A Fortunate Accident

The Wolf

Chills went down my spine for the umpteenth time as I adjusted the black rimmed spectacles on my nose and leaned my head on the car's window pane. It was a habit of mine to fidget with something whenever I was nervous. And right at that moment, I felt like upturning the whole car which was taking us to Shekhawat Mansion, if only I had some Hulk power in me.

I glanced to my right to see an equally anxious Vidushi fidgeting with her purse handle. Well, seems like I am not the only one who fidgets.

"Vidushi?" She craned her neck towards me and tried to smile a little. I gulped as she patted my hand.

"You look perfect Sanyukta. No one will be able to recognize you as you.. er.. given that no one actually knows you by your appearance..I think." She seemed unsure of her own statement and I gulped, shaking my head.

This was such a stupid idea.

I was stupid to agree to that.

But Parth seemed to be so confident of his plan.

I should have thought about it before agreeing to it right at the moment.

But Randhir was alone with possible murders loose in that mad house.

I would get murdered the instant anybody finds out.

But no one knows me except for those burly goons that Harshvardhan Shekhawat sent at the hospital the night Randhir was in ICU.

Parth was already in Shekhawat Mansion wherefrom he messaged Vidushi that it was the right time for our entry. The entire morning and half of the afternoon, Vidushi had spent on giving me a makeover.

The makeover consisted of turning me into a replica of the corporate lady; a pencil skirt down to my knees which had a really annoying slit on the back that made me extremely uncomfortable and a white deep-neck plain silk blouse, equally frustrating to wear.  Black rimmed cat eyed spectacles sat on the bridge of my nose while my eyes were brushed with smoky eye-shadow. On Vidushi's insistence and also to my utter annoyance, my lips were painted blood red with lipstick. I hadn't caked my face in my life with that much makeup. In my opinion, I looked like a hooker rather than a 'secretary' to be honest.

When the car approached a large metal gate, my nervousness was oozing out of my aura.

What will I say on meeting them?

What if they see right through my disguise?

What if those goons still remember me by my stupid bravado that night in the Nursing home?

What if Randhir was being treated badly by his own family?

What if he misses me? ( Well I hope he does otherwise all these acts are worthless)

Will I be able to carry on with the act?

"Sanyukta.." Vidushi's cold hand on my shoulder brought me out of my dazy  session of nervous nail-biting. The instant I looked at her, she seemed like a whole different person to me. She was smiling at me— a polite formal smile. No nervousness, no fear. How does she manage to do it?
I could swear I was so scared that I kept on looking at her wide-eyed, without blinking as she gave me one last overview.

"Close your mouth, get a grip. It's showtime." She patted my shoulder and waltzed out of the car.  I admired her back as she walked ahead of me. Even her back demanded respect.

We walked inside the massive front door of Shekhawat Mansion with me trailing behind her. I kept on pulling the uncomfortable skirt down.

My eyes took in the sight of the luxuriousness of the mansion. It was a palace! A palace that had a giant chandelier hanging right in the entrance. Attendants ran here and there in uniforms as we walked into the hall. As I was instructed by Vidushi, I tried maintaining a straight professional face but the attendants kept on giving me these weird looks that it was quite hard to keep the straight face going. Yep, I definitely looked like a street-hooker.