Reena Desai: Kill Lady

Chapter 3

After a night of restless tossing and turning with strange dreams involving the macho man, I woke up feeling groggy. There was no way that I'll let him go easy. He had to pay for his conceited behaviour last night. I went down for breakfast, wondering how to tell my father that his power in Bangalore was being questioned.

"Reena, are you okay dear? You look like you haven't slept well", my father peered at me over his newspaper, concerned (or pretending to be concerned).

"I'm fine, papa", I said coolly.

"A cheap man proposed to me last night in the middle of the road and beat up all your boys. Thought you should know".

My father looked uneasily at me and focussed on the newspaper. I frowned at his negligence. He had never ever allowed anyone to get away with anything he considered a misdemeanor.

"Aren't you going to do anything?", I asked, concentrating on his reaction.

He folded the newspaper patiently and kept it on the table, avoid eye contact. He took off his reading glasses and deliberately began polishing it.

Last night's anger was rearing its ugly head.

"Errmmm.... Don't worry, Reena. I'll handle it", he said, still not looking at me. Something was fishy. Maybe he was planning on hiring him or knew him or whatever. The whole affair seemed suspicious.

"Maybe you are not as powerful as you think you are", I taunted and walked to the garden.

*************
I was sitting alone in the garden, thinking about my father's odd behaviour. Who was that guy?

I heard footsteps behind me. I didn't have to turn to know it was Kamal. This was the last thing I needed. His men must've told him, considering my father's odd reticence.

"Reena, we'll catch him definitely. We won't let him -"

I stalled him with a gesture.

"You promised me that I'll be the queen of Bangalore and you'll take good care of me. Thank you for taking care of me", I said sarcastically and walked away without sparing him a glance.

**********
I spent the rest of the day in my room, drawing new designs. I was an aspiring jewelry designer. After spending five years in Europe, primarily as a student of a design school in Milan, I had returned to India just two months ago. I was setting up the launch of my jewelry designing enterprise, but my father kept trying to interfere. He wanted me to work as a designer in the family gold business.

Doing what I loved the most gave me the much-needed peace. Only when I had taken my pencil off the paper, I realised what I had drawn. It was a thick band, with multiple layers of chains, exuding a daunting male aura. Perfect for someone who looked like...

I immediately shut my notebook, furious at my train of thought.

************

The next day, I received a call from Kamal, asking me to help them identify the obnoxious stranger. So, I went with Kamal's goons to teach him a lesson. The boys were to check all the rooms and I had to identify him. We swept through two floors and there was no sign of him. I was fuming.

Suddenly I was pulled into a room and the door closed behind me.

The goons were hitting the door, but the owner of the room locked it with a dangerous smirk.

Standing before me, in a white bathrobe, hair wet from the shower, was the same guy as yesterday.

"You came for to see me?",he asked in mock confusion. "Even you are missing me so much, darling?".