"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Matsyaa screamed, trying and failing to reserve her temper. The metal cuffs on her wrists looked like hot iron bands which seared her skin until every pore of her body was burning in flames.She glared at the stupid police officer sitting across the table, "Do you have any idea who you've arrested?" Her icicle-like words came to stab him dead on spot. She moved her bound wrists and thumped her fists on the chair's armrest. "My family will strip you off these fucking stars, do you get that, you idiot?""And I will tape your fucking mouth if you don't stop screaming!" He banged his fists on the table, making her blink in retreated shock. She lowered her eyes to read the nametag - Vikaas Sen. She looked around and swallowed a nervous breath. God forbid if anyone came to know that she was in the lockup, her life was finished. Looking at him again, she screamed, "Listen, I think we've got a little misunderstanding. I'm not some petty criminal you can arrest
At that moment, Matsyaa recited all the prayers she remembered. Bribed the higher powers with the impossible and begged her fate to work in her favor as she jumped off the window, tightly holding onto the makeshift rope. She carefully started to slide down but while doing so, she forgot to keep herself steady and lost her hold clumsily. “No, no, no, noooo!” Her terrorized screams filled the air around her and her delicate body floated down the height at the full tilt. She pressed her eyes closed, anticipating the hard collision with the unforgiving ground beneath. But it never came. Instead, she felt herself being caught in a pair of… strong arms. “I got you, sweetheart!” A velvety voice beguiled her in the false sense of security and her heart flipped in terror. She knew that voice very well. It was her bane. With great reluctance, she opened her eyes and caught the icy, blue stare pinned on her face. It was so intense that she shivered to her bones. Tears pooled in her eyes beca
It was her third visit to India.Matsyaa was three when her parents took her to Jaipur for the first time to introduce her to the family. The second time, she was eleven and her grandfather had passed away. This time, she was a twenty years old, gorgeous girl—working towards her degree in Archeology—and flying to see her ailing uncle. Her father’s younger brother, Indian Industrialist Ashish Rathore, was severely ill. He was due for a heart surgery and his chances of survival were slim. Her father had departed earlier to make sure his brother received the best medical treatment and she was leaving today with her mother, but the weather was dull just like her mood and their flight was delayed. Even though she was constantly in touch with her cousins, she just wanted to get there as soon as possible because it might be the last time she would get to see her uncle. The latest news said that he had gone into surgery and they would have to wait for twelve hours to know his exact conditio
Matsyaa was curled on the swing installed in the roof, lost in her thoughts. Three long days had passed since her uncle died. All this while, she'd slept off every night, hearing the doleful silence and woken up every morning, seeing the mournful faces. They were supposed to go back to England but her father was caught in a mess.The news of Ashish's demise spread like forest fire and their company started to lose shares in the absence of a stable owner. Since her father was the highest stakeholder at present, responsibility for the management of the company fell upon his shoulders. That meant settling in India. Both her parents weren’t in favor of the idea and wanted Arush to step into his father's shoes but he was the same age as Matsyaa, still pursuing his business degree in Australia thereby becoming unable to run a company with a manpower of fifty thousand people. Besides, the board of directors had straightforwardly refused to be responsible towards a kid who lacked proficiency
“I really don't wanna go, mom!” Matsyaa whined like a kid and made Gauri roll her eyes. The affection of her cousins and eldest uncle after such a long time infected her judgment. She knew in the back of her mind that her mother was right but she refused to accept it. She held her mother's palm and pouted, “Mumma, can't you figure out an arrangement that doesn't make me go back? I'll be so alone there.”Gauri exhaled deeply and eyed Matsyaa with dismay. “We decided it, honey. You'll have to go back. Unfortunately, your dad has to be here for a year or two but someone has to go back to manage things in our absence. And, you have college to finish. Do you wanna give up on your degree just because you're homesick?" Matsyaa nipped on her lower lip, mulling on her mother's words. Gauri observed her for a moment and got up from the bed to give her a quick hug, "We'll be back soon. I'll try to visit you once in a month, okay? And as soon as your exams finish, you can come here for a break. T
Matsyaa thought she committed a mistake as she combed her hair and Prem yelled for her umpteenth time from the hall. He'd been pissing her off for twenty minutes. Pushing a curl behind her ear, she dropped the brush on the table and saw her reflection in the mirror. She smiled brightly, noticing a deep brown pair of eyes staring back at her. She sauntered to her bed and gathered her faxed documents."Matsyaa, please hurry up." She grinned, zipping her bag as he reduced to whining. Locking her room, she paraded down the stairs and held her hands up. "Breathe. I'm here!""Look at the time, girl! I'm a busy man." He grumpily flashed his gold watch at her and she pouted, reaching to him. "You changed the plan at the last moment. I was supposed to go with big bro, but you jumped up at the opportunity and now you're blaming me for hampering your work?! I had to check the necessary documents."Prem eyed her handbag with a frown, "It's not needed. We're going there only to make some introduct
Ranvijay's desperate prayers took longer to reach heaven, but when they did, he felt his soul being sucked out of his body. He'd never felt so vulnerable and incapable before. His heart drummed loudly in his ribcage and his blood pumped in his veins as if he couldn't believe his eyes. The girl was drop-dead gorgeous. Busy with her camera, she was still not aware of his looming presence. Ranvijay took the opportunity to study her distinctiveness with each intended step towards her; wavy hair down her back, voluptuous chest squeezed into a black liner and endless legs encased in black slacks. She had thrown over a floral shrug which did nothing to hide the perfect outline of her body. She was standing sideways, humming a tune in a hushed voice but the chiming in her tone was luring his senses. In the periphery of his vision, she was a deer unknown to the prowling. Ranvijay felt uncharacteristically drawn to her. The man who never glanced at a girl twice was dying to look at her full
Those ocean blue eyes and the way they set upon her face, churned Matsyaa's insides in unfamiliar uneasiness. Deep orbs, confined in even darker rings made them look like there was an entire universe behind those curly lashes with stars and moons. It was surreal. Especially when his eyes had a language of their own. They spoke of authority, dominance, and intimidation to some degree. Matsyaa wasn't able to forget them. His piercing stare was etched in her memory and her heart began to drum the same nervous rhythm when she thought about him. She looked down at her soaked hands and remembered the electrifying touch. He was burning, or was it his normal heat? ‘Whatever it is, he was too proud to be on his knees. He pushed me twice. He looked at me like a creep, and his guard was equally disrespectful!’ She shrugged, deciding to put this episode past her mind. It was useless anyway. It wasn't like she was going to see him again. Heaving a deep sigh, she rubbed her arms and clutched Pre