10. MURTHYS’

In the Murthy Mansion

The atmosphere is gloomy like they are mourning someone’s death. The gents are clueless yet furious while the rest are just silent. Till now no one is able to digest the fact that Murthy’s daughter just got kidnapped.

All the guards of the Murthys’ are standing in a row with lowered heads as they are ashamed of their carelessness. It is humiliating for them that someone has abducted their misses from right under their noses. 

“So… Sorry… Sir!” The head of the security department spoke in a trembling tone because he knows that his death is near. The Murthy’s won’t spare a single soul who tries to demean their family’s reputation and this act is nothing but a big black dot on them. 

Hearing him, The head Murthy, VIKRAM MURTHY, yelled “Tum sab kya so rahe thai jab woh s@lla kutt@ aakar meri beti ko legaya?” ( What were you guys doing when that bastard broke into my house and took my daughter away? ) Everyone present in the hall shivers seeing his red eyes and the rage in his voice. Everyone is well aware of his self-esteem and anger. He walks up to the head in charge of security and grabs his collar, making him scared while continuing “Mujhe nahi pata tha ki mai tum jaise chutiy0 ki tolli ko paal raha tha…” ( I didn’t know I was raising a bunch of idiots like you… )

“Sir…Sir…” The guard shuttered but the words ditched him, seeing the anger in his boss’ eyes. Before he could open his mouth to defend himself, he was awarded a punch from Vikram Murthy which almost blew his jaw. 

“Kya mai sirf tum logo ko moj karane ke liye itna khilata-pilata ho? Isse acha hai ki mai ek kutta paal leta jo kum se kum mere kaam toh aata. Tum jaise nalayako ki tarah nahi chupta apne bill mai…” ( Am I paying you guys just for fun? Instead of spending my hard earn money on f*cking souls like you I would rather adopt a dog who will be much more attentive than you. ) Saying this angrily, Vikram pushed the guard on the floor mercilessly and kicked the hell out of him, making the poor guard dizzy. 

Seeing the poor guy on the floor Palak felt terrible but she couldn’t do anything. She knows that if she uttered even a single word in his defense then she would be there in his place. But for now, she has to maintain silence until she comes in contact with Abhimanyu who is currently in the hospital. She is assuming that all the kidnapping drama was planned by Abhimanyu to take away Nandini from this mess. She is quiet till now because she wants to give enough time to Nandini to go as far as she can. 

Otherside, Nandini’s elder brother, SANIKET MURTHY speaks bringing Palak back on land, “Baba, yeh sab chodiye… ye sochiye ki Alya ki jagah par Nandini kaha se aayi?” ( Dad, leave him and currently focus on how Nandini came in place of Alya? )

His valid question grabs everyone’s attention and they all wonder about the same. Various gossip about the bride starts spreading throughout the hall but no one has enough courage to say that in front of Vikram Murthy who is a devil in the human foam. 

Breaking the gossip Saniket starts again furiously, “Agar Nandini ko woh log le gaye toh Alya kaha hai?” ( If they took Nandini then where is Alya? )

Vikram ponders over his question while Palak looks tense. She wants to tell them the truth about Alya but she is also scared about the consequences. Automatically sweat comes to her forehead and she starts fidgeting her fingers in fear. Much to her fright, Saniket noticed her expressions but stayed calm for the sake of the moment. 

“Savita!…” Vikram roared and a lady who was around 40 came running into the hall with a tear-stricken face. She is the personal bodyguard of Alya who keeps eye on Alya’s every move just like Abhimanyu keeps check on Nandini but the little difference is Abhi is loyal to Nandini and Palak.

“Jaa kar dekh, Alya kaha hai?” ( Go and look for Alya… ) Vikram commands Savita who shivers in response and runs to look for her Alya madam. 

“Yeah sab drama karne ki koi zaroorat nahi hai, Vikram.” ( No need to create all this drama, Vikram. ) The groom’s father, Kishore shouts, grabbing everyone’s attention. He continues with hatred, “Tumhari wajah se hamare khandan ka mazak toh ban hi gaya hai… Toh aab kya dikhana chahte ho tum.” ( Everyone is already making fun of my family… then, why are you doing all this drama? ) 

“Aap aisa kyu keh rahe ho, Kishore Ji? Hamara bhi to mazak ban gaya hai in sab ke baad…” ( Why are you saying this, Kishore Ji? My family, and my reputation also trashed just like yours…) Vikram says keeping his anger in check. He doesn’t want to come on his blacklist or else he won’t clear his next big illegal assignment of gold. 

Kishore is a businessman who deals with illegal gold whereas his son is just a local gangster who has overconfidence in his work. This is the reason why Vikram accepted this marriage proposal for his elder daughter. In short, he tried to sell his daughter just for the sake of his business. 

“Mazak toh mera bana hai itne logo ke samne. Hamare khandan ki izzat ke toh tukde ho gaye hai sirf aapki wajah se.” ( I have become a laughing stock for everyone here. Our family’s honor breaks into pieces only because of you. ) Kishore’s son, Vishal spoke furiously seeing how his other friends were laughing at his situation. Still, he continues with a devilish smile, “Waise manna padega ki tum logo ne milke bahut achi planning ki thi.” ( By the way, no doubt, you guys planned everything so smoothly. ) 

“Aisa nahi hai, Jamai sa…” ( It’s not like that, Vishal. ) Saniket comes to defend themselves just not to lose their trust because it will negatively affect their business. 

“Aap to kuch kahiye hi mat!… Saniket Ji.” ( Don’t you dare to say anything… Saniket Ji. ) Vishal starts aggressively but at last, his voice turns flirty “Apni choti hoor jaisi Behan ko chupa kar meri shadi us ziddi ladki se kara rahe thai?” ( You are making me marry your stubborn sister when an angel is just here away from my eyes. ) 

“Aise baat nahi hai, Jamai sa…” ( It’s not like that!… ) Vikram comes in between to support his son but he didn’t even feel wrong when Vishal spoke dirty about his younger daughter while he added, “Nandini abhi kafi choti hai…..” ( Nandini is quite small for the marriage… )

“Kitni choti?…. $ex karne layak toh hai na…?” ( How small?…. Is not she capable of physical intimacy? ) Vishal continued with a smirk, making his friends laugh which boosted his confidence again. 

Hearing him, no one among the Murthys felt bad except Palak who wants to kill this b@stard who tries to even think about using her Nandini for pleasure. At the same time, she felt good making her run away from this hell. All the guilt and second thoughts about her previous decision vanish away from her mind. 

“Sir… Sir!… Alya madam kahi par bhi nahi hai.” ( Sir… Sir!… Alya is nowhere. ) Savita comes down while breathing heavily and yells gaining everyone’s attention. 

“Kahi par bhi nahi hai, matlab?” ( She is nowhere, means? ) Saniket asks confusingly with rage. 

“Maine unhe sabhi jagah dhunda par woh… woh kahi nahi hai….” ( I find her everywhere… but… but she is nowhere. ) Savita stammers seeing the looks on everyone’s faces. She knew what would happen if they got to know about her carelessness, “Aur… aur….” ( And… and…. ) 

“Aur kya Savita?” ( Now, What!, Savita ) Saniket asks in his high-pitched voice and his voice echoes in the silent hall, making the lady cry in fear. 

“Unka… koi bhi saman kamre mai nahi hai, sir…. Sare gehne or rupay bhi gayab hai…..” ( Her room is almost empty… There was no jewelry or even a rupee in her room. ) Savita tried hard to keep her cries away while speaking only if she wants to live for her kids. 

“Kya?” ( What? ) Vikram yells and there is no second thought about the fact that his daughter ran away from her wedding. 

Once again the gossip arises tarnishing Murthy’s image. 

“Jab yeah sab hua tab tu kaha thi.” ( Where were you when all this happened? ) Saniket grabbed Savita’s neck furiously, making her choke. Palak comes near them to save Savita’s life but she knows her husband is a devil himself. He won’t hear anything while he continues tightening his hold around Savita’s neck, “Yeah tumhara kaam tha na us par nazar rakhna… toh woh kaise gayi?” ( Is it not your job to keep an eye on her?… Then, how she went out? ) 

“Saniket Ji… Leave her. At least give her time to say anything.”, Palak pleads, trying hard to separate him but her husband is a j*rk.

Instead of leaving Savita’s neck, he pushed Palak on the floor mercilessly and yelled, “Keep within your limits, b!tch!… Don’t try to rule on me. You are just trash!… A TRASH!…” 

Palak looks down and drinks her tears as this is her daily routine. She is just his namesake wife who didn’t even treat her as his equal. He never feels ashamed of insulting his wife in front of so many people. This is how Murthys treat the girls in their house. 

Otherside, in the old cottage, Manik is staring at Nandini’s nearly n@ked cle@vage. A tiny exposed skin of hers’ is enough to make him mad. It’s almost 18 years since he saw the same face but the feeling he has buried long back could not even take a second to come back. His fingers automatically curl into a fist as they are itching to touch what is his to claim. 

Burying his feelings once again, he speaks with his same old rude tone while squeezing her cheeks, “Jab kapde pehna nahi aata toh pehnati kyu ho?… Zyada shok hai apna badan dikhane ka…Haa?” ( When you don’t know how to dress up then, Why do you even dare to do that?… Do you want unnecessary attention on your body? ) 

Nandini stays quiet because everything goes away from her understanding. First of all, she doesn’t know what he is talking about and second, she is still 18 and is unaware of any bad side of the world. So, she tries to ask him, “Aap kis ke baare mai baat kar rahe hai?” ( What are you talking about? ) 

This time Manik noticed that her voice is the same as in the past but with just a little addition of cuteness when she says “AAP”. He just wants to pull her cheeks and su*k the hell out of them but he is not the same Manik anymore who drools over his girlfriend every time. 

He sits in front of her with the same hard expressions and goes close to her, making her sacred with their closeness. She is hell-scared because this is the first time any stranger is coming this close to her which is giving her goosebumps. She lowers her eyes not knowing what is happening to her. Why is she feeling shy in front of him all of a sudden? There are a lot of questions but the answers are none. 

A sudden urge comes in him to touch her which weakens his hard posture and he ends up touching her neck with the tip of his finger. His finger felt blessed, he felt like heaven when he again got butterflies in the pit of his stomach after 18 years. His finger automatically slides down from her neck to cle@vege ever so gently taking all his time. 

His finger automatically stopped at the junction of her cle@vege and he tugged her blouse only to receive a gasp from her. She lifts her lashes and looks into his eyes directly bringing him back to his senses. 

He breaks the contact from her body and in an instant, his heart yells at him for the loss of his soulmate’s touch. He composes himself and grits his teeth and gets angry with himself for losing control over his desires. He lashed at her, frantically, “What is this? Don’t you want to close it or… are you desperate for a manly touch who will show you heaven?” In the end, he didn’t keep his possessiveness at his side which made him curse himself. 

Nandini looks down again hearing his high-pitched tone and mumbles innocently, “Yeah blouse mera nahi hai… isiliye shayad aisa ho gaya….” ( This blouse is of not my size… maybe that’s why this happened. ) Saying this, she covers her front from her dupatta but it is not helping her completely to hide from his predating eyes. Manik’s eyes still can gaze at her bosom rightfully. 

Manik is so into her that he didn’t notice what she just said. He turns his face but doesn’t distance himself from her as he doesn’t have enough strength to do so again. The god already made him suffer by taking her away and now he won’t go away from her. Not even when he is not accepting his feelings for her. 

Coming into his usual self, he says, eyeing her che$t, “Ab ise band karogi ya… aise hi rahne ka irada hai?” ( Did you take effort to close these buttons… or want to stay like this whole your life? )  

Nandini nods cutely in affirmation and tries to hook her blouse again but ends up crying making a cute pout giving a heart attack to the monster. 

The one thing he still can’t see is her cries. He feels like killing himself before seeing tears in her eyes no matter how much he tries to ignore the fact that his heart still beats only for her. 

To be continued…