Sweet Revenge

8. I don't bleed

If he had any doubts before, they were all quelled now. This binding silence that his presence had warranted was very much required to straighten out this group of ungrateful wretches. These people had no conscience, and so he had buried his own too.

He had done damage already.  His impeccable planning had made sure that Baa and Kavya toiled with the house chores, they oh-so-loved to load on his Anu. Kavya and Paritosh were blacklisted, and Vanraj Shah was right under his thumb. And now that Anupama was back, he was going to make things spicier.

It was time to strike.

"Anu.." He called out to her loud enough, to catch everyone's attention.

"Haan?" She turned to him questioningly while he pointed his finger at her, before wiping the corner of his mouth with his thumb pad.

She proceeded to wipe the corner of her mouth before turning to him and nodding her head.
He nodded in negative, while she placed her forefinger against the right corner of her mouth and he gestured her to go low.

She tilted her head again, and once again he shook his head in response, signalling her to go a bit higher.

She complied yet again but as he gave a negative head nod yet again, she rolled her eyes and gave up.

It was then, he forwarded his hand, catching her eyes and wiped the left corner of her lips, with his thumb, his gaze darting between her eyes and the lips.

Anupama froze at the contact, while vanraj shah slammed the glass on the table with force, making Anuj grin, as he pulled his hand away and finally nodded in affirmation.

'What the hell was that?' Kavya gawked at the blatant display of affection, that vanraj shah had been a witness to but had kept quiet nonetheless. That too when there was not a peep of anything at either corner of Anupama's mouth!

Anuj finally rewarded the boiling man with a glance and licked the very thumb, with so much intent that vanraj shah nearly exploded.

Next, Anuj dipped his finger into the bowl containing the sauce, matched his gaze with vanraj's and brought that sauce laden forefinger up to the right side of his forehead
and dabbed it there.

Eyes furrowing in annoyance, vanraj watched the man flash him a coy smile before he pressed the spot with his fingers and winced.

"Ouch!"

Anupama twisted to face Anuj at the speed of light and catching his hand, asked in a worried voice, " Kya hua?!"

Anuj allowed Anu to pry his fingers off and her eyes widened as she noticed the red on his fingers and forehead.

"Anuj! Khoon!" Her hand had already reached out for his forehead, while few more lines added themselves to vanraj's forehead, as he recalled a not-so-distant memory where this man had implicated him falsely.

'That's not blood you dumb woman!' vanraj cursed inwardly, while anupama's brows furrowed as she felt the texture of the blood on her fingers, before her gaze shifted to the bowl of sauce, and she licked her fingers.

"Pagal ho gayi hai kya?!" Bas remarked at the gross display, while Anupama glared at Anuj who was biting his lips to catch his grin.

"Anuj!"

"Anupama!"

"Baa, ye sauce hai!"

"Hain?!" Face contorting, Baa looked at Anuj's smile and exploded, " Tumhe ye sab tamasha hi karna hai toh apne ghar wapas jao!"

Anuj laughed then, the corners of his eyes crinkling while he looked at vanraj. " Chill baa! It was a joke! I just wanted to see if I can fool anyone, since, you know sauce and other red things are often used as a substitute for blood in films and stuff".

"Toh tu ab film banane wala hai?" Baa asked, shaking her head.

Anuj's words had caught vanraj's attention by now, and Anuj took up his handkerchief and wiped his forehead clean. "Film kahan baa! Main abhi nausikhiya hoon. Haan, par I have developed an interest in directing plays. As a fact--

Anuj smirked while vanraj's eyes widened in realization, " --I did some rehearsal a few days back".

"Acha, tere play ka title kya tha?"

The dent in Anuj's cheek deepened as he replied, " Trapped!"

" Samar, tujhe pata hai iske baare main?" Baa enquired, and as samar nodded in negative, baa squinted her eyes at Anuj.

"Sapne main play kar rahe thhe kya? Kisi ko nahi pata iske baare main!"

Anuj leaned back in his chair, his gaze icy cool while vanraj's face burned hot. " It was a private show, baa"

"Private show?!" Baa snorted, " Fir kya faayda!"

Anuj smiled brilliantly at the snide remark. " Aw, don't be upset baa. Next time, I will make sure to include you all".

And a crash echoed. Brow raised, Anuj regarded vanraj who had slid his chair hard enough to topple it over, and was subliming at an alarming rate.

" Kuch kaam hai baa. Aata hu". Having said that, the man stomped out of the house, while Anuj grinned viciously.

And Anupama tried hard to wrap her head around Anuj's cryptic conversation. She could sense though, that something was simmering under the surface between two men.

Something humongous.

Note- Refer to chapter 5- Trapped, in case you are confused regarding the update.