The rage that built over the years erupted like dormant volcano spewing hot molten lava in its wake. Varun rained punches on the man who had been his best friend since playschool. He didn't care that he got back as good as he gave. That was Shiven – couldn't take anything without giving it back.
"Shiv..." he growled, the name leaving a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.
Varun danced on the balls of his feet, his fists boxed close to his face. His friend held a similar pose taking them back to their boxing days. His ears buzzed with adrenaline, sweat poured down his face, but his eyes never left his opponent.
The ambience of a bar shifted to that of a boxing ring, the spectators cheering to see a man fall. Some rooted for the man whose black hair fell over his forehead, one side of his rumpled shirt hanging loose, his tie hung precariously from around his neck, but his disheveled state couldn't mask the singular determination in his eyes to punch the living daylights out of his opponent. The fury was as evident as the alcohol in the bar.
The other one wore a smirk that matched the way his neatly pressed shirt remained tucked into his trousers, the sleeves neatly folded over tanned forearms. The hands were rough, his jaw locked tight to resemble the will in his eyes to meet every punch on equal ground.
Excitement in the air was palpable, and Tej – the usually kickass, brave girl, cowered and was getting swallowed by the enthusiastic crowd. She struggled to break apart the two mad men fighting over a girl, with zero results. The two didn't care who they kicked out of their way as long as they could beat each other to pulp.
Whoever said distance makes the heart grow fonder didn't know shit about either the distance or the heart.
The two grown men, who were inseparable through childhood - shared girlfriends, taught each other to smoke, got drunk and wasted together, were fighting over someone who had clearly made her choice.
As they exchanged punches, both bloodied up, and panting heavily, their feet crunched broken glasses, the tables turned, the chairs toppled. Soon, from their places on the floor, they squinted up to find the cops looking bored and significantly pissed off at having to come disrupt a fight between a couple of morons.
Inspector Godbole narrowed his gaze at the two men locked inside the cell.
"One more punch from either of you, I'll book a case against both. Court or bail out – decide," he warned.
Varun and Shiv ignored the officer; they were too busy glaring at each other. Godbole cranked his wooden stick against the metal bars. That got their attention.
"There is a woman waiting to grant you bail," he said not looking at anyone in particular.
Varun smirked. Shiv looked indifferent. He walked to the wooden bench in the corner and sat, resting his back against dirty brown walls of the cell.
"Good. Then what's the delay, officer. Tej is here to pay my bail," said Varun confidently.
He knew she wouldn't let him rot in the cell. Naina wouldn't hear of it. The thought of breathing the same air as his prison mate was nauseating for him.
"We'll see. She wants to talk to you both first," informed officer Godbole.
"Both?" Varun snorted. "She doesn't even know this lowlife exists."
"Careful!" growled Shiv, his eyes darkening.
"She is here for me, Officer. You might as well prepare the bail papers." He turned to look at his ex-friend. "He... deserves to stay locked up." He wiped the blood trickling down his nose with the back of his hands, his eyes shooting daggers at the way Shiv lounged uncaringly across the bench.
Varun ground his teeth. He was always the one to have his temper on a constant fuse while Shiv kept his cool at all times. His friend had always been smarter, taller, and had the best of girls falling all over him.
"You kids are behaving...finally. How wonderful!" exclaimed Tej, walking over to the cell.
Varun glared at her. His eyes widened as Tej cocked her hip against the desk a few feet away and tilted her head to look at the other inmate.
"You okay?" she asked Shiv, who was holding his handkerchief against his bloodied chin. He nodded.
Varun frowned at the exchange. Was it concern he saw in Tej's eyes? What the...!
"He'll survive," he snapped. Tej grit her teeth and pinned him with her angry gaze.
"He better or you'll have your butt handed to you in prison. What the hell were you thinking behaving like a fucking two year old?" She pushed away from the desk and moved to stand directly in front of Varun, her face a few inches away from his.
"You have no idea what this guy..."
"Oh don't! I do this for a living. I know every angle there is in a relationship. I can frigging read the first line and stitch together the entire chapter. Fighting over a girl? Seriously? Where are you both? High School?"
"Naina is not some girl..." he ground out, his eyes hard as granite.
"Exactly. She is your wife, who is with you day and night. So what the hell are you fighting with him over? She loves you or don't you believe that?"
"Tej," he growled, warning clear in his tone, his eyes blazing.
"Don't Tej me. Do you have any idea how upset she is, how worried she is about you?"
Varun stepped back, shaking his head, his fingers combing through his hair repeatedly. "You told her?" he asked, dejected. "Why?"
"Why not? She is your wife," Tej shot back.
"You shouldn't have. Now she'll worry herself sick."
"Oh, so, as long as she doesn't get to know you can do whatever mindless thing you want to do."
"Tej, stop twisting my words. And why the hell are we having this discussion. So, she knows. Then am sure she would have told you to get me the hell out of here and home to her," he shouted, pushing forward his face in between the bars, his fingers tightening around the rods till his knuckles turned white.
Tej took a slow step back and crossed her arms. "No."
"What do you mean no?" he asked agitated with Tej's sudden sense of righteousness.
"Naina expressly made me promise not to. Her exact words – let them both rot in prison for the night. Sorry," she smirked and shrugged, not one bit sorry.
Shiv chuckled. "Atta girl. Good to know Naina still got it in her. This wimp hasn't..."
"Shut the hell up!" shouted Varun, and whirled around to glare at his friend. "Don't you dare take her name."
They stared at each other for a long few seconds until they heard a throat clear loudly.
"You girlfriends can continue once I leave. Too much drama gives me a headache."
Varun harrumphed. Shiv stretched and strolled over to the metal bars.
"Tej," he called softly and when she turned around, he smiled. "Sorry about the date."
Tej's eyes softened. She nodded. "Tomorrow?" She raised a brow.
"Sure. See you." She smiled and left.
Varun couldn't wait another second before he lunged at his friend. Shiv swiftly moved out of his way and held up his hand in surrender.
"How long do you have to punch me before you cool down, buddy?" he asked Varun who was circling him like an eagle did his prey.
"What the hell was that with Tej? How do you even know her?" asked Varun, his blood boiling at the exchange between them that he had witnessed.
"She is in the same business as me. We met at a conference few days ago." He stopped moving and indicated the bench. "If you stop those ninja moves, I can go and sit quietly over there. We don't have to talk to each other and we definitely don't have to kill each other. That would be a huge loss....for Naina."
Varun couldn't take his eyes off his friend. He hated his guts. And he knew he was taking Naina's name to goad him. He was bloody succeeding. He dropped his hands to his side and clenched them into tight fists.
"Let's not fight....for Naina's sake, let's not," pleaded Shiv.
Varun shook his head and whirled around. He fixed his stare at his friend. "You don't have to do anything for Naina's sake."
"She is a dear friend," he snapped and it only infuriated Varun even more. It was like adding fuel to fire that was already burning bright.
"That's what they call it now-a-days? You fuck a friend. Oh wait, only your best friend's wife."
"Wife?" Shiv was in his face in a snap. "You were fucking treating her like a bloody whore."
Varun's face drained of color and he raged. "Don't," he started but Shiv pushed at his chest.
"I'm not done yet. You think I didn't see the scars she always tried to hide?"
"I never beat..."
"I know you wouldn't. Thank God for small mercies. That much decency you have in you. But I saw the way you used to look at her and I knew what the hell was happening."
Varun felt faint and he staggered back to press against the wall.
"No one makes love to his wife like that, Varun. How many frigging times I tried talking to you? You kept assuring me you hated the sight of her. You threw your father's thick file on her at me. Newsflash buddy – That 492 page file didn't tell you a thing about who she really was."
"I know that. I know that, damn it. I burnt that file. It's ashes now."
"Too late. You treated her like shit because of that file. Because you couldn't believe your father would have actually chosen the best woman in the world for you. He just couldn't have. He was a sadistic bastard who couldn't see anyone happy so he set it up to ruin you. Again newsflash – you turned into your father overnight."
Varun stumbled down to the floor, clutching his head tight in his hands. The pain that shot through his chest couldn't be punishment enough for how he had been those two years. There was not a day that went by without him falling on his knees before God asking for forgiveness.
"I did, and I have been repenting every since," he whispered. "She was my wife, Shiv and you my best friend. You shouldn't have..." He looked up at his friend, who loomed over him with a menacing look.
Shiv bent down on his haunches and shoved a finger into Varun's chest. "Did you know she was undergoing counseling for stress and depression while you were busy drinking yourself invisible? Do you know who used to take her to those sessions? Who was there to pick up the pieces that you broke, and put it back together? You trusted the file and your father, while I chose to trust the person herself."
For long moments, they sat staring at each other, both trapped in their own memories. Each one of them painful and bittersweet. Finally, Shiv went back to settle down for the night on the bench while Varun sat unmoving, and let his tears run dry.
As the night stretched so did the heavy silence in the cell. With the first light of the sunrays sneaking into the cell, the officer clanged the keys against the metal rods. The two friends were the only ones in the entire prison with dry eyes wide open, not a sleepy wink through the night. Both looked beaten and exhausted, their thoughts weighing them down.
"You can go," said the officer on duty, opening the cell.
After signing the papers, each silently taking their turn, they solemnly walked out, head bent, and not a word uttered.
At the exit, Varun cleared his throat, and gulped trying to bring out his voice through the dryness inside.
"There is no excuse for sleeping with my wife, Shiv. And..."
"You don't get it do you?" he asked, furious. Shiv dragged his palm over his head. "How well do you know your wife, Varun?
"What's that supposed to mean?" Varun snapped.
Shiv sighed and shook his head, staring at something, nothing. He pinned Varun with a sharp gaze. "That night when we came to confess, you were quick to pronounce a judgment. Do you remember? You practically laid out the law – you took what you wanted, and you ordered me to leave the state forever."
"Don't talk as if you didn't have a choice," shot back Varun.
Shiv snorted. "Not really. The only one with a choice was Naina."
Blood drained from Varun's face. "She chose to stay with me." His heart came alive.
Shiv's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Yes. And if she had slept with me, there was no way she would have chosen to stay with you. That's the woman you are married to, Varun."
"You are lying." Varun narrowed his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Shiv laughed humorlessly. "I'm practically telling you, your wife didn't cheat on you and you are saying I'm lying?"
"Then what the hell was that night about?"
"We wanted to. We...uhm came close to. Well we didn't. Couldn't." He shrugged.
"You both wanted to," Varun said aloud, his eyes unfocussed on something far far away.
"Badly." Shiv nodded looking away.
"You almost did..."
Shiv cleared his throat. "Yeah..." his voice trailed away and he gulped.
Slowly, reluctantly Varun dragged his eyes back to his friend.
"Did you love her?" he asked Shiv, his breath locked in his throat.
Varun could feel the large lump in his chest growing rapidly in size as he waited for his friend to bring his eyes back to him and say something. Anything.
Seconds ticked by and the only indication that Shiv had heard at all was the way his jaw clenched and unclenched every few seconds.
His eyes were blazing when he finally met Varun's steady stare.
"What you really want to know is if Naina loved me."
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Dun dana dun! Few of the secrets are out, several more to go. Literally dying to know what you think. Please don't hold back on your comments. They mean a lot to me especially when am typing away like a madwoman trying to make the 50k words target in four days.
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Neeru <3