"Lie there," he ordered, suddenly cutting through the silence and undoing the top button of his kurta. When she didn't move, still shocked at how she ended up marrying this man, he cocked his head towards the bed. "There."
* * *
Twenty-one year ol...
Priya surreptitiously wiped her wet eyes and nose, but the tears and snot kept flowing despite the men not being present around her. In a blink, a coarse hand with the neatest checkered handkerchief stretched towards her. She blinked many times, not believing how neat the handkerchief was, coming from the not-so-neat, rugged (and downright cruel) man.
"Will you take it now?" He said, growing a little irritated at her stare.
"I'm not crying," she said, taking the handkerchief from him. After wiping all her tears and snot in the most ladylike way she could afford to, she stretched to give it back. But he had already turned around, striding away briskly. "I'm openly declaring---" she sidled beside him, her chin high up in the air as if to recover some of her lost dignity. "---I came here to take my revenge on you."
He smiled wryly, stopping in his tracks. "How did that go?"
"I will find something and make you regret that you ever crossed paths with me."
"Sure."
She took a long, threatening step forward. "I mean it."
"Yeah, go ahead." His wry smile broadened, stooping so his face was inches away from hers. Up close, Priya hated to see how handsome this man was with his sharp features, jet-black hair, and cold cat eyes. "Whenever I lose something, I always get it back."
It was her time to smile, an angelic smile that turned psychotic when she uttered, "Not Naina."
Instantly, thick and rough fingers wrapped around her slender neck like the claws of a wolf, lifting her in the air. Ohas squeezed her throat and her face paled to the color of chalk, but her smile never faded. For the first time, she saw pure fear in this man's eyes at her relentless smile and mentally, she cackled in laughter. Oh, baby, he couldn't break a glass doll that was already in pieces with shards as sharp as knives. He was only going to hurt himself, she was going to make sure of that.
Frustrated, Ohas dropped her and she fell, gasping for air, yet not desperately.
"My father does this a lot these days," she said, touching her red neck and smiling as if savoring the sweetness of nostalgia. "I can't get him his money and he has gone bankrupt. Whenever he held me like this, it was best to not panic and smile. It amuses me how terrified he can get at my smile, just like you. Why---" she paused, smiling wider at the shock that briefly registered on his face. "---is it hard to believe that I don't get the princess treatment?"
"I don't care."
"I can see you're starting to care," she said, coughing a little as she got up. "You can try whatever you want to save your sweetheart, and I'll try whatever I can to save myself."
* * *
Those words rang in Ohas' ears long after that woman had said it and as she started to leave, he followed her at a distance. He hated from the fiery depths of hell that resided in him at how she found him familiar like her father, familiar enough that she no longer was scared of him. He shouldn't have saved her from those men, unfamiliar and dangerous to her. Yet, why was he following her now, ensuring that men like them don't come close to hurting her?
This woman had risen a tornado of contradictions inside him, he wanted to kill her, to put an end to these contradictions. But he knew that simply killing her wouldn't be his win, it would be hers. It was as if the girl was waiting for death to happen to her, he could see that in her crazy smile.
The woman now walked high and mighty in the street in front of him while earlier she was walking with little jumps of discomfort. He had killed the discomfort in her, made this unfamiliar home of his, familiar and hers. Now, she owned the darkness.
Just under the streetlight where his shadow fell distinctly on the ground, she stopped. "I know you're following me. You care."
He didn't say anything for his breath hitched at her voice, at getting caught. He caught a glimpse of her smile on the reflection of the windows of a Maruti car, a smile much softer. Pure. Angelic.
She started again and he continued following her, carrying the bundle of contradictions with him. He stopped at the turn of the lane of her bungalow, watching a stout lady decked up in a sequin saree rush towards her. The lady's alarmed voice echoed in the night, "Where were you all this while?! Your father will come any time now."
"I was at Ahanay's place," came her dull response.
"How could you meet him dressed like that? Have you seen yourself? He'll never love you if you go around looking like a loose beggar woman." Gripping her arm tightly, the mother dragged her towards the bungalow. "Get changed right away and don't let your father see you like this. God, have we raised you to look this low? No wonder he chose that beggar over you."
Ohas' fists tightened at the insults thrown at Naina, how dare that woman speak ill of her.
Just then, he heard Priya speak, "What's the difference left between us now anyway?"
At that, the mother took a fistful of Priya's wispy hair and dragged her inside violently, shutting the door so hard that it resonated in the entire lane. Her hair was as delicate as flower petals and she would have ripped them with her force. Ohas walked further ahead, leaning against the wall opposite the bungalow, lighting a cigarette and hearing the mother's drama and commotion unfold.
The drama soon quietened down, he watched Priya's room light up and Priya walked in, her face paler and her hair disheveled like a ghost. She drew the flimsy white curtains close and he quietly watched her silhouette change clothes, her thin arms clumsily removing her dress and bra. Just then, a shiny BMW sped up the lane and a balding man in a suit jumped out, running to the house. The man was so occupied with his anger and determined to take an action on his troubling thoughts that he didn't even notice Ohas standing there. Within seconds, he saw the silhouette of the man barge in Priya's room and hold her naked as he shouted, "You slut! Got yourself pregnant, but didn't even marry him! Fucking bitch!"
She struggled against at his hold. And he slapped her right then, at her resistance. When she fell down from the impact, he was gone.
Ohas stood there, aghast, the cigarette falling from his lips and setting fire to his soul.
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