Love, Death and Vodka | A FEATURED STORY

Chapter 17

That night, her neighbor Priya was throwing a party. Tanvi was invited but not expected. But she went to drown her thoughts about Arjun. There was loud music and people moving around with drinks in hand. She felt out of place but was determined to spend time there and get drunk.

She found Priya, "Hi Priya, Happy Birthday" and handed over a bottle of red wine as a gift. Priya was surprised but accepted it gracefully, "Thanks Tanvi. Come on in, I didn't expect you at all. But it's nice to have you here. Let me introduce my friends. She's Sindu, Kaira, Manthena and Sanghavi. I'll be back in a moment. Make yourself at home."

Tanvi nodded and smiled at all of them. She sat with them and they passed her a bottle of beer. She took it. She knew the mechanics of drinking beer as she saw Arjun and Abhi drink it first-hand. However, she did not expect the taste. It was a Budweiser with a fruity flavor. She took a sip first, found that it was bitter, sweet and it had a tangy flavor. She decided that she had to acquire a taste for alcohol and these were nothing compared to mocktails.

She downed one full beer in half hour and was looking for more. Her new friends handed her more beer and spoke of different topics. Beer loosened her tongue, "Ah I love beer. It's so good. I can hardly think now. You know girls, you are all very good looking." After a pause she added, "I loved Arjun. He was so good to me. We made love all night and now he is dead. And I'm still here."

"Good for you, you at least fucked someone, I'm a bloody virgin," somebody, she couldn't recollect her name, declared and the others snickered. "I'm going to dance," Tanvi announced to no one and grooved to the music in her inebriated state.

Party was soon over as everyone moved out. She somehow dodged a couple of creepy fellows and was glad about it. Her words slurred and she swayed but she happily called out,"Thanks for the wonderful time Priya. I love you." She hugged her and left for her PGA on the next building. She still carried a beer in hand and kept drinking it.

She went into her room and locked it. After a while, loud retching noises could be heard from the corridor. Tanvi vomited all over her room, burped and farted but finally went to sleep on the floor.

She was sick and a total mess the next day. She got up with a heavy head and cursed loudly at the brightness in the room. She was drowsy and confused. She had cramps in her rib-cage after heavy vomiting.

She slowly got up from the floor and made way to the washroom. She was glad her washroom smelled good. She slowly cleaned herself, wore a fresh t-shirt and shorts. She drank a lot of water and went about cleaning the whole room. She wasn't sorry. She was just clueless and did not feel like thinking about the previous night.

That was when she decided to drink. The previous night gave her a way out from all the thoughts about Arjun and her regrets. She forgot about his booming laugh, his delicious smell, his soft touch, his taut muscles and intelligent black eyes. She was glad she could get away from his thoughts just for the night. Besides, she was an adult and liked to live life on her own terms.

She looked at herself in the mirror and found smelly long hair hanging to her waist. She could hear Arjun quite clearly, "I love your hair Tanvi, you have such beautiful, soft hair. I could get lost in its depths the whole day and never come out...."

She gazed back at her hair. She pulled a scissors from the cupboard and cut out lengths of hair. She ended up with a short pixie style haircut. She looked at all the hair in the wash basin and burnt it. She kept staring at the burning hair in anger and flushed the ash.

She had another bath and washed her head repeatedly, "I hate you Arjun. Asshole! I hate you for leaving me," she crumpled on the floor and fought back the threatening tears.