"Revenge, the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell."
― Walter Scott, The Heart of Mid-Lothian
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"Ahh!"
Prajakta clutched her head and scratched her nails over the skin of her skull as she desperately tried her level best to assuage her agony. That never did any good to her and another bout of headache surged her. Oh! How she wished that she could switch places with that watchman on the gate who is lazily yawning while seated on the rolling chair. But obviously, she wouldn't want this to happen to anyone. Even to a sworn enemy. She staggered a bit and slowly made her way towards her house.
"What the hell are you two doing here?"
As she reached her place, she became confused and also surprised at the fact that Manali and Dishan welcomed Prajakta in her own house. Wow, they even got her house key, maybe it's not a good idea to hide it under the doormat and by the look of her living room, it feels like they have created a cozy party atmosphere. But that still didn't give away why the two widely grinning idiots are doing at her house. And not to mention those two are grinning at her as if she is an actual art or what Dishan used to say a 'museum piece'. As the two ushered her in, she was too stunned to understand anything and reality kicked in when a cold hard object was pushed into her hands.
"You and I could use the beer after... you know... and I feel like I never introduced myself to you properly."
As the two ladies were seated on the couch, Dishan rolled his eyes and took an orange juice for himself as he will be on meds and took a seat over the bean bag next to him to watch the two women chit-chat and be all dramatic about their life. On the other hand, Manali extended her hand towards Prajakta.
"Hi, I am Manali Gupta, I am uh... doing masters in animation and- god this feels stupid! And-"
At that moment, the ice broke and Prajakta started laughing causing Manali to become less tense.
"And, her whole life revolves around her boyfriend Ishaan Aggarwal... Ishaan this, Ishaan that... she is freaking obsessed."
The interruption caused both the girls to glare at Dishan while he was unfazed and was actually under the spell of his pills. Ignoring him, Prajakta continued.
"Well, I am Prajakta Sharma and I do study law- I mean I used to... and now I am assistant... of that freaking beast."
"And loves being a damsel in distress here and there and purely being a wonderful museum piece... hmm... She is so cute..."
And before the two could glare at him yet again, he dozed off. Laughter erupted from both of their lips as the two drank their beer with a food mood and started more and more chatting on random things for a while along with a few snacks to munch.
Ishaan leaned over the parapet wall and opened the beer can as he glanced over his buddy who looked like he was fighting his inner turmoil. A sigh escaped his lips as he went back to the penthouse to get another can of beer. When back he found Danishk already chugging down his beer. That dammed idiot was dropped by the head when he was born maybe. That's the reason he became such a nuisance time by time. Shaking his head he opened the can and chugged his beer as well while the two remained silent for a few minutes.
"I have no clue what you are going through... but this is not at all the right way-"
Ishaan stopped speaking as he heard the beer can crinkle. Ugh! Now, this idiot will lash at him for no reason. Ishaan took a deep breath while Danishk took another gulp of his beer.
"That Chaurasia..."
And this time that bloody beer can was smashed and the contents in it spilled out making a mess.
"Hey, come on now! No freaking idiot would have figured out that he was going to molest Prajakta-"
"That's the point don't you see? I am that freaking idiot who puts everyone's life at risk just for some odd satisfaction-"
"Dan-"
"I am that idiot who unintentionally threw her into his side without second thought or remorse. I swear I have outdone myself and have become a freaking monster right?"
The guilt which was showing through his glassy eyes wasn't from today's incident. He is still feeling responsible for his family's demise. And Ishaan could read something else as well through his eyes, much more intense and enraging.
"If you are going to be hung up on her, then I would like to suggest that you shouldn't get distracted and do something out of impulse just to regret it. Leave that girl alone for a while... after she will be calm enough, do try apologizing. That's all I could say and also that is the best option right now because we have to tackle the problem we have got. Tomorrow we need to meet Kushwant Singh... if that Kushwant Singh is alive."
This time Danishk breathed in and out heavily and gave a nod in affirmation as he remembered the plan the three discussed over the phone call this morning itself. Dishan even had his men patrolling the area so things might run according to the plan. Speaking of-
"What happened to Dishan? If I would have known I would have controlled my anger and not hit him."
A chuckle escaped Ishaan's lips as he heard Danishk's concern-laced voice. No matter what he would do to Dishan, at the end of the day he would get worried about his cousin. This is how the two of them have been lately. Will be in a war the whole time and if one gets hurt even a bit the other will be pacing here and there worrying. Before they used to fight or pretend to fight over petty issues but after the cheating incident, things took a wrong turn and now the two won't even look at each other in the eye.
"He didn't inform anything clearly but tailored a perfect lie saying that a beggar tried to steal a few things from his house, caught red-handed and during the fight, he ended up with fractured hand and stab wound right below his rib."
The information caused Danishk to pinch the bridge of his nose. This was an absolute lie and the big giveaway was the thief entering his place. His uncle made sure that the three of them had good protection all around their place and this bullcrap is not at all bought by either Ishaan or his uncle and him. As the two were worrying over Dishan, the person in question was already knocked over the pills he took and was fast asleep. Or that's what the girls thought, so they started digging into gossip and other stories like their college experience, parents and siblings. Dishan had been in and out of his sleep while he was hearing them but one thing particularly caught his interest.
"... you know... I had it all... had it all when I was done with my school... and was about to pursue law and all... but one accident, took away both my parents... as if testing me... my dad was dead on the spot while my mom passed away through heart attack... I just wish... I wish I wouldn't have been in this... this situation... I want to... to go back... back to my college... or... run... run away. I just want to be happy... again... live... again, I..."
All through those ramblings, Dishan caught those words making him realize how fragile this girl is while she goes on pretending to be fine. Whenever he saw Prajakta she either used to smile with warmth or used to roll eyes on him with annoyance. She also dared to get in between his and Danishk's fight which used to be brutal from the time of their college and the one who usually gets in between used to end up physically hurt. He didn't understand when was the last time he went unconscious but the blurry sight of the chitty chatty ladies no... the sight of a sloppily drunk Prajakta relieved him.
"... hmm... that jerk has to... be thought a lesson... even... though he is my cute bro... he did wrong..."
An intoxicated Manali blurted after her 5th bottle of beer. So did Prajakta was and it had her head spinning in a good way. Both of them started wobbling and they reached out to beer while laughing.
"... hehe... I just had a thought on... on getting revenge... revenge on him... but your... your boyfriend would be... might be uncomfortable..."
This caused Manali to laugh and clap her hands as if she is watching a comedy show. It was already the middle of the night and the two ladies decided to sneak out while being careful not to wake Dishan up in their drunken state, while anyone could easily tell that mammoth of a guy was unmoving like a giant rock. When they got their materials they climbed one floor higher to the penthouse. While giggling they wobbled around and then Prajakta unlocked the door remembering the code and they sneaked in trying not to make a sound. They gradually made their way to the room whose door was half-open to their luck. Slowly making their way inside while still wobbling and shushing each other animatedly, they reached towards the king-sized bed and found the two boys whom they were searching for were asleep.
"They will remember this... for... forever..."
Manali muttered with a chuckle and in return, Prajakta grinned and they took out the huge black plastic bags. And dumped all the contents over their bed and covered their nose as the garbage was emitting a filthy smell. Next, the two went over to two doors, one to the attached bathroom and the other took the front door of their room. By sticking the temporary hooks to the sides in the lower sides, they tied thin wires over them and then hopped off them and went over to the kitchen and left the tetra packs of expired milk. Grinning at each other the two left his place and closed both the room door and front door closed.
When the dawn arose the stench of filthy garbage woke Danishk and Ishaan up as the grogginess faded, only to witness garbage lying over the bed cover came in their view. Not able to process anything, both of them strode away from the filth, one towards the bathroom and another towards the hall and the two collided their face to floor at the same time. Groaning and grunting the two stood up lifting their body weight up after which the two discovered the fallen wire and on the corner there was the temporary hook. Irritated Ishaan decided to freshen up and think about that later. But Danishk didn't keep his calm and went on screaming bunch of profanities.
As Ishaan strode towards the kitchen his stomach growled loudly. As Danishk's maid comes in usually late and his hunger couldn't be suppressed, he decided to search for the box of cereals as he found couple of sealed tetra packs of milk. When he found them, he poured them into a bowl and opened the packet and the bitter liquid oozed out with a splash everywhere. Ugh! What the hell is wrong with this morning? He went on thinking about what's going on and didn't realize when danishk entered. And apparently Danishk too was hungry and he grabbed the another tetra pack.
"Dan don't..."
...and again the contents of the spoilt milk splashed around before Ishaan could warn him.
"What the f*ck is wrong with this day? Who the hell did this?"
The duo covered in sticky dairy contents took a seat over the couch.
"Who the f*ck got inside my house and did this all sh*t? I swear if it's Dishan, then I will freaking kill-"
"It can't be him. No matter what he won't do such silly and childish stuff. These kind of games remind me of my girlfriend."
Ishaan revealed in a calm way but Danishk shook his head.
"But she never got to know the password and her fingerprint is also not registered."
"Okay, then who could enter your penthouse-"
Realization hit them and the both turned towards each other.
"Prajakta!"
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A/N:
I wish I could take revenge on people like Prajakta and get away!
But can Prajakta get away from this?
And also,introducing the character... Ishaan Aggarwal! Played by cutie, Vishal Vashishta