OBSESSED

12

Naira was a bit nervous when she was summoned to the dining room by none other than her kidnapper or better known as Narasimha Varma. After what happened last night she surely wasn't prepared to face him. I mean not generally you witness a murder and pleasantly have breakfast with the killer next morning. For people who have grown up in a crime ridden environment must not find this absurd socialising with the killer any bit of odd but for people like Naira who have been brought up in a civilised society surely found it unfathomable to sit on a same table with a cold hearted killer. Therefore she resisted, made excuses that she wasn't feeling super famished, even went step forward and lied about her stomach condition but everything proved futile. The woman her captor sent to fetch her was politely obstinate. She had no choice but to relent and follow her to the dining room.
"I have specially asked the cook to make you some muffins. I was told by boss that you love muffins." Stacy said as she lead her to the dining room. Naira smiled weakly. Honestly she wasn't a very big fan of Stacy, although she was always too polite to her. In her opinion she was a snitch. Naira was too sure that she parrots word to word what she says and does during the whole day to her kidnapper. And everybody hates snitches. Like why are you so interested in putting your nose in everybody's business??? Stacy held the door open for her and left once Naira was inside the dining room. The room was dimly lit by the soft light emanating from the halogen bulbs held high up in their sockets on the walls. Outside it was dark even though it was very early in the morning. Grey clouds had huddled up in the sky and they had blotted out the sun completely, hence leaving everything dark and monotonous all around. The windows were open and strong gusts of wind blew into the room, swaying the blinds and ruffling the papers held under the round paperweight. Amidst the cool draughts and bleak weather, Narasimha sat calmly on the chair, hands knotted on the table and eyes patiently scanning her from top to bottom. Naira tucked her hairs behind her ear, uncomfortable under his creepy gaze.
"Good morning." he said calmly. Naira looked up at him nervously.
"Good morning." she replied. He beckoned her to take a seat close to him which she did.
"I am sorry for the dim lighting. The weather here keeps on fluctuating and you'll get used to these depressing bouts of weather in due time. Shall we start the breakfast??" asked he tenderly. She could see faint smile lines around his mouth as he smiled. And even though he strove to look courteous and kind, she could only see an unhinged monster in him after last night.
"Hm!!" she responded meekly. He smiled.

He served her two buttered pavs and a good amount of bhajji. And he thankfully didn't forget to add an extra scoop of butter on top of bhajji. He might be a crank and a psychopath, but he did cared a lot about her eating preferences. Although born and raised in Kerela, he knew a lot about food from other states and he is always eager to seek some additional help from his staff ofcourse. Naira was a Maharashtrian and he was simply firing darts in the dark hoping one would stick by picking pav bhajji as a breakfast menu. But by the look at her face he was confident that he wasn't completely offbase about her preferences since she seemed to enjoy the meal. In addition to pav bhajji, they had upma which Naira wouldn't even touch since she disliked it completely, and muffins and a glass of orange juice. The thing with upma is if you won't eat it on a daily or a weekly basis, you'll hate it because there's something about upma that you don't seem to like at the first time but as you eat it more often you'll start loving it. Narasimha couldn't blame her though, he himself equated upma to sand in his childhood. Partly because the cook in his household was a terrible cook.
"You slept well??" he asked, stirring his coffee. Naira looked at him alarmed.
"Um...um yes!!" she lied. How was she supposed to sleep after witnessing a murder???? Narasimha looked her in the eye and she gulped.
"Look Naira I don't like to play with my words. Whatever happened last night wasn't my fault my princess.....it's on you. You are the reason that woman is not alive anymore and scary as it may seem but she might not be the last if you don't change your attitude." he told her scoldingly. Naira quietly heard him, too terrified to react. All of a sudden she felt his fingers on her hairs. She gasped loudly and looked up at him in horror.
"I don't want to gaslight you. I don't want you to see yourself as a monster because you're not. It was a part of a very stupid mistake that you made unknowingly which unfortunately caused that woman her life." he said pining her hairs behind her ear. She looked at him aghast. He was literally victim blaming like can't he see it. She was the victim here and he is literally blaming everything on her. She was starting to get angry now.
"With due respect Mr. Varma I did nothing. I only asked her a question..."
"It's not that simple as you think." he interposed loudly, silencing her completely. He leaned forward and continued.
"The issue is you're inviting people between us and no man would accept or tolerate that in the first place. Whatever is in this house is between you and me, I will not appreciate outsiders trying to meddle in our relationship. You shouldn't have discussed this in the first place. If you were concerned about your father then you should've come to me but no you assumed that a complete stranger was a better candidate than me to answer your questions. How is this fair and relevant Naira???? Answer me!!!" he shouted, clearly pissed off. Naira literally wanted to cry. Like he was creating a tunnel out of a hole. This wasn't something to be so angry about. But it's not what it is. He was pissed off because his lies were a hair's breath away from being exposed and at this point he certainly won't allow any impediments whatsoever in his perfect plan. He had waited patiently for weeks to have her in his house and until she falls in love with him and marries him, he will make sure nobody gets even this close to exposing his lies.
"Promise me, you'll never ever bring this topic in front of anybody. Promise me!!" he barked loudly. She flinched and nodded. He smirked.
"That's better. Now come on finish your breakfast and head back to your room. I will get you some chocolates on my way home in the evening." he said happily as he kissed her forehead as if nothing had happened a few seconds ago and he wasn't yelling like a maniac just now. She didn't respond. Who knows if he gets pissed off again!!!

Naira's day was boring. She watched some tv, played with the bunny and slept a little. She asked to be allowed to move out of the house for some fresh air but was denied. Stacy asked her to go to the terrace instead. She refused citing that she hates terraces anyway. It wasn't an altogether lie, I mean she wasn't a huge fan of terraces. At moments like these she actually missed her old life a lot. And honestly this place was starting to suffocate her. It felt as if she was in a prison. The more time is passing here the more she has started feeling that Narasimha Varma might not be an accidental kidnapper and that maybe he's not telling complete truth to her. This realisation was concerning and even daunting considering that he wasn't a common man and with this big bungalow and all the luxuries attached to it, it was pretty obvious that he was a man with influence and power. But innocent her still couldn't understand his intentions behind him kidnapping her. What was he seeking??? For Narasimha it was her who he sought. Her as his wife. Her as a light to his darkened world. She completed him. And since she had been here, Narasimha had really noticed a difference. This was no longer a bungalow but a home, a home he always longed for. And he acknowledged that his actions weren't justified but his intentions behind them weren't corrupted and that he genuinely loved her. The age difference between them was ofcourse eyebrow raising but he wasn't the one who cared about people's opinions. He knew she would become a wonderful wife and an even more amazing mother to their children. Narasimha had seen a perfect dream. A dream of a perfect family he always longed for since he was a little boy. And anybody who stands between him and his dream would be eliminated. Either she is his or they both perish. There was no other option.

When Narasimha returned in the evening, Naira was taking a shower. She did hear an unclear staccato and realised that the owner of the house was back. But didn't he promised to bring her chocolates??? She chided herself for drooling over chocolates while she was actually a captive here with no fixed date of escape. By the time it struck 7:00 she had already worn her night clothes and was patiently waiting to be summoned downstairs for dinner with her kidnapper. But instead of dinner, Stacy asked her to follow her to Narasimha's room. That was odd since she'd never seen Narasimha's room. But she followed her nonetheless. Stacy knocked on the door and Naira went in when he answered 'Come in'. Coolness braced her as she stepped in and she realised the air conditioning was on. She had closed the one in her room for the weather was cool today. His room was very minimally decorated. There was a chandelier, a king size bed and a couch and table. That's it!!!! Guess few men don't care about interior designing a lot. But the bungalow was beautifully furnished and decorated in general. She saw a doll on the console table close to the bed. Narasimha didn't look like the one who would play with dolls. Maybe it was for somebody else.

As she was looking around, she saw his phone lying flat on the bed. Naira was never a courageous girl but circumstances force you to give up cowardice sometimes. She looked around anxiously and then immediately lunged for the phone. Thankfully the phone didn't need a passcode and she easily found her way to the phone's keypad. Quickly she typed her father's number, looking around anxiously to make sure nobody was watching. All of a sudden, as she had pressed the phone to her ear, she heard the click of the door. Terror flashed across her face as she saw the bathroom door smoothly opening.

When Narasimha stepped out of the bathroom, he found his baby girl standing nervously by the door, her hands held together tightly.
"Everything ok!!!" he asked concerned as she looked pale and anxious. She wiped the sweat off her brow.
"I think I left my room's ac open. I'll be back in a minute." she muttered and ran outside. He was utterly confused.
"This girl." he chuckled as he made his way to the mirror and started brushing his hairs. As he was grooming himself, his eyes fell on his phone. It was exactly on the place he had left it. He looked away but then something struck him and he turned back. He stalked towards the bed and studied his phone. He cocked his head to his side and watched carefully and as he watched his eyes turned darker. And that's when he found himself staring at the door through which the love of his life just ran away.
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