Love, Death and Vodka | A FEATURED STORY

Chapter 36

It was Thursday morning and they had a safe flight to Hyderabad. As planned, Abhi dropped her off at her home and he left for his. He said he would call her after he spoke to his mother. 

Tanvi had a happy reunion with her parents. She took a long bath in her familiar surroundings and had a hearty breakfast with them. Her mother helped her to choose an appropriate attire for the meeting. She was dressed in stiff white cotton pants and crisp mid length cotton tunic in pastel green. She clubbed it with minimal accessories and mules. She looked dignified and carried it off with élan. 

Abhi called her sometime before lunch to join him. He sounded very grave and hung up immediately. She knew his meeting with his mother did not go well. He sent her a chauffeur driven car and her mother wished her luck. 

In about 20minutes, she reached his place. She had hard time believing the place she looked at. She was at a palatial bungalow sprawling over two acres of land, mostly pruned and mowed and about one-fourth of habitable space. The house boasted of an indoor swimming pool, a huge shrubbery and badminton court. The house was divided into two blocks. Block A was the residential block for the members of the family and the Block B had the staff quarters. 

The household was run by a team of about thirty people who worked like well-oiled machines, right from cleaning maids to cooks and even a butler. It was three stories high. It had ten bedrooms and ten washrooms other than that a double height entrance hall, a formal living room, a formal dining room, a ball room, a couple of receiving rooms and a study. 

As soon as Tanvi stepped into the double height entrance hall, her jaw dropped to the floor. She saw a clinically clean house with white walls and all white décor. She was self-conscious and thought that she would soil something. 

The butler took her to an elevator and she was struck with the elegance of everything around her. It was very expensively furnished. But it was too cold and rigid for her taste. No wonder Abhi's apartment in Bangalore was very colourful. 

But the influence of this place could still be found in the Bangalore apartment with the monotone of muted grey walls. She decided to add more cheerful colours, at least to some of the space in their apartment. She was astonished to think it as their apartment. 

They reached the top floor and the butler led the way to some kind of a receiving room. She entered the place to find it swathed in a pleasant shade of soft pistachio green. The furniture was in a very dark shade of the same colour. She couldn't find Abhi there. She was asked to sit and she sat cautiously at the edge of her sofa and her back was ramrod straight. 

After about ten minutes, Abhi walked in. He was a vision in dark blue jeans, crisp white shirt. He paired it with penny loafers and his statement Gucci watch. He was in casual stated elegance. He smiled but it did not reach his eyes. His eyes were very grave, she could tell he was relieved to see her here. She quickly stood up and reached for him. 

He crushed her in a bruising embrace and whispered achingly, "I missed you Tons." 

"hmm hmm. I wouldn't say I missed you because I knew I'll meet you here," she replied cheekily, that brought a reluctant smile to him and he relaxed.

"You wound me Babes." 

She snorted, "Hardly" 

"So are you ready?" 

She immediately sobered,  "I'm very nervous Abhi." 

"That's a first. I never knew you could be nervous," he joked and she glared. 

She saw his eyes were laughing at her, "You Sir are impossible." 

He smirked but sobered, "Don't be nervous. I know you have a kind of stubborn strength which will help now."