Prologue

December 2016, Mumbai

The strobe lights blinked into his uncomfortable eyes as Anshuman scouted around to check out for anything familiar. His informant ‘Jhatka’ had emphasized he would get what he wanted to know today… Some titbit about Meera…his little sister. It was over five years now he had last spoken with her. Was she here…? In this shady nightclub in this reprehensible corner of Mumbai…? Oh, how he hated this city… apparently it never slept. Today being New Year’s eve, it was bursting at the seams as callous people ventured out to celebrate. He never understood why would someone want to squander money over trivial celebrations when life had so much to offer… so much more meaning. How could someone celebrate when a thousand others lived in misery…?

He looked around squinting his eyes. He had never been to nightclubs in ages. It never interested him anyway. Not after Meera went off the radar. As he saw the semi-naked women gyrating on the poles in their shimmery nothings, a shudder passed through his body… was Meera…? No… she wouldn’t… she couldn’t dance at all. Despite the smoky darkness and ear-splitting music, he couldn’t help noticing drug exchange. Gosh, those guys were barely out of their teens and they were already stoned. Was Meera too…? No, come what may, she didn’t do drugs… But what if she was forced to…? No, he wouldn’t go there. He would be positive, he told himself. He walked towards the corner and peeped to see a corridor. Probably it housed the rooms for the after-party rendezvous if the blatant solicitation by half-clad girls in raunchy makeup was anything to go by. He coughed as he inhaled the smoke let out by some asshole passing him and covered his face. He cringed at the very thought of Meera being caught in this hellhole… Was she pushed into flesh trade? He knew she had made a lousy decision on getting married. But still, was it possible…? He had heard horrendous stories about the redlight areas and how women serviced men out in shady clubs like these. He almost threw up thinking of Meera soliciting… No… She wouldn’t…Oh God. He hoped and prayed those were just wild thoughts.

He walked through the entire perimeter stumbling often on some zoned-out druggie but finally got pushed towards the dance floor. The crowd had swelled and it was getting on his nerves as the stenchy cocktail of sweat, drugs, booze, and sex wafted through his nostrils wanting to make him retch. He had barely slept for two nights in anticipation of finding out something about Meera. But this looked like a hoax as well… he had hit the dead-end yet again.

As he turned to leave his eyes locked with a set of naïve doe eyes glittering in the sparkling hues of the dark disco. She pranced towards him, her sensual swaying catching him unawares. She had covered her head completely revealing only those mesmerizing eyes. The dance number changed from rock to a romantic number and the people gathered there, slowed down. It was then he saw she had worn a figure-hugging lustrous dress reaching up to the knees of her never-ending legs. She was tall with a good built, unlike those anorexic gals he had seen all this while. Determination shone in the depth of her beautiful orbs and she looked like a woman on a mission. She sashayed against him as she looked into his eyes and something churned inside him. He was instantly hard. He wasn’t a monk but it was long since he had got laid. He never had the urge to, given his constant preoccupation with finding Meera. But this woman… there was something different about her. Like him, she didn’t belong in this shitty place.

Trying to keep his libido in check he asked. “…What are you doing in this place…?”

She chuckled though he couldn’t hear in the cacophony of murmurs, shouts, and blaring songs. She shook her head and spoke. “…The same… what you are doing…” She ran a finger on his lapels. “…by the way… I am Angie…”

“…I am… An…Andy…” he didn’t know why he fibbed but he was transported into another world. “…I am… looking for someone…” He surprised himself. But he was desperate by the minute.

“…aren’t we all… looking for… someone or the other…?” She uncovered her face and spoke moving to the song that had changed. He laughed at her comeback even he couldn’t take his eyes off the lovely patterns of shadows on her pretty oval face. The shining nose stud enhanced her Indo western fusion look. He was bewitched by her smile showing a perfect set of teeth complementing the beautifully arched brows that completed her symmetrically alluring facial features. Soon they began to chat about non-topics. They were both animated using gestures more than talk given the crazy dissonance around them. Mostly about the zombies around them and how they were wasting away. He realized she knew a lot about drugs… scientifically and she knew a lot about the law as she showed him underaged kids who had faked their way into the club. He was mesmerized as she spoke with breaks over the music and a little dance here and there, as to how rules were ruthlessly broken. The passion in her eyes was palpable and he being a sucker for rules, got carried away by her aura. He wanted to keep talking to her…What on earth was she doing in that club anyway…? Was she alone…? She had to be, else she wouldn’t be with him.

He felt light-headed after months and joined her dance trying to match her movements. He lost track of time and his surroundings. For once he didn’t feel guilty about shaking a free leg without worrying about the consequences. He didn’t know when she had snaked her arms around his neck and her perfume had engulfed his senses. The next moment he slammed his lips to her willing softness and they kissed like there was no tomorrow. He was ravenous as he feasted on her plump lips even as she let him explore her wetness. It was electrifying… the atmosphere, the noise, and the pliant softness in his arms. The next he knew they had moved towards a room. He couldn’t see much in the dimly lit space. There were few aromatic candles lit but the ambiance was a dampener with the plaster peeling off in corners of the wall where the water must have seeped in. Overall it screamed of poor maintenance, probably just a getaway for quickies. The bed in the corner had seen better days and he saw spots on the cover, the origins of which he didn’t even want to know. 

But as the woman undressed finally revealing her toned body slithering on the bed, he was a goner. She had the beautiful Indian features now that he observed and that nose stud…? Wow… it was a feather in her splendorous cap. As she lay bare on the crappy bed with her luscious hair fanning her face, she looked like a beautiful lotus surrounded by the gorgeous leaves and the filthy waters didn’t matter.

He hadn’t seen a beauty like her before…not that he had looked that much. Intelligence sparkled in her kohl-laden eyes and it looked as if she wanted to tell him something… rather… confess. He saw a sheet of burn scar on her abdomen… but it didn’t repulse him. He moved towards it and kissed the scar. He then looked up at her. A sheen of moisture, filled those pretty eyes as she looked at him…was she… crying…?

He had undressed and positioned himself on her. He wondered if she was feeling rushed… no it didn’t look like and she didn’t look like someone who could be intimidated.

“…hey… Angie… all Ok…?” he asked.

Her lips trembled as she smiled. “…I will be soon once you get inside of me…”

That was the only invitation he needed. He opened the drawer next to the bed and as expected there were condoms. He picked up one and sheathed himself as she looked at him with dreamy eyes, causing his now painful erection to pierce through the protective latex. He stared into her eyes and as some kind of a mutual understanding passed between them, he slammed into her. He stalled with his eyes shut to enjoy her tight warmth as she circled his hips. She rose her lower back and he got out of his sensual trance. He started to rock with a fervor he never knew existed. She matched him stroke to stroke… and finally, in the next few moments, she convulsed around him holding her lower lip between her teeth, the most erotic vision he had ever experienced. He climaxed the very next moment pouring into her heat all his longing, as his frustration and every other emotion he couldn’t even name. He discarded the condom and came over to rest next to her. She was almost asleep as she snuggled into his bare chest and he could feel himself hardening again. This was also a first for him. Sex had turned from a mere physical gratification to something more… But she looked tired and he wanted her to rest as well. He realized he was tired too after spending the last two nights in constant worry and phone calls with the informers. He barely lasted a couple of minutes promising himself to talk to the beauty the next morning, before sleep claimed him.

He woke up with the sunlight streaming through the blinds right on his face where he had curled to his side of the bed. He shivered with the December chill in the room and he didn’t have to feel the bed next to him to know… Angie was gone. As he moved around feeling the emptiness in the room as well as his heart, he found a little scrawled letter under the pillow. It was written in her neat handwriting, on a page torn off randomly from some pocketbook. It read,

 ‘Stop asking or looking around… it will only cause the ripple effect… go back home and forget everything that happened…’

©priyagole. No part of the story can be copied or shared anywhere without the consent of the writer.