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"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in double quotes' - Thoughts

(Word in braces) - Telephone conversations

Chapter 19 - Taken

'At least there's some relief now that the two are gone.' Ragini thought to herself in relief. "is this how it feels to have boys fighting over you? It looks so romantic in movies. In real life though, I would rather lock my room and hibernate than be someone else's beloved. How troublesome..." Ragini sighed as she placed her hand on her chin,thinking about how she was going to handle the situation once both Laksh and Ratan came back to the table to chat with her.

"Here."

Ragini looked up from the spot on the table that she had been staring at, deep in thought. She smiled at Nikhil who brought her the bottle of water. "Thank you." seeing him standing, she pointed to a nearby chair on the other side of the table. "Why don't you sit down? There are enough chairs."

"I'm your driver, ma'am."

"So? That doesn't mean that you aren't a human being like me. Work is work, big or small. That doesn't mean I think of you as a servant." she replied honestly. "Come on. Sit down."

If it was possible to feel anymore of guilt than he was at that moment, Nikhil didn't know. Here he was trying to harm her. And there she was, being nice to him without any fake hypocrisy. He eyed the water bottle which he had given her. The froth that was at the bottom was almost unnoticeable. But he knew it was from the liquid he mixed with the water. 

The liquid that was to knock Ragini unconscious.

"Thank you ma'am." he sat down at her request.

"Haha...! No need to thank me. It's public property." she replied, as she opened the cap of the bottle.

Nikhil swallowed hard as he saw her raise the bottle to her lips. 'Once she starts feeling a headache, I'll tell her to come with me to the car to rest. The people here won't suspect me that way either.It will only be a few more minutes for her to become completely unconscious.'

As Ragini bobbed her head up to sip, a shout interrupted them.

"WATER!" shouted a tired voice.

"Eh? Laksh, what happened? Why do you look like you've run a marathon?"

Laksh came while breathing heavily and holding a hand to his stomach. "Ratan *huff* made me *huff* run!"

"But why?"

He flopped down unceremoniously on a chair and took time to collect his breaths. "I went to find him as this driver said. But when I got there, Ratan was about to enter the lift. So i ran towards him as fast as I could. But still, the lift closed before I could get to him." Laksh explained as he snatched the water bottle from Ragini.

'Shit! No, no,no! This wasn't supposed to happen!' Nikhil thought in panic.

"But if he had called for you, why would he do that?" Ragini asked in confusion. "Nikhil, didn't you say Ratan was the one who called for Laksh?"

"Y-yes, yes! He did. I wonder why he left for the lift all of a sudden!" he replied quickly.

"Whatever! I'm not surprised though. Ratan has had some weird quirks from college." Laksh answered with a chuckle.

Laksh opened the bottle to take a sip. However, before he could even bring it near his lips, it was grabbed by Nikhil who had stood up and was now before him.

"You can't drink from this!"

"What the heck driver!" Laksh got up in anger as well. "Leave the bottle at once!" he commanded, pulling the bottle towards himself.

"No! I won't."

"Why the heck not!?"

"Because...because..." Nikhil tried to think of an excuse fast. "Because I had brought it for Ragini ma'am. I'll go get you another if you like."

"Dude,  what's the difference? What's her's in mine."

"Excuse me!?" Ragini got up in indignation. "What did you just say! I dare you repeat it!"

Laksh sweatdropped. "Chill. I was just joking. But nevertheless, I'm sure it's okay if I drink from this right?"

"You can." she replied. "Nikhil, it's okay. He is a good friend of mine."

"Yep, yep. I'm just a morethanagoodfriend good friend to her."

"Ehehe...Lucky..." she chuckled, but there was a threat underneath. "You're such a honester, aren't you?"

"You know me so well."

Nikhil couldn't make out what he said, but Ragini did. She balled her hands into fists. 'First, Dadi comes and makes me date this complete stranger Ratan. Then, I have to bear with his over exaggerated flattery! Then Laksh comes to piss me off further and now....now this!? What does he think of himself!?'

"Laksh Maheshwari, you ar-"

"Are amazing? Why thank you!" he replied, finally managing to bring the bottle out of Nikhil's grasp with much force.

Nikhil didn't have any excuses to defy them. He dreaded what was to happen now.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't expect Ragini to snatch it out of his hands and empty the water on his head. She then put it back in his hands. "There's your water! There's your awesomeness! You look good as a drowned rat now." she huffed out.

Laksh blinked, still unable to process what just happened. He raised his hands to his eyes and wiped the water away to clear his vision. He saw Ragini's angry face and Nikhil's open-mouthed, shocked face before him. "You wet my shirt!" he squeaked out as the wet shirt clinged onto his body tightly.

"You deserved it! Nikhil would agree to it as well, right Nikhil?"

"Um..." that was the only thing that escaped Nikhil's mouth at the scene. On one hand he was happy that Laksh didn't drink the water, which might have led to many problems. On the other hand, he never expected Ragini to take such a step. 'Well well...what do you know? This kitten has claws.'

"Aww...if you wanted to see my muscles and abs that bad, I could have always pulled a Salman Khan pose for you." he joked, only to flinch at the moment he completed his sentence. It was at such times that he really hated the fact that he had an uncanny habit of laughing or joking at the odd moments. He always regretted them later. "Sor-"

"You know what? Ratan is far better than you. At least he knows how to treat me like a proper lady! I'm going after him. BYE!" she huffed out and stormed away towards the stairs, making people stare at her in caution.

Laksh sighed in misery. "Someone shoot me please."

'Gladly!' Nikhil thought in irritation. 'You ruined all my plans!'

"Nikhil was it? Here." Laksh handed him the bottle. "Empty the rest of it on me as well, will ya? Maybe that will make me realize my brain-to-mouth filter."

#With Ratan#

"Listen Mr. I still do not know who you are."

(That is so sad to hear my dear. I'm your uncle. How could you not recognize your poor old uncle's voice? The youngsters these days!)

"I told you already that I only have two uncles! You aren't related to me. The Ratan you're asking for is someone else, not me." Ratan explained in impatience. He had been arguing over the same topic for over half an hour with the man. But the man on the other end was persistent. Ratan sometimes hated his princely status as he could not cuss. Because at times like these, he really wanted to let out some. 'If I got him in person...'

"Sir, you ne-"

(Lying. That is what you are doing!)

"Okay sir. That's enough. You're ruining my date with my girl. Good day!"

(Hey, it's not po-)

Ratan cut the call and glared at the phone, as if hoping the person on the other end would crash and die. Too bad he didn't know it was Nikhil's man that was purposefully keeping him away.

"Stupid callers, ruining my mood. Whe-" from the corner of his eyes, he noticed Ragini coming to that section of the mall. "Ragini! Over here!"

Ragini mentally groaned at the sound. She wasn't really expecting to see Ratan there. She just needed some time away from the mess of what was left of her love life, away from both her suitors. 'But I guess I won't be getting any peace for today. *sigh* Well, at least he's better than Laksh.' consoling herself with the thought, she waved over to him and walked closer. "Hey there. What did you come here for?"

"Oh nothing much. Was just roaming here and there while attending to my call. A habit of mine." he replied with a smile. "You came to find me, didn't you? Haha...! I knew my charms would make you crave for my attention. Don't you worry my dear! My heart belongs to you now." he did a dramatic bow.

'On second thought, I take back what I thought about Ratan. He's no better than Laksh. Both Laksh and Ratan are irritating to no end!' Ragini tried to put on a fake smile for him.

Ratan grabbed her hand and led her towards the ladies' clothes section. "I'll select something for you. You'll look good in anything of course, since you're beautiful and also you're my choice. But I would like to choose for you." he handed her a beautiful gown. "Please, if you do not mind."

Ragini touched the material and was amazed at how soft it was. "It's...it's really beautiful. But it looks so expensive!"

"Worry not about the money my dear. You just go try it." without waiting to hear her protests, he pushed her towards the trial rooms. "Go, go. I'll be right here when you come out."

Ragini bit her lip. On one hand, she indeed wanted to try on the dress. But on the other hand, it was expensive. She didn't want to take advantage of Ratan's love for her since she knew she would never love him back. "Bu-"

"Please. it would break my heart a little if you won't try it."

"I..." Ragini stopped protesting when she noticed the look she was giving him. The puppy dog eyes he was making would make anyone melt. In fact, if she didn't love Laksh, she may have fallen for Ratan's charms. "Okay. Be right back."

After sometime...

"Yo Ratan! Dude, I've been looking all over for you." Laksh exclaimed, coming near.

Ratan looked up from the magazine he was reading while sitting on the couch. "Hey Lucky. I was just waiting for Ragini to be finished."

"Finished with what?"

"I'm done. What do you think?" came a shy voice. Both looked up to the voice, only to feel as if their breath had been taken away from them at the sight.

Ragini stood there with a smile. She knew she liked waht she saw in the mirror. For her, the dress was amazing and suited her. She wasn't like other girls who know they are beautiful, but go on calling themselves 'ugly' just to fish for compliments. But she wanted to know their opinions.

"Wow...just wow. That is the only thing that is coming to my mind right now my dear. You're so beautiful. Like...like a Princess out of a magical tale indeed!" Ratan praised. If it was a cartoon, his eyes would have turned into two heart shapes while the backgreound would be one of pink hearts all together. "Oh my dear! All I want to do is sweep you off your feet and take you away with me to a lan where only you and I exist till death do us apart! What magic have you done to me that I can't ever get tired of looking at you!? Oh, this spell that your beauty cast on me is..."

Ragini tuned out whatever Ratan was saying and looked at Laksh from the corner of her eyes. She couldn't help but stiffle a giggle at how he was looking at her.

Laksh stood there with an open mouth. It was almost comical as how his jaw looked like it would drop to the floor. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. If he thought of her as beautiful, now she almost looked completely enthralling. The dress hugged her petite figure in all the right places and she looked more delicate like a flower. What made her look more radiant was the confidence she seemed to radiate. She had a small smile on her face and a look in her eyes which were outlined with a simple eyeliner that just screamed royalty. She looked delicate and pretty, but also confident and bold. 

An excellent depiction of femininity.

"Oi!"

"Ow!" Laksh covered his ear as someone screamed into it. "What the heck Ratan?! And...and when did you get over here? Weren't you over..." Laksh pointed in front of him. However, there was no Ragini standing there any longer, and neither was Ratan there. 'Of course he can't be there when he's right next to you dumbo. But where's Ragini? Don't tell me she moved from the spot long ago but I had been staring, lost in thoughts.' Laksh didn't realize he had accidentally spoken out the last three words.

"Yes you were. So lost you were in your thoughts my friend that you were gaping at thin air for long until I had to resort to scream into your ear."

"I-I see. Where's Ragini by the way?"

"Here!" she came out in her own dress after changing in the trial room. "Ratan, the dress is beautiful. But please don't buy it. I would feel bad if you spent so much on a mere dress."

"Bu-"

"Please Ratan?" she looked at him pleadingly.

At once Ratan's resolve broke and he sighed. "Alright, my dear. As you wish."

"Thanks! We should be leaving now."

"Hey, hey! What about me!? I need a new shirt after the previous one got wet thanks to an over smart person." Laksh uttered, glaring at Ragini. Don't get him wrong. He loved her. But she ruined his favorite shirt.

"Ah. That person must really have been in a hurry." Ratan commented.

"Yeah. Wait, let me find myself a shirt." he moved a few steps away from them to reach the line of men's shirts and chose a brown shirt. "This should do." without wasting time, he got out of his wet shirt and threw it away. He was left wearing his vest and jeans.

"What the...what are you doing?!"

Laksh blinked towards Ragini, new shirt in hand. "Changing."

"I know that!" she glared. "Why are you doing it here?! Look around!"

"Eh?" only then did Laksh notice that all the female employees were staring at him, some even drooling. "Oh. Oops!" he uttered with an embarrassed chuckle. However, being a flirt throughout college, he was kind of enjoying the attention. He winked at one of the girls, making her turn beet red and hide behind the counter.

However, before he could have his laugh, he felt himself being abruptly turned and a shirt being flung at his face. "Leave that and wear this! And do it in the trial room. Go!" shouted Ragini.

"Wow there calm down. Why are you being so aggressive?" a thought struck him. He looked towards Ratan. Seeing him a few steps away, he whispered to her. "You aren't jealous now, are you?" he smirked.

Ragini flushed. "N-no! No way!" she stuttered out, making him snicker. "Move it!"

"Haha...! Alright, alright. Don't worry. This Laksh Maheshwari is only yours, love." he blew her a kiss, making sure Ratan didn't see it and went away with a skip in his steps. His mood totally changed from the earlier fight with Ragini.

"That...that....ugh!" Ragini smacked herself in the face and sighed. "Nevermind."

"Ragini, let's leave." Ratan's voice came as he approached. He grabbed her hand and smiled at her. "Nikhil's ready with the car. Let's go."

"Sure. But weren't we waiting for Laksh?" she asked in confusion. 'He's the one who wanted to wait. What happened to change his mind?'

"He can go by himself since he came by himself. Let's go."

#Mall entrance#

Ragini and Ratan came out of the sliding doors and neared the car. She didn't want to leave Laksh behind, but Ratan seemed persistent. He changed from the love smitten Ratan to a fierce and possessive guy over minutes, leaving her a bit bewildered.

"Let's go Nikhil."

"Yes sir."

Suddenly, angry voices were heard as some men started to fight over something.

"Sir they are blocking the path."

"Argh! Let me see." Ratan huffed out and started to walk over to them.

'As planned. Finally!' without waiting for any disturbances, Nikhil at once grabbed Ragini from behind and put a chloroform induced handkerchief over her nose and mouth.

Ragini's eyes widened and she tried to scratch at the hand that grabbed her. 'Can't...breathe....someone...help...' Nikhil's apologetic face was the last thing she saw, after which everything turned dark.

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~ 🌹 Mona 🌹