Bitter Victories - SvetKara OS

Bitter Victories

The soft music, the swaying lights did no justice to her beauty. The woman stood at the center of the dancefloor as if lost among the cluster of dancing couples. Her eyes blacker than a starless night, colder than the deepest pool of black water, were confined behind thick lines of kohl. Her glossy sleek hair twisted into a stylish knot and her willowy figure clad in a midnight blue saree. There was no denying of her beauty, or that charm that was irresistible to any man. She knew that every gaze in the ballroom switched to her from time to time. The men leered with lust, while the women burned in envy. She did not care, she had always been immune to those stares. Her eyes shifted from one pair to another of curious eyes, the arrogance of her expression seamlessly merging with the elegance of her manner. Until her eyes fixed themselves upon another pair, equally cold, equally proud and intense enough to make her shiver inwardly. That gaze she had never been immune to; the least she could do was hide it well, behind a casual expression of flirty invitation.

He towered over most in the room. There was a certain aura in his personality that separated him from the rest, something contrasting like a frozen flame or a darkness hidden within a star. Something that was enticing and dangerous at the same time made itself known beneath those eyes. She had always read about predators and prey, but never had she imagined the encounter of two predators could set off so many sparks. They stood unmoving, holding each others' gazes across the sea of people separating them. Neither of them blinked, or bowed down. That war had been going on for so long now, that both of them knew neither could win; however they were addicted to battling that ceding had never been a choice.

She watched with a frozen expression as the man approached her, parting the sea of dancing couples, he held out his hand for her. The lips of the siren curled as she took the offered arm, their fingers barely touching, as he lead her for a dance. Without turning her head to look she knew thousand eyes followed. They had always been the COUPLE, always the center of attention wherever they went; a powerful union of two equals, two fighters, two predators...two enemies...She added mentally.

As if they had practiced it many times, her hands entwined around his neck and his found her bare midriff. The icy feeling of his fingers against her skin made her wince for a fragment of a second, but it was nothing compared to the coldness that emitted from his eyes. She gazed deeply into those steely, closed off orbs, as they swayed to the music, each step in sync. The ice of his hatred burned her and she was addicted to that feeling. The knowledge that she could make someone who was purer than anything she had ever came across turn so dark, was intoxicating that it made her giddy. He had been a star, so bright and light, she had turned him into a black hole, her own personal dark angel. She had filled his heart with so much hatred that there was no place left for any other emotion, and it was all hers...no one else's, she had made an angel fall.

"Where were you?" She asked as they danced, her voice as always rang with authority. He dipped her wordlessly, his breath burning a spot on her throat. She blinked at him, waiting for an answer as she rose gracefully.

"None of your business," his tone was curt, laced with smugness. From her memories of yore she recalled the same voice, soaked with emotions, none of it remained now, at least not when they conversed.

She shrugged, holding his gaze and keeping her emotions from coloring her tone.

"Next time don't keep me waiting," it was not a request but an order, to which he arched one of those perfect eyebrows as he twirled her around.

"Does that threat really hold any power?" He mused casually, a smirk that was so alien to his face making itself known. "You have nothing more to snatch, I have nothing more to lose. From what right would you dictate my life?"

"I'm your -" She really did not complete that sentence, the look he gave her was enough to evaporate the last word. Wife? Had she fallen so beneath that she had to claim that relation to get her work done? Had not it been her, who had spun this trap around him until there was no escape? When did the tables turn, and she was left entangled in her own web of enticing games? He smiled slowly, watching the understanding dawning on her face, watching the fire burn behind those eyes. That smile did not reach his eyes, nor was it warm like old times. She shivered under the glow of that wicked display of teeth.

"There is nowhere left to  run to, no trump card left to play, what exactly are you going to do now, darling?" He pulled her closer, his fingers running the length of her arm as he whispered. It was the same game she had played with him once upon a time, showing her a mirage of something she would never have. No matter how much it looked like seduction, she knew it was nothing but a lethal illusion. Now she knew what it felt like when the spider was approaching and you were helplessly caught in its web.

"What exactly are you?" She said, her mind reeling with disbelief. There was no way she could poison him to this extent, there was no way she could corrupt him so much. There was no way Omkara could turn into this person.

"Don't tell me you don't recognize the monster you've created."

The words suffocated her, as she stared at him speechless. Between them a mobile was vibrating. Even that disturbance took a moment to register itself in their minds, to break that torturous trance. Before he answered the call, she caught the caller ID in a glance.

"G"

The steely mask of indifference dropped as he listened to the other end. She watched from sidelines as his eyes turned softer. There was something tenderly in the way he spoke, something like the longing of a man reaching out for a drop of water in a desert, something she had not heard from a long time, something that reminded her of the person he had once been. It was then she realized it, the man he truly was had never belonged to her, would never belong to her. She had never managed to get him either. What she got was what she had created, by burning whatever he held dear.

"Wait for me," he ended the call and dropped the mobile back into his pocket, before turning to leave, leaving her at the dancefloor once more. She reached out and caught his wrist before he had managed to walk away again.

"Who is she?" Her curiosity had won over her pride. She needed to know, to whom she had lost the only thing she ever desired. He turned around to look at her, there was an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Someone you'll never get acquainted  with."

Her lips twisted into what she herself did not know was a smile or a grimace.

"And what have you promised her, your heart or your mind?" With all her heart she hoped it sounded sarcastic, rather than depressed.

"Neither; cause I can't promise her something which is already hers," His answer was as poetic as it was poisonous and his hand slipped from hers as he walked away.

Svetlana never cried, for she had never known how to grieve. Instead standing there, stranded in the middle of an elite ballroom, she threw her head back and laughed, laughed and laughed. She laughed until her lungs burned and eyes watered and the crowd wondered if she had gone mad or not. She laughed at the bitterness left in her mouth and knowing exactly how Jhanvi might have felt all those years ago.

For the first time in her life, she laughed at herself.

**

Open to your thoughts, waiting for your feed back.

I'm really sorry if it had either offended or disappointed anyone.

Thanks for reading and giving it a chance.

Love,

Sakura