31c - It's frustrates me!(S1)

AT THE EMPORIO HOTEL'S

A man dressed in all black emerged, his footsteps crunching on the dry leaves as he approached the bustling scene before him. Folding his hands across his chest, he observed the chaos and preparations going on, A creepy smile playing on his lips.

He adjusted his black baseball cap, approached a girl holding a tablet and papers.

"Are you the one planning tomorrow night's event?" he inquired.

"Yes," she replied, her phone ringing.

Interrupting her again, he offered, "Do you need help? Let me lend you a hand. It seems like you're handling so many things altogether."

She eyed him up and down before declining his offer with a dismissive "No" and continuing on her way.

Blocking her path once more, he persisted, "Ma'am, I'll directly come to the point, actually, I was looking for you. I was sent by the manager from the main building to let you know about a sudden change in the guest list or to add some more VVIPs."

The girl looked at him, briefly pausing before exclaiming, "Oh, really? Then why did he tell you? Why didn't he call me directly if he wanted changes in the list? I'm the one managing things here. He should have contacted me, not to send some odd-looking guy, why are you wearing a cap at midnight ?" she said bluntly.

"Well, I guess that's his problem," he commented.

"And ma'am, be respectful. Set boundaries. At least listen to what I've got to say," he insisted.

She paused again, considering something, then nodded sarcastically. "Be respectful? Okay," she replied before adding, "Just show me the guest list."

"Just show you the guest list " He repeated himself, while twisting his neck, adjusting his cap, and then asked if they could move to a quieter place.

" Now show me " she said

"I will But please, first be respectful," he said.

" What's your problem , damn show—" she

* Bang *

He hit something solid at her head, adding, "I told you to be respectful, didn't I?"

"Who...are you?" she asked,wincing in pain.

"Me?" he whispered with a creepy smile. "I'm your lover, dear."

"Shhhhh...No sound, it's sleeping time" he said pointing finger, as she protest.

"Rest here, baby girl. I'll come," he said, placing her in a storage room. "Just lay here. I'm just making you unconscious. If you try more, I will not hesitate," he warned, pointing a gun at her head. "To kill you, right at this moment, huh!"

Then, tapping her cheek, he added, "I'm just lending your place for some time," before stuffing tissues into her mouth taking out from his pocket. "Good girl, now sleep," he said as she fell unconscious.

"Uh, where's Sanvi, ma'am? Sanvi mam? Where has she gone?" another guy came out, searching for the same girl.

"Here, I'm her replacement," the same guy said, stepping forward with a smile. "Her mother was sick, so she took leave for the time being. I'm her friend, and she sent me as her replacement."

"Oh, okay, but you'll wear this cap all the time?" the boy asked, thinking, then without waiting for a reply, said, "leave, come inside,"

The man nodded and followed with a smile, casting a glance at the building and murmuring to himself, "It will be fun tomorrow night for Mr. Prithvi Chauhan."

***

|BACK AT PALACE|

In the midnight hours, Prithvi quietly entered the room, following his usual routine of heading to the washroom to freshen up before delving back into his studies. It was a routine he had adopted, often spending his nights either working or sleeping there, while she slept peacefully in their shared room, unbeknownst to the rest of the family.

As he made his way towards the bed, his gaze instinctively drifted towards the nightstand, half-expecting to find one of her silly notes left for him, as she had done on countless other days. However, to his surprise, his gaze met with a clean surface, devoid of any messages.

"And the question is, why would there be something?" he mused to himself, acknowledging the futility of expecting anything from her after repeatedly mistreating her.

Yet, despite his inner turmoil, he felt the pressing need to clear his mind. He needed to find some semblance of peace amidst the chaos within him.

There was a lot going on inside his head. Maybe he couldn't confess his feelings to her directly, but he could at least confess to her unconscious form. He felt the urge to express his remorse, to apologize for his actions.

Sitting back, he observed her sleeping form with a mixture of pain and an odd sense of tranquility, Simple strange peace. she stirred slightly in her sleep, instinctively folding her arms to seek warmth, he gently pulled the duvet to cover her.

Prithvi couldn't resist the urge to reach out to her, his hand moving tentatively towards her face. Gently, he brushed his fingers against her skin in small circles, a tender gesture as he tucked a stray hair strand behind her ear.

Speaking softly, almost in a whisper, he voiced the questions that had been plaguing his mind.

"Why do I mistreat you? Is it true that I'm building hate inside your heart for me?" he wondered aloud, his fingers tracing the contours of her cheeks with a mixture of regret and longing.

"---Or am I just scared?" he muttered, his touch. Now, lingering on her forehead with a strange affection that he rarely showed to her conscious self.

Taking her face in his palm, he couldn't help but voice another question, a strange and almost desperate one. "Why is there not any silly note of yours for me?" he asked, his tone tinged with a hint of disappointment.

Realizing the absurdity of his expectation, he paused, acknowledging his own foolishness. "I'm stupid. Why would there be any?" he mused, accepting the reality of his actions.

But then, his voice turned demanding, "But there should be!"

" Right here. Whether you decide, to write a curse or a thousand declarations of hate and resentment towards me, it should be here. " he insisted, whispering in an almost pleading tone

"It's my basic need --my fundamental necessity," he confessed, his voice laden with longing.

Then, addressing her sleeping form, he asked, "Do I need to be vocal about that too? Don't you, silly, have any clue how much I enjoy reading them? I desperately want to read all of them, want to know, What you've got to share with me. Even though you never seem to share yourself, but -- at least by your notes, at least you talk that way with me. " he admitted, his voice heavy.

Prithvi fell silent, his voice filled with sadness as he whispered, "I'm sorry for the pain you go through because of me."

His pattern of speaking and confession seemed to follow an irregular pattern, moving from the mundane to the profound, from sadness to regret. Yet, despite his willingness to pour out his heart to the sleeping Niharika, he couldn't bring himself to confront these feelings when she was awake, resorting to using her slumber as a means of expressing his innermost thoughts and emotions.

"It seems to me hard ——if I made you my weakness," Prithvi's voice took on a more serious tone, as if he were analyzing the potential danger and consequences of allowing Niharika to become his weakness. Unbeknownst to him, she had already become just that.

He verbalized the potential outcomes, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "Everything will destroy, but..." he trailed off, grappling with the weight of his realization.

"What do I do?" he whispered, his voice barely audible as he voiced his inner turmoil.

"What are you doing to me?" he repeated, his words filled with a sense of wonder and bewilderment.

"What are you doing to me that I can't seem to control myself?" he muttered to himself, his thoughts racing as he struggled to make sense of his emotions.

As she sleepily removed his hand from her face and turned to the other side, he sighed softly, a mixture of longing and resignation washing over him. Covering her once again with the synthetic warmth of the duvet, he made his way to the washroom, leaving her to her dreams as he grappled with his own inner demons.