My Grumpy Big Guy.
Ganika's cell phone keeps ringing for the the last few minutes but she doesn't find the urge in her to receive it. Holding her hand and sitting beside her Mihir looks at the phone screen for the first time and feels alarmed.
"I think you should receive it. It's Abhay da's nurse." Mihir says, bringing her out of her deep dark thoughts. She immediately picks up the cell phone lying beside her on the couch and receives the call. Mihir keeps looking at her as Zoya joins him. Ganika keeps responding in 'yes', 'okay' and multiple 'thank you'/s. As she disconnects the call, her already puffy eyes tear up and her lips tremble.
"He is blinking his eyes, just like every normal people do. He stared at the door when the nurse opened it. His eyes turned towards it. He..he's getting better Mihir. He is recovering." She sobs and says again,
"He is getting better, if only Sudha could be here with us right now, if only I could give this news directly to her and not anyone else." She wraps her hands around Mihir's shoulder and says through her muffled cries,
"Ask her to wake up! Slap her in the face and tell her to wake up. Why is she doing this to us? Why?" She keeps crying.
Zoya didn't feel when her legs started taking her backwards, she realizes it when her back hits the wall and an inaudible sob vibrates her entire body. She thinks about her Digbijoy uncle. That old man might be looking out of the window, up at the sky with those old hopeful pair of eyes. No, she can't go back to him with an awful news like that.
"Don't die you dumbass!" She mumbles to herself.
"I have always warned you, always told you to play it safe. But you, you are so adamant, so stubborn. See, where has that gotten you? Why couldn't you be selfish like others, like me, like everyone else? Why couldn't you Sudha?" She cries.
Derek stands beside the window, looking out at the sky. He isn't surprised today. He always knew she would end up doing something like this, that's the thing about Sudha that made him go all crazy about her. She is beautiful, she's smart, yes, it's true but it's always her selflessness and bravery that made her stand out of the rest of them. And that's something that made him realize he can never have her, it's the aura around her that screams that she deserves better. She deserves a Devansh Sachdev and she deserves to live a long life with her head held high. The society needs her.
His eyes fall down on the crowd gathered infront of the hospital and he sees how Abhirup stands right beside Maya, as if shielding her. He has always been the most courageous one after Sudha, that's why Sudha trusted him with her everything, even with the most dangerous and difficult responsibilities. He felt jealous at times, but he also knew that she's right, he has the ability to confront death, without even blinking his eyes. He looks around the bright white corridor, but ironically enough right now this place seems the gloomiest. Zoya stands at the corner with her back against the wall, her tear stained eyes closed, she keeps mumbling something inaudible. Ganika and Mihir are sitting on the bright blue couch right next to where Zoya is standing. Mihir is holding Ganika close to his chest. Mihir has his head hanging backwards as his glassy eyes look at the ceiling. Nihal is nowhere to be seen, Derek knows he has gone inside to "have a talk with the doctor" for the umpteenth time. And Ojas, like the obedient man he is, couldn't leave Danuj D' to himself. He went out with him, to buy clothes for her. Clothes that she might never get to wear, drinks that she might never get to taste. Derek shakes his head and wipes away the tears trailing down his cheeks.
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Ojas stands infront of the car as he sees Danuj coming out of the mansion carrying a duffel bag. No, he didn't go shopping, he chose to come back to the mansion and get her things. Things that might make Vasudha feel more comfortable, his boss thought.
When they entered the mansion he saw how he almost jumped out of the car and ran inside. He followed behind, just incase but he immediately regretted when he had to see the strongest man, the most confident man, looking everywhere with uncertainty. He recognized the vulnerable look on his face, her memories, her memories were haunting him as he stood infront of the stairs and kept taking deep breaths when his eyes fell on the couch sitting in the living. He saw him slowly looking back at the dark, lonely kitchen, he saw how he clenched his jaws because he couldn't let the tears fall free, that would mean accepting defeat. That would mean accepting something he wouldn't accept as long as he breaths. He saw how he snapped his head forcefully toward the staircase and his trembling fingers held the railing for support, but he won't show it. He ran upstairs. And that's where Ojas's fear skyrocketed.
The very moment he pushed that particular door open, Ojas nearly stopped breathing. The room was just the same, just as she left it. He saw Danuj turning the lights on, and the colorful photo frames, bright yellow curtains, light blue bed covers and pillows welcomed them. The only difference was the flowers inside the beautiful flower vases.
They were dead, lifeless.
Before Ojas could process anything his voice boomed.
"Change the flowers before she comes back! Don't you know she hates it this way?!" Danuj shouted.
"Y-yes boss." Ojas replied immediately.
He saw how he brought out her duffle bag and started putting her clothes, he ran inside his room and came back with atleast three different hoodies, his hoodies.
He put everything inside and just when he was about to zip the bag his eyes fell on something hidden under the bed.
As he brought it out it turned out to be a huge shopping bag, that had some gift wrapped boxes. The boxes were labeled with gift cards that said, "For dada", "For Nihal", "For baba" and "For Ojas", the very moment Ojas's eyes fell on it his heart clenched from within but the strongest strike was yet to come as the last box revealed,
"For my grumpy Big Guy."
And he saw it, he saw his boss loosing balance, he saw how he was about to fall backwards if not for his left hand that firmly placed itself on the floor to support his shaking body.
"B-boss.." Ojas tried to utter, but nothing came out of his mouth as he watched Danuj opening the wrapping paper with his trembling fingers. He opened the box and it revealed a dark blue dress shirt. Ojas watched his boss as he ran his long fingers through the material with so much affection as if the shirt isn't a shirt anymore, as if it's a living being. He stood up abruptly with the duffle bag hanging from his shoulder and the box in the other hand. Just when he was about to leave the room he turned around and turned the led lights on. Ojas might never forget how vulnerable the man looked while looking at those star and moon lights all around her room, with his grey glassy eyes.
Now as Ojas stands infront of the car, and sees Danuj coming out of the mansion carrying a duffel bag, wearing the dark blue dress shirt, it looks weird to him. The combination of open bloody wounds all around his body, his disheveled dark hair on top of his stubbled scarred face, his bloodshot grey eyes and the new crisp shirt looks odd, but he knows what's happening.
If Vasudha dies today, he dies with her.
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He doesn't take the elevator, they take too long, so he takes the stairs. The closer he gets to the floor the more he hears the muffled sounds of people talking, arguing amongst each other and crying, crying like someone close to them has just.... died? Standing right behind him Ojas hears the sounds as well, so he hurries up but his body crashes against the hard and tensed body of the man who simply stands at the stair, unmoving. Ojas immediately takes a step back and looks up at the face of his boss, the great, scary Danuj D'. No, he can't recognize this man, this man looks the total opposite, he is scared, so much so that his face has paled, his hands are shaking vigorously as the strap of the duffel bag is slowly slipping out of his fingers. His breathing seems uneven.
"B-boss?" Ojas tries to bring him out of his misery but fails as the duffle bag falls on the stairs and rolls down, that's when Danuj very slowly turns his face to look at him. He opens his mouth to say something but closes it because his concentration is again drawn towards the loud sobbing sounds echoing through the corridor. His grey eyes widen with pain, fear and desperation. But he finally manages to utter through his broken voice,
"She has to be okay. She has to be Ojas! Because if.. if she doesn't.. I'll end everything, I'll finish everyone." Ojas finds it difficult to respond so he chooses silence. A wrong choice indeed because that triggers something totally different inside him as he holds him by his shoulders and shouts,
"Why aren't you answering?! Tell me she is okay? Tell me.... tell me she is alive?!" Ojas looks up at him feeling scared, not of him but of the situation that's going on in the corridor. He feels sad and extremely nervous as he sees it, the determination, the confidence in his eyes when he says,
"Because if she isn't alive, I have no point living. I'd rather die."
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The Vile.
RomanceIf black defined darkness he was darker than that. He chose to be like that. Darkness attracted him. He loved the cold unless it was the warmth of blood. He drew his strength from others' fear. He was Danuj D. The CEO of The D' Imperium. If white d...
