Charming Menace

chapter 1

Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy
Vanished when I saw your face
All I can say is, it was enchanting to meet you

— enchanted, taylor swift.

•

14th February.
Valentine's Day.

She stared at the date like it was an old scar.
A deep dagger that had been pushed, the wound left untended to for years.
She knew she was lying to herself.
She knew she was running away - yet she did not know how to stop.

She had a choice, either isolation or the sunshine with a tinge of ache.
She had seen how painful isolation was - and now when she saw the sunshine, she had accepted the ache with it.

There was a knock at the door.
She inhaled a deep breath, straightening up.
It was an important meeting.

She strode down towards the door.
And she abruptly paused before the dressing table mirror. She looked at herself.

The eyes looked as numb as ever.
Wearing just a plain semi-silk saree, white and pink, hair left open, the make up was rather little but acceptable.
It concealed her tear stains.
That was more than enough for her.

She gulped.
Gulping down all her tragedy.
Even if she had the shroud of darkness around her, she refused to let that darkness touch anyone else.
For everyone else, she was a ball of positivity and sunshine.
She chose to keep it that way.

She turned and opened the door.

"Anupamaa ji, we must leave now. The party must have begun at the Paradise.", Her Boss, Yashdeep Dhillon said.
His voice laced with anxiety.
"Paradise?", She asked softly.
"Zaveri's club. He owns it. Tonight is Valentine's Party there. His assistant said that he might meet us today.", Yashdeep informed her.

She nodded.

Arnav Zaveri was a man of immense power. Even the US government bent before him.
There was not much known about him. He was said to be cold, arrogant and a dominating force. Social media and news channels often labelled him as a blind sighted business shark. He only cared about profits. And he hated to lose.
Ambitious, power hungry and a man built out of darkness.

There were other rumours too.
Rumours that said he was a charmer. One sight of his clean shaven handsome face was more than enough for women to fall for him.
His sharp jawline had sliced through women's hearts like a butter knife.
And most importantly, he was single.
The most eligible bachelor of America, if not the world.

Anupamaa had sat all night drawing out information about the said billionaire who was buying their restaurant.

Yes, the restaurant where she worked.
Her livelihood and only source of joy and happiness in this foreign country.
This businessman was snatching it from her.
Getting an appointment from him is a matter of months, but thankfully today was Valentine's and he met people without an appointment today.

She set out in a cab with Yashdeep, her mind still stuck at last night's reasearch.

Another side of news also added that his family was extremely traditional.
Zaveris, despite being rich and wealthy held on to their Indian roots.
They had taken the initiative to conduct every single Indian festival at a rather huge scale here in New York City.
Arnav Zaveri would himself come down to celebrate these festivals with commoners.