And here's the next chapter. About to sleep, but updating it today itself. Good night and sweet dreams people.
Moving on... 💃💃💃
"Words in double quotes" - Talking
'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts
(Words in braces) - Telephone conversations.
Chapter 3 - Meeting Her
Laksh tossed and turned on his bed. The clock read 01:00 am, but sleep was far away from his mind at the moment.
When he closed his eyes, the only face he saw was of Ragini.
When he opened them, he couldn't stop staring at Ragini's picture that he kept beside his bed on the bedside table."What have you done to me Ragini? What is this feeling. It feels like I'm on cloud nine, but at the same time...it feels like I'm being suffocated. I can't help but want to be beside you. Oh Ragini!" Laksh hugged his pillow imagining her and tried to make himself fall asleep somehow or the other.
#Morning#
"And check the safety of the gun before shooting, alright?" Adarsh advised.
"Gotcha Adarsh! I'll make sure to check it twice just for good measure." Sanskar promised as both of them walked into the dining hall.
They had just come back from the shooting range after the morning practice. Adarsh was training him the basics and the technicalities.
As they entered, they found Laksh sitting on the kitchen counter cross-legged, with his face buried in his hands, hidden from view.
"Do you think he's sleeping?" Adarsh questioned.
"I don't know. Shall we try to wake him?" Sanskar reasoned. "He shouldn't be sleeping like that. He'll get neck pain."
"I'm not doing that! He'll kill me if I disturb his sleep. You go wake your brother. He won't do anything to you."
Sanskar approached his elder brother cautiously. "Hey Laksh? Oi Laksh!" he nudged Laksh's arm, making Laksh 'hmm' as he woke up groggily. "Laksh, I wa-aah!" Sanskar hopped back on seeing Laksh's red eyes with dark circles below them. "Dude, you look aweful!"
Adarsh came over and peeped over Sanskar's shoulder. "I agree. Didn't you sleep last night boss?"
Laksh sighed in misery. "Ever fallen in love Adarsh?"
"Not yet."
"Well, I hope you don't. It's so stressful! And if you do, marry her right away and keep her with you."
"Okay?" Adarsh replied more as a question than an answer. Sanskar had told him about Laksh's new infatuation with a girl named Ragini, but he didn't think Laksh had it that bad. He was acting like a total lovesick teenager! 'Oh how the mighty fell! Hamlet was right. Fraility thy name is woman.'
Sanskar chuckled. "Go out to the yard for a walk bhai. I'll get you a cup of coffee to freshen you up."
Laksh mumbled a thanks and walked out with his shoulders hunched. His aura seemed to radiate a sense of gloom, while imaginary dark clouds rained over his head.
"Bring one for me as well." Adarsh informed and went after Laksh.
"Sure. Two cups of hot coffee coming right up!"
Adarsh jogged upto Laksh outside and walked beside him. "So? What's the matter? You're a don. It shouldn't be that difficult for you to get a girl. You're so obsessed with her. She's practically has you wrapped around her little finger and you're letting it be?"
"It's not that simple Adarsh. It's just..." Laksh looked down in distress. He wasn't someone who openly expressed his feelings. 'But apart from Sanskar, Adarsh is the only one close to me. He's like a brother I never had. I think I can open up to him about Ragini. I trust Adarsh to not take advantage of my weakness.'
Laksh stopped walking and faced Adarsh fully. "Adarsh, if it was anything else, I would have just barged in with guns and taken what I wanted. But Ragini is special for me. I want to win her heart. I don't want to force her to marry me. I want her to genuinely love me and accept me. I want her to love me like I love her. I want to be her better half!"
Adarsh nodded in understanding. "I see." he patted his back. "Well, I can't help you in that department. But I can do one thing. I can manage your work for you while you pursue Ragini."
"Eh?"
Adarsh smirked at him. "If you really want her, then you should use your best efforts to get her. So, I'll manage the rest of your work. I'll take over so that you don't over stress yourself."
Laksh looked at him gratefully. "I can't thank you enough Adarsh."
"Hey, don't say that. We all are like family, aren't we?" Adarsh replied with a smile. "And bring home bhabi soon. I can't wait to become an uncle!"
"But it will be me who will be the favourite uncle of Laksh's kids." Sanskar piped up as he came towards them with a tray holding three cups of coffee.
"Huh! As if! I'll be the more cooler uncle whom they will look upto."
Sanskar snorted. "Dream on Adarsh. You're nothing but an oldie."
"And you're a mutt."
"Then you're an ape!" Sanskar bit back.
Laksh looked at both of them with a smile. He was lucky to have both of them in his life. He knew he could count on them for life.
And so it began...
From that day onwards, Laksh began making a plan to pursue Ragini Gadodia.
From that day, he started accompanying Sanskar to college and eventually helped him propose Swara. Once Sanskar and Swara became a couple, it no longer became difficult for him to convince Swara of his goodness.
He pretended to be a hardworking businessman and a kind person. Everytime she and Sanskar came together to their house, he disguised some of his men as his butlers, some as business associates and what not!
As weeks passed by, Swara soon started speaking more about her family to them. Laksh got to know quite a lot about Ragini's likes and dislikes through her. He dug out information about Ragini's personality subtly, without making Swara suspect his interest in Ragini.
Swara on the other hand, was quite impressed by him. It wasn't long before she asked Laksh the golden question.
One such evening, while he, Sanskar and Swara were chatting amicably outside in their front porch, Swara asked him the question. "Laksh bhaiya, do you have a girlfriend?"
Sanskar grit his teeth to prevent his smile from breaking out. He tried to act confused on her question.
Laksh had a straight face. However, on the inside, he was dancing with joy "Why did you ask such a question Swara?"
"I...I didn't want to intrude bhaiya. But I just...I was just curious that's all." Swara spoke with a blush, embarressed for being so straight forward.
"Oh. I see."
"Please tell me na! Please please!"
'You don't know how thankful I am that you asked me that question Swara.' Laksh thought with glee. 'But of course I must act like a bored guy with lot of important stuff to do to think about these things.' He sighed dramatically, keeping up the act. "Well, I haven't found the right one yet. I want my girlfriend to be someone who is a simple minded girl, one who doesn't care much about money or other luxuries. I want someone who loves a simple life, a loving husband and a peaceful family. She should love me unconditionally in happiness or misery, in good times as well as bad."
Swara jumped up in excitement. "Then I know the perfect girl for you!"
Laksh knew she was referring to Ragini. However, he kept up his act. Laksh portrayed the most curious look possible. "Eh? Who might that be?"
"My sister Ragini!" Swara exclaimed excitedly. "Trust me bhaiya. I'm not just saying because she is my sister. But truly! She's just like you described. I'm sure you'll really like her!"
"Oh really? But I...I haven't met her yet though. Are you sure she can match the person whom I seek? I'm a really busy person you know. I don't want to waste time on dates which won't work out."
"I can arrange for that! Are you free tomorrow?"
In his heart, Laksh was doing hula hoops, zoomba and every other dance form known to man. Even cannibal dance moves.
On the outside however, he was calm as a cucumber. "Um...yes."
"Great! Sanskar, come on! Drop me home. I've got to arrange a date for Laksh bhaiya and Ragini Di tomorrow. But first I'll need to tell Di and make her agree though. Bye Laksh bhaiya!" saying so, she dragged Sanskar away with her without waiting for his reply.
Sanskar chuckled and discreetly gave a thumbs up towards his brother as he left.
Laksh smiled to himself and got up. "A date." he spun once in glee. "A date. A date with Ragini. A date with my Love. Tomorrow, tomorrow!"
Adarsh, who was passing by, approached him seeing his elation. "You look really happy."
"Yep!" Laksh turned to him with a wide grin. "I've got a date with Ragini."
Adarsh looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "That's great and all. But dude..."
"But what?" Laksh questioned, still grinning.
"Dude this expression looks odd on your smirking face." Adarsh admitted, backing away. "Dude, if you keep that up, your face will stick like that. You're creeping me out with that grin."
"So what? I don't care!"
Adarsh raised his hands in surrender. "Okay Romeo. Good luck with your Juliet!"
#Next day, Rainbow restaurant#
Laksh's foot tapped on the pavement in excitement and anxiety as he waited outside the restaurant for Ragini to arrive.
"Um...are you Laksh Maheshwari?"
Laksh looked up at that voice. What he saw, made his breath still.
Ragini was in a elegant dress that beautifully complimented her skin and hugged her curves with a touch of decency. Laksh couldn't help but stare at her open-mouthed.
"Um...Mr. Maheshwari?"
Her voice broke him from his thoughts. 'Shit! Stop staring damn it!' he cleared his throat and put on the most charming smile he could manage. "Uh ye-yeah! Yes, I'm Laksh. Laksh Maheshwari. And y-you're Ragini, right?"
Ragini thought she had maybe seen hik somewhwre. 'Nah! Im probably mistaken. I would have recognized him otherwise.' she broke out of her thoughts and gave a small smile. "Yes. Nice to meet you Laksh."
"The feeling is mutual." Laksh replied. He couldn't help but keep staring at her heart-shaped face. "Pictures don't do justice to you. You look so beautiful in real than in the pictures." Laksh let out unconsciously. However,once he realized what he just said, he flushed in embarrassment. "I-I meant...I meant you look beautiful, Miss Ragini."
Ragini blushed at his words. She found it funny how he was stuttering and stumbling over his words. It made her feel shy, as well as made made her think he was being cute. "Thank you. Shall we move inside then?"
"Huh? Where?" Laksh questioned.
"Um...the restaurant? That's where we shall go, right?"
"Oh. Oh right! Right! Ahaha..." he laughed to cover his nervousness. Laksh felt like smacking himself on the head. 'Laksh! It's the first date and you're already acting like a headless chicken! Ugh! Shoot people without blinking you can. Yet, speak a sentence to her without looking like a monkey, you can't?!' he stepped to the side and opened the door for her. "Yes. Step inside please." he squeaked out.
Ragini giggled and went inside.
Laksh sighed to himself and grabbed his chest where his heart was beating frantically. "Well, if her mere presence is making me act so clumsy, I'm scared I might end up tarnishing my image till the date is over." he gulped and stood up straight. "Well, fingers crossed!" he took a deep breath and stepped inside.
***********************************
To be continued...
If you liked this chapter, do vote by clicking on 🌟. Thanks!
~ 🌹 Mona 🌹