, let's go!" Surbhi whined, pushing Priya out of the office.
Meanwhile, at the same time, in another part of Bangalore:
"I swear by all the Gods old and new," Rishab sighed, exasperated. "Can you both please just get ready?" Ragini and Yuvi spared him a glance after pausing the video game. "No," they both replied in unison, before going back to their game, screaming their lungs off at 8.30 in the damn morning. Rishab's eyebrow twitched. "Alright, I'm calling Chakor then." He took his phone out of his pocket, only to be attacked by Yuvi. "NO! No call Mama! Yuvi get ready for school!" And he ran away.
Rishab turned to Ragini and she pouted. He raised an eyebrow. "What do I need to get ready for?" She whined. "What the hell will you do alone? Just come to office and sit with Surbhi and help her or something," Rishab replied in the same whiny tone. "Fine." She replied, making a face at him. "Go," Rishab glared playfully.
A few moments after Ragini left, Rishab got a call from Chakor. Smirking, he picked it up.
"Well, GOOD mor..."
"Rishab! Rishab! Is Yuvi ready for school?! I'm so sorry I took so long to call! I knew I should have just asked you to bring him back in the morning! And oh! Abo..." she stopped abruptly, and her muffled voice suggested that Suraj had probably covered her mouth with his hand.
"You're killing my wingman. Slow down," he chided, in a slow, just-got-up sexy morning voice, and this is all just Rishab adding flavour to the narration.
"Well, GOOD morning both of you," Rishab tried again, shrieking this time. "A happy morning to you too. And stop with your innuendos. I'm married and I'm getting up after doing what a married couple does, and..." he heard a loud gasp from Chakor, and he guessed she might have hit Suraj for his own innuendos, while Suraj merely laughed. "AHEM. No PDA while I'm on the phone please. I don't want to be scarred for life," Rishab grinned. "RISHAB!" Chakor gasped at his statement before huffing. She was probably angry, sitting on the bed with puffed out cheeks, Rishab mused.
"Yeah, yeah." Suraj drawled. "Spoil sport. As I was saying, make sure my son is ready for school, and also, steer clear of my sister." He ended his line quite menacingly. "Leave those two love birds alone," Chakor sighed and Rishab almost wanted to hug his 'sister' right then. Before he could say anything, however, Suraj spoke up again. "No, he ain't going anywhere near her till he gets the courage to ask her out. Rishab I swear if you don't propose soon I'm gonna get her married to someone else next year."
A sharp gasp from Rishab. "You wouldn't," he said slowly.
"You wouldn't want me too." Suraj replied back. "Seriously man, don't tell me you listened to me and spent the entire night just laying awake in some room while you could have gone and talked to her?" Rishab stayed quiet. He had actually done just that. Rishab was no less a fool when it came to love, it seemed. Sensing his answer, Suraj spoke up again, "You're seriously gonna die alone at this rate," Suraj said sadly, and Rishab could imagine him shaking his head at the other end.
"He most definitely doesn't need that from YOU," Chakor chided him. "Didi!" Rishab cried this time, and Chakor cried back, "Bhai!"
"Not the words I wanted to hear from you on our first morning," Suraj said disapprovingly, and they both giggled. "Yuvi ish ready!" He announced as he skid through the room, courtesy his socks, as Rishab picked him up. "Mama's on the phone," Rishab told the small boy.
"Mama! Good morning!" He chirped, and Chakor smiled endearingly. "Good morning, Love," she replied. "All ready for school Yuvi?" Suraj asked. "Oooh! Papa there too?! Good morning Papa! Yesh, Yuvi is all ready!" The boy nodded his head vigorously in glee. Chakor felt sad that she couldn't see him. She should have just face timed, she thought, but then, with the position they were in, Suraj spooning her from behind on a literally torn apart flower bed, it was better to not do so. Plus, he was just in his jeans, while she was only wearing his shirt from yesterday.
"Ne, Papa, when can Yuvi see you again?" The boy innocently asked, and Suraj laughed. "Today evening I guess," he replied after thinking about it. Chakor nodded in confirmation. "Oooh! Sho cool!" "Alright, alright. Be a good boy at school, okay?" Chakor piped in, a bit jealous that Suraj was getting all the attention from Yuvi. "YES!" He cheered and after another word or two, Rishab ended the call. Ragini was ready by now, so the three set out together, dropping Yuvi to school first while the two of them drove to office.
Back at Suraj's place, hubby darling was being clingy again, not letting his wifey lifey go. Not like she wanted to go anywhere. She was happy and content, being pampered by Suraj.
"We've to go to work," she said softly. Her actions contradicted her words, for she relaxed into his embrace, sighing as she rested her head on his chest. "You really want to?" He asked nonchalantly, running his hand through her hair lazily, trying to comb it down. Shifting it to one side, he nipped at her ear lobe, licking the outer shell before going down toward her neck, leaving a trail of wet kisses in the wake. "Uh uh," she moaned instead of replying as his hands started to get busy as well, trailing slow, lazy patterns on her inner thigh, nearing her junction. While his right hand teased her, his left held her close to him.
She put a hand over his invading one to stop him from going any further, and he lightly growled. She slowly took his hand in her own, bringing up her other one to gently hold it in front of her face. She wove her fingers through his, playing around. Holding his hand gently, she brought it up to her lips as she kissed the ring adorning his fourth finger. It matched her own ring perfectly, a thick platinum ring, thicker than hers of course, with two diamonds one either side of a deep blue sapphire.
"I can't believe it's real," she whispered. "I can't believe we're married." She was almost on the verge of tears. Suraj loosened his grip on her, before swiftly moving her off his lap and finally pinning her down on the bed. He smirked down at her, bending down as if to kiss her. "What say I make it all seem real and believable to you again, eh? We have all the time in the world." He winked at her, and she stared at him, mouth agape. "Suraj! No!" "Why not?"
"It's broad daylight!"
"We can always close the curtains."
"Or you can control your urges till next time. Now get off and let me get ready."
"No way. You look sexy in my shirt." She blushed. He leaned in closer. "Yeah, you look sexy in my shirt, and damn it's a turn on knowing there's nothing else," She was positively red. "By the way, I didn't get my morning kiss yet,"
His left hand helping him to balance, he moved the stray strands of hair masking her face with the other. Smiling, he leaned forward, his forehead touching hers. She squeezed her eyes shut.
"You know what?" He asked slowly, his hand still playing with her strands, his breath fanning over her face.
"Mm?" She couldn't process his words right then, his scent consuming her.
.
.
.
"I think we should order breakfast from outside."
Saying that, he swiftly ran toward the bathroom, shutting the door after him, leaving her all alone, hot and bothered, her only piece of clothing half undone.
"SURAJ!"
"You can always join me in the bathroom if you're feeling desperate!"
At the same time, back at their workplace.
"You can get out of the car anytime today," Rishab sighed. Ragini pouted. "I could have just stayed at home." 'And found my secret photos of you? No, thank you.'
"You would've been bored. Come on now, Surbhi and Priya will be here anytime soon. You can just be with them. In fact, I think that's them by the entrance."
That got Ragini out of the car. "Priya!" She ran and hugged the girl, as Rishab followed her after locking his car. "Ragini! You've to see the bulletin! The pictures are so wonderful!" Priya exclaimed, ushering Ragini in. Surbhi stayed at the door, a frown of her face. She wasn't even present to Rishab greeting her Good Morning.
"What's wrong?" He finally shook her a bit to catch her attention. "Hmm? Oh, oh. Nothing, really. It's just that... I was sure I had kept a photo of the three on my table when Priya and I went out to get breakfast. I don't know, maybe it was my imagination and I left it back home." She dismissed the matter.
"You mean Suraj, Chakor and Yuvi?" Rishab asked.
"Yeah. To put on Chakor's table,"
"Yeah, you might have left it behind. You can put it up tomorrow. I don't think the newly weds are going to grace us with their presence today," he joked, and they both laughed. Surbhi still frowned however, cause she remembered showing it to Priya. She looked outside once, the morning wind blowing through the trees. "Perhaps it flew away? I should have kept a paper weight on top maybe,"
.
.
.
Barely half a kilometre away from them, a man clutched the photo in his hands, almost crumpling it with the force with which he held it.
"No one is going to get out of this alive." He whispered.
***
Reversing the clock to when Surbhi and Priya left the office building.
A man in a black Scorpio dialled someone on his phone.
"Maalik, the office has been opened. There's no one inside now."
"Okay, I'll be there in 5 minutes, I'm already on my way."
Quite a punctual guy, KN got down the other vehicle 5 minutes later, in front of the black Scorpio. "Good job. Now I'm sure we can bribe the guard over there to give us information about Chakor. If not anything, he can at least inform us when she arrives and when she leaves so that we can catch hold of her. And if need be, we will take her with us by force." He growled out.
He looked around for the guard, but in vain. "Naalaayak! Duty karne ke bajaai na jaane kahan aish kar raha hai yeh aadmi!" KN was furious on not finding the guard at his place, or anywhere in the near vicinity. His men, visibly frightened, ran around in search of the guard. Their bodies would be delivered to their families if they didn't manage to find him.
KN, meanwhile, stood at the foot of the staircase, seething in anger. He looked around for something to throw, he was livid.
And that, was when his eyes saw the huge picture of Chakor and Suraj on the bulletin.
He stood still for a while, rooted to his place at the sight before him. Shivers ran up his spine as his eyes took in Suraj's face. Jaw slack, and feet trembling, he walked into the place, nearer and nearer to the bulletin.
Then, as if becoming present, he slowly looked at the picture again. He ground his teeth.
"That girl! She did this on purpose! Marriage won't save you! Do you hear me?!" He shouted at the picture, almost banging his fist on the poster. Almost, since he abruptly stopped half way after noticing Chakor carefully.
He stared once, twice, THRICE, to make sure.
What she was wearing, was definitely something he was most familiar with.
The Rajvanshi heirloom.
Beads of sweat forming on his forehead, he scanned the right ups, for what, he didn't know. But the last line seemed to have given him the answer.
'Wishing a Happy Married Life to our dear Chakor and our Boss, Mr. Suraj Narayan Rajvanshi.'
"It can't be..." KN took a few steps back, mortified. The heirloom. The name.
"Suraj... Rajvanshi... matlab... humara beta?" His lips quivered, his eyes shut tight as he thought of his young son. But they turned red as he thought of the grown up Suraj, aiming the gun at him, and then shooting right at him.
"Humara apna khoon... No, no... this is not done, Chakor. I swear, I will take away everything from you now. Everything." He gritted each word out, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. Looking down at the table, he caught sight of another photo.
Picking it up, he laughed maniacally.
"Yuvraj," he circled the young boy's face. "Jitna khush hona hai ho lo Chakor. Kyunki iske baad, hum vaar karenge. And I swear, this time for sure, you'll pay for your deeds."
Precap: "Taken? What do you mean she was taken?!"
"I don't know! Some men have abducted her! I'm following them right now! Please call for help!"
PS: I know I had mentioned Chakor's ring as having a blue diamond before, but please change it to sapphire, cause that was the blue I thought of. Thanks!
*Anna means big brother in Kannada.
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