Winner of Wattpad India Awards 2020 (Judge's Choice) in the New Adult category.
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"The lights are cheeky, you can't live without them, and yet if you get too close, they'll blind you. Darkness? Well it doesn't cheat. It's cool and soothing. It's r...
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Sun rays in her direct line of sight made her vision red. Or maybe it was just her simmering blood.
Her frenzied state alarmed the receptionist, who tried to chase and stop Madhu but couldn't move from behind her desk fast enough to prevent her from heading straight to his office. Richa, Javeri's assistant, looked up immediately. "Is he in there?"
She nodded, not rising from her chair.
Madhu pushed the door open, barging inside and throwing the copy of his paper on his table. "What is this?"
"Thakur hey." He didn't bother glancing at her, making a great show of reading a file though she could see his eyes were staring at a single spot. "I thought you won't be back before Diwali."
"Why you got other libel hit-pieces for your rag?"
"Right now, it's your mouth that smells like a rag. Did you even brush or is this some new connected-to-the-soil villager kind of statement?"
"The least you could've done is called me."
"Where exactly?" he demanded, finally dropping the act and directing his attention at his long-time patron. "You were off the map, with a broken phone. How was I supposed to contact you?"
"So you chose to smear my name? Papa is already talking to our lawyers to sue your paper for defamation."
"Don't be like that. You're welcome to write your own rebuttal. We can take your interview right now. Though we'll need a picture so you might want to change." He looked at her crumpled tee and curry stained jeans from the day before, unibrow contracting into a frown.
"Seriously, have you brushed?"
Ignoring the question, Madhu dropped on a chair opposite his desk. "Why did you smear Nakul's name like that? You weren't even there, you don't even know him. He tried his best to stop them. I was there."
"We only quoted the victim and wrote what he alleged." His voice softened from something Madhu knew wasn't even close to sympathy. "Look a court case would only make you look like a guilty rich person. Going to another paper would make it seem that your story is not credible enough to be run by a non-biased source, AKA us. Frankly, I don't think anyone cares about you, but sticking up for your heroic boyfriend might make you look good."
"He's not my boyfriend."
"Obviously, I didn't mean that literally," Tarun was quick to say. "As if SRK from Swades would ever be your type. No, I meant that even the most liberal of our readers would be angry at the way we've accused a decorated ex-serviceman. Defending him might make you look good."
"I don't understand why you made me look bad in the first place."
"Hey, you were the one who wanted the spotlight on that village. Now you have it. Any publicity is good publicity. Tell us your side of the story."
