21- “Only a bitch can bite another bitch.”
VANSH
Thanks to Shreya, the thought of having a peaceful night was destroyed. I couldn't sleep properly as my mind kept thinking about the various disasters the video could bring. The constant headache only added to my discomfort. I should have confronted Natasha somewhere else but given my state of mind that time, I couldn't blame myself. If only... If only I could delete those videos somehow but that seemed like an impossible mission. Following her request was out of the option when I just got into Richard's good books. I had to move out of this mess, unscathed.
So I only confronted the person who unknowingly became a victim to this mess.
“Natasha,” I approached her desk, the next morning. “You wouldn't fuckin' believe what happened yesterday.”
Her mouth widened along with her eyes in mock surprise, “Did you and Irfan finally consummated your love? Awh, no worries, you have my blessing. Tadaaasthu! (Blessings),” she raised her hand to give her blessing and I facepalmed.
“This is no time for jokes, idiot. This is really important, like disaster important. I could barely sleep last night, you know. Can you spare a few minutes? Please,” I pleaded, desperation evident in my voice.
A deep frown marred her features. “I'm strangely curious now,” she said then stared at my face while pulling her lips downward, “I could see that your dark circles are more prominent than usual. Fine, let's head to the canteen.”
Thereafter, I told her everything, from Shreya asking me a favor to the whole threat that followed. “Ek kaan ke niche lagata uss saali ko (You should have given that bitch one tight slap under her ear).”
“And get myself arrested for women harassment, no thanks! Oi, we deviated from the topic. What should we do?”
She tapped her chin thinking. After giving a thought, she answered, “I'd say chose option B- your love life one. Tell Ahana about the video in advance so when Shreya raises her wand to do her magic, there will actually be no magic left. That way my ass is saved too.”
That actually didn't sound so bad. But if I told Ahana about the video, then I'll have to tell her about the stalker and everything that happened in those days, followed by my secretive attraction that I wasn't ready to admit to anyone else (I did tell Dhruv though). Did I really have to tell her everything now, that too, on phone? I couldn't afford to further dampen our relationship that was barely surviving the waters. I could always tell her after I return, and perhaps laugh about it too. Also, “Shreya didn't gave me the luxury of making a choice. Now I could tell Ahana, but you really think Shreya would stop after sending the video to her? You should never trust the words of someone who blackmails. They are capable of anything as long as they have proof.”
“Shit, man! I hate to admit but you're right,” she cussed in digress. For a moment, she remained distressed until she looked up with determination. “Guess it's time for action, baby.”
Was it weird that I was feeling the andraline rush right now? I was imagining all sorts of scenarios where we would sneak into her office in black, and hack into her system. Or probably invite Shreya to a bar and make her drink so that we could delete the evidence from her mobile. When I expressed my ideas, she snorted. “Tell your filmy thoughts to fuck off and let me handle this.”
“And let you steal all the thunder? No fucking way.”
“This is between women, Baweja. You shouldn't interfere. After all—” she paused, her lips curling upwards, “only a bitch can bite another bitch.”
Even I couldn't help but smirk right back. So for now, I let her be and prayed for everything to work in our favor. A week passed in waiting, anxiety and fear. I had managed to stall Shreya, lying that her request was in the process while Natasha worked behind the scenes.
.
On Monday, we called her to the same cafe she threatened me in. It was my idea. “You lying piece of shit!” Shreya accused me when we revealed that I had lied to her all along. Ah the sweet, holy taste of revenge. I was eating that already. “Wait till I make this video viral.”
“Uh- uh, not so fast, babe,” Natasha intervened. When Shreya continued to work her fingers on the phone Natasha stopped her wrist though she couldn't quite snatch the mobile since Shreya had secured it tight around her fingers. I watched as the two women shared a menacing glance, silently waiting for the other to make a move. It brought chills down my spine. “Put your possession down and hear me out first.”
“And what if I don't. I co—”
“Put. It. Down.”
The way Natasha spelled it while throwing her artic glare was enough for Shreya to obey her command. I dabbed my leg against Natasha under the table as a sign of appreciation. She hit it back. “So Vansh, answer me this—” she said, cooly, while leaning back on the chair and propping her leg against the other. “what do you think Shreya must have done to get her hands on our oh- so- scandalous video? I know she works in the management department but it's still not that easy to gain access to the security system. She wasn't even responsible for the ones installed outside. Do you think she hacked through the system?”
I rubbed my chin, regarding Shreya with suspicion. “Well, well, well, one thing I do know that she had to search through various security cameras on various dates before she came across ours. That's one tedious task I tell ya... And for a person possessing a brain of a donkey, it isn't possible for her to hack a phone number, forget a system. I'm assuming she almost used the same tactic on the security camera man as me.”
“You're not wrong in your reasoning, Baweja. It makes sense. Except she didn't have anything on the security man to bait him with...” she threw a disgusting glance towards a now bewildered Shreya, who was constantly questioning our intentions. We ignored her. “In a desperate attempt to get what she wanted, she resorted to the other means. Either with her mouth, or worse— her own body.”
It suddenly felt like we were in the middle of a funeral. The layer of mourning silence that fell between the three of us said it all. My mouth fell open in pure shock. Natasha hadn't filled me much regarding her plan so this was certainly news to me. The funeral like silence continued until Shreya shook her head dramatically as if she had just been exposed naked.
“N- no, not possible. You're ly-ing. What proof do you have?” It was hilarious how she was denying it, when she was clearly panicking. As for the other woman, you can clearly tell that she was enjoying, playing the detective in this case.
“True. I don't have a proof since it was just word- to- mouth evidence. No worries, I have anarrther~” Natasha said, her tone sinister as she unlocked her phone. Shifting herself closer to Shreya, much to her dismay, she showed her a string of messages. I couldn't see what was written on it but the way Shreya's color drained from her face said it all. “There's nothing wrong with having an affair with someone from the office but imagine what would happen if these messages got exposed. People will surely down at you and think you took advantage of the poor HR manager because he was rich. Which is quite true in your case, actually.”
Shreya laughed sarcastically, “I bet you must have had to stoop to the same level as me.”
Natasha flicked a flock of her hair, as if Shreya's words were a speck of dust. “No darling, I didn't even have to throw a flying kiss. My body happens to be very costly, you see.”
It was interesting how the places were reversed this time. Today, it was Shreya who was getting roasted. It was her who was shaking. All thanks to this fabulous woman sitting next to me. After what felt like an eternity amount of waiting, confusion and anxiety, Shreya gave in. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”
Natasha stopped blowing her nails, “Delete. Delete our evidence from this mobile, your other mobile and then from your desk computer. Right in front of us,” When Shreya looked her red in the face, she only added ghee to the fire. “You know, there are two kinds of bitches in the world. The only difference is, while I'm the good bitch, you are the bad one.”
“If you are done delivering your shitty dialogs,” I whispered near her ear, aggravated, “then can we please proceed?”
Shreya flared her nose, shooting daggers at us, “You'll pay for this, both of you. Especially you, cu.nt face.”
I pointed my finger to Natasha's phone, “Remember these messages, Shreya. If you'll take us to hell, we'll drag you along.”
“Certainly,” Natasha added with a mischievous smile, “and then we all meet Hades and share a mind blowing orgy.”
“Natasha!”
She feigned offense. “What, can't a girl dream?!”
“This is no place to dream. Go dream in your own fucking bed!” I spoke, loudly before turning to Shreya. “Aur tu kaunse shubh mahurat ka intezar kr rhi hai (and what auspicious time are you waiting for)? Get started already.”
Shreya took her sweet time deleting the video from both her mobiles and laptop. Natasha and I throughly double checked it on her devices until we were convinced that video no longer existed in this planet. Even though Shreya told us that there was truly no video in her office computer, we made sure to confirm it with our own eyes before leaving her to rot for good.
.
“Punjabi restaurant.”
“Pizza.”
“Karaoke.”
“Dumbfuck, we went there months ago.”
“So what? We'll go again and invite Irfan to waste his vocal cords too,” I suggested. Natasha and I were heading down the subway after office while deciding where to treat ourselves tonight. Though there was still something that irked me. “That video really got deleted, right?”
She let out an annoying sound, “Just how many times do I have to repeat 'yes' to calm your tits?!”
“I know, yaar but I'm afraid. I feel like she'll take revenge on me. Still, I'm impressed. How did you managed to dig dirt on her?”
“Don't be. It was Dave's doing,” she answered, surprising me. “Yeah, I know, shocking but he's an old employee of this company, plus he's quite profound in the world of gossip. He didn't know much about Shreya but I requested him to dig information about her. We found out quite interesting facts but most of them were without proof. Dave introduced me to a man named Steve who was a former employee and an assistant HR manager. I sweet talked with him, told him how my friend was in grave trouble because of her threat. Don't worry, I didn't dig into the specifics of what it was. Steve gladly cooperated with me. As for Dave, I took him for lunch in return. Happy ending.”
For a while, we remained in a comfortable silence as I digested the information. It was then Natasha spoke, albeit quietly, “You know that stuff I said about Shreya using physical means to get through the camera man— I made that 'ish up.”
“Are you serious?!” My eyes widened, “but how?”
She shrugged, “I don't know. I simply guessed it based on what I heard from your encounter and from Dave. She just gave off that cheap whore vibe. I was shit worried about getting caught back then, causing the whole plan to backfire on us. Thankfully she was too shocked to notice my bluff. All in all, I got lucky this time.”
“Okay now I'm convinced. You did great, Nat. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I expressed my gratitude, only realizing a second later that in my excitement, I had squeezed her to my arms.
The sound of her awkward laugh cracked through the momentary pause. I felt her palm patting my back before she pulled out of my embrace. I was unable to face her even though it was just a friendly hug. “Let's get going,” I said, facing ahead while she laughed at my expense.
She was still laughing. “You are cute.”
That perked my ears up, astounded. I was certain the word 'cute' didn't exist in her dick-tionary. I was almost at loss of words but before I could say something she took quick strides, stopping a foot before me. There was a split second pause. And then, like a gush of wind, she came and made an impact at the corner of my mouth. With her soft lips.
“Your welcome.” She winked, backing away and just like that, her impact was gone, leaving behind a frustrated me. Frustrated at her for initiating the action and frustrated at myself for not tilting her face to kiss where I desired to. It was torture.
~
AHANA
I didn't know how long I was staring at the crowd surrounding me until Nisha pulled my ponytail, making me squeal. We were seated inside the Metro train on our way home.
“Why are you staring at the passengers like Sadako from The Ring?”
I grimaced, “Eek, don't compare my pretty face with that of an ugly ghost.” I fell back to my seat and raised my head to the digital board, flashing the name of the next station. “I was observing the passengers around me, wondering if there was atleast one person who is recognizable. It's so funny that we travel the same train, at almost the same time, yet the crowd is different each time.”
“Or maybe you don't remember the faces,” Nisha said. When I drew out another sigh, she groaned, “For Godsake, just call Vansh if you're missing him so much.”
I shook my head, scowling, “I'm always the one who calls and messages him but not this time, no way! Even I want to see how many days he can go without contacting me.”
“Even if it has been sixteen days.”
I pulled my lips downward. You'd think after sharing a memorable time with your ex slash, whatever lover, you wouldn't miss him? Of course you would. I did too, but looks like he didn't. Okay, maybe he was missing me in the beginning when he told me about his additional role as a trainer but that was it. Maybe it was a temporary thing for people like him. They only felt for a shorter period of time.
“Maybe he's having an affair...” I mumbled quietly.
“Or maybe he's just super busy.” Nisha shook her head in dismay. “Yes, it's unfair how he didn't think of dropping a message but call him if you're missing so badly and stop whining.”
“Shut up, you won't understand. I did send him a 'hi' on messenger, a few days back.” I glanced at my mobile screen. Still no reply. I scrolled through other messages and stumbled upon one more unread message of mine. “For some strange reason, Piyush's not contacting me either. He didn't show up that Sunday when our gang gathered at Vishal's house. Maybe he'll never contact me again.”
Nisha told me to stop overthinking about everything but she didn't get it. My professional life was progressing smoothly at the moment but my personal life, I wasn't so sure. Indeed I was worried about Piyush but what really concerned me was Vansh's neglectance. I really hated him sometimes. He held the power to make me feel out of the world in one occasion, and a desperate girl in another. That power itself was dangerous. You wouldn't help but bow down to their mercy. I just hoped he replied to me soon and saved me from this endless wait.
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A u t h o r s N o t e
*exhales* Finally managed to squeeze out an update.
Thus ends the mini Shreya arc. Thoughts about this chapter. About bitches like Shreya or bitches like Natasha (lol) 😉 Did you like the sassy Natasha in this chapter? What about Ahana's insecurity? Comment below.
And don't forget to click on that star 🌟 as well. (Not absolutely necessary though)
Man, it's been close to two weeks but feels like a month lol. It's because there's been things going in my life and it's fucking crazy 😜 There's something I gotta share because that something is going to affect my updating schedule and what I'm going to do about the story. Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon it. You can count on that. You'll know soon.