Captured

Chapter 7

Matsyaa thought she committed a mistake when she combed her hair and Prem yelled for her umpteenth time. She was past over the patience to respond to him. Pushing a curl behind her ear, she dropped the brush on the table and saw her reflection in the mirror. She smiled brightly, noticing a hazel pair of eyes staring back at her. She dawdled to her bed and gathered her faxed documents.

"Matsyaa, please hurry up." She chuckled, buckling her bag when she heard Prem whining. She locked her room and paraded down the stairs. "I'm here!" 

"Look at the time girl! I'm a busy man." He grumpily flashed his gold watch at her and she made a sorry face, reaching to him. "I'm sorry. I had to check the necessary documents." 

Prem eyed her handbag and his brow erected. "We're going there only to make some introductions. These won't be needed."

"Well, I love to come prepared." She responded, lifting her shoulders in a half shrug. Prem phewed a sigh, keeping his hands on his waist and jerked his chin towards the exit. "Okay. Let's go?" 

"Sure!" Matsyaa grinned after the guard opened the door for her and bounced down the staircase. She ducked inside the car which was already prepared to escort them. Prem rolled beside her and shut the door close, eyeing her floral peach letter jacket. "Just for your information, you don't need a jacket. It burns here in summer." 

Matsyaa looked up at him and then down on her, "Oh, this. It's not a jacket, bhai. It's blouson." 

"A what?" Prem knitted his eyebrows and she rolled her eyes, "A blouson. Um, a long shrug. Like an overthrow? And, don't worry, it's made  up of high-end cotton. It's very comfortable." 

Satisfied, Prem nodded and pulled out his tab. He wore his rounded specs and tapped furiously on the screen. Matsyaa unpacked her camera from her tote and began to adjust its lenses. She was peeking in the lens to confirm the calibration when she heard a scoff. 

"Do you really know how to click pictures? Or you just roam around hanging it?" 

"I don't have to prove you." Matsyaa smirked, handling the cam like a professional and turned the little dials near the viewfinder to fix the camera diopter. Once done, she clicked a snap of his and showed it to him, "How's it?" 

"Average!" Prem scrunched his nose, waving his hand in a so-and-so gesture. She nodded, looking at the pic. "You tell me? I think I need to find a better model. You aren't photogenic."

Prem was almost about to agree but gaped at her when her words made sense to him and blurted out, "WHAT?" 

Matsyaa grinned, throwing her head back and the rest of the journey was exuberant with Prem listing the names of women who fell for his convincing charm and trying to convince her that he was handsome enough. 

***

After a week, the breakfast was finally refreshing for Ranvijay as he sat with his cousins and discussed the business with them. He had successfully kept Raghvendra on toes past week, feeling like a bully. On the dinner table at his grandpa's place, he had no intentions to reveal anything because he didn't want the older man worried but he had to instill fear in Raghvendra so he circumvented and mentioned Pavagadh many times.  

He kept his words so curt that Raghvendra had known and understood very well that if he tried to do any dirty trick, he'd face the wrath and bear the consequences too. However, they refrained from any direct confrontation. Randheer had missed dinner; Ranvijay knew why. He tried to contact him but the excuse was he had to go to Singrauli to meet his friend.

More like a hiding, Ranvijay concluded but chose to stay quiet. A tart show was made when his grandmother joined them but overall, it was tolerable for him. Since then, neither he visited Maangarh nor any news came from there. Basically, no troubles and no tribulations.