Aboli

Part 74

"Liar! Everything you do, every word you speak is a lie! You think I don't know about this make believe marriage with Vishad? Why Sanyukta? Was it only about money? How much did you get paid to marry him? Answer me!" His fingers tangled around her hair possessively and his grip grew stronger. He wanted to pour out all his anger  to make her see what effect her reckless act had on him. His breath was aflame and her heart beat frantically in response as his presence violated her senses.

"What is about money that makes people believe everything is on sale? Marrying Vishad was a personal decision for me, Randhir! And you did not wait around much before getting into an intimate relationship with Nicole! Tell me why should we go on pretending that we owe anything to each other!" It pained her to make such a vile attack on him. But she was trapped and she needed to deal with the situation on hand.

"So you are jealous that there is a girl in my life, someone who is better than you? Why should you be? I have seen enough lust in Vishad's eyes when he tried to ravage you on that beach, like a vulture looking at a piece of meat! Maybe I should have left him alone to have his way with you! Because you handed yourself on a platter to him anyway!" If looks could burn into skin and flesh Sanyukta could be seriously hurt by his expression of frustration. His accusation was agonising, and there was very little she could do to resolve the issue. 

"Guess we are square then! You have Nicole and I have Vishad in my life. Maybe it is best that our paths do not cross again. Clearly whatever compatibility we had no longer exists. Please just let me go, Randhir! Hate me if you have to, but neither of us can change the past!" Her eyes could no longer contain their distress and her pent up tears rained down her fevered cheeks.

Something snapped inside him to see her cry. He longed to comfort her, to tell her that he had the power to turn the tide in their favour. He could not resist her quivering mouth anymore and his lips came crashing on hers. He tasted her salty sweetness as he pried her lips open. Time stood still as their kiss deepened. A sudden calm washed over them, as if a storm had just passed. The spell lasted until she groaned and pushed him away roughly.

"No Randhir, this is wrong!" His grip slackened and without another word she ran away from him, not bothering to look back. He just stood there feeling crushed, purged of every happy thought.

"I hate you, Sanyukta! I hate you for having killed my Mowgli! I'll never forgive you!" He lost count of how long he ranted wordlessly. Finally he limped back toward his car and drove aimlessly till he stopped at a familiar kerb.

"Bartender! A bottle of vodka, a glass, lemon and some ice!" He slapped some money on the table and the barhop obliged immediately. Randhir sank on a plush chair across a lounge table and drank a couple of shots of the tasteless spirit. The bar was dimly lit and his eyes wandered around, surveying the crowd. The place was just beginning to fill up with mixture of tourists and locals. He saw some familiar faces who waved out to him and he reciprocated. There was an air of casual disdain around him, reflecting the attitudes of the drinkers who were there to unwind, having left their troubles behind temporarily on the doormat at the entrance of the bar.

"You want a girl for company, man? I got many, Russian, Israeli, Indian- you name it! One hotter than the other and they are clean, certified by a doctor. Come on, you'll have fun!" The pimp flashed his phone gallery filled with pictures of desirable looking girls who were skimpily dressed and heavily made up. Some of them looked like they were still in their teens, straight out of high school. 

"Hot and clean is a contradiction! The only Russian I really need just now is distilled from grain and potatoes. Some other time, man! I am trying to forget all the girls I ever had feelings for, so thanks but no thanks!" He knew how to make the man stop chasing him. Sure enough he left his side, leaving a business card in Randhir's hand. Randhir looked at it and laughed to see a suggestive smear of a woman licking her lips, with a number inscribed underneath.

These women are all the same, they will sell themselves for the right price, he told himself! The way they do it may vary, but in the end it is all a transaction. Nour chose to sell her body, and Sanyukta, her right over the one she loved! I hate them both, he told himself.

He lost count of how many drinks he had downed but the bottle was not finished yet. He could hear his phone buzz and he ignored it for some time, drinking a couple more shots till he was feeling intoxicated. By now his phone was ringing incessantly. He picked it up and noticed it was Parth calling. His finger slid over the screen and he put the phone to his ear.

"Where's the fire, brother? Can a man not get drunk peacefully?" He slurred.

"Where are you, Randhir? Please come home immediately! There is an emergency!" Parth's voice was as genuine as it was urgent.

"I am in Pancho's bar. Why, what happened?" Randhir tried to think straight.

"Sanyukta, we think she has been kidnapped! Please come home right now!" Parth urged him. 

"Are you joking, bro? Because if you are then I'll just throw you off the roof!" Randhir snapped.

"No brother, I am not!" Parth wondered what his sibling was up to. It was not like Randhir to drown himself in alcohol in some random bar.

Randhir was alarmed. What did Parth just say? That Sanyukta was kidnapped? How could that be? Who could kidnap her? His head felt like it was ready to split open.

"Parth, you will have to come here and get me. I am too drunk to function normally!" Randhir ordered a strong black coffee before going to the bathroom to try and throw up. He had to sober up quickly. He wished he was dreaming, he wished it was just a nightmare and that he would wake up any moment and realise that the past few hours of his life had never happened!