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Readers, this is the second thread of this fiction. Thank you all who have supported me through this journey. I enjoyed writing this as much as you enjoyed reading. And of course there's more to come. Meanwhile, here goes...
Part 16
Shlok went down and opened the door to see his dearest brother standing outside. Shlok gave a scowl at him and almost barked why he had come. "What is it?" Shlok's voice was short and he snapped the words at Varad.
"Can I come in first?"
"If I say no will you leave?" Shlok almost sounded hopeful.
"No." Varad's voice was flat.
"Come in." Shlok sighed. His hair was messed up; Shlok had barely managed to pull his jeans and a shirt before opening the door. His mood was very much bad at this untimely interruption. Varad came in and sat in the couch.
"What is it bhai? What is it this time?" Shlok sounded tired and defeated all of a sudden. Astha just then came down. She stood at the base of the stairs, not knowing whether she could interrupt the cozy reunion happening between the Agnihotri brothers. Astha could both of them from her position, but she was hidden due to the wall. Astha decided to stay put since she was shy of meeting anyone from Shlok's family at his ungodly hour.
Astha thought his brother looked equally handsome. Good looks must run in the genes, she thought to herself. She shifted impatiently from foot to foot to know what the matter was. Astha was excited since this was the first glimpse of Shlok's personal life that she was seeing. Though she started living with him, it was all about his rules and his irrational control. He never let anyone seeing beyond his controlling mask.
Astha hoped to get a glimpse of the man beneath the mask. Varad started speaking just then. "You know why I am here Shlok. Ayi wants you back. We heard you are living with someone this time. What is all this? Every time you know how it breaks Ayi's heart to see women come and go in your life."
"I give a damn and you know why too. If she wants me she knows what she must do bhai." Shlok sounded very harsh towards his mother. Astha looked keenly at them. What had happened that caused this much of bitterness in Shlok? Astha looked on as Varad spoke.
"Why are you intent on still punishing her Shlok? Don't you think she has already suffered enough?" Varad now sounded almost angry.
"Exactly! I too don't want her to suffer anymore. I want her to walk out just as I did." Shlok didn't back down one bit. His body and stance screamed aggression. Astha couldn't see Shlok's eyes but she assumed it must be serious and spitting fire.
"She hasn't been eating for the past two days Shlok. Ayi knows you're living with an unmarried girl. She wants you to come home this time. She is refusing to eat until you come home." Varad softened his tone. He was indirectly pressurizing Shlok to go back home. Astha's heart raced. So his mother knew about her? What will she think about Astha now? Astha bit her lip in worry. Her eyes clouded at the knowledge.
Shlok got up and gave a huge sigh. "I will come and see her. You leave now."
Varad got up and went without another word. Strange, no goodbye and no hugs. What kind of a family was this? Astha was now completely intrigued. She went back soundlessly to Shlok's room and waited for him to come up after locking the door. Shlok came in with a very distracted look.
"Shlok, was that your brother?" Her voice was soft. Shlok turned towards her, as if he realized she was there just then.
"How did you know?"
"I..I saw him from the stairs. Why aren't you living with your parents Shlok? Why are you so angry at your Ayi?" As she was asking all these too personal questions, she didn' notice the sudden fury that had entered Shlok Agnihotri's eyes.
"What gives you the rights to question me Astha? Don't interfere in things you don't know. You're not here to interfere in my personal life and to preach me. Got it? You're here for my pleasure and only for that. Know your limits and stick to it." The furious man standing before her did not resemble the ardent lover of an hour ago. Not one bit.
Suddenly things became instantly clear to Astha in a nano second. She felt like a wh**e, cheap and used. Thank God they hadn't gone all the way. Just Thank God! Tears were already pooling in her eyes. She had absolutely no control over it. Astha ran to her room, sobbing on the way. She sat besides the bed and cried her heart out.
The tears fell faster and faster. Astha had no one to blame but herself. She felt used and abused at the moment, as if she was a commodity. She had thought she could go through with it and she had romanticized notions about Shlok. But harsh reality interrupted her dreams and it had brought her crashing down in a second.
And she couldn't blame Shlok. Not at all. He had warned her time and again what he wanted and how he was. Yet she had gone into this like a blind fool. Well, this was her wake up call. To leave all this shit before it destroyed her completely.
Shlok realized what he had said and went after Astha. Maybe he had been a bit too harsh. But then, none dared to question him, especially not one of his sexual partners. His inner voice immediately popped a question. Is Astha only your sexual partner? Is that what she is now?
Shlok felt extremely irritated and confused. He went to her room to hear the gut wrenching sobs even before he saw her plight. Something twisted within him to see her like this. He didn't like it one bit that he was the very cause of her misery. "Astha." He was about to touch her.
Astha moved away from him and faced him with her furious, tear wrenched eyes. "Don't touch me." She spat on his face. "Don't you dare touch me. You don't have the right anymore. I am sick of you and your f**ked up life. I am regretting the choice of coming to live with you now. I thought things will genuinely change between us. Just who do you think you really are? You may be a billionaire, but you're nothing more than a cheap man who pays for sex." She choked on the last word.
Shlok looked completely crest fallen at her words. Immediately Astha realized what she had said. She controlled her spiraling anger and brushed her tears impatiently. Astha knew she was being unfair. Shlok had treated her with patience and respect all these days. She shouldn't have said what she did in the end.
"I'm sorry." It came out as a hoarse whisper.
"For what?"
"For those hateful words. I...I didn't mean it." She shed more tears at the impossibility of all.
"You didn't say anything that I already didn't know." He looked and sounded so bleak. Shlok wanted to take Astha in his arms and assure everything was going to be alright. He was afraid to get near her at the moment. He didn't know how she'd react, and he did not want to take a chance at the moment.
Finally, after a long time, her sobs subsided and Astha got up like an old woman. Shlok couldn't hold himself any longer. He gently took her in his arms. She went to pull away from him but he hushed her. "Please Astha, don't fight with me. Not any more. I can't bear it." He sounded like a young, wounded boy more than a successful billionaire.
"Don't hate me Astha, please."
"I don't think I can." Astha replied in a strange voice. she felt completely detached and felt everything was happening around her and not to her. They held each other for a long time and stood in the same spot.
"Shlok, I don't think I can be what you want."
"But you are what I want." He sounded so sure.
"I don't think I can go through with the mechanics of s*x without feeling anything." Shlok looked absolutely shocked.
"I knew it. I knew I wasn't good enough for you." He sounded so sad when he said that. Astha's tears started once more hearing him. Whoever had done this to him emotionally, didn't deserve a life.
"I should let you go." He continued.
"But I don't want to go." Her voice was a mere whisper. Her eyes were pleading with his to understand her feelings. At least now.
"I too don't want to leave you." He gently caressed her face and looked into her eyes. Astha felt slightly better hearing his words.
"I love you Shlok!" Astha finally whispered those words that were deeply buried in heart all along. Shlok looked truly horrified at that prospect.
"No." He held her away from him. "You can't. You shouldn't."
"Why?"
"I can never make you happy, never be the one for you." He sounded final and utterly broken. Astha knew then she had to leave. She just had to make the move before she completely broke down and gave into this pitiable existence.
"I think I'd like to leave." Suddenly her voice was firm. She had mentally made up her mind, and Shlok could easily sense that. Astha turned around and started packing her clothes and her books.
"Please stay Astha." He pleaded one last time. Astha refused to acknowledge his statement an d finished packing her stuff in record time. she was ready and they went down together in silence.
Astha called Preethi as she descended. From her tone her friend understood something was terribly wrong. Preethi lived in an apartment on her own, as she was affluent. She was out of town at the moment, but Preethi said she could get the key from the security. Preethi said she will give a call and inform the security.
Astha reached the living room. She turned around to see Shlok, who tried coming to her. "No." She stopped him. "Please don't touch me." It was a plea. She didn't want to be a slave to his desire anymore. She was afraid she will succumb the moment he touched her.
shlok looked hurt. He simply took the car keys and urged her to come with him. "I will manage." She attempted to defy him. Shlok simply turned to her.
"You will not. I will damn well drop you. I am not that much of a bas***d. At least not yet." For some reason his words hurt her a lot.
"Leave the rest. I will send Suresh tomorrow with your luggage." His voice bade no argument. Astha sat in the car and they reached her friend's apartment in silence. She got out of the car and looked at him one last time. "Bye Shlok!" Astha's voice was soft and final.
"Bye." The words were finally wrenched out of his system. Astha went in with a broken heart, while Shlok aimlessly drove along, not knowing where he was going really.
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