The Rawat Brides[Complete]

Chapter 11

"Oh, Dhara!" Sushmita called out. "For Preetika's wedding, Do you want to come with us?"

"Sure! Why not?" Dhara shrugged. Her grandmother wouldn't agree for an overnight trip and to Delhi all by herself anyway. Asking Soumya to accompany her would be another challenge that she really didn't want to take on.

Sushmita smiled and then her face turned solemn, "Sounds good...You know that Rishi will be there too, right?"

"I know! Preetika called me a week ago," Dhara said with a small shrug . "It's fine. You guys seem to be more awkward and worried about my ex being in the same vicinity as me than I am," she said, chuckling. "Relax, you guys! Please don't make this a bigger deal than it is."

"Call me!" Sushmita yelled as she stuck out her upper body out of the window and waved while her husband drove away.

Dhara vigorously waved her above her head at them from the spot before opening the gate of her house, looking forward to a shower and then a long nap.

"I hate everything," Grumbling under her breath, she dragged her feet into the house. "I am home!!" She announced to her grandmother since their family car wasn't parked on the driveway and it was a Friday which meant her sister was probably already at work and her grandfather was playing bridge with his friends at the club.

"Ahh, I missed you!" She exclaimed as Sweety came trotting towards her. Picking up the little puppy, she began walking towards the interior of the house to find her family. "Did you miss me? At least you came to see me. Where is Dadi and Manoj?"

The little puppy wiggled in Dhara's arms as she licked her chin and fingers. When Dhara let the puppy down on the ground after a few seconds of her licking and nipping, she ran upstairs through the veranda.

Guessing Chandni was in one of the bedrooms on the second floor, Dhara began following Sweety upstairs. "I look like shit." She said cringing at her reflection. Hair in crazy knots, eyes red and puffy from the lack of sleep and she even smelled of sweat and smoke. Deciding to shower first before her grandmother saw her condition and decided that she looked 'hippe' and never sent her on another trip.

She opened the door of her room and dropped her bag at the entrance of it. "What the hell?" She mumbled when she saw the condition of her room. Her things had been moved around and clothes lay all around the room like a cyclone had hit someone's wardrobe. No cross that. Men's clothes lay all around the room like a cyclone had hit someone's wardrobe. Using the tips of her fingers, she picked up a red t-shirt and stared at in confusion.

Dhara almost let out a startled cry when she heard the water in her bathroom running. There was an intruder in the house. Showering in her bathroom. Had he done something to her grandmother? Panic gripped her mind and body as she tried to think about the ways this scenario would play out. Forcing herself to take deep breaths and think logically, she reached into her pocket to call for help. "Shit!" She swore under her breath when she realized that it was dead.

Her fear grew deeper when she heard the water shut and then someone stepping across the tiled floor that was wet from the shower. She ran towards the bathroom door and locked it from the outside. Her heartbeat hard against her rib cage as the adrenaline levels in her body soared. Maybe she should go down and bring her grandfather's gun but she didn't have the bullets. Scouting for them in her grandparent's room was going to be too time-consuming and the stupid lock on her bathroom door wouldn't hold on that long. Why hadn't listen to her grandmother and have the stupid lock fixed? "Please, God. Let Dadi be okay. I swear if she's okay... I'll do anything. I promise." She didn't have much time if the attacker had finished her shower, she only had a few seconds, before he tried the door. As she was looking for tools that she could potentially use as weapons while gauging her chances at the potential of a bluff with the gun, her eyes fell on her cricket bat. Her clammy, shaking fingers tightened around the handle and she lifted and swung it in the air for practice. If she could beat the crap out of neighbourhood boys who thought eve-teasing was okay with this bat then she could do the same with the man inside her bathroom.