Into The Shadows by Aayush Borulkar (smart ebook reader txt) 📗

Everybody stood at the entrance of the room, and only Nishant walked up to Abhimanyu and said, “Hey there champ. Everybody is waiting for you. You got us all worried. Come, let’s go cut the cake and put some life into the party”.

As Nishant was saying this, Vivek could not bear the mistiness in the air anymore and went up to the window and was about to open it when Abhimanyu yelled in a deep alarming voice that made everyone in the room jump with disbelief, “DARE YOU OPEN THOSE WINDOW PANES.”

Ishaan hurriedly ran towards Vivek and shut the window panes.

“That’s the window Mrs. Shekhawat jumped out from. Nobody ever opens it now as this room is always shut,” mumbled Ishaan trying to close the jammed window.

“Guys, the cake is ready, and everyone is waiting downstairs,” exclaimed Vibha in a fading tone as she came dancing into the room. “Is everything alright?” she asked in a much calmer voice.

“Yes, everything is fine, and we are bringing Abhimanyu down. Chalo Abhi, let us go,” said Kaajal pulling Abhimanyu in a friendly manner.

As they walked downstairs, they were all welcomed by an array of beaming faces. They all started singing the birthday song in unison, which was a spectacle to watch. As they sang, Abhimanyu walked down, taking two steps at a time, and went up to the cake. He closed his eyes and blew all the 21 candles placed along the perimeter of the cake. While Abhimanyu fed the cake to all his friends, Vivek stood there seeing all of this from the crowd. Kaajal even went ahead and took a piece of cake to feed Abhimanyu and then smeared it on his face, and spread it all over his cheeks as the whole living room broke out into laughter. Ishaan went to the DJ and took over the music system. Everyone had started dancing to the beats as if somebody had just given them an adrenaline rush.

Vibha pulled Vivek into the rhythmic chaos and forced him to dance. He was standing by the pillar overlooking the whole thing until then. They all started dancing as if it was their last day on Earth. There was so much energy in the room that they could turn a turbine with that much power. As they were dancing, a boy came in with a tray and was finding his way through the crowd. Just then, Richa, while dancing, swung her arm and nudged the boy unknowingly. Due to the nudge, the boy fell on Vivek along with the tray of glasses.

“Arey dekh kar nahi chal sakta kya?” screamed Richa at the boy, who by then hadn’t even come out of the shock.

“Sorry, madam,” said the boy, still embarrassed about the whole thing. By then, the music had stopped and everyone had turned their attention towards Vivek.

Vivek got up and helped the boy with the broken glass pieces.

“Vivek, come with me, and I will get you some clothes to change into. Abhimanyu’s might fit you,” said Richa while asking Abhimanyu with a nod.

“The boy will take care of it. He is the son of the caretaker. It’s his job,” added Richa.

Vivek did not want to leave the boy in that state but Richa just pulled him and they exited the dance floor towards Abhimanyu’s bedroom upstairs. On reaching the room Richa found Vivek a shirt from Abhimanyu’s closet and left the room, allowing Vivek to change.

“I think you should go for him tonight. He is quite charming,” said Vibha from behind with a sense of sparkle in her voice.

“Oh, don’t be stupid,” snapped Richa turning towards Vibha.

“And plus, he is just not my type.”

“Okay, no problem. I will try my luck then,” said Vibha mockingly and turned to leave.

Vivek came out wearing the new shirt. “I think I should be leaving now, Richa. It is getting too late, and the party is coming to a close too,” said Vivek. “And I will drive here tomorrow morning to return this shirt” he added.

“It’s okay, Vivek, Don’t bother about the shirt. Abhimanyu won’t even notice that one of his shirt is missing. And could you please stay? You could stay late into night and then leave early in the morning,” requested Richa. “We are even going to play treasure hunt. I would love if you could be a part of it,” added Richa.

“Oh no, I better get going, it is already too late. I can’t stay for the night,please let me go Richa,” pleaded Vivek, holding Richa by the shoulders.

“Alright. You can leave,” sighed Richa while pulling his hand, where she wrote down her landline number with her lipstick.

“I will see you around then,” added Richa smacking her lips as an overwhelmed Vivek looked right back at her.

“Okay, sure,” said Vivek, half smiling at Richa.

As Vivek was leaving, the party had come to an early end, and most of the guests had already left. Only a few were still there who had passed out or were too drunk to go home. He even met a person who so high that he roamed around, asking everyone about his own address. In the kitchen, Kaajal helped Ram Lal’s son with the dishes, and the caretaker Ram Lal, was picking up the empty bottles and cleaning up the place. Ishaan had half passed out lying on the couch. Vivek waved to Nishant and Abhimanyu, who were talking about something in the hall as he left the villa.

As things were coming to a close, the caretaker came to Abhimanyu and said, “Sir, mein aur munna sone jaa rahe hai. Agar kuch lage tho jaaga dena”.

“Haa thikey so jao” said Abhimanyu looking at the clock.

“Even we should get going to our rooms, it is quite late,” said Nishant.

Chapter 4

The clock was striking six. After a serene and cold night, a new day was rising with every passing minute, and the sun was ready to lighten up the whole atmosphere. But that was not the case for