Vodka on the rocks

Beyond the Horizon [Ft. Farhad and Raghvi]

A/N:- Trigger warning: Violence, Sexual assault, gore..

We were a strange love

Her and I

Too wild to last,

Too beautiful to break

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"Tum kya pagal ho gaye ho Ghamandi Rao?"

"Jury's out on that one my Saree ka Dukaan.."

Pallavi rolled her beautiful eyes in such an exaggerated display of exasperation in her husband that for a second Raghav thought her eyes might pop out of the sockets. He sniggered thinking about the same. She glared at him.

"Raghav we are not scaring Farhad."

Raghav Rao, never the one to back down from mischief scoffed and tugged his reluctant wife's slender arm as they slunk into Raghav's study room also notoriously known as his den.

"We are so scaring Farhad."

He chuckled and she slapped her forehead. They saw the people huddled together seated around the room. Farhad was sitting on his usual chair, the one directly opposite to Raghav's which was empty. Nikhil occupied the couch and Keerti was leaning over him, her head kept on his shoulder. Harish was loitering at the farthest corner and Krishna sat beside Jaya occupying the rest of the chairs. Amrutha entered just then with a wrapped bottle in her hand and Raghav and Pallavi slunked further into the shadows to remain unnoticed. Force of habit. They needed time to adjust after all.

"Here guys! I got the champagne. Let's celebrate."

She poured the crystalline amber liquid generously in all the glasses and distributed it to the rest. They raised their glasses to a toast yet none of their faces showed an ounce of cheer. What were they celebrating which made none of the occupants smiles reach their aggrieved eyes? Farhad stood up looking atleast a decade older than he is and went over to touch Raghav's seat. He moved his hand over the edge of the seat and swallowed back the upcoming tears which tasted like ash.

"Farhad... please. It's a day to celebrate. Don't be sad.."

Amrutha kept her hand gently on his shoulder yet her own countenance didn't match her words. Farhad shrugged looking away.

"Abhi.. jiju hotein toh boltein.. mera den mein kaunsa senti Bollywood film chal raha hain? Niklo sab... bekaar ka nautanki.."

Nikhil chuckled wetly. A few clogged laughs escaped at the pathetic attempt of humour. Jaya caught up the string and said next. Her empty eyes lighting up suddenly as if remembering something joyous.

"Phir Pallavi bolta.. kya Ghamandi Rao! Mere Bollywood ko nautanki bekaar bola? Tumhaari khair nhi. Abh bhi jhadoo leke aati hun.."

"Phir hum sabko tom and jerry WW3 point 567 dekhne ko milta. Woh bhi front row seat.. muft mein."

Keerti piped in and Krishna had to rub her eyes vigorously to remove the tears falling fast now. Whether of mirth or sadness, she couldn't decipher.

Yet through all the forced attempts of lightening the situation the sorrow in the room remained palpable and a dash of guilt was suspended in the air. Farhad chuckled finally, managing to gulp down his hysteric inflow of emotions long enough to speak legibly.

"Anna bht proud feel kartein.. you know. The way we all went about this plan and succeeded. It was a masterpiece. He would've definitely approved. I can literally see him smirking..."