Chapter 65: chapter 65

SRUTHI“Are you happy?”Vinod asks looking around the room. We are alone in the living room. Madhav’s guess was right. Shobana Aunty did come here for the new jewellery he designed. After enquiring about my health for about ten minutes, she dived right into the topic of jewels. Madhav was all polite and sweet to her. I can see why he is a famous jeweller. He knows how to charm customers. He took Shobana Aunty away to show the new jewel designs he had been working on leaving me and Vinod alone. “Of course, I am,” I answer. “Why wouldn’t I be happy? After all, I married the love of my life.”Vinod groans, “Come on, Sruthi. You know that I don’t buy that bullshit. You may fool the media and others but not me. I know how impossible it is for you to have any feelings for him.”The past me would have agreed with him. The past me who had no idea of the soft and gentle side of Madhav. The past me who blindly believed the rumours and judged people without getting to know them fully would have heartily agreed with Vinod. But, the present me won’t.“Why would that be impossible?” I ask.“Huh? Seriously? Do you want me to spell things out for you?” with a shake of his head, Vinod continues, “Madhav is a dangerous man. See, what happened to you.”I sigh, “What happened to me has nothing to do with Madhav.”Vinod gives me an incredulous look, “God! Are you defending him now? It is not even a full three months since you got married to him and you already forgot who he is.”“Who is he, Vinod?” I ask narrowing my eyes at him.“A dangerous man. He does something illegal. You wouldn’t even want to associate with him if you know what he does for your brother,” Vinod says with a shudder.“I know he works as an assassin for my brother,” I tell him calmly. I shouldn’t be surprised that Vinod knows what work Madhav does for my brother. But, sometimes, I keep forgetting the fact that Vinod is going to be the Prime Minister of this country one day. Of course, he would know many things. Top-secret things.“What?” his jaw hangs open in shock. “You already knew it?”I nod my head in answer.“And you are okay with it?”“No, I wasn’t okay with it in the beginning. But, I am starting to accept the fact. Madhav isn’t taking the lives of innocent people. Is he?”Vinod pursues his lips and then answers, “No, he isn’t. He has only taken down major threats to your brother and some high-profile criminals that the law cannot touch.”“See? Then that is all the more reason to accept that fact.”Vinod is staring at me like he is seeing someone else, “What the hell happened to you? Are you the real Sruthi? The Sruthi I knew wouldn’t be so calm about this.”I smile at him, “People change Vinod. Circumstances in our lives change us. I have been seeing the world in black and white for too long. I agree that what Madhav does is dangerous and not legal or moral but sometimes, some things have to be done. You of all people know that. Don’t you?”“I..,” Vinod drags but I don’t give him the chance to finish the sentence. “Your father has his assassin and I am sure you will have one once you take over your father’s position. I know that it is not easy to be in politics and serve people. Your life is constantly in threat and sometimes eliminating that threat forever is the best option. The only reason my brother can sleep peacefully at night is because of Madhav. Without him, I am sure Vikram wouldn’t have survived the politics and have fared this well.”“You are right in all aspects,” Vinod agrees to my surprise. “But, he killed his father. That has nothing to do with politics or your brother. What is the guarantee that it wouldn’t happen to you?”I appreciate Vinod's concern for me but I don't like him making assumptions of Madhav.“Do you know why he killed his father?”Vinod shrugs, “No. I don’t.”“Then don’t go and make baseless inferences. I know he killed his father but I don’t think it was random or because he has bloodlust. If my observations are correct then I am sure, Madhav must have been abused by his father. He might have killed his father in self-defence or it could have been an accident where he didn’t even mean to kill his father.”Vinod is silent looking somewhere behind me, “Sruthi, you are supporting him again.”“No, I am not. I am just stating the facts. I have judged him badly. I know you care about me and you are genuinely worried. But, hear me out. My life is being targeted, Vinod.”“What?” Vinod says gripping the cup handle harder so that his knuckles turn white. What is with men and gripping things harder?“Lossen the grip on the cup. Will you? It is a wedding gift and I don’t want it to be broken.”Vinod places the cup on the table and fists his hand, “Who is targeting you?”With a sigh, I quickly explain everything to Vinod. The near hit and run. The punctured tires. The snipper attack. The newspaper. The kidnapper attempt. The attack on me by Vishnu. I leave the details of Madhav killing people. Vinod looks horrified and angry, “So much has happened and you are telling me all this only now.”I sheepishly look down at the floor and confess, “I am sorry but at one point I even suspected you.”“What?” Vinod gives me an incredulous look and then laughs but there is no humour in it, “Do you think I would harm you?”“Can you blame me? I saw you holding the yellow gift and naturally, I assumed that you want to harm me.”Vinod shakes his head in disbelief, “Still! How could you think that I want to harm you?”He looks hurt but that doesn't stop me from saying, “Didn’t you also believe that my brother killed my parents when the whole world accused him.”Vinod’s face darkens at my words. Before my parents were murdered, Vinod and Vikram were the closest of friends. They were joined at hips and were always together. Sometimes,  I felt like a third wheel when I was with them. We always played together. The adults thought that both Vikram and Vinod's friendship would last forever but when Vikram was arrested for our parents’ murder, Vinod chose to break all ties with him. I don’t know what happened between them but I do know that they had a heated argument just before Vikram was arrested. After my brother was arrested, Vinod took me to his house. I was too shocked by the sudden events to speak or talk about anything. I become mute for one whole month after that incident. My mind couldn’t accept what had happened to my family. It was when I was watching a piece of news on the TV where the news anchor kept accusing my brother, did I finally accepted what had happened. I had a mental breakdown that day. I threw the remote at the TV screen in anger and yelled loudly about how innocent my brother was. The Prime Minister seeing me like that, doubled his efforts to prove Vikram’s innocence. “That and this are not the same thing Sruthi,” he says looking wistful. Vinod always regretted not believing Vikram. In the past years, he tried to mend the broken friendship but Vikram never gave him a chance. Madhav coming into Vikram’s life also didn’t help Vinod. Another one of the reasons why I despised Madhav so much was because he took up the place of Vinod. Vikram and Vinod may have fallen out of friendship but Vinod was always like a brother to me.  I shake my head, “It is. But, let’s not argue about that. The vital thing is that I am being targeted and if it had been some other man in Madhav’s place, he would have left me for good. We have been judging Madhav for all the wrong reasons, Vinod.”Vinod lets out a bone-weary sigh, “Do you love him, Sruthi?”Colour rises to my cheek at his abrupt question, “What? No, I don’t.”“Then why are you defending him so much? I still can’t believe you are that same Sruthi from three months ago. Just the sight of him would piss you off but now you are defending him. What spell did he put on you?”“He didn’t put any spell on me, Vinod,” I answer. Vinod still looks unconvinced. I am not sure why he is so suspicious of Madhav and why I want him to know the other side of Madhav. Even it seems weird to me how I am standing up for a man whom I once loathed with every ounce of my being. I can only understand how confused Vinod must feel now.“Can you just trust me this once? Madhav is a perfect gentleman to me and he is even better than Praveen. He has another side to him that we don’t know.”Vinod holds my eye for a few seconds before he says in a resigned tone, “Alright. I will trust you this once. For the sake of your happiness, I hope that you are right and Madhav continues to treat you with care but if I ever get wind of him abusing you or mistreating you, then I will make his life a hell.”“I don’t think that would be necessary,” a deep voice sounds behind me and the very man we are talking about comes to stand near me. I feel blood rushing to my cheeks and neck. What the hell? When did he walk out of his study? No more importantly, how much did he hear us talk?Madhav comes to stand beside me. Vinod is sitting on the opposite couch to the one I am occupying. Both the men are locked in an intense staring contest. Vindo exudes a kind of superiority and vanity while Madhav looks smug and inquisitive. The tension between them seems to be reaching a tipping point and I think of anything or something to break it. “Oh my! Look at the time,” the cheerful voice of Aunty Shobana is a welcome distraction that breaks their tension. I watch in amazement as all the tension between them evaporates into thin air at her voice. They both have plastered polite smiles on their face and turn towards Aunty Shobana who is exiting the study room with a look of pure bliss. She may be the wife of the Prime Minister but she has no interest in politics or powerplay. She is a good mother to Vinod and a wonderful wife to Uncle Dinesh. She is terrible at reading a room. One of the reasons why she rarely participates in a public function. Some of the ministers’ wives would eat her up whole. She lacks the snark and sassiness to retort to their rude comments. For once, I am grateful for her innocence.“We must go home,” she says to Vinod. “Your father will be returning in an hour and we must hurry before he comes home,” she says grabbing her handbag from the couch. “Then, we can make a move,” Vinod says getting up from the couch. Madhav steps forward and both men shake hands. It is not the normal kind of handshake. It is the type of bone-crushing one that they show in the movies where men do it to flex their strength. I shake my head at their ridiculous behaviour. They both are powerful men in my country yet they are acting like some kind of schoolboys.Shobana Aunty is ignorant of their tension and is busy checking herself on her phone selfie camera. Great! She is of no help. I must be the one to break their handshake. I take a step towards Madhav and place my hand on his forearm. Vinod’s sharp eyes don’t miss that gesture. I go on my tip-toe and whisper, “For God’s sake. Stop being a dumbhead and release his hand.”“Why don’t you ask him to do that first?” Madhav asks clenching his jaw. I look at Vinod but he looks determined. Seriously? What is with these guys? Why the hell are they behaving worse than the kids I need to handle at the preschool? “Madhav, release him,” I say through my teeth squeezing his forearm. With one last look at Vinod, Madhav finally releases his hand and at the same time, Shobana Aunty says, “Can we go?”“Yes, we can,” Vinod answers not removing his eyes from Madhav. ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥