Chapter 5 - The Aftermath

Raghav was neither interested in Ayaan’s life nor college parties. Yet he found himself sitting over a barstool and eagerly searching for Ayaan. Why? Just because this announcement of Ayaan throwing a party for his girlfriend seemed suspicious. He went on with his gut feeling and went ahead to check out. Now he is regretting why did he even decide to attend. Oh yes, He promised his brother-in-law that he will make sure that Ayaan will stay out of trouble. Huh! Ayaan is supposed to be his elder brother as he is seven months younger than Ayaan. But here he is looking out for this older brother. This is exhausting.

“Hey, I never knew you were invited to the party, welcome aboard.”

A girl from his class spoke to him while leaned in to kiss him while he pulled himself away from her.

“Thank you, but do mind your own business Vartika. I am not interested in you.”

Vartika got annoyed and muttered something under her breath and left Raghav alone which relieved him to the core. True he is also one of those men in his institute who gets female attention, but he is not Ayaan who loves to take advantage of it-

“The hell are you doing here at my party...”

And that is when all the hell broke loose. Ayaan, fuming with a really bad temper and not to mention the way his knuckles turned white within few seconds. Uh-oh… here comes the trouble.

“I… I just heard there is a party, so I came to see what’s the fuss all about… Why are you so excited about it?”

Sarcasm was dripping in Raghav’s words which enraged Ayaan further.

“You son of a b-”

“Hey, not my mother you a**hole!”

And then the brawl started when Raghav felt a blow on his stomach. He cradled his stomach and he felt another one but he quickly dodged and punched Ayaan’s face. Then Ayaan kicked his shin leading him to scream out while Ayaan took the chance to hit him once again causing Raghav to be alert and Kickback Ayaan this time.

“Guys come on… stop it now, we are in a public place and someone might call the cops...”

Ron’s words fell deaf on their ears as they kept going on with their fistfight. Ron came in between to resolve their fight as he is concerned more about Ayaan and even though he is not found of Raghav. But alas! Both of them are behaving like raging bulls and he feels like he needs to break a fire alarm again to make them disperse just like what he did in their high school.

“Ayaan...”

And just like the fire alarm, Ashita’s scream halted everything. As if they are all in some movie dramatically things slowed down, Ayaan and Raghav froze in their places while Ashita’s tear-streaked face agitated Ron… what could have happened that-

And that was when he witnessed the whole scene unfolding. Ashita dragging what looked like half-dead Sparsh with her towards Ayaan and Ayaan rushing towards Sparsh. As soon as he reached near Sparsh he held her in his arms and cradled her in his arms like she was some precious gem or a prized possession of his. Looking at this Raghav felt a tug on his heart causing it to ache. The girl laying unconscious in his arms looked so much like a fallen angel like she is some celestial body-

Perhaps Raghav should read less of those manga comics less… either way, he found yet another reason to hate and envy Ayaan now. Ayaan has everything that he doesn’t. A loving and doting parent, A caring sister and now an angel girlfriend… and by the looks, he could tell that Ayaan loves her. Raghav left the premises with a heavy heart thinking when he will be happy and stop envying Ayaan for once.

“Hmm...mmmfhh...”

Ayaan felt annoyed that this lady whom he is carrying on his back as if he is giving her a piggyback ride is way too comfortable at the moment. Pshh… at least she is not that heavy, actually she doesn’t weigh at all. Is she malnourished? Thank god she is not puking at the moment for a prude and cowardly girl, she has some guts to drink up. Not to mention her whole being is reeking beer altogether. He chuckled… some scholar girl she is… He made his way to his car and right at the moment, Sparsh started to struggle.

“Mama…. Mummaaaaa… please give me sweet yogurt… pweeeesh...”

Eh! Sweet yogurt? At this time of the night? This stupid girl of his- wait… this stupid fake girl of his puked her guts out as soon as he held her causing his shirt to reek her barf which in a result he is wearing the bouncer uniform shirt at the moment. And not to mention she spent most of the time of that damn part in girls’ loo, now wants sweet yogurt? Is she mad?

“Mmmphhh… yogurt… mmphhhh...”

She kept on mumbling as he placed her over the passenger seat and was about to put on the seatbelt and she struggled while screaming yogurt. He then placed his hand overher mouth to shut her up and didn’t realize he was just an inch apart from her but her doe-like eyes did widen as he came that close to her and her heart started thudding hard.

“I will get your yogurt if you will be silent like a good girl. Understood?”

All Sparsh could do was nod like an obedient child because she kept on staring at him and wondering how thick and lustrous can be his hair. Bet the girls in their institute are jealous of his hair. All this while Ayaan put on her seat belt she kept her arms locked over his neck and when he was done, she was not at all interested in leaving him.

“... Sparsh...”

Her doe-like eyes kept on observing his features as he looked mesmerizing to her up close.

“No wonder… all these girls… they worship you… I am nothing to you...”

By saying that she dosed off making Ayaan wonder what she blabbered… sighing he just took his seat and drove away from the club. While driving, he kept on checking whether she is doing okay or not while Sparsh dozed off easily. Wow, after becoming worry wort for her he is welcoming the peaceful Sparsh next to him. What a sight to view!

He then spotted a small stall that had the signboard saying sweet yogurt so he quickly parked his car on the corner and hopped off his seat. He crossed the road and then he paid for the yogurt and came back to his car only to look at the empty passenger seat. The hell! Where did this drunk lunatic go?

He looked for her every part of the road but she was nowhere to be found. Panic aroze in him making him think she might have mixed with the wrong crowd or have been kidnapped. He hurriedly asked pedestrians nearby and auto drivers if they have seen a drunk girl around. None responded causing him to get agitated further.

At a small back ally, when he entered, he heard a cat mewling with high pitch and then he heard a female voice singing melodiously. Eiter by intuition or curiosity, he followed that voice. And then there he found her… singing and playing with a cat. This Sparsh is very different than what he witnessed in the morning… the playful and carefree Sparsh seemed mesmerizing. As if she is a fallen angel… innocent yet playful… he slowly strode towards her and her voice seemed even more soothing to him.

“Sparsh?”

“Hmm...”

He extended his arm to offer the sweet yogurt which she has been asking about. Her eyes twinkled like starts on the haven. Happily she grabbed the cup filled with sweet yogurt and she started savoring it without any care about the world. This intoxicated Sparsh is something he admires at the moment because he is starting to relate his inner child to her. He then placed an arm over her sleek and narrow shoulders and led her while the drunk Sparsh skipped happily with him.