Addicted - BOOK 1

1. Addicted and alone

1. Addicted and alone

On a top floor apartment of one the tallest New York City sky scrapers, a man stood in the balcony sipping beer and looking out at the city's hustle and bustle. It was night time and the city couldn't have been any brighter. However, his apartment and his heart spoke a different story – there was only darkness and gloom in them. Twenty seven year old Virat Vadhera had the face of a greek god and the physique of a runaway model. He had just about everything at his beck and call. Just about. Three years ago, he had lost something that he couldn't replace and that one thing was making him lose everything else that he had so tenaciously earned in his life - he was weak, addicted and alone - in love.

He heard his cell phone vibrate in his pocket but did not even bother to look at the person calling him. He ignored it. As far as he was concerned, there wasn't anything in his life that gave him any sense of excitement. The world as he knew it had lost its charm. Nothing reached him, nothing excited him. His threshold for bearing pain kept growing every day and there was a deep hollow inside him that was only deepening as the days passed. He was getting buried inside it.

He tried every single thing to bring him out of this hollow. He threw these huge wild parties, slept around with some of the most beautiful women in the city, and submerged himself in alcohol and weed. Nothing gave him any pleasure. Nothing gave him any satisfaction. The more women he slept with, the more hungry he became. Nobody could satisfy him - Nobody could make him feel like she did.

He was almost always high on something on the other, he couldn't function without alcohol. His colleagues and business partners became used to these disgusting habits of his but they didn't said anything to his face. He was a necessary evil for them. His quality of work and focus wasn't there anymore. But, he was still the founding partner, CEO and the major shareholder of their multi-billion dollar empire – Vadhera Global. They tolerated his eccentricities while bad-mouthing and cursing him behind his back. He had huge anger issues. He fired people at the drop of a hat. People in his company were growing restless with his attitude and the heartless playboy image the magazines had created about him in the social circles. It was affecting the company's reputation.

He had pushed all his friends away, all his family away. There was no one he wanted to talk to. Not a single soul in the whole wide world. He was drowning in his own misery.

The phone kept buzzing again and again. He answered it irritated, it was an international call. "Vadhera" he answered, putting into that single word as much ruthlessness as he could.

"Virat?" he heard a familiar voice.

"Bhai? What number are you calling from? I am sorry, I am a little drunk...." he tried to pull all his energy and focus on the call. It was his twin brother Viren, probably the only person with whom he was alteast on speaking terms. At one point they were inseparable, but now, he avoided him. He didn't want to speak with anyone more than it was necessary.

"Virat..Listen to me carefully, me and Jeevika have come to India for a visit. You will never believe whom I ran into in Delhi."

"Who?" Virat asked in the most indifferent tone.

"MANVI"

"WHAT???????"

"Yes brother, she is in India, I followed her and got the address for you. She is staying here with her Uncle's family in an apartment complex at the business district. You should come down, Virat."

He just got a 1000 volts charge pass into him. He couldn't believe that she was in India; hell! he didn't even think she was still alive.

"Bhai, don't lose sight of her, I am starting right now!" he hung up. He was unable to believe that this was really happening. A jolt of energy passed through his brain creating a mad rush - a rush to meet the love of his life - his passion, his inspiration, his wife, Manvi. After hanging up his call with Viren, he called his secretary Meredith.