Chapter 3 - Intrigued

• Arriving at the office, Tanvi greeted her colleagues and went to her cabin with a dazzling smile. Expectedly, It’s a long and busy day. She became immersed in a new project, which is quite challenging and needed high attention.
• While analyzing the reports, a mail popped on her screen, “Tanvi, send the design to ‘Digi Software’ ASAP.” She sighed out of frustration with scrunched eyebrows, “Piles of work waiting for me, this included.” With that, she took a deep breath and shifted her focus.
• She didn’t notice how the time flew and skipped her lunch. When her stomach growled with a twinge, she hugged her belly with a tight grasp, a short squeal escaped her lips, “Ouch!! It hurts,” and peeped at her watch, “07.00 PM.” A gasp spread over her soft lips, and she stepped out to grab a snicker.
• Seeing the chocolate, Ameera popped in her head, “When was the last time we hang out?” Her slender fingers shifted onto her chin with this thought, “Damn!! It’s been two weeks since we met,” She pouted. Meanwhile, her phone buzzed. It’s Advik.
• “Hey, where are you?” Advik asked.
• “Just came out of my office. What about You?”
• “I’m passing by. I’ll pick you up.”
• “Okay, duffer!”
• A few moments later, Advik arrived in his sexy black Honda city, and they headed over to Inorbit Mall at west Malad. Though it’s very near to her office, it took them half an hour.
• Surprisingly, Ameera was already waiting for them. They started chilling and wiping off their stress.
• ...
• “I need to get through all of this today.” Rudra figured. Since it is Friday, it took him some more time to complete all his business in the office. Realization dawned on him, “It’s been weeks since I had a good time with Tamaz.” With that, he dialed Tamaz.
• “Hey, Tamaz.”
• “Hey Bro, anything happened?” Tamaz asked.
• “Nope! Just need to relax. I’m making a reservation at the Irish house Private room at 09.00 PM, meet me there. Bye!!!”
• “Ok, bro!”
• “Do I have a choice? I need to go if I went to get done in time, otherwise, he’ll kill me.” Tamaz chuckled.
• Rudra’s lips curved upwards with the thought of Tamaz. “You even went against your family for my sake.” A proud feeling seeped through his nerves. “Without you, how terrible would I be?” He wondered and made a call to Maahir.
• “Yes, Boss!!”
• “Make an appointment at The Irish house Private reservation at 09.00 PM tonight under my name.”
• “Okay!”
• Rudra leaned on his chair with legs crossed and messed up hair with his racking. His eyes shifted to the blue file lying on his table, which demanded his attention. He flipped through the papers with his eyes boring through the contract. Then, a knock sounded at the office door. Rudra glanced up.
• “Come in!!”
• “Boss! The reservations are done under your name.” Rudra nodded.
• “Here is the schedule and meetings for Monday. Take a look at them once.” Maahir said and took his leave.
• In the meanwhile, The trio wandered across the shops in Inorbit Mall, “Babe, that dress looks stunning know?” Ameera clasped Tanvi’s hand and dragged her.
• Advik looked at her craziness and rendered speechless, “What should I do over there?”
• They both gave a dirty look, “Be our audience,” and giggled while giving a punch on his shoulder.
• “Huh!!” Advik didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry.
• Ameera went into the square-shaped trial room, while Tanvi sat on the black couch outside holding other pairs of garments. With bright illuminations surrounding her, she glimpsed at her reflection in the mirror. “Ugh!! I’m looking disheveled.”
• She is fixing her hair with her fingers when she heard other people babbling beside her, “Hey, Let’s go to The Irish house. I found a musical concert happening there.” The other girls screamed in excitement. “I overheard this singer comes only on Friday. He has pretty good demand too.” With that, they left Tanvi in a craze to go there.
• Tanvi went to Advik and patted his back, “Let’s go to The Irish House.” She pleaded with glistened eyes.
• “No way!” Advik blurted with a straight face.
• “What the heck? I want to go there, and you are taking me. That’s it!”
• “It’s noisy man, I just hate such loud noises.” Advik sulked with a long face while Ameera eavesdropped their bantering, “No excuses!! We’re heading to the Irish House.” She hooked her hands with her two duffers and reached the awaited Irish House.
• “When did you snatch Ms. Possessive title from Tanvi?” Advik asked Ameera with a puzzled look on his face.
• Ameera chuckled, “she’s more possessive than me. I can’t snag it from her.” She raised her hands in surrender while Tanvi giggled aloud.
• “Cut off your show, Ms. Drama queen!” Tanvi added sarcastically.
• ...
• The trio was astounded by the wooden ambiance, “Woahh! This is indeed awesome, man!” They exclaimed in unison. With the rock band, They jumped onto the dance floor with a shout, which was sparkling with disco lights in the darkroom.
• It was 8:15 PM when Rudra finally made it out of the office, so he told his chauffeur to leave. He took his Porsche Boxster and geared up with full speed.
• On his way to his private room, he noticed the woman from the conference in a black shirt with straight white stripes on full sleeves. Her bouncy hair swaggered with the rhythm in coordination with her hips. He watched unobserved while she and three others laughed and danced together.
• “Maybe her friends?” He wondered. For the first time, he found he couldn’t move. His eyes glued to her, he watched every tiny movement.
• “I had seen a lot of models, but never ones I spare a glance at them. What happened now?” He was puzzled when his curved lips went wide.
• Many tried to seduce him and flaunted themselves hoping to catch his attention, but they all flopped miserably. Most just wanted fame, power, looks, and wealth. Maybe, that’s why he never gave that chance to anyone.
• If he dated any model, she would be an overnight rising star, but he is a man with dignity. He is the hottest bachelor in Mumbai. His looks were no less than a celebrity. He is a man of fewer words, and to be noticed by him means, “she seems to be exceptional to him.”
• “Something within her is attractive to me, like some sort of a spell,” Rudra exclaimed.
• “I don’t know what exactly it is, but I know I want her. Only She can fill the void in me, which no one knows.” He surmised with a nod when his hands tucked into his trousers.
• “He said he is in the pub. Then, where is he?” Tamaz looked around and scratched his head. “It would be better If I get him.” Tamaz decided and came down to the open pub where Rudra stood there rooted. Tamaz pinched his hand, then Rudra shifted his focus onto Tamaz.
• “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Tamaz asked while raising his arched brow.
• Rudra took a deep breath, “Nothing, Let’s get in.” He opened his mobile and took a snap of her smiling face before leaving. Tamaz turned around, “You are behaving weirdly?”
• Rudra shook his head and sent the picture to Maahir. “Investigate about her. I want her complete report.”
• They sat near a round table in their private room, which was lit dimly. The room was well-decorated in all red, including cushiony couches, tables, and designed walls. They swallowed red wine while conferring on some private matters regarding a builder who is causing trouble for his new building construction. But for some reason, his brain is still visualizing her. The illusion of her laughter, her charming eyes, and her boldness is driving him crazy.
• Tamaz went to the bartender, “Play the Jazz here.” The loud music got Rudra back on track, and Tamaz chuckled hard. “You are daydreaming, bro? What’s the matter?” He teased.
• Rudra gave a smug look, and the delicious aroma tempted him. They had a feast of Indian cuisine. Though they consumed a good amount of wine, they both had great control over alcohol.
• After the trio ran out of energy, they sat in the wooden chairs with hitched breath and drank vodka while eating. Since this pub is famous for Indian cuisine, they ordered their favorite dishes and discussed how things were going on.
• Finally, at around midnight, they started to go back to their homes when their eyes became drowsy, and their heads are spinning with the effect of alcohol.
• Tanvi opened her apartment, dragged her body to her bedroom, and collapsed. “Huh!! Why did I drink so much? I’m such a stupid.” She tapped her head and threw her sandals to the corner while curling up on the bed.
• A buzz sound in her pocket bothered her, “Ugh!!!” She tossed her mobile on the nightstand and covered herself in the soft duvet, which hugged her and drifted to sleep.
• ...
• Rudra switched on the plasma with a coke in his hand. He sat on the king-sized bed while flipping the channels since sleep isn’t his friend. At last, he settled on a music channel. The pleasant lyrics reminded her innocent eyes, which she tried to cover up, but he had seen directly through her. Thoughts of her raised his heartbeat. A sense of longing occupied him.
• “Huh!!! she is disturbing me terribly.” He chuckled and stared at her snap for a while and fell asleep.
• 29th August
• Tanvi opened her half eyes with the hot sunshine hitting her room. She groaned and covered herself with the pillow while rolling off the bed. “Ahh!!!!” She yelled in annoyance and gave up.
• Struggling to get down since her hangover was hurting her pretty bad. With the ticking sound of the clock, she glanced at the wall, and her eyes grew wide in shock. “No!!!” A scream danced in the room.
• “How did I sleep till 02:00 PM?” She was bewildered and then realized, “Oops! I drank a little much more than usual.”
• She gets down holding her head and went into the kitchen with stumbled steps. Her mind is a mess due to the headache. She searched for the milk to prepare a strong coffee to get over it.
• In the meanwhile, a loud echo filled her house, she ran towards her bedroom. Grabbed her mobile, which is banging in her ears. Looking at the screen, Tanvi frowned.
• …