Ominous flashes of blue illuminated the pitch black sky as the ground shook from the force of the thunderclap. Droplets of rainwater drizzled down and steadily increased in pace. Soaking wet, Madhu glared up at the darkened sky and muttered sarcastically, "Perfect. Great! Just strike me down why don't you, so my day can end on a perfectly tragic note?"
Angrily she kicked her generally reliable but beat up white Corolla, cursing at it for breaking down in the middle of the night, on a deserted road. She slammed the hood of the car down and swiped a set strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. It's past 10 pm and she knows that with her crappy car insurance and worse no one she knows well enough in this city to come rescue her, she will have to brave it out and walk to the nearest shelter.
Madhu decided from that from the shelter she will use the payphone service to call a cab to take home. She opened the car door and grabbed her purse and also her dead phone. She slapped her forehead and muttered angrily, "Idiot! This is what you get for not charging your phone all day long."
Sending up a prayer to God to whom she has not prayed to in a very long time, Madhu begged silently, please let me get home to my babies, safe and sound. She would have been home over 2 hours ago if she hadn't decided to be clever and take narrow backroads to avoid traffic. If her car had broken down in the middle of a crowded street, at least she could have gotten help, and if nothing else a taxi ride.
She fought through the force of the gust to create a small distance between herself and the car. Madhu trudged through the muddy water in her only pair of good heels, dreading she would have to throw them away after this ordeal. A flash of golden lights nearly blind her as she held up her arm in defense. The lights dimmed and with dread, she noticed the lights belonged to a black Audi. Hand over her heart as if she could stop the erratic beating, Madhu watched in panic as a man stepped out of the car.
With each step that brought the stranger closer to her, her breathing became more erratic and all sorts of horrific thoughts flashed through her head. Oh God! What if he rapes me then discards my body on the side of the road? Then I will never see my babies again and they will be left all alone in this world. God please save me!
With shaking hands, she frantically searched through her worn out, black purse and prayed she finds her pocket knife. As the man stepped close silently, Madhu whipped out the knife and with a tight grip, held it out, pointing at him. She warned in a trembling voice, "Don't come any closer or I swear I will use it on you."
The flashes from the lighting briefly lighted up his features as Madhu's eyes widened in recognition. She blinked her eyes a few times, as the man standing in front of her, dripping wet in dark jeans and red, skin-tight t-shirt, is none other than Superstar RK.
He elevated one eyebrow and glanced questioningly at the knife being held by the beautiful stranger. She is not beautiful in the classical sense but everything about her is very pleasing. His eyes brazenly scanned the way her demure, cream colored top clung to her wet body; she looked very alluring. He is immediately drawn to her eyes. They are an unusual shade of brown and hazel, just like someone he used to know. RK's eyes widened imperceptibly as he jogged through his memory and recognized the beautiful lady in front of him as someone he used to know.
Not wanting to cause alarm, he slowly held out his arm and spoke reassuringly, "Relax...relax. I have no intention of hurting you. I saw you walking in this awful weather and figured you may need a ride home."
Madhu steadily held on to the knife and responded sarcastically, "I know your ilk quite well. Given the type of people you associate with, you are probably just like them. In the name of providing me assistance, you'll just take advantage of my size, rape me and then discard my body on some nearby ditch. I may be much smaller to you in size but I won't hesitate to fight like hell for me life."
