Flouting Our Destiny

Chapter 2

Arjun lay on the bed to overcome his jet lag, his lips curved into a big grin remembering his eagerness after spotting the mysterious 'pool' lady at lunch,
the third son of his parents, had immaturely hopped up to Lakshana and inquired about the woman whom he subconsciously called, mine.

"Oh! That's Draupadi, come I'll get you guys introduced" Lakshana's words ringed in the man's ears, somewhere deep in his heart, maybe he knew that the woman and the name had a connection.

"Drau.." he had sheepishly heard his cousin call out for her best friend.
"Meet Arjun, Arjun meet Drau..." his heart thanked the maternal cousin of his for playing the role of a Cupid, the lady who was wearing a green dress, first stared at him, just like he did, and then shook hands, staying indifferent towards the 'pool incidence', any person who would have observantly witnessed the formal meeting would have commented them as lovers of the past, which they actually were.

Arjun smiles ear to ear, turning sides on the bed, recalling how the woman's hand perfectly fit in his hand, made for each other.

Why did he call her, mine? The long chain of thoughts of the woman charmer inflicted a hidden pain of his, the voices inside his brain which he often encountered, those stupefying blurry visions which used to make him dumbfound.

Arjun wanted to get his brain treated, immediately, as he recollected the reason of why he was serving a suspension period from his workplace,
those nasty visions and unusual voices had caged his thinking ability while he was delivering a speech in an important meeting and thus he ruined his father's reputation by blankly staring at the audience.

Draupadi, his voice reverberated giving a sweet taste in his heart, helping in overcoming the bitterness of staying away from work.

Feminine fingers knocked hesitantly on the door of the man, Arjun jumped up feeling guilty of fantasying about the girl next door, literally.

"Arjun?" Draupadi could not complete, as the man himself excitedly welcomed her in.

Why are you acting so desperate? His brain slapped itself.
He behaved perfectly perverse from his best behaviour.

"I need a pair of scissors" trying to be unaffected by his presence, she asked.

Scissors! Scissors, his mind danced to the tunes of the word, one could see him acting weird in front of her but she was as uneasy as he was, both of them felt a mutual attraction but dared to say, obviously they had met a few hours ago!

"Here" the simper on Arjun's face made him look more foolish than his antics, the trembling hands of Draupadi cursed her for coming to the guy next door for help.

"Can we meet at the Pearl lawns at 7:00 today?" His manly voice shivered her soul, acting as cool as possible the lady asked for a valid reason,
"This resort has a troupe of singers coming at 7 every day to perform" he frankly stated.

"Sure" the agreement was no less than a melody for the already hopeless romantic.

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Love. Pure love, Draupadi's heart couldn't agree more, it was definitely much more than mere attraction.

The 24-year-old who always kept herself busy in office or some other work had never experienced love, those vivid dreams of hers forced her to be afraid of commitment, she would ponder upon the proposals and confessions of known as well as unknown men but couldn't gather the strength to say yes to any of them, her nightmares were many and quite detrimental, the quick grasping power of her brain had once declared when she had got up after seeing another lethal nightmare, that the connection of her night imaginations was to love and commitments.
But today, for the first time, the girl who was afraid of her dreams was ready to forget everything and establish a relationship with a man she hardly knew, he was, he was like a magnet, the more she thought about him, the more she felt closer to him.

He was the same person she met in the morning at the pool and then at lunch, how has he managed to captivate her mind, perhaps heart too.

She coloured slightly recalling their atypical first meeting, she liked his touch, particularly his scent, his persona and he, himself.

Her heart beats fastened sensing his approaching footsteps, passing a glass to her, he comfortably placed himself beside her.

Folk songs were hummed by the atmosphere, for around half an hour classical songs were sung by the talented singers who entertained the audience but as the younger singers took a lead, they began with delightful retro songs, Draupadi felt her feet tapping to the lag ja gale.

"May I" Arjun's voice reminded her of Cinderella's Prince Charming,
His hand which was forwarded was slowly accepted by her hand,
This cousin of her best friend, whom she had heard about but never paid much attention to the countless praises was a real gentleman.

Dim lights switched on as many couples started to dance, Arjun's hand perfectly rested on her waist, while the other tightly clasped with the familiar lady, their eyes when asked to move away, were not ready,
Draupadi's nightmares started to get distinct into something like déjà vu, the frame of a man, an ancient setting, heavily jewelled robes on her body, but a similar touch, the man's hand in hers,
Aarya!
The word choked her,
Draupadi stared at the sky, breathing heavily, gasping air, she felt as if out of breath. She faltered just like the music momentum did.

"Arjun" She tried to support herself by clinging on to him.
"Draupadi" Arjun exclaimed as the lady of his fantasies fainted in his arms.
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"What had happened?" Sarakshi's concern deepened seeing her baby sister open her eyes.

"I..I don't know" the fresh lover boy came up to the two and exclaimed.
The elder sister uncomfortably yet protectively placed her hand on her sister's shoulder.
The view of the acquainted person carrying her sister in his arms was still afresh in her mind,
How dare he touch her little sister?
Why was he so concerned?

Both Sarakshi and Vidyut were very possessive about their sister, who was the youngest member of their team.