It took twenty-one days to get a US tourist visa. Aditi took this time to unwind. She had to rest, conserve her energies, and get used to the new life growing inside her. It was tiny yet, its existence was not even noticeable on the outside. Yet the heavy feeling in her belly increased by the day as did her tiredness and nausea.
She took tablets to quench it. She was a doctor, she had no reason to complain. Some things could be fixed, others could not. She just had to get on with her life.
She spent her time reading, walking, and talking to the baby at night. She told it the stories of her family, Aron, and its absentee father when she could stomach it. Sonal frowned whenever her sessions started. She was still miffed but had finally accepted her decision to go ahead with the pregnancy.
"You know it can't hear you. It takes fifteen weeks and you are not even five yet."
Yes, she knew it, yet she felt the baby could hear her weird though it was. It was her loneliness that made her believe those things. Only the baby could fill the void left by its father.
She went to her Patel Nagar clinic to do a handover; meet everyone and say goodbye. Same with Dr. Chatterjee's nursing home and her Gurudwara. A small world she had created while she was here, but now it was time to leave it behind.
Four weeks later when she took her flight out of Delhi, her heart was settled. She hadn't inquired but she hoped Ananya had made up with Darsh. That was the one last niggle, otherwise, everything was peaceful.
*****
She was gone. Finally, truly, really gone. Forever? Yes, forever. There was no way now she would ever come back.
Standing on the front steps, Darsh watched as the taxi drove off. His resolve lasted for five more seconds before he rushed to the gate to stop her. But it was already too late. All he saw was the taxi turn the corner and disappear.
"You did the right thing," his good sense reassured him as he trudged back inside. "It was never meant to be. She will find her happiness elsewhere."
"This is the worst mistake of your life," the same good sense chastised him ten minutes later when he was finally alone. "She will never be happy, nor will you."
Darsh signed. Happiness was not what he was looking for right now. All he needed was to get on with his life. He had to keep his promise, keep the semblance of normalcy to stop the word from getting out. Whatever happens, Dadaji should not get the wind of this. And whatever happens, Dadaji's health should not be the reason for Aditi to come back.
Well, it was an admirable thought. Very honorable and respectful. All it demanded from him was to remain stoic as a stone statue and forget he ever had a heart. Well, that was not too hard now he had been practicing it for the last seven years.
Yet this time something was different. Days passed, then weeks. Work, which was his solace for the past seven years did not interest him anymore. There was nothing to look forward to. There was nothing he wanted to look back to. Except for one person who he himself had driven away. Such was his deprivation, he hadn't been able to hold on to anything that mattered to him.
He went to the office every day and came back. The whole house was alive with misery. The very walls whispered at him, cursing him for his misjudgment. Everywhere was her touch, her presence, the sound of her sweet voice. Everywhere in the house, he felt those soft honey eyes watching him.
But they were not. Instead, there were others watching him. His neighbor's smiles were replaced by frosty, curt nods. The servants whispered and gave him a wide berth. Some like Shanta bai handed in their notice. He somehow convinced her to stay but there were others he could not. Among those was his mother who now preferred to spend most of her time at the NGO. She could not stand to be in the empty house with just him.
He had let her down. He had let everyone down. Rajeev sometimes inquired about his whereabouts but he too seemed to have come to an understanding. Their partnership was flailing. He was failing to carry his weight. The young man with boundless energy and motivation that Rajeev had pinned his hopes on was gone. In his place was now left an empty shell with no hope for the future, with no dreams nor any desires.
Then one evening his doorbell rang. He rushed to open thinking it might be Aditi but stood dumbfounded when he saw the visitor. It was a strange woman, too tall in her pointy stilettos, with too-short hair accentuating her too-long nose. Her face stretched into a thin smile as she walked in uninvited. She was still in her business suit which meant she was here straight from the office.
"So, here I am," Ananya said as he stared at her. "And finally, your wait is over."
*****
Meanwhile, in downtown Dallas, in the dark backroom of a shady bar, Ajay Parmar labored over a redhead. Her half an hour had cost him two hundred quids which would leave him out of pocket for the rest of the week, but first things first. Some needs must be satisfied. Once a beast tasted human blood, there was no way he could resist the urge for too long.
How many months had it been since that night? Three? Four? He couldn't remember. All he remembered of it was the luscious body under him, the sublime feeling of being her first. After weeks of watching her from afar, lusting after her as he had never known before, finally claiming her had left him feeling so supremely gratified.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Yes, what followed was unfortunate. His little plan backfired and she married that bastard Darsh Rathore. At this moment it would be Darsh enjoying himself with his wife. It would be his hands on her supple curves, his mouth on her cherry lips, his dick in...
His need flared into a ravenous hunger. He rammed like a haunted beast when the woman under him screamed in pain.
"Aargh!! Get off you fuckin cunt!" A moment later he received a kick in the gut and was unceremoniously thrown off the bed. The woman cursed and got up, pulling her top over her head as another string of obscenities showered over him. A bitch mouth she had, on that bitch face of hers. Yeah, the body was passable, but nothing compared to...
"Find someone else, you swine. I won't do this for a thousand bucks." She stalked out and Ajay sighed. Gathering his bruised, naked self from the undignified position on the floor, he pulled his clothes on and came out. It was still only nine PM, lots of time to enjoy but he now had barely the money left for a bus ride back to his flat. Rich though his family was, his parents were keeping him on a tight leash. His sudden plan for MBA had aroused their suspicion, and the location he had insisted upon had nearly confirmed it. It was only due to his mother's insistence that his father had agreed to sponsor his trip. His allowance was limited and so were his resources. But some things could not be curbed, like the basic urges as he was coming to understand in these past few months.
"Bitch!" He cursed, then staggered to the bar for another shot of whiskey. Lights flashed. Music blared. The dance floor churned like a hotpot as sweaty bodies ground to the rhythm of the night. There were more girls there, fresh into the club. Sweet beauties, showing their skin to the hilt - some pearly white, some chocolate brown. Some dewy olive and some...summer sunshine.
Wait, what? He did a double-take. Was that...who he thought it was?
A headful of thick waist-length curls swayed with each dance step. Tall, at least five-seven with a pair of gorgeous round breasts barely contained in a tiny crop top. A slender waist wrapped in a pair of slinky shorts and endlessly long, long legs. Ajay stared. Such smooth skin his eyes snagged on every inch until they landed on her left thigh. There it was, a curved, jagged slightly red scar. It was healed now, but it was definitely there, claiming the place of pride on her thigh.
What was she doing here? Was she alone? Where was that husband of hers? But was it really her or...? He squinted his eyes to take a proper look. The crowd on the floor was really going crazy. His heart started racing as his body woke up to a titillating sensation. It could be her. It must be. There was no one quite like her. If it was really her, he would...
"Your drink. And that would be fifty-seven for tonight." The bartender's curt voice broke his haze. Irritated, he turned his head to shoot the man a dirty look when he was pointed at the two burly bouncers at the door. They were watching. They would be here if he tried anything funny.
Sighing he fished out the leftover money from his pocket and plopped it on the counter before turning his eyes back to the dance floor. Alas, this time he did not see her. His summer sunshine was gone.
*****
Out of the club, take a left turn, walk to the lights, and left again. There he was parked at the curb as promised. Aditi rushed to the car and got in, pulling a long coat to cover herself. She hadn't experienced such a thrill in ages. A thrill of the chase, a thrill of being chased and knowing where you are leading your prey.
"That was fun. Thanks, Steve," she blabbered as a pair of light blue eyes watched her with distaste. Steve, her detective cum bodyguard cum driver cum somewhat-of-a-friend-nowadays scoffed in annoyance.
"That was reckless and completely unnecessary. There is no need to endanger yourself, I told you we can just collect evidence and hand it to the police."
"This is necessary." As usual, Aditi shrugged off his advice. "We have been watching him for ages and he hasn't done anything out of the ordinary. We need to draw him out and give him a chance to make mistakes."
"And you are sure you cannot take it easy? Maybe give him some more time to make mistakes?"
"Very sure."
Muttering under his breath, Steve pulled away from the curb. Aditi shook her head. She knew he meant well, but right now, she just needed to indulge herself. She needed to let go, she needed to assuage her cravings. And it was a weird craving for some real fun which she deserved. And if it meant she had to take small risks, then be it. Moreover, Steve was not even her friend. She had hired him from an escort agency at a hefty hourly rate. She could as well take him to bed right now and he would be obliged to do her bidding. Which he would do happily, as she was sure of from the looks he gave her sometimes. That would assuage another of her cravings, but she didn't want to think of it right now.
"Tomorrow same time, same place. Don't be late," she said as they reached her address. Steve pursed his lips.
"He might not come tomorrow. Donna said he is short of money."
"Donna?"
"The redhead Ajay hired tonight. I know her from...before." Aditi marveled, raising an eyebrow. For the nth time since she was in Dallas, she congratulated herself for hiring him. It was a miracle she found him in such a short time. Such a handsome man, well-mannered and caring. In another life, she might have considered dating him.
"He will be there," She smiled shaking her head. "Now that he's seen me, I know he will be there."
"I wish you'd tell me what's going on." Steve looked annoyed. "I can be of better help if you just tell me more..."
"You already are a great help, Steve. And rest assured I have my reasons. I am not here out of some whim of fancy."
*****
Ten minutes later she was in her flat which she had rented for a couple of months. It was a beach-facing apartment complex with the soothing music of the ocean 24x7. Not all the apartments were occupied and the three below the top one were definitely unoccupied. She had made sure her specifications were met to the last detail when she signed the contract. It was an exclusive complex only for the most exclusive people. And right now, no one was more exclusive than her. Money had its advantages and what better time to indulge herself than now when she was alone, with nobody to watch over her, with nobody she cared for in thousands of miles radius. Finally, she was the free bird, that she always craved to be.
Standing in front of her bathroom mirror she gave herself a critical look. She did not look half bad for a jilted woman. A two months pregnant jilted woman, she corrected herself and laughed. Her laughter was her only companion at the moment, along with the little one in her tummy.
"That was a dance bar we visited tonight," she said patting her flat belly. She didn't have much time. The baby was behaving so far and there were no outward signs but that would soon start to change. She had to make the most of the available time. "I hope you enjoyed it. It's not a place mummy often visits but sometimes even she needs some time off."
In response, her tummy gave a loud rumble. Aditi grimaced. The baby was hungry and she was too. It was time to feed them both and start planning for the next day.
***** *****