Vodka on the rocks

Part - 1

A/N:- This is a few days after the Janmashtami festival in Deshmukh House. Raghav and Pallavi haven't found out about Akshat yet. 

The various residents of the Deshmukh House were broken out of their sleep rudely by Mandar Deshmukh's loud yell. They came running out of their respective rooms disoriented but panicked to collect in the courtyard only to get the shock of their lives. 

Mandar was standing at the centre fuming like a mad man while their resident cook Swapnil was tied to what looked like one of the pillars of their house. The ropes so tight around his athletic muscular form that it almost seemed to dig into his skin through the fabric. His one visible eye was glaring at the eldest son of the Deshmukhs with the ferocity of an inferno which was frankly as disconcerting as it was familiar.

"Mandar, what happened? Why are you screaming in the middle of the night and why in God's name is Swapnil tied?"

Milind asked completely bewildered  voicing everyone else's perturbed thoughts, utterly unaware of how Pallavi's frantic gaze raked over the tied man, fear painted over her sleep mussed face so stark that it was almost painful to watch. 

"Come and see for yourself Kaka! This man is no Swapnil Nirulkar... a cook.. this bastard tricked all of us!"

"Mandar what are you saying? Why would he.. who is he then? And why have you tied him?"

Sulochana asked a bit miffed at the whole situation. Mandar went and ripped the mask over from their cook's face harshly making everyone else gasp in surprise as they finally recognized him. 

"Raghav Rao! Bohot chalak samjha tha na khudko tu? Pallavi ke paas jaane keliye ye ghatiya tareeka azmane mein sharm nhi aayi tujhe!!!"

Raghav snarled like a wounded wolf so viciously that Mandar unconsciously took a step back, his flight and fright instincts taking over as if in default, even though the former was securely tied up in unbreakable ropes at the moment. We can't fault him because it was a justifiable and by then a normal occurrence of any human being coming face to face with Raghav Rao's apoplectic rage. 

"Ei Kabaristan se utha hua laash! Woh mera wife hain! Ghatiya harkat toh tune kiya hain ye sab nautanki karke. Bohot ho gaya ye drama. Abhi khol mereko aur phir main dikhata hain merese panga lena kitna bhari pad sakta hain."

Mandar smiled so nastily that it made both Raghav and Pallavi's skin roil in disgust. 

"Galti kardi Raghav Rao. Bohot badi galti kardi tune. Mere hi ghar mein ghuske, meri hi patni ko paane ki koshish karke bohot badi galti kardi. Tujhe pata hain na ki abhi Navratri aane walaa hain. Yaad hain na, Navraatri ke ant mein Vijaydashami ke din kya hota hain?"

Raghav was glaring at Mandar so poignantly that had he been able to shoot lasers from his eyes, the latter would have been nothing but ash. Milind and Amrutha looked absolutely gobsmacked while Sulochana for some reason felt ill. Vijay kept throwing furtive and confused glances between Pallavi, Mandar and Raghav, his brain malfunctioning due to all the confusion whereas Pallavi for some inexplicable reason felt a sense of foreboding. 

As if something truly bad was about to occur and she was completely helpless in the situation. 

"Ae bina address ka envelope apna bakwas lecture band kar or dum hain toh ye rassi khol, phir bata ta hain main tereko."

Raghav cut in between stopping Mandar's almost disconcertingly maniacal flow of words. Mandar just smiled serenely looking more insane by the minute. 

"Haan.. toh jo main keh raha tha. Dusshera mein Shri Ram ne Ravaan ka ant kiya tha aur apni patni Sita Devi ko Lanka se bacha ke apne saath leke gaye the Ayodhya. Lanka se toh meri Sita pehle hi mukt ho gyi thi par Ravaan uske piche piche yahaan tak pahauch chuka hain. Ab uss Ravaan ka ant karna baaki hain."