When I Met You! - Chapter Thirty Eight

"Its done sir" Mishra said silently into the phone, he winced as he heard the evil laugh of Shyam Jha from the other end "Well done my man! Well done..now be a good doggy and get the work completely finished" Shyam said menacingly as a familiar current of victory not too far away lit his body. He opened the door to his bedroom and sat on his bed staring at the beauty in front of him.

"I want you to send me that video as soon as possible...and make sure its small enough to send over the phone.." Shyam demanded as he lay on his bed with one arm resting beneath his head. He looked up to see the golden starts twinkling on the ceiling, he ended the call and sighed deeply "Soon...soon you'll be with me Katya...and then we'll gaze at these stars together...just you and me" he said as he closed his eyes and smiled.

...

"Khusi! Arre Khusi!" buaji shouted as she knocked on the bathroom door, "You haven't fainted again have you?" buaji asked as the door opened and buaji nearly toppled over khushi as she walked out "No buaji...i'm fine...and what's the meaning of asking such a question? Cause if i had actually fainted...i would not have been able to answer you anyways" khushi said giving her buaji an incredulous look as she toweled her wet hair.

"Arre titaliya...i was only worried for you...both you and arnav bitwa seem so tensed! When today you both need to be enjoying the day!" buaji said as she made khushi sit on the bed and took the towel from her to dry her hair, khushi turned around suddenly as she heard buaji's words "Why? Did arnav say something? Is he ok?" khushi asked with a worried expression, she really wanted to speak to him but buaji had confiscated her phone from her stating that she was not allowed to even speak to him let alone meet him.

"No no..he is fine. In fact his friends have come over...all teasing and all you know..but instead of blushing like a bridegroom he seemed broody" buaji said clucking her tongue, khushi smiled as an image of a blushing arnav filled her mind "Oh God buaji...he's not a bride to blush..besides when i don't blush when teased, why should he!" she said giving her buaji a cheeky grin.

"Kids these days...i really don't get your generation!" buaji muttered as she finished drying her hair "By the way the parlor lady is here...they wanted to try out some styles on you before doing the final one later...should i call them now? Or do you want to take some rest?" buaji asked holding khushi's chin gently.

Khushi smiled at her as she hugged her buaji from her waist "Yes, thanks buaji...i just want to rest for some time...can we do the hairdo's later? There's still lots of time na?" khushi said as buaji stroked her damp hair "Ok darling, you get some sleep..i'll come and wake you up later" buaji said as she kissed her gently on her head before leaving the room to give khushi some privacy.

Khushi leaned against the headboard as thoughts ran through her troubled mind...did anjali get back? Where was La? She was supposed to come to her room ages ago...what is arnav thinking? She just wished she could speak to him once. She sighed as she closed her eyes and made herself comfortable on the bed,the exhaustion finally taking its toll, lulling her body into a deep slumber.

...

"Who is this?" said a brisk no-nonsense voice from the other end of the phone, Shyam was finding it very difficult to not get irritated by this glitch in his plan, he had been trying to get through to Katya since the past 15 minutes, but the first 3 times no one picked up and now that the call was answered up some old hag was screeching on it.

"Uh...I need to speak to Ka...i mean khushiji please" shyam said keeping the irritation out of his voice "What is this regarding? Its her wedding today...please call after 2 days" buaji said wondering who was calling her titaliya so urgently "No...please its very urgent...she had ordered a ring for her fiance with us...but there's been some problem...i had to deliver it today but.." shyam said trying to work out some reason..any reason through which he may be able to speak to her.

"Oh Ok, hold on...let me check" buaji said as she walked towards khushi's room wondering what today's generation is about! She opened the door to see that khuhi was not in the room, she pushed the bathroom door as well but she was not to be seen. She sighed as she answered the call again "She's not here now...please call after some time" she said as she cut the call and left the phone on khushi's dressing table.

...

"Arre Lavanya..have you seen Khushi? God only knows where she has gone now!" buaji exclaimed as she stopped Lavanya near the stairs "No buaji...in fact i was going to her room only...she's not there?" lavanya asked with a quizzical expression "No..she is not..i wonder where she has gone!" buaji said slapping her forehead "Don't worry buaji...you go downstairs,I think your relatives have come...i'll look for khushi" lavanya said ushering buaji towards the living room.

She quickly turned and walked purposefully up the stairs..she had to go and find khushi. As she was walking towards khushi's room she saw dadiji walking with khushi towards her "Lavanya...you should take care of your friend...it's her wedding today" dadiji said sternly to lavanya before walking khushi to her room "Uh...what happened dadiji? Katya u ok?" lavanya asked as she looked at her friend with a concerned face.

"yes, i am fine...i was just craving a cup of ginger tea when dadiji found me...seriously dadiji i feel like an invalid cooped up in this room...can i please go down for sometime?" khushi begged her as dadiji cupped her face "No bitiya...your the bride and nearly all the guests are coming in now...they should not see you before the wedding...just rest here...you'll be getting ready soon anyways" dadiji said as she patted her cheek and left them.

...

"La! Is anjali back? Did she take her call?" Khushi asked her as she paced her room "Chill katya...i'm sure she is fine...don't worry so much. You just concentrate on your wedding ok? I'll take care of everything" she said as she made khushi sit and handed over a glass of chilled water to her "Uh..i had actually gone out to see arnav...i really need to see him La.." khushi said sighing deeply, sipping her water as lavanya came and sat beside her.

"I know babe...but don't worry everything will be ok...just trust me ok! I'll go and check where anjali got held up ok? Just calm down" Lavanya said as she got up and laid down khushi's dress for the wedding. The rich hues of purple and blue would look gorgeous on her. She also took out a red lehenga which was hanging on the rack.

"I think you should wear the red one...it definitely goes better with your complexion...and you will look hot!" lavanya said as khushi burst out laughing "Oh yes! I'll definitely feel hot in that lehenga with the layers of silk and that heavy dupatta over my head" khushi said rolling her eyes, she then looked at Lavanya with serious eyes "Everything will be ok right La?" she asked as Lavanya assured her with a nod and left the room to look for anjali.

...

"Damn it!" Shyam said as he tried her phone again only to find it switched off, "What the hell do i do now?"!! he exclaimed as he dialed Mishra's number next, he waited till he picked up before thundering on the phone "Why is it taking you so long to send me the video you as****e!" shyam shouted as mishra visibly shook from his voice.

"I'm just uploading it sir...its just that she was being very difficult...and well...it took us time to do what you asked us to" Mishra said his voice trembling with contempt, how he wished he could strangle his employer from the phone "Good, now that the video has been taken...tell the boys they have free reign over her body if things don't go my way...let them teach that frigid b***h some manners" he said as Mishra uttered a soft 'Ok' before ending the call. He finished uploading the video as his thoughts went to the girl in the adjacent room.

...

Khushi went to her dressing table to get her hair brush when her eyes fell on her phone, she jumped in joy as she picked it up eagerly trying to call arnav, but the phone seemed to be switched off due to low battery. She quickly plugged in the charger and waited for the phone to load up. As soon as the welcome screen came up, she heard a series of beeps as her signal came on.

Khushi looked at the screen to find 12 missed calls from an unknown number. She wondered who had called her so many times and thought it best to check...just in case it was anjali...since she was not picking up her call. Her heart thundered wondering if anjali was fine...everyone in the house seemed to be convinced that she was probably not taking her calls since she was getting a manicure done.

She waited with baited breath as the other person picked up the phone but did not speak anything. She said a soft 'hello' and waited for the other person to speak, "Uh...is anyone there? I have lots of missed calls from this number...umm..hello?" she asked once again exasperated that she was wasting precious time when she could have spoken to arnav by now. She was just taking the phone off her ear to end the call when she heard a deep raspy voice from the other end "Katya...its me Shyam"

Khushi felt the earth beneath her shift as she fell on the bed with a shock, she tried to assure her mind that she did not just hear his voice...that it was not the same shyam...but her mind did not listen while her body racked with shudders. As if to prove the truth one again, he spoke "Please don't cut the call...if you do you'll be doing a grave mistake..." shyam said, his voice held a threatening quality to it which did not go unnoticed by khushi even in her delicate state.

"Wh..what..do you want? H..how d..did you get th..this number?" she stammered as her body tensed up, fear crawling up her spine... "Did you take it from anji?...ho..how.." she spoke as his voice once again silenced her "Shh...don't think too much...its not going to help you...so you knew I was anjali's boyfriend huh? But you still did not warn her against this big bad wolf?" he said mildly amused and very turned on by the fact that he was finally talking to her.

"Good...now that you know anjali was my girlfriend...you should also know this Katya" he said his voice getting serious "She meant nothing to me...no one means anything to me...except you!" he said his voice getting aggravated by the minute "And you...you did not care for my love..you punished me Katya...you hurt me daamit! But i'm ready to forget all that...if only" he said slowly trying to get her to understand every word he says.

"If only what? How dare you say you loved me! You are an abomination, not fit for a civilized society! Even wild animals are better than you...or have you forgotten what you did to me! How dare you insult the word 'Love' by equating it with your feelings! You are nothing Shyam...nothing! And I don't care what you do...i have my true love with me, Arnav is my love...my everything! If you so much as try to call me again, he'll put you behind bars! Do you get that you creep!" khushi heaved as she cut the call and leaned back on the bed.

She quickly took her phone again with trembling hands and started calling arnav, she waited for the line to get through but it kept coming out of range...she wondered how it was so...she tried calling him again when she got a text, it was from Shyam's number.. 'Don't ignore me or my threats...remember what is precious to your love...his darling sister..now you wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her would you?'

Khushi started perspiring reading his message, she desperately tried calling arnav again when another of his texts came up 'Don't even think of calling him darling...i might just have to be very mean otherwise...to her off course!' fear gripped her cold and sterile as she re-read his message, she stopped calling arnav and called him instead.

"Don't you dare lay your eyes on anjali...do you get it! I'll find you an burn you alive you sick piece of shit!" khushi shouted, her anger flaming up at shyam's threats. "What? My eyes...oh honey I can lay a lot more on that pathetic creature! Why she is resting just a few feet away from me!" he guffawed as khushi's breathing became shallow, was he lying? Was he telling the truth?

"Don't lie! Anjali hates you! She will never come to you willingly...don't spin tales just so that.." khushi said as she was cut once again by his icy voice "Don't believe me huh? ok...let me send you something which will change you mind maybe? Do call me back once you see it...uh...mind you this is just the trailer" he said menacingly as he cut the call.

Khushi held the bed railing tightly as he head spun from their conversation...what was he talking about? She held the phone tightly in her hands as it beeped once to show an incoming Whatsapp message, she saw it was from the same number and clicked it to open, it took time to load as it was movie...but as soon as it did and she clicked play...she fell on the floor with a thud. The scene made her drop the phone as the shriek chilled her to the bone.

Anjali was tied up to the chair, her hair was all over the place with blood running from her nose, her t-shirt sleeve seemed to have been ripped off while her tear stricken face mumbled a series of 'please...leave me...' the scene was too horrific for khushi to not react, she called him again and spoke in a dead voice, alien to her own self "What do you want?"

...

Shyam made sure the entire house was cleaned spick and span, there were drapes of silk and strings of orchids lining the entire house. Candles and lamps were lit all along the sills and outer spaces, as soft hindustani classical music wafted through the air. He had showered and dressed, making sure that everyone in the house had left before the guest of honor arrived.

He smiled remembering how easy it was to get her to agree to his demands, what did he want anyway? Just that she leave that house and come to him...leave that b*****d Raizada on their wedding day and become one with him...Shyam Jha! How he wanted to see that man's face when he realized that the supposed love of his life was his SJ's...never to return to him.

He went and moved a chess piece across the ivory carved chess board on his center table 'Check' he said as he heard a sound outside the door, he wondered if she was here, he wondered if she had also given into his demand of her coming here in her wedding finery...she was his Dulhan after all..nothing could stop them from becoming one now.

He waited patiently as he heard footsteps and a beautiful sound of twinkling jewelry outside his door. He held his breath as she pushed the partially opened door and stepped in. His mouth lifting in a satisfied eager smile as she saw her in a blood red lehenga, her head covered in a gorgeously embroidered dupatta. She stood rooted to the door as if not sure what she should do.

He could make out her trembling luscious body as she held onto the door frame, "Come in sweetheart, this is your house now...don't be shy...or do you want me to come and pick you up maybe?" he said as his body eagerly waited to take her in his arms, his mouth salivating at the prospect of finally having her to himself...but he was disappointed to still see her at the door, not moving an inch.

He started walking towards her but stopped as she held her hand up, he ran a frustrated hand through his hair..as if this was going to stop him...but he understood what she was trying to say "Don't worry about Anjali...she'll be safe now...I have asked my men to take her back to ASR's house...now that I have fulfilled my end of the bargain...time you did yours" he said as he stood right in front of her waiting to take the dupatta off her.

But before he could do so himself, he was pleased to see her own hands moving towards the dupatta, doing the deed herself, he waited as she revealed her gorgeous face to him and stepped back to admire his katya's beauty, but his face froze and his body went stone cold as the woman revealed herself to him, he could not comprehend what to do as her sultry voice spoke up "As if you ever had anjali with you bitch!" Lavanya spoke as her face split into a thousand dollar smile.