First Impression

It was a different city; the sky above him looked darker, the stars unfamiliar; the air smelt nothing like home; but even then, he was surrounded by people just the same. Omkara was feeling like an idiot, for letting Jai drag him to this place. He felt irritated with himself that his eyes sorted her out, as if they were cursed to notice everything that was corrupt. He felt stupid for feeling drawn to her, for letting his heart form a kind of trust in her, even for a little moment. He felt betrayed for no real reason.

He and Jai had met exactly half a decade later. The later had been across the globe, managing his father’s business in USA right after graduation. It was kind of fate that their interests had to conflict after so many years. It all came down to a merger Oberois were interested in. While they had been under the impression that all the partners were favorably disposed towards their proposal, one of them had sold out his shares to Ragav; Jai’s father; who had until then been a minor share holder had suddenly became the decisive factor of the entire deal. Shivay; who never liked anyone else being more informed or having the upper hand over him (after firing the people responsible for the lack of research) had decided that it would be beneficial if Omkara could pull out his old ties with Ragav’s family, namely by the means of his best friend of collage and university; Jai. So here he was; letting the man exploit the same advantage over him by dragging him to a reputed nightclub in Delhi under the claim that he had the full right to spend as much time as he could with his lost and found best friend.

“O’ have you taken an oath that you won’t drop this rotten facade of yours?” Jai’s voice boomed somewhere near his ear, jerking him out of his trance into the earsplitting music and the flashing neon lights of the present that surrounded him. Jai was leaning against the counter, his eyes not on him, but scanning the crowd, a glass already clasped on his hand. In that fleeting moment Omkara realized the time had made no change in the person beside him, he was still the jolly man of yore. On one side he was glad about it, at least some part of his life remained the way it was, on the other side he could not help but feel a little jealous. How could the fates had troubled him so much and let this guy escape unscathed?

He tried to smile, for the sake of concern that glittered in Jai’s eyes. He could do without adding to the list of people who worried for him, on the other hand he wanted to make sure Jai was on his side, when the talk would turn into business.

“Now that looks more pathetic, I wonder how you manage it,” Jai narrowed his eyes, slamming his glass on the table. “Now it looks like you’ve a toothache mate!”

“J,” Omkara reprimanded him in a low voice, already tired of the crowd and the noise. This was one of the aspects of his friend that he did not appreciate much. The man had a thing for parties which sadly Omkara did not share. It had been one of the mysteries left unsolved during their university life, everyone around them wondered how did the devil and saint (as they were called) ended up being room mates. Now he looked back Omkara always thought it was a part of his destiny to be associated with someone from the complete opposite of spectrum; cause in the later years Ruddy had turned out to be an exact copy of Jai, minus the eyebrow piercing and the blond highlights on his gelled up hair. “You know very well that I’m not thrilled to be dragged and tossed about right?”

Looking at him, Jai gave him a crooked smile, finally looking satisfied.

“You have to accept it O, the years had done a very little to you too. You’re still the same…with swan wings flapping on your back!”

For a moment the words made a hilarious picture in his mind, he almost laughed. Trying to get that vision of himself with typical angel wings out of his mind, Omkara’s eyes travelled over the crowd. That, he should not have done.

His eyes landed upon a figure not very far from them, dancing at the center of a huddled up gang of girls. Something about her made his eyes linger, instead of wandering off as it usually did. She was in her early twenties, dressed in tattered pair of jeans and a black crop cut top that left her midriff bare. Her hair of henna color bounced in thick curls around her face as the neon lights of the club boasted off the blue highlights in them, her cheeks were rosy from all the excitement and her smile casting a kind of dazzling glow over her patrician features. The moment that seemed to stretch up into a while, she turned and their gazes met over the sea of dancing people. Her eyes were of espresso color, the dim light of the club made them look deep golden, it was not their feminine beauty that halted his gaze; but something very familiar was gazing back at him from those unfamiliar orbs. It was a closed off look, a look of a person suffering from an old wound that only worsened with time, a look he sometimes saw staring at him from the depths of his mirror.

Something about his gaze had stopped the girl in mid movement as well, she was frozen in her step for a fragment of a second and the vulnerability vanished from her eyes. Instead her lips curled upwards to form an arrogant sort of smile, that clearly told anyone that she knew how attractive she was, and winked at him. Omkara blinked out of his reverie, jerked back to the reality by her boldness and he looked away focusing intently on anywhere but at the strange girl, who thought he was checking her out.

Jai was saying something, about an engagement he had bunked just to keep Omkara company. He nodded at what he thought was the right place, faintly recalling Rudra was supposed to attend the same mid air engagement.

“At least you could pretend to be happy in my company,” he ended in a ranting tone.

“You should have told me your dad was not at home J, don’t forget you sort of tricked me into flying all the way to Delhi when he was across the globe.” Omkara tried his best to keep the annoyed tone minimal. But the puppy dog expression Jai was giving him, did not change even a tad bit.

“And here I was all about reuniting with my kindred spirit, my bestest friend!” He said dramatically with a fair imitation to a tone he was all too familiar with hearing from a melodramatic Rudra. “Only to find out that the time changed him, he is no longer interested in humble me, but my father…kya kare…dost dost na raha….!” Jai waved his hands like a music conductor as he sang mockingly.  

Omkara raised an eyebrow, memories of their old days and the joyous Jai replaying in his mind. He suspected if this had been a part of Shivay’s plan in sending him here, trying to make him associate with pages of his old life as a desperate attempt to revert him back to the person he was once. He shook his head, still lost in thoughts as darker memories the recent days filled his mind. There were things only this version of him could achieve, goals only gained through darker trails. He knew Shivay was not happy with the change in him, but the battle that awaited required taking weapons, laying aside the principles that suited a illusionary world of light. Perhaps after this war, he will find his peace somewhere. The mere thought made him mock himself with a smirk, how can he be foolish enough to hope for peace still?

Again Jai’s words had zoned out from his attention and Omkara’s eyes wandered over the crowd. A raised voice attracted him and his eyes fell upon a kind of a gathering on the other end of the bar counter.

“So it was all a game for you?” A young man who looked rather unsettled asked in that loud tone, the desperation that layered his voice was prominent enough that it could be distinguished from where Omkara sat.

“Amit, don’t create a scene here,” a female voice replied him, calm yet finite. “We can talk this out like grown ups right?”

The man gave a mirthless laugh.

“And what grown ups play with someone’s feelings for a bet?”

“I said I was sorry, didn’t I?”

“Do you know that my parents – even your dad, they were getting ready to get us engaged?”

“And how is that my fault again?”

“Ri,” a new voice meddled in, this one also female. “I think we should leave, otherwise we’d be making headlines very soon.”

“No,” said Amit, the movements suggested that he stretched an arm to halt her from leaving. “Please tell me this is a joke Ri, it’s not so funny anymore!”

“True, it’s not. You’re getting on my nerves Amit. I – don’t – love – you! Got it? I don’t! Now let me go!”

“Ri please…!”

“Oh come on Amit, what are you exactly begging for? You know, I’m kind of angry with myself for ever bothering with a guy like you, even if it was for a bet.”

“How can you –“

“Wake up Amit, this is how I am, and you know that right? You know me from kindergarten for god’s sake. You know I don’t take relationships seriously, you know nothing lasts more than a couple of months for me…I thought you knew from the beginning that this was one of those…a fling at the most, nothing more. Now, don’t be a jerk and let me leave!”

The crowd covering her from Omkara’s view parted as the girl made her exit. But Amit was having none of it yet. With a quick reflex he caught her shoulder, pulling her roughly to face him.

“This is not over Ri!”

It did not take even a second for the girl to turn and slap him right across his face, the sound of flesh against flesh leaving a stinging silence behind.

“Never try to stop me, never ever.” Her tone was low and dangerous, as she jerked herself free from Amit’s hold and moved from the shadows, a couple of friends at her heel, who had the courtesy to give Amit some pitying glances over their shoulders. Omkara’s eyes met the espresso pair once more, at that moment they were burning with a silent fire. He saw the same girl who he had felt an strange attraction to, a moment before making her way towards them, her hair flying and eyes on fire. Gone was the traces of hidden pain, what he saw was a face of stone, a woman who felt no remorse for the trail of broken hearts she was leaving behind. A woman who knew and exploited her charms well. A woman who was as poisonous as she was beautiful.

Well, she was not the first he had came across.

Before Omkara had started to wonder why she was coming towards him, Ri’s eyes slid from his to Jai beside him. Bidding farewell to the friends that had been circling her like a pair of bees, she leaned against the counter.

“Enough drama for a day don’t you think Bhai?” She said in a tone that suggested she was bored with the entire spectacle that took place a moment before.

*
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Sakura