His.
Standing at the window, Ekansh keeps staring at Vasudha. A baby pink salwar suit is what she is wearing today. A few of her beautiful hair strands are pulled behind her head with a clutcher, the rest is cascading down her back and that's it. What's so special about her, he keeps on thinking. She talks less, smiles rarely, she always seems to be thinking about something. But she has this calm refreshing feeling about her that's drawing him towards her. His brain is so occupied with her thoughts that other demands, other girls, other desires have somehow disappeared. All he wants is to seek her attention, spend time with her and to touch her. The fraction of moment he could touch her skin yesterday, while pulling her into his chest, was bliss. He felt her discomfort but with time she will get used to it. That day is not far when she will be all his. He walks toward the table and takes an empty chair. The table is way too silent today. None of them are chatting or talking amongst each other which is odd. He has seen them before, they talk a lot.
"Hey, all good, why is the table so silent?" He asks curiously. He gets the answer from the one he least expected and his heart flutters.
"Umm, they are bored. Aren't you guys?" Vasudha asks to which Abhirup immediately responds.
"Yes. That we are."
"So is there anything special you would like to do today? There is a theater and gaming room in the second floor, you can go there. I'll ask Raghu chacha. Although I won't be able to give you company. I have to leave for a meeting and that'll take some three to four hours. But you can always roam around the mansion and go for the theater or gaming room." Ekansh answers.
"I was thinking about roaming around the old mansion. We have been seeing it throughout our childhood. It holds a nostalgic emotion to us." Vasudha says looking at him. She sees him clenching his jaw. But she had to do it.
"Do you not like this mansion?" He asks, his eyes taking a totally different turn from too gentle to downright scary. She knows she has to be clever with this man. Not like she didn't understand his uncomfortable liking towards her. His eyes speak way more than his mouth. He likes her, he wants to have her in every way possible. Even the others have noticed that.
"Ofcourse I like it. I can bet even after looking into that mansion I would like this mansion more. We have made so many good memories here within such a short period of time. The piano adds to it. And above all your hospitality. We are grateful. It's just I feel really bored. It would be better if I could do something outside this mansion for a while. I know you might have some emotional attachments towards that mansion. It might be really close and personal to you. So it's understandable if you don't like us going there, we'll find out something else to do." She utters the last line with a long sad sigh.
"Vasudha, you think so much about others. I was being a jerk. Go there. I'll ask Raghu chacha to be with you guys. I just thought you didn't like this mansion. I apologize for how I behaved." Saying so he moves his hand from under the table and engulfs her hand within his. He feels her stiffen, so he turns his face towards her and whispers.
"Relax darling, I am not like him. I'll never hurt you, Vasudha. I'll love you, so much that even the tiniest fears inside you will evaporate. I promise." She immediately snaps her head towards him only to find him smiling like a decent man. A decent man, that he is not. A monster? Yes, that's what he is. She needs to hurry up before everything goes out of her hand.
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While opening the lock hanging from the main door, Raghu ji keeps looking at them suspiciously, particularly at Vasudha. His stares do not go unnoticed by Vasudha, however she prefers not to react. And then they get inside the old mansion, if jaw dropping had sound then it could've been heard from outside. All them stands there, awestruck and mesmerized. The high ceiling, the bright beige colored interior, the huge beautiful sculptures and the paintings hanging from the wall, Mr. Devraaj Sachdev must have built this entire mansion with extreme love. The mere thought of them makes Vasudha feel uneasy. The thought of Danuj plagues her mind. The horrible picture of how brutally he was nearly killed makes her feel suffocating. The feeling of the same criminal's hand on hers twists her stomach. That's when her eyes fall on a huge closed door.
"What is this?" She asks.
"Used to be the library for malik and bare malik. Now no one lives here, no one uses it." Raghu ji says, sounding sad and tired. Vasudha pushes the door open.
"What are you doing ma'am?" Raghu ji asks feeling nervous.
"Opening it for the purpose of using it. And also I am Vasudha to you." She gets inside the library followed by her friends. Raghu ji looks at her with utter surprise.
They roam around the mansion for more than an hour finally they reach the second floor. And Raghu ji stands still infront of a room with a huge brown door, a same closed door is standing tall right beside it.
"Whose room is this Raghu chacha?" Abhirup asks. The others immediately turn their attention towards them, except Vasudha, who is already standing beside the door looking at it longingly.
"My bare malik." Raghu ji says.
"You must have loved him a lot for a mere glance at his room to bring tears to your eyes?" Vasudha asks as calmly as possible and as if immediately he snaps out of his trance.
"Ofcourse I loved him but I love Chhote Sahab more." He says, looking almost scared. Everyone walks to the stairs that leads toward the floors above but Vasudha remains behind Raghu ji, as she whispers to him,
"Don't think I haven't noticed how 'bare malik' is 'malik' and "chhote sahab' is not. There is nothing to be frightened of, Raghu chacha. There is nothing to be ashamed of if you loved the elder son more, you have seen him long enough to love him more. That's very much normal and acceptable." Saying so she takes the stairs as well. Stunned by her words, Raghu ji stands at his place, looking at her retreating figure.
She needs time to get inside Danuj's old room and Devraaj Sachdev's room. But having Raghu ji with them is making the whole thing difficult.
"Mihir, some of you need to distract Raghu ji. I need to get inside and check a few rooms. Zoya and Abhirup will stay with me, while you, Derek and Ganika will show interest in other places. It might sound odd but try to make him nostalgic, try to bring out the emotions he has been hiding for such a long time. I have a feeling we will need him and his informations. Try to capture his expressions, his reactions. This man can be the key to many mysteries." Vasudha says.
"But if he doesn't find you with us he will get suspicious." Derek says.
"That's right. In that case you have to make some excuses like 'Vasudha liked the terrace a lot, she wanted to spend the rest of the time there, so Abhirup and Zoya stayed back with her and we thought about roaming around a little more, so we came down.' That'll make it believable." Zoya says.
"Fine. We will certainly give it a try. You guys remain careful though." Ganika adds. With that they enter the white marbled terrace. Undoubtedly the terrace is beautiful but immensely huge as well. The beauty of it takes their breath away.
"Who on earth will abandon such a beautiful mansion and build that soulless piece of shit?" Zoya asks, mesmerized.
"Someone, who needs to hide something to keep his image intact. Someone who is scared as hell. Someone whose past follows him like death. Someone who is a piece of shit himself." Vasudha says, looking at the new mansion on the other end of the property.
"I couldn't believe my own ears, the fact that someone can be that ungrateful is still eating me from inside." Ganika says.
"Ungrateful Ganika? Just for a reminder we are dealing with a psychopath here. That guy who stays over there is barely sane. He is a sick bastard. And trust me I have seen his eyes today when Sudha proposed about visiting this mansion. He was just a few seconds away from losing his shit. We have to be really, I mean really careful. The amount of love he is showing Sudha can be more than that, it can be an obsession. And you know obsessed people are barely capable of loving another human being. The moment Sudha is gonna reject his advances, his personality will flip. So before that happens, before he gets the scope to do anything bad to Sudha, we have to find out anything, any evidence regarding his misdeeds." Abhirup explains looking gloomier than ever.
"It's time, Mihir, get down and distract Raghu ji. Zoya, Abhi, go to Devraaj Sachdev's room and his office, separately. Be careful. We'll leave one by one, without making a hassle. We cannot make any sound. I.... I'll go to Danuj's room."
¤¤¤¤¤
They keep talking amongst themselves, oblivious of the grey pair of eyes that keep observing them from behind the tanks. He sees how the girl who he remembers as the doctor, leaves the terrace along with two of the guys. His heart beat increases. He cannot lose this chance of having her back, not from right under his nose. He has to do something.
He sees the boy named Abhirup leaving the terrace as well, just a minute after that the curly haired girl he has identified as Zoya, leaves. And that's when he kicks the rusty, broken watering can. Just as he thought she snaps her head towards her right and very cautiously comes a little closer to the tanks, that's that. Before she could process what is happening a hand wraps around her mouth and another coils around her waist, a known smell engulfs her from behind pulling her roughly against a hard chest. Instead of screaming or trying to move out of the grip she feels relaxed, as her eyes tear up. She inclines her body more into the person's body, as if she was dying to feel it. She doesn't need to see to understand who the man is. She has learnt to feel his presence, she has learnt to love this man, his man. She feels his grip tightening around her waist and his head moving towards the crook of her neck. As if on instinct her her hand raises to the front of his head entangling her fingers into his soft hair. How she missed his hair, his smell, his voice, his face. His body relaxes at her touch, as his hand leaves her mouth and starts moving down her arm.
"Why?" He speaks for the first time, his voice deep and hoarse. The tonality says he is grumpy. He is angry, he is upset. And she feels each and every emotion without even seeing him. She feels the pain through her heart.
"Why did you leave me? You promised not to leave. But you broke it. Why?" He asks while placing kisses at the crook of her neck. She has felt many things but this, this is crazy. The overwhelming emotion that's threatening to burst out is so new and so strong that when he finally turns her around she fails to control the tears from flowing out of her eyes. Her eyes widen looking at his face. He looks devastated, his wild hair disheveled, unshaved stubbles covering his face, dark circles around his beautiful grey eyes. The pang of guilt she immediately feels is painful. That's when she remembers Nihal's words,
"The day you left, he was shot Vasudha. I don't know what made him so strong, but that day he was on the verge of giving up. Giving up on everything and that includes his life. If you didn't already know then you should know that you.... mean the world to him."
She slowly raises her hand to touch his face only to be deflected by the grumpy grown up baby. She looks at his angry panting face, adoration, that's all her expression displays. She reaches to touch his face again, he deflects again. She had to try four more times to melt away his childishness.
She reaches her hand once again and this time he lowers his face to meet her hand. The moment her fingers touch his face his eyes close on their own, as if it was dying to be touched by her. His hands wrap around her waist pulling her close to his body, as he places his forehead against her.
"What have you done to yourself ?" Vasudha asks barely controlling the sob that's threatening to come out.
"Why do you care? Didn't you leave me all alone back there?" He asks in a husky voice. Vasudha pulls away her face to look into his eyes. Placing her palm on his face she gently runs her thumb under his eyes.
"I'm sorry." She says inside her mind.
She knows she shouldn't do this now, because now is not the right time, but her emotions are clouding her judgment. All she wants right now is this man to be happy. The pain he has endured for so many years, the scars of his past that keep reminding him of the ill fate he has been carrying for so long, she can't even begin to think what trauma he had to go through or rather he is going through. The vulnerable man he is seeing right infront of her eyes can be equally brutal and cruel. But he chose to show him the vulnerability, he chose to trust her. Now he is on the verge of losing the second person he trusted with his life.
Without thinking about the consequences she raises her lips towards him as if asking for permission, as if checking if she is still allowed to love him, still allowed to care for him. Her eyes remain fixed on his and his eyes start flickering between her eyes and lips. And then his eyes change from vulnerable to wild. As if he has been offered with the only thing he was living for. Within a millisecond his hand holds her head from behind, opening the clutcher and throwing it God knows where, he pulls her hard against his lips. The hand that is already resting around her waist coils it tighter pulling her even closer, if that's physically possible. Her hands immediately wrap around his neck, one wrapping around the shoulder and the other running through his wild hair.
He turns towards the tanks without leaving her lips and pushing her back against the tank. She feels it, the demand, the need in his kisses. Their lips move in an otherworldly rythm. His wild and fierce, her's soft and loving. He finds it impossible to stop. He was starving to feel her, to smell her, to touch her. If this is how having her in his arms feel like, he prefers to die this way. She is his and only his. He keeps proving that with every single kiss. He will never allow any one to have this, this feeling of having all of her should be exclusive to him and only him. Anyone who'll dare to take that away, well, they will die.
She pulls back first, because her lung needs some oxygen. He places his forehead against her. Both of them stand there, eyes closed, panting heavily.
"That's it. We're going home." He utters opening his eyes.
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Love, Puja. 💜❤