Rewinding Reverie

Sambhavna

"So just to be clear, nobody remembers anything from last night?" Skepticism laces my tone as we step out of the warehouse for Maira to lick her wounds in the privacy of the room.

"Do you think we'd be this way if we knew what we're up against?" Ella retorts antagonizingly and I can't shake aside this feeling that something is indefinitely wrong. The way she's been acting isn't very typical. Maybe she does remember but wants to lead us on to note our reactions instead. Who in the right mind can act so cool after witnessing a corpse like that? I know I can't.

I draw my hand towards my temple in an attempt to block the rain but it keeps pounding down on the mushy grounds in a cadence that's rather haunting. I'm cold, starving, confused and scared to a fault right now to revel in the weather.

"I'm really worried you guys." Vaanya shudders to the rain and I look at her. "How do you think he died?"

"He'd have drunk himself to death for all I care," Ella says snidely, rolling her eyes and the niggling feeling is back in my gut again.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," I grouse and feel their eyes on me.

"What?" Ella daggers acidly, cocking her hips to change her posture. "It isn't my fault it looks that way. Why are you so hell-bent on pinning this on me? You could've killed him too."

How dare she? "And why would I do that?"

"Okay guys, please!" Vaanya interjects and Ella looks away, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just calm down." She eyes the door open and I shut up as Maira walks out. "Are you okay?"

"My boyfriend is dead, what do you think?" She sniffles and I instantly feel horrible for her.

"You couldn't have done anything M," Ella says. "Abusing on alcohol was his kink and maybe something went down with that."

Maira's gaze flickers on Ella. "I know it looks that way but he was always careful with alcohol but you are so determined to prove me wrong and make it all look like some accident."

"Because it is!" Of course Ella would shriek to prove a point.

"But how are you sure about that?" Maira counters back frigidly and she purses her lips.

"I can't do this anymore." Ella throws her arms up in the air in defeat. "I'm out of here."

Maira covers her mouth and looks away as though she's sick and I know she is-I feel the same way too.

"Let's just go back to our separate places okay?" I ask, not wanting to wait here for someone else to locate us.

We set out in our different ways almost immediately after discussing our plans for alibis and I halt for another minute to watch Maira leave with Vaanya after Ella pedal her car out of the woods. I decide to hike back to my place silently. If anything I know it in my gut that one of us is lying about last night.

Maira

I watch the bartender pour me another glass of scotch and it's taking him forever. It's damn near irritating to watch him pour it with all his mighty art of mixology.

"Give me that fucking thing!" I snatch it out of his grip and he gawks at me as I tip my head back and flush it down my throat convulsively. "Add it to my father's tab, will you?" I ask, arching a brow challengingly and he nods like an obedient duck. "I might need another one too," I slur as he begins to back away to spare me the privacy and I continue to drink in silent misery.

It's been thirteen hours since I left that shitty warehouse and by the time lunch rolled around, the news of Kunal's death was everywhere. My phone was buzzing nonstop and I got multiple texts from people I never even gave my number to, which explains why I ran off and landed in one of these bars to drink alone. Whatever my parents think of this can be chalked up as trauma-which won't be a lie if I'm being honest.

I don't want to believe that one of my girls-who seem so distant now-can be responsible for Kunal's death but I can't shake aside this feeling. I know Kunal couldn't have drunk himself to his death-it's outrageously dense for someone like him to fall for that. Although...when I looked at Ella this morning after Kunal's death, she didn't seem...I don't know, sad. Granted, she hasn't been his biggest fan but our mothers run in the same circle of community. She may not have accepted it but Kunal was always one of us. And Vannya...she was up before any of us and she was there for a while before she woke Sambhavna, could it be that she-no, what am I thinking? Of course, Vaanya can't do that. She is too squeaky-clean for something like that. Dark is my style and Vaanya is all light and no shadows. So that leaves...Sam but she has zero agendas, she was barely around Kunal anyway. So she's off the equation too. Goddamn it. Then who the fuck killed Kunal?

I tip my head back to down another glass and hark back my memories from last night.

"Are you ready for another night ladies?" Ella flashed her charming grin as she halted the car in front of the gate of Mittal's property. Her blow-dried brown hair bounced as she hopped out of her vehicle before she killed the engine. She always looks like the main heroine of a movie you'd remember at least for another year, perfectly made grey eyes with poppy lips and a beauty mark right below her lips. Her mini bodycon dress revealed her long flowing legs and her stilettos clanked against the asphalt ground as she walked to us gracefully. If you were in our UNI, you'd have marveled at her or probably would have been jealous of her.

"You bet," I said and grinned as I side-hugged her and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket. "Where are we headed tonight?"

"Anywhere you wish, sweetie," she said and Vaanya stepped out looking like an angel.

"How do I look?" she asked and twirled around in her peach-colored a-line wrap dress.

"Oh I'm in total approval V," Ella beamed, "Did you get that from Prada?" Yes. Ella is all about the brands-she can go gaga over them and completely ditch us for the first season sale. I, on the other hand, think that's too much crap to care about. Sometimes Ella can care so much for these things that it gets exhausting for a normal person to keep up. It's too unnecessary but nobody can help it.

"From their Fall collection, of course," Vaanya cooed. "Uncle Daksh sent it over last week and I was dying to try this one."

"Bless his soul. He has taste," Ella giggled and I smiled. "You rock that look," she said and Vaanya's soft features lit up. She never has to struggle with make-up, she is so gorgeous by default that she'd had been the golden girl if it weren't for Ella.

"Okay, so I was wondering if you plan on stopping for some drinks first." I lit my cigarette and took a drag. "You know we gotta start it the right way." I nudged her arm and Ella chuckled.

"You don't have to say twice," she said. "Where's Sam?"

"I'm right here." Sam stepped out in a solid skirt and a floral shirt tucked in with a belt. She looked...cute.

Ella snorted. "Did you seriously not find anything else? That shirt looks all sorts of wrong to me." Sambhavna's face fell and I felt pathetic for the poor girl. I like her-not as much as Vaanya does of course but she is cool.

She rubbed her scar above her brow and flushed. "I didn't have anything else to wear and what's wrong with the shirt?" Sambhava looks like someone you'd forget right after she leaves-pretty normal girl next door and totally nothing next to Ella but what does looks matter these days? I wouldn't care if I looked like her but people around here seem to notice all that jazz.

"Are you kidding me?" Ella's brows furrowed in bemusement. "Florals are so off-season. It isn't summering anymore, but animal prints never go out of style-feathers do though. But what do you know?"

"Enough with the couture talk, let's get going," I said before I exhaled the smoke.

Vaanya waved her hand to cast away the fumes in the air. "Did you really have to smoke right here?" she asked. "What if Ma sees you?"

"I can tell her that her perfect little daughter is just as corrupt as I am," I quipped and her eyes popped astounded.

"Maira," she gasped and slapped my hand. "You'll be the death of me someday, I'm certain now."

I laughed at her theatrics. "That someday isn't today sadly." I winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Okay then, brace yourselves," Ella grinned. "We're gonna have the time of our lives." We hopped into her car and made our way to Sally's Bar while gossiping and laughing some more.

"Would you like a refill Miss?"

I wink the thoughts away and stare at the man's face blankly. "Another drink?" He smiles and I look at my almost empty bottle before my gaze travels back at him.

"Yeah, sure," I say and he grins as he fetches a bottle of vodka from his cab. He sets the bottle on the table and breaks the seal.

"Thanks," I mumble as he uncaps it, pouring the crystal liquid into the glass, and smiles at me warmly before he leaves. I drink from the glass and drift back to my remnants of thoughts.

"Oh my God! Guess what?" Vaanya squealed as Ella snapped a selfie of us together and I looked at her in a questioning gaze. Her eyes lit up. "Ranveer is throwing this mad party at his boathouse guys, we should totally catch up."

"Do you want me to drop you off?" Ella shot and I pressed my lips together to hold back my chuckle.

Vaanya scowled at her. "I thought party is just the thing we're missing," she groaned. "What's wrong with you?"

"To that trash bag's party? No thanks." Oh boy!

Vaanya's mouth fell open and I gestured to her to calm down. She can go ballistic when she wants to and Ella has no idea-no actually nobody has any clue to her wrath except me.

"But it sounds like fun," Sam pitched and I knew it wasn't a bad idea. A party on a Friday night seemed just the thing we needed to blow the steam off.

"You know you can call Aagnay and all of us can hang out, right?" I suggested and that caught Ella's attention. This Queen is nothing without her King; I had figured that out a long time ago. Wherever Aagnay goes Ella follows but I guess I get it. They are madly in love and pretty much serious about each other.

"On a second thought, that doesn't sound bad at all," Ella said and I couldn't help it. I laughed my ass out. This woman! All you ever need are the right words to catch her attention and she is all yours.

"Finally," Sam said and Vaanya mouthed a silent 'thank you' in my direction.

I smirked at her and we were on wheels to one of the legendary Ranveer Goyal's party right about time.

My phone buzzes in my pocket and I glance at my mother's number flash on the homescreen. Argh. What the fuck does she want? I deserve a lonely night after everything I have lost, doesn't she get it? I ignore the call and let it buzz as I stare at the bucket of ice on the tabletop, rewinding my reverie.

Damn it. I remember going to Sally's Bar, to the mall, to the beach, and even Ranveer's party but why can't I remember a thing after that? How did I end up in that warehouse? Who got us there and why?

Ranveer's Boat House is extravagant. Not a single penny has been spared in the décor and the fixtures but this dude is too dense to care about any of that. I walked into the room full of familiar faces and spotted him snorting coke on the center table with his junkie friends. Vaanya was on her heels before we could split and she took her seat beside him on the sofa. She sure seemed happy around him. One look at him and you'd know he is the typical bad boy out of some shitty movie with his biker jacket and Ninja bike; rich, spoiled, and damned but he makes Vaanya smile and that's all I care about.

My gaze wandered on the left side of the room and I found Aagnay Bhasin, dressed in a two-piece grey suit, laughing with his friends. Who in the hell wears a suit to such parties? I swear that guy is uptight as fuck but I guess that's Ella's taste. I watched other women drool over him in silent admiration from afar but stopped the moment Ella slid her arm around his. He is what the gossip column likes to call 'The Chocolate Boy' and I suppose for all the right reasons. He tops his class and always returns with medals under his belt. He is perfection personified. And who can ignore his killer looks? Squared jaw, dark eyes, full lips, and winged brows; women lose their shit for him but he only has his eyes for Ella. They fit perfectly together and that's probably why I can stand him.

The track in the background changed to a rendition of 'Astronaut in the ocean by Masked Wolf' and my gaze landed on Kunal across the room flirting with Ishani, a freshman this year. I was rushing to him before I could think twice and he glanced in my direction.

"I didn't know you were coming," he said as he backed away from her and I looked at his handsome face under the bright lights. He had a charm that could catch any woman's attention. Kunal Dubey, the son of the top-notch contractor always knew his ways around seduction. Tall, dark, and perfectly built. He was a natural. He set his glass of what I assumed was malt whiskey on the side table and grabbed me by my hips. "Don't you look beautiful tonight?"

"Enough for you to flirt with juniors now?" I shot back and he grinned coyly. I'll admit that was my weakness-it's what got me crazy for him in the first place. He was a womanizer but he was always mine. It was an unhealthy equation but I was willing to settle for whatever he had to offer-that's how crazy I was for him.

"Don't say that." He leaned closer to my face and I tugged on my lip ring to avoid smiling. "It was a random talk," he lied. "Besides, I was bored since you weren't around."

"You just keep getting better with your lies," I said and he tipped his head back as he roared a laugh. "Why didn't you tell me you were here? I could've come with you."

He looked at me and his laughter dissipated. "I thought you had plans. Maira Anthony always has busy weekends."

"I'm never too busy for you and you know that." I caught him by his chin and pulled him closer to kiss his lips.

He looked past me as I pulled away from our kiss. "And you brought company." He grinned. "Ranveer should be thrilled to see his pussy."

"You are so gross." I punched his upper arm and we both laughed. Kunal knew everything about us, which was also why my friends shouldered him for a possible threat-as much as believing him to be the person behind the gossip column because he had nothing to hide and we have everything on the line to lose.

That's it! Maybe that's the motivation behind this. Perhaps Kunal lost his life because he knew too much. I swipe on the homescreen of my smartphone and instantly tap on the hyperlink that launches the gossip column. There hasn't been a single update on us since Kunal's death.

So does that mean...Kunal really was behind this column all along?

~~~

Hello Darlings,

I truly hope you liked this chapter because I just loved writing it! Please let me know what you think about it in the comments section? Your thoughts make my day precious! :)

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