The next morning, as his alarm went off, Akshat left his bed and decided to check on Guddan. Stepping out of his room, he recalled that it was barely 5 and Guddan would still be sleeping. But the door to her room was slightly ajar and thus curious Akshat peaked through the miniscule space to find her bed empty. Surprised, he stepped in and found her missing.
“Now, where did she go?” He had started wondering when he could make out a mix of hushed voices coming from outside.
Approaching the balcony, as he leaned over the railing, he saw Viraj and Guddan stretching in the lawns.
‘I guess it’s not a surprise now that she has started her career’, Akshat smiled glad to see the smile on her face, even though he wasn’t the cause of it.
~*~*~*~*~
“Guddan…”
Viraj trailed turning to Guddan, who had started to do squats.
“Haan?!” Guddan stopped and turned to him.
“I w-was….uh…you know thinking that like….your relations with your husband are kind of strained…” Guddan stiffened as she heard him continue, “…so then why don’t you gi--
“Stop right there!” Guddan interrupted him with a frosty voice.
Pursing his lips shut, Viraj looked at her as she approached him with a scowl on her lips.
“Our relations are not for you to interfere in, Viraj…”
Viraj nodded as Guddan continued, “and if you’re going to go against the terms we agreed on, I’d rather cut this friendship short”.
Viraj nodded yet again, his face contorting in pain. “I am sorry. I won’t do it again. It’s just that….I never intended to put you in a spot..” he whispered clenching his fist.
Guddan let out a long sigh,letting the steel in her facial muscles fade away. “I am sorry too. I didn’t intend to come off rude. You are important Viraj and you know it. I just hope that we can continue to cherish this relation we have”.
And with that Guddan turned around to leave but her face went and crashed straight against a rather hard surface.
‘Did a wall walk into me or what?’
That question became invalid the instant a familiar scent invaded her senses and she took a hasty step back.Looking up, she saw Akshat dressed up in vest and track pants while his hair was being held back by a head band.
“Are you fine?” The two men in her vicinity asked at the same time as Guddan noddedwhile the duo just shared a look.
Clearing his throat, Akshat was the first one to break the awkward silence.
“I hope arrangements were to your comfort, Viraj”.
“Yes Mr. Jindal, I appreciate the gesture”.
Akshat nodded and turned his face towards Guddan only for her to steal her eyes away from him.
“Alright then, I’ll see you guys at breakfast” and with that Akshat jogged off while Guddan finally let her face fall into the comfort of her palms and started mumbling some incoherent words.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Priyanshi walked into the board room with her chin held high and sass in her body language, Akshat couldn’t help but marvel at the difference between her and Guddan. Rather than speaking fiercely, her words laced with wit and sarcasm had every person in the boardroom hanging to their patience by a mere thread. They were trying not to burst apart but when the chairman lost his composure, that slight quirk in her lips had him fist bumping the air as if it was his victory.
Guddan had outdone herself as Priyanshi!
In spite of himself, Akshat found himself hanging out to every minute detail out of sheer interest. Her first encounter with Arnav had his stomach in knots. Arnav was brutal and rash in his ways, crude in his words and yet the darkness around him did nothing to hinder her. Barging into her cabin like a madman, when he manhandled Priyanshi and twisted her wrist, Akshat felt his fingers itch to thrash the man to hell for he had dared to hurt his Guddan. He knew that it wasn’t real but he was feeling so involved that he himself was amazed. It wasn’t only Guddan! Viraj had portrayed the dark brooding mysterious Arnav well, unlike his bright personality. He was thoroughly impressed. Viraj Kapoor is impressive!
As the show progressed, the mystery around Priyanshi deepened and so did her ploys. And then came a scene that tormented Akshat’s sanity like no other. Walking into a party thrown on her account, she flirted with Arnav in front of chairman aka Arnav’s FIL in her body fitted, mid-thigh dress. As her sultry lips gazed against his rugged cheek in close up, Akshat closed his eyes annoyed and as he forced his eyes open, she had moved away from the man with a devious glint in her eyes.
Switching the phone off, Akshat let his body fall free on the mattress and closed his eyes. 20 long episodes he had watched, each one 40-45 minute long and that too in continuation. His eyes had started to burn but his mind was only swirling with What next?! He was hooked! Despite not liking Guddan’s closeness with another, he actually found himself a fan of Arnav and Priyanshi’s chemistry. And then Guddan’s character was so layered, unlike any he had ever seen that he couldn’t help but feel intrigued.
‘I need to tell Guddan right now!’
Guddan on the other hand had her head engrossed in what exactly had Akshat busy that he had Lakshmi bring lunch to his room and there had been no sighting of him at dinner either. Her musings, however were rather harshly interrupted as Akshat literally stormed into the room like a bullet.
For a second, her heart escaped her rib cage as she tried to calm her poor bundle of cardiac muscles.
“You know Guddan….”
And before Guddan had a chance to, Akshat had plopped at the farther end of bed, legs crossed as hewent onto animatedly narrate the story of her show till now. He went on to share his feelings without a filter whether it was about how classy her Priyanshi looked or how his throat went almost dry as he saw her in that skimpy outfit, or how he was so enraged as she flirted with Arnav. Above all, he actually was giving his two cents about the mystery surrounding Priyanshi and Arnav’s past. And when Akshat was finished, Guddan just looked at him wide eyed, mouth agape, astounded out of her senses.
“What I want to say is, if you would have told me that you were doing a show, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I would have watched it regardless of my interest but you know what, you are such a fine actor that my eyes refused to blink once until and unless all 20 episodes were done with. Well done, Guddan!You’ve made me proud. I already feel like the luckiest man in the world”.
“You don’t have to force yourself--
Guddan whispered, her voice cracking.
“I wanted to…” Akshat smiled in response and left the room.
A minute later, Viraj entered the room happily amazed, “What happened to your husband?! He was actually complimenting my role surprisingly enough!”
But no response came. Guddan was seated on her bed, out of her wits.
“Back to earth!” As viraj snapped his fingers in front of her, realization dawned and her face flushed beetroot red as she reminisced the words Akshat had uttered.
“And when you walked into the party in that ‘dress’, every fibre in my body had felt electrocuted. At that moment, I wanted nothing but to…devour you!”
Guddan clutched her chest as she felt her heart thumping between her fingers, the artery on her neck throbbing violently.
Who was she kidding?! He affected her. His mere words affected her. This was all it took to shatter her defences?! Why did she have a foreboding that upcoming days were going to get difficult? Her husband was dangerous!
While she sat contemplating her next course of action, Viraj stood at the doorway totally forgotten, his fist clenching hard enough for his nails to cut into his skin. That was what it was! He got it now.
He finally knows the real reason why Guddan turned him down!
SO HOW WAS IT?!
I can't even apologise for slacking off(^_^) Just hope that this update was worth the wait.