Guilty Pleasures

12

"When your back is forced against a wall...break the goddamn thing down..."

Pallavi, deprived of sleep, walked besides Krishna who was yapping away carelessly, her words rushing forth, that Pallavi seemed oblivious too.

Her little nods in between, her soft hums of approval and a few words seemed to please Krishna enough for her not to say anything to Pallavi's obvious change in mood.

To be honest however, ever since Raghav Rao had entered her world, these mood swings were none the stranger, in fact Krishna had begun to half expect these sudden changes, but today something else seemed to bother her best friend.

And she could see it from half a mile the reality of everything, of how inevitably Pallavi had fallen for Raghav.

She turned slightly, watching her friends downcast eyes, and her answers flourished in front of her.

She let a sigh escape her lips, hoping, praying, almost begging for her sister to pick herself up before she ended up falling further to a point of no return, for a man who in her eyes remained undeserving of her.

As her and Pallavi walked forwards their synchronised steps were forced to a resounding stop.

Krishna looked towards Pallavi who's steps pushed forwards despite the clear shock. Their eyes simultaneously rushed over the words, and Krishna could see the way Pallavi's mind had seemingly gone into overdrive. The words of Eviction stared them in the face, as Krishna seemed to finally find her voice.

"Didi what is this?"

Before Pallavi even had the chance to utter a word back, a loud continual car blare cut the words off, the two turning around to see Raghav Rao sitting on top of  his car, staring at them with nothing but cold and murderous intent.

He stood in front of her, his eyes scanning over her form, a light shiver emitting from her as he did. He smirked slightly catching on instantly.

"This is your new ticket out of Hyderabad."

She rolled her eyes. "What new drama is this now Mr Rao?"

"You said it yourself Ms Deshmukh that you do not want any favours from me. The biggest favour I did was give such a pathetic 'businesswoman' my shop. Now on your insistence I'm taking back that favour. Amongst a few others I have done for you."

He took a step closer, Pallavi cementing her feet down stubbornly despite her instinct to move back, he grabbed her hand, slamming a stack of papers in it.

"This is your eviction notice. I want this shop cleared in fifteen days and I want you out of this city for good."

"What else can be expected from you Mr Rao but fact check, you can't kick me out of this shop, because according to the law it stands that the landlord..." she waved her hand in front of him. "Must give at least a months notice for the eviction. Not fifteen days."

He smirked walked around her to lean on the closed shutter, his foot hitting it with force, "And when have I ever played by the rules? Tell me Ms Deshmukh, have you ever heard of the phrase 'know your enemy'?"

He paused.

"I'm aware of your affiliation to the law and so I did some research  myself... In accordance to the Rent control act of 1948 legally there are grounds I can pass this eviction on, and if you bothered to open those papers you'd see what they were. But never mind I'll just tell you. Number one the first standpoint for the eviction is: The tenant has intentionally not paid a mutually agreed rent amount for more than 15 days from the due date."