Besabriyaan

Chapter 58

N A N D I N I

It's not that I never tried. I did, at one point of time. I tried hard to break all his walls and set him free because I forever believed that within all his boundaries, stayed a man who suffocated himself in the shackles. But, then I saw and understood that the window to his soul was a prison cell and the more keys I collected, the farther my toes travelled from gravity. I started losing my ground, my existence and it was hard to breathe.

Part of me was unsure if he really effected his presence in the bookstore and in such uncertainty, I, under no condition was willing to risk a visit. What worse could happen is, the entire moment of my travel to the place, I would be dreaming of things and ultimately, reaching there, the reality would eat me alive. He again would lose nothing but I, I would lose all the remains of my shattered pieces.

Sitting before the mute television, my eyes moved to the clock which told it was only an hour away from hitting seven and inhaling a determined breath, I raised the volume up.

M A N I K

Endless words poured in me and I prayed that the sound of each of them would come with clarity tonight. Gliding the hair gel once more with my fingers, I twisted my neck to look at the clock on the wall and it was six already. Looking at myself in the mirror and the burgundy velvet tux, I fixed the already fixed bow tie as if that would make any difference. Unlike the filthy trend of whatever the stupid men these days followed, I always preferred wearing a tux to an Opera and considering the specialness of the occasion that was today, I could not go wrong with my dressing. Chugging the bourbon, I felt a spark of unknown happiness when someone knocked on the door and for some reason, I imagined that would be Murthy, all dressed up and somehow staring at me the way she used to.

"Coming!" Putting the glass in a hidden corner, I breathed once before opening the door.

"What the.. hell?" My face soured seeing Abhimanyu standing, rather hammered.

Without a care in the world and most definitely, forgetting that I was still his employer, he walked in my room like it was a free-entry park for his amusement. Shutting the door behind me, I came inside staring sharply only to find him seated too comfortably on my bed.

"Nice bed." He bounced a little to feel the mattress while I glared with my arms crossed across my chest. "Nicer than mine, of course. They wouldn't give a bed like that to an assistant." He chuckled, totally unaware of who he was bullshitting in front of.

Glaring, I stood before the mirror and dipped my fingers into the gel for giving a bit more shine and fix to my hair. "What's the bloody matter with you? You were unconscious on the sand yesterday and it's already six today that you already— stop touching my things!" I hissed at he picked up my pillow and pressed it to his cheek to check out the softness. That moron.

"Shhh" That idiot even dared to imagine of shushing me. "Don't you get tired of bossing people around? And, what the hell are you doing to your hair, huh? Making yourself look like a stud?"

For a split second, my mouth fell open at his newfound audacity. "D-do you know who you are talking to?"

"Yes!" He somehow managed to stand up with a couple of hiccups. "I'm talking to the man who made my life" Hiccup "a burning hell." He stood beside me and I, for once, watched him because he was clearly beyond my understanding tonight. "Whatchya looking at the mirror for, huh MM? Lucky for you that it can't laugh." Hiccup.

"Shut the hell up." Pushing him a little backwards, I made him fall on the bed and turned to the mirror brushing my hair.

But, the idiot stood back up with a stupid grin and a hiccup. "I wonder...how you manage to brush your hair so that your horns won't show." He laughed.