Vani came out of her bed on a rather overcast Mumbai morning at around 12pm, trudging to the bathroom and turning taps on the shower. She undressed sulkily and stood before the mirror but to her surprise, the steam was fogging the mirror. She cleaned the foggy window and sudden explosion of memories triggered.
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A night out, few friends, a bar after a long time. Music making her heart throb with booze making her mind numb. A strange drink appeared in front of her. The bartender pointed towards the guy who gave the drink to her. Vani gulped it and a burn went through her throat but the aftertaste was exquisite.
Smiling down at the stranger, she thanked her with her eyes.
She was drenched and was meandering in her thoughts. She instantly knew who was at the door. She took a deep sigh and came out of the shower. ”I’m coming. I’m coming” She said to the known stranger at the door. Her hangover still had not dissipated and her legs were aching with the dancing.
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She danced, she drank and she laughed. Vani was having the most fun she’d had in ages. The dark haired man, Adi bought her another drink but took it to her personally. Vani laughed continuously and he bought drink after drink. The dancing became more cozy and the jokes became more flirty. It was around 1 am when she left the bar.
She opened the door and saw a man. She instantly hugged her and started to cry. He had bruises all over his face and he looked broken and down. It seemed like he was just coming home after spending months in a jungle, deteriorated and famished. Their eyes met and Vani gave him a apologetic look with eyes flooding with tears. They both retired to the living room and sat. “How is the arm?” She said. “It will heal” He replied. Soon her mind flashed back to those moments.
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Vani came out of the bar, giggling like a 16 year old with Adi in tow. They went to the parking lot, where Adi’s friends were waiting with their sleek and shiny car and bottles of whiskey. She started talking with them and taking pictures. They were becoming uncomfortably cozy with her. She started to fear a little bit, coz she dint know anyone. Soon, Adi leaned back and tried to kiss. It was forceful and painful. They started to force themselves on her and tried to undress her. “Now what the fuck are you doing with her?” a voice said. “Whatever man!!Is she your sister?” “yes” he replied. The next thing that she remembered was Adi being hit by a thunderous punch by his brother. Adi friends tried to attack her brother, Vivaan, but it did not turn out to be a good idea for them. Vivaan got punched 2-3 times, got hit by the bottle of alcohol but in the end its the army man, Vivaan who almost beat them black and blue.
Vani squealed and jumped between them, earning her a slap from Adi. Vivaan’s face was mixture of shock, disgust and predominantly anger. She pleaded to stop the fight and try to pull his brother but ultimately stumbled to the floor. Vivaan landed punch after punch on them. Soon, she heard sirens coming towards that desolate parking lot. The shouting policemen came and started to yell. At that point, she was almost senseless, her brother was bleeding and those 3 insolent imbeciles were lying on the floor.
“I am sorry, brother. I ruined your trip and last night’s outing.” She said. “Don’t worry.”
Vivaan replied. The stitches on his forehead gave him a brooding look. They started to chat and soon the door bell rang. She went to open door to find a man in uniform. She sighed and nodded, not need to hear what he had say. She closed the door and realized that this was the same policeman who interviewed her at the station.
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”Ms Sen, what were doing at the bar last night?
“My brother and I went partying with our friends coz he was in town.”
“How did you meet Mr. Aditya Singh and his friends?”
She blabbed the whole story from start to end with each and every copious details.
When she allowed to leave the station it was almost 5am, she was exhausted with all the drilling and questioning, she just wanted to go home and sleep.
The next morning Vani came out of her bed on a rather overcast Mumbai morning at around 12pm, trudging to the bathroom and turning taps on the shower….
