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"Was she beautiful?" I asked out of blue. Asha understood what I meant as she replied getting up and walking towards the table, "Very beautiful. Big doe eyes, radiant smile, golden skin, thick and long voluminous hair, sharp nose and high cheekbones. She was tall and slim. A real Indian Beauty. She was so wise and brilliant, even without formal English education. She was the daughter of the chieftain and she truly was a female alpha. Nobody could distinguish between us in the mannerisms even when I had been born and brought up in Europe. She was that dignified and poised."
My eyebrows shot up to touch my hairline listening to the tales about my late mother-in-law. She smiled as she picked up a photo frame on the table and walked back to me before passing it.
My jaw hit the ground looking at the picture in the frame. There, cladded in golden Ghaghara was a beautiful lady looking like an angel dropped from heaven. It was true, Viaan got his good looks from his mother. She could easily be compared to Asha's beauty. And the realization of such a beautiful soul not being among us ached even more.
He must miss her so much.
"Mrs. Raivardhan, Mr. Pablo is here to see you regarding the accident that occurred with the waiter at Charm," a maid from the door called out, making Asha and me exchange glances.
"I'll go and meet him," she announced before going out and I resumed looking at Aradhana's picture. She sounded like an amazing person. And suddenly I realized that I had to research about salsa and be ready by eight. Otherwise my Drill Sargent was going to chew me alive!
31. EKTEES
Noddingat the last few seconds of the video tutorials of the basics of salsa, I made a note of the instructions taught by a much better teacher than my current tutor...
The video ended, displaying the replay button. After having watched the same video multiple times, I opted to switch the smart television off before exiting the gym. To be honest, I had hardly spent more than fifteen minutes learning the basics, skipping all the parts where he repeated the same thing again and again.
What? I'm a fast learner! Or at least I like to think so.
Ambling down the hall, I halted when I heard an unfamiliar voice, "Mind that attitude, Mrs. Raivardhan! I'm a government official, who doesn't stick his tongue out upon the sight of the crisp notes with Gandhi on it. I will be making sure that your sons shall see what it's like to spend time in prison. What happens when they take law in their hands? Only one slip, only one evidence and it shall all be true." The last few sentences were hissed angrily with a promise.
My heart sank as fear washed over me. Fear for the Raivardhan brothers that had become a part of my family.
"I would love to see you try. It's a free country after all. You may leave now, I don't have an entire day to spend cheerily chatting with you," the calmness and hints of arrogance in Asha's voice took me by surprise. I had never thought of hearing something like that from Asha. Right at that moment, she did resemble the Mother of Raivardhans.
"This isn't over, yet," another hissed promise from the man and the loud footsteps echoed as he stomped his way towards the door, that was ajar, like a sulking kid. By the time I could decide whether to hide or stand my ground, the door swung open revealing a man in his mid-forties. He came up to my height and while comparing his build with my husband's, I didn't need to tell that my husband was a clear winner.
With a grimace, he regarded me with an annoyed look before stomping out the rest of his way.
I watched him till he got behind the glass doors of the elevator followed by one of the male servants who was waiting at the end of the corridor.
"Be careful of Mr. Pablo. He's a rotten soul that survives on greed," I heard Asha's voice from beside making me turn to look at her. She watched Mr. Pablo's frame disappear below the ground before continuing, "And when it's not satisfied, he gets down to dirty business. Nothing that we haven't dealt with before. Nothing we can't deal with in the future, to worry about."
She had confidence in her sons. And living with them I had started to understand why. They were capable of anything and everything. They could take down the country individually, let alone working as a team with tight bonds and understanding.
Blinking out of her thoughts, she looked at me, "I suppose you are yet to have breakfast?"
"Yes, quite famished after the practice," I rubbed my stomach, feeling it growl softly. She smiled tenderly making me want to disbelieve the change in her attitude she had before Mr. Pablo. She looked like a gentle soul but now I knew what she could be if she wanted.
"And after that, I was thinking of visiting my cousin, if you permit me," I said as we walked towards the elevator.
"You are not an employee or a maid of this house, Rynah. You can do whatever you wish unless it's an emergency or for safety purposes. We are a family, you don't need to ask for permission. But I am happy to be informed about where you are going. Just informing one of us is very much enough," she smiled at me, making me grin widely.
I seriously loved her.
*******
"Stop here, I'll walk the rest of the way," I instructed the chauffeur, making him park the car by the curb. The traffic was terrific on this route and another reason that I opted to walk was that I didn't want to attract a lot of attention by riding in an expensive car. My in-laws didn't have an economic car, something that wouldn't make heads turn. The last thing I wanted was to be stared at by people while trying to enjoy my coffee with Anjali. She had called in the morning wanting to talk about something important and it worried me when her voice sounded strained.
I was a few blocks away from the cafe where we had agreed to meet. I hoped she was alright. Lost deep in my thoughts, I entered another alley for a shortcut to reach the place but it was something that I regretted when I realized that I had entered a road filled with isolated warehouses which was instead infested with beggars, drunkards, and druggies sitting on every other corner.
The look they greeted me with made chills run down my spine. The hair on my neck stood up when I registered that a few of the smokers had started to follow me. I regretted leaving the chauffeur and car behind...
Without any other thought, I took off running when my gut instinct told me. And as expected, they started to chase after me. I threw my purse away in the hopes that they were after the money and would stop once they got it. But no! They continued to chase me down for whatever reason they had!
Stupid stupid Rynah!!! Your stupidity will surely get you killed today! Did you seriously have to care about your status and leave the comforts of the car behind for this?
Trying to lose the guys, I took a left and ran towards the main road. To my luck, there weren't many people in the line of sight. And the ones in sight were still quite far away to aid me. My eyes automatically zoomed on one guy who stood by his car talking over the phone with his back towards me. And as if he was a magnet and I was made up of iron, I ran towards him.
