Part 5. Something's Burning
The stranger took Ishita by the hand and led her to the dance floor.
"I know your name is Deepika" he said with a smile, as they moved in between the couples swaying to the song. "I'm Prem. Came here to attend my cousin's wedding and got bored, so decided to check this bar out. Best decision I ever made in my life"
Prem put one hand on Ishita's shoulder and held out his other hand for hers. Ishita looked at him unseeingly. All that she could think about was Raman and that ...that woman. That Sonia. The way she was smiling at him, the way she was clinging to him, and he.. he...
"Deepika? Deepika? " Prem's insistent voice finally got through to her. She saw he was holding his hand out and hesitatingly she put her hand in his. He started swaying to the beat and Ishita followed his lead. She felt like an automaton - all her feelings had been left behind with the man who sat forlornly at the bar, watching her with anguished eyes.
"Romance and all it's strategy
Leaves me battling with my pride
But through the insecurity
Some tenderness survives
I'm just another writer
Still trapped within my truth
A hesitant prizefighter
Still trapped within my youth"
The music played on as Raman sat nursing his drink, his vision blurring over as he watched Ishita swaying in the arms of another man.
"Damn it Bhalla, you've made a right royal mess of it,haven't you" he mused to himself. " you know how insecure she is, why on earth did you have to dance with that clinging limpet of a female."
Raman's hand tightened around his glass as he watched that idiot of a six footer hold Ishita's arm, his head bent low to her, his eyes watching her curves in that dress that he, Raman Kumar Bhalla, had specially chosen for HIS wife.
That's right, she was HIS wife. She was Ishita Bhalla, so how dare some idiot with a pseudo American accent dance with her under Raman Bhalla's nose. He threw back the rest of his scotch in a single gulp and strode onto the dance floor.
Raman marched right up to Ishita and the idiot, as he thought of the man who daring to touch HIS Ishita.
"Ishita" his voice was a command, as he removed the idiots hand from her shoulder, possessively clasping her on her bare back.
Ishita had been completely conscious of only one person in the room since the moment she had seen him, and that was Raman. All the while that she had been pretending to dance with Prem from Boston (or so he had told her, amongst the hundred other snippets of conversation that she had left unheard), her eyes had kept straying to Raman, sitting at the bar, his hands tightly clasping a glass, his eyes fixed on her.
She had been so looking forward to tonight, so looking forward to being in his arms again, but the sight of him with that woman had been too much for her to bear. Sonia had reminded Ishita of Shagun, petite, flawlessly turned out, supremely confident of her own charms. She was everything that she, Ishita wasn't, and the idea of her touching Raman, HER Raman, had turned the otherwise mature and sensible Ishita Bhalla into a fiercely jealous and possessive Mrs Raman Bhalla.
She had felt him approach, her senses attuned to him. She had felt him drag Prem's hand off her shoulder, then quaked inwardly as he had possessively clasped her back with his own hand. But still she would not turn around, would not face him.
"Ishita, enough" he was snarling now, not caring to keep his voice down. "Bahut ho gaya. Let's go"
"Hey, hey buddy, what's your problem?" Prem was trying to play her knight in shining armour. "The lady told you her name is Deepika, she doesn't know you, so why are you being a pest. Will you go or should I call security?"
Ishita felt Raman tense up as he removed his hand from her back, his hands curling into fists.
"No, you listen BUDDY" his voice was dangerously and deceptively pleasant. " why don't you mind your own damned business. Biwi hai yeh meri, aur meri biwi ko mere samne ek baar phir haath laga ke dikha, paanch minute nahi lagega mujhe tumhe yahin gadne ke liye."
Ishita saw Prem also clench his fists and knew she had to intervene. She swiftly turned around to face Raman.
"Raman" she said, a sudden lull in the music amplifying his name.
The sound of his name in her beautiful voice instantly brought Raman's eyes to hers. Prem was forgotten in a moment as he put both hands on her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.
"Dammit, Ishita" his gaze burned into her eyes." Kya hai yeh. You're mine, only mine. Sirf meri ho tum".
"At times I'd like to break you
And drive you to your knees
At times I'd like to break through
And hold you endlessly"
(The band played on)
Ishita put up a hand, pulling ineffectually at his. The lyrics of the song reflected her state of mind. She wanted to hold her RKB so much, but she was still fuming over his touching that woman.
"Aur aap?" She asked, the hurt evident in her voice. "Aap kiske ho? Are you Sonia's?
"Oh enough" a sudden anger smouldered in his eyes. " she asked me to dance, I danced with her, that's all there was to it. I was waiting for you, paagal aurat. I've had enough of this. Chalo."
He grabbed her hand, and pulled her off the dance floor, striding to the door of the bar, pulling her behind him. The other patrons looked on as Ishita tried in vain to make him leave her hand.
"Chodo Raman"
He was deaf to her entreaties as he strode into the atrium, making for the lifts, holding her captive. He angrily punched the Up button on the lift console, his hand still firmly holding hers.
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