A hooker rushed out of an apartment. She adjusted her dishevelled clothes as Pratik stepped out on the same time. The cold air shivered their senses, as it seemed things might have been hot and heavy between them. So this boy was also doing these illicit things, apart from his other vices. He handed money to the hooker, and like a thief, she rushed off.
Standing outside the compound of the building, he purchased a cigarette, lit it up, and started smoking (smoking is injurious to your health). His friend ran up from behind and patted his shoulder, indicating for him to make a move. The area that they were in was prone to raids. Pratik stood like a statue, unwilling to move a bit. He was pondering something. His friend inquired with knitted brows. "Let's go. What are you waiting for?"
Pratik discarded his smoked cigarette and lit up another one. "I want f**king revenge," he said, puffing out smoke from his nose and mouth. "I have to teach Sid a lesson, and I wanna rip that arrogant look off his face."
Pratik's friend narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin. "What does he do to you?" he remembered how Sid has insulted Pratik several times. "I don't think you can defeat him verbally. He will always trap you in his words' jugglery."
Pratik crushed his half smoked cigarette in anger. He felt insulted and helpless. Then he lit up another one, drawing hazardous smoke into his lungs, toxic chemicals clinging to his trachea. He was a chain smoker, therefore, he and his cigarettes were inseparable buddies. "I won't spare him."
"What's up with you and Sara?" his friend asked.
Pratik shrugged his shoulders and jutted out his bottom lip. "I think that chick is into me."
Infused with a heinous scheme, a fiendish smile beamed across his friend's face. "Just do what I say. I swear, we'll teach him a lesson that he will never forget."
Pratik raised his left eyebrow in confusion, but didn't care enough to ask about it. Seeing him confused, his friend continued, "We'll use Sara to take your revenge."
"Damn! Why I didn't think of that?" Pratik placed his hand on his head. "But I'm going to do it my way." A devilish smile manifested on Pratik's oblong face.
"What you gonna do?"
Pratik simply winked, and pointed his thumb behind him. It was a shop of blue film CDs. What he was up to seemed to be very, very vicious.
******
Sara's off the shoulder top and slim washed jeans brought attention to her half up half down hairstyle. She looked so stunning that every guy ogled at her. Her pink lipstick was glowing more than her round shaped face as she chuckled after reading a text message. Maybe a joke or Pratik's flirt.
A group of boys approached her. None of them came forward, but they pushed a simple, decent looking guy and made him sit next to her. He experienced butterflies in his stomach, turning his eyes to back to his friends he saw them shooting thumbs up at him with a grin on their faces.
Sara smiled and took off her headphones. "Hiya Vinit. How's life?"
His heart started throbbing, thinking. Wow! She knows my name. Licking his lips, he replied, "I'm-I'm-I'm doing good, Sara." He was literally breathing from his mouth instead of his nose, and he avoided making eye contact with her.
Sara placed her hand on Vinit's shoulder. "You okay?"
Without uttering a word, and making weird facial expressions like the actor, Shahrukh Khan, he attempted to convey his inner emotions that he could not get to come out of his mouth. His clumsiness made Sara want to laugh, but she suppressed it into a smile. "I love you, Sara," he blurted out all of sudden. Smile turning into a gape, Sara shook her head. "What!?" she didn't revel in what he just said. Being totally aghast, her hazel eyes were wide open. She hoped she might have heard wrong.
"Yes, I'm in love with you since high school." Hands shivering, legs shivering, heart pounding, poor Vinit was having a very tough time expressing his feelings.
Sara crinkled her nose and pressed her lips together in a thin line. "I'm sorry. I don't feel same for you." She caressed her brown, silky hair, mixed feelings evident on her face. "I'm in love with Pratik, and I don't love anyone else than him," she said, her heart aching.
What if a dazzling lightning bolt struck down an insignificant tree? Obviously it would be burnt to ashes. Similarly, Vinit's heart was in flames knowing that the girl whom he loved since his childhood was in love with someone else. His emotions burnt down to ashes, but instead of smoke, teardrops welled up in his eyes.
Sara spotted the teardrops spilling from his eyes. She covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my God! I-I apologize. I really didn't mean to hurt you." In her mind she thought that this was the first time she had ever seen a man cry. It was heartrending for her. She stood up from her place and ran away, whereas on the other hand, Vinit didn't move an inch. He was like a statue, though a live one. Nevertheless, the tears didn't stop flowing from his eyes.
*****
Conscience-stricken for hurting such a good boy, Sara was feeling aggrieved. She was desperately looking for someone to talk to so she could unburden herself. Then she caught sight of Sid going in to attend second lecture. No other guy was as perfect as him to open her heart to. Sara almost screamed his name, but Sid didn't stop. He was with his other classmates and purposefully tried to turn a blind eye to her. She ran after him, caught his arm, her manicured nails digging into Sid's forearm, and hauled him around. "Why have you been ignoring me for so many days?" she sent a death glare at the other classmates, hinting at them to go ahead, which they did.
"Have you checked your Whatsapp messages? I sent you like hundreds of them, asking, 'What's the matter? Why you're ignoring me?'" Her hazel eyes demanded an answer. Receiving no positive response, she used a typical feminine trick in order to melt Sid's heart. She burst out crying. "You don't care if I'm alive or dead. Why the heck do I consider you my best friend?" Sara clenched her teeth when she hissed best friend.
Watching her sobbing didn't really melt his heart. Instead, Sid glowered right into her eyes, "Register two things in your mind. I hate fireworks in the sky and waterworks in a woman's eyes."
As she got the drift that emotional blackmailing wouldn't be working on Sid's stony-hearted attitude, Sara angrily wiped away her tears.
"And there goes another teardrop," Sid taunted when he saw another stream of tears flown down.
"Yes! Yes! I'm not crying anymore, happy?" Sara burst out in anger.
Pressing his lips together, he couldn't hold it in anymore. Sid exploded in loud laughter. This made Sara gaze at him in wonder. She hadn't expected him to do that. "Alright. I'm extremely sorry, and I'm feeling guilty that I ignored you," Sid said.
Sara partly flashed a smile on her face that made Sid to look suspiciously at it. He thought, she was just crying a minute ago, and now she's smiling. How do women do that?
*******
"Damn! I skipped second lecture again. I swear, my attendance won't even be near fifty percent." Sid kicked a stone as he walked along with Sara.
Sara sat on her Vespa scooter which was parked aside the road instead of parking lot. All the time her mind was absorbed in the thoughts of Pratik—the intimate moments she'd shared with him. It was staggering for her the way everyone had jumped their throats down on her love interest, her close friends even went up to have verbal fights. But how much they tried to protect her from the snare of Pratik that much she got trapped into it.
It was hawk from Sid that broke her engrossment. "By the way," he said, "you're looking hotter than ice today."
Sara's furrowed her brows, because it was difficult to figure out what came from Sid was compliment or just he used a wrong metaphor. Slip of the tongue. "Uh, but ice is not hot."
"Of course, even you're not looking hot. I was just sugar-coating you." As she lowered her head, Sid chuckled. "Oh c'mon! You're looking beautiful."
Sara smiled. "You know, Sid, I can't get him off my mind."
Him? Sid narrowed his eyes but then it struck to him who is that him. He also knew Pratik's intentions were not very desirable and saintly, yet he zipped his lips.
A moment later, Sara began her rambling about how Pratik is the most misunderstood guy, how nobody never dipped into his heart. He's, actually, a nice guy. "Hmm," was the only word that came from Sid. He could have thrown an argument, but he didn't feel like to break her little bubble of "happiness."
This was the situation: a decent and mediocre looking guy, Vinit, who loved Sara since his childhood, and has never loved any other girl got dumped. Whereas on the other hand, Sara was in love with a guy who was going to be her worst nightmare, so that he could take his revenge.
You know, he thought to himself, the biggest mismatch in relationships is that a wrong person gets the charge of right person. Basically Sara deserves a better guy—thoughtful, intelligent, and selfless. But she ended up with a guy, who is cheat, careless, and self-centered.
"Do you think Pratik loves me, Sid, my all friends say he won't be with me once he got me on the bed?" Sara asked innocently. Negative answer would really hurt her.
Sid jutted out his bottom lip and folded his arms across his chest.
"I'm so confused with the world around me. The more I'm introspecting about it, the more things are becoming pointless." Sid felt his breathing grew harder. "I've been trying to search truth from quite a time but all I'm presented with absurdity. Many are simply so dogmatic with their ideologies. Some say everyone is God. Some worship human as God. Some say desire is cause all misery so go desireless. Some earning millions by taking advantage of ignorance of the people." As he was bursting out his emotions, his fingers went through his hair, he didn't maintain eye contact with Sara but she was patiently listening.
"The girl who liked me is now hanging out with other guy," he continued, "More than being hurt I'm kind of perplexed how circumstances change people. I'm baffled to see unworthy person is the controller of good one's heart." At this point he shot a quick glance at Sara, she preferred to shrug it off. "In this world I don't find any meaning. It's all vanity, there's no profit under the sun. If I seriously don't find legit answers I would definitely become like Modern Ecclesiastes."
"Oh yeah I know about that guy. He's responsible for missing of hundreds of people, right?" Sara spoke with least interest just to conversation alive. Then she tried to rekindle Sid's hope in life. "I believe love fills your life with meaning."
"Then that's still raises a question what is love? The one which is talked about in movies and novels? The one which starts between the legs and dies because of dissatisfaction between them?"
Sara pursed her lips as if she was hearing the philosophy of doom. "Don't go in that zone where people dread to rush in. Just accept the reality."
"I don't know for how long." Sid shot a fake grin at Sara.
A little later, both of them headed back to their home. However, disquietude didn't let Sara's mind to be at peace. Actually she wanted someone to give her assurance that it's love what she has for Pratik. It's not because of his looks, his money, his cuteness, his sense of humor, or anything. It's true love from her side at least.
While lying on her bed in a fetal position, she was watching her pics with Pratik. A stream of tears rolled off her eyes and met the fluffy pillow onto which her side-face was pressed against—
Tick, tick, tick, these three ticks sounded like a metal clinked on the glass. It was Pratik knocked his bike's key on the window glass. It's because of the self-loathing Sara didn't hear the noise, and when she did, her moroseness switched with fear. It was Pratik trying to enter her bedroom through window.
"Oh my frigging God!" Sara's eyes went wide as they could. "You're not suppose to be here."
Pratik winked and shot a kiss at her. He said something but his voice was muffled. "Love... can... fin... it's... ay." These words she was able to hear.
Sara pulled the shutter up and without any fear Pratik crawled in like an earthworm. From hours she was lamenting like a damsel in distress. She blew a fuse on her boyfriend and all her rambling burst out. About how everyone looking down upon her just because she chose him. Whenever he meet her, he just want to grope and kiss her. She even went to the extent of comparing his nature with Sid's.
"You know," Pratik wore a grave expression. "I really don't trust people like Sid. Such people wear masks. But I will show you his real face soon, and then you would say I'm the best guy you ever have."
Tears of anguish didn't stop to flow from her eyes, Pratik leaned forward towards her and both dropped on the bed. But Sara pushed him off and forced him get out of her house. Now this really got on his nerves, with gritted teeth he walked off, boiling with rage.
******
A/N: I'm trying to increase insights on Pratik. Will he able to do what he's up to? Why this always happens, girl choose bad guys over good? So here you can see a change in behavior in Sid. Things are turning around for him. Please vote, share, and comment.