The Bachelor

Chapter 2 : The Angry Young Malhotra

21st February, 8:30 pm, Galaxy Villa, Madh Island, Mumbai.

I heard the director as well as Raghav yell at me as I turned around and stormed off to my dressing room, before Alya could even say a word.

I clenched my fists tightly as I moved. My rage was spiraling out of control! I wanted to smash something out of frustration!

It had been a whole two years since I'd last seen Alya-that is on the day she left me! Ever since that day, I'd cut off all contact with her and pretended that she didn't exist! That was the only way to deal with the pain she'd caused me by walking out on me! I had loved her with all my heart, ever since we were teenagers! However, she decided to leave me for another man...throwing away seven years of our relationship! That's when I realized that true love...didn't exist!

I hated her...I hated that she still affected me this much! I hated that even after seeing her all these years, she seemed to be just as beautiful as before! I hated the fact that there was a split second for which I was happy to see her, before I was overtaken by rage!

Ugh! Why couldn't I just get her out of my head?!

As soon as I reached the door to my dressing room, I pushed it open with aggression, and went and crashed on the chair. I immediately took the nearest bottle of cologne and threw it on the ground with excessive force, breaking it into smithereens.

How? How did the producers even get the idea to get her on the show?! And Alya, why in the hell had she come back here? Just to taunt me further?! She's the one who ended things between us...so why was she here?

There was no way I could go ahead with this show if she was a participant!

I paused for a second and wondered if my father had known about this. Had he kept me in the dark intentionally?! What was he playing at?

I immediately picked up my phone and dialed his number.

His phone rang thrice before he finally picked up.

"Mr. Malhotra...what the fuck is Alya doing on the show? Did you know about this?!" I growled into the phone getting straight to the point, bypassing the pleasantries.

"Manik...why are you so hysterical? Aaraam se baat karo na..." Mr. Malhotra replied in a cold and neutral tone.

"Tell me-what is she doing here?!" I yelled again.

"Manik...the producers-they asked me for names of two girls that you know before hand, when they finalized you as the suitor for this season. You see...they thought it would be a good strategy to get a few people you already know, so as to increase TRP ratings! They just wanted to make good T.V so I agreed...I gave them Alya and Vibha's name." He answered coolly.

My temper flared up yet again!

"How dare you, Mr. Malhotra?! You tricked me into doing this show without giving me all the requisite information!" I shouted.

"Manik...why are you overreacting? You know I hate melodrama, don't you?" He asked in a bored voice.

His words were only worsening my mood!

"Overreacting? How could you give them Alya's name when you know that we broke up two years ago?!" I screamed.

"That's precisely why I did give it! How long are you going to run from the past, Manik?! You have to face her at some point!" He said, matter-of-factly.

"Listen! I don't want to listen to any lectures! I don't want to see her face, so just tell the producers to get her off the show right now!" I yelled.