Hey guys. Thanks for the great review. So here is the next
chapter. Hope you like it.😃
"Mine mine he's going to be all mine, yummy and mine, mine, mine"
Astha raised an eye at Parvati's off-key singing. "Did you make that one up?" she asked from over her copy of 100 Ways to Get Playful Revenge.
Parvati nodded with a small gleeful smile. "Oh, you know," she said airily. "Just a bit of background singing."
"I'm sure," Astha replied, with the same dubious expression. Was Parvati off her rocker or was this just a normal thing; this outburst of song late at night. The evening had been tiring, from the rose ceremony and onwards. The remaining however many it was now had all drunk a glass of champagne and toasted their time together.
It was such a joke. Their time together? Shlok toasted to breasts, the girls toasted to Shlok, and Astha toasted to yet another day finished.
Lately actually Astha had been doing a bit of thinking. It was time mummy darling re-entered the picture. She'd been the drive behind this whole, get-a-boyfriend-make-him-a-fiance-and-give-me-babies-now thing that had happened recently. Ugh. Babies. Top scientists had many better things to do than mate like an animal and deliver babies to a hungry grandma. Well, technically, Astha thought, wrinkling up her nose at the saying, humans were animals.
Gods. She was such a nerd. She was never going to get a guy.
Meanwhile, Astha turned her attention back to the book. As she read through the different forms of revenge, she felt a bit shocked that people could be that desperate. There was no way in hell she was going to put fire crakcers around Shlok's bed. That was just weird.
And she wasn't about to put oil on the floor so that he can fall either. Finally, Astha stumbled upon something that she thought Agnigotri might appreciate. Yes. It was perfect for someone like him.
Astha tiptoed to the living room downstairs, where the rose ceremony had been held. Now it was empty and eerie, but she found exactly whom she'd been looking for. One of Shlok's servant was cleaning after the mess after the rose ceremony. Shlok and the girls had made mess of the place (liquor didn't suit him very well).
She bribed the servant with some money and got him to say yes to what she wanted him to do. She went back upstairs, feeling much better about the whole thing. Life's work complete, she fell into a comfortable slumber.
A piercing shriek woke the entire house the next day. Astha shot out of bed and Rubi grabbed her wand shakily. "Do you think someone's been bumped from the show?" Rubi asked worriedly.
Astha stared at her, wondering if she should say anything, but then decided to let it go. Whatever.
The two of them, along with many other girls, raced down to the kitchen, from where the scream seemed to have originated. However, when they all tumbled in, nobody was there. Astha suddenly noticed a blue colored stain on the floor and began to giggle like a maniac.
The girls looked at each other nervously. This was Astha, their resident sarcastic, non-giggling, playing-hard-to-get, book-reading (how did she do it?), weird person. And she was giggling like she'd come up with a diabolical plan to take over the world.
Astha couldn't stop laughing. There was a trail of blue stain which contrasted very nicely with the brown wood. Astha pointed and laughed until tears came out of her eyes (another nasty trait she'd inherited) and she snorted rather unceremoniously.
One of the girls made a face at her. "Astha you don't laugh like that. It looks bad."
Astha sighed. "I don't need lessons, thank you," she wheezed. "It's just the blue stain all over the place, it's so bright" she burst into laughter again. So her planed has worked. The servant has done what she asked of him. The plan had worked! It was the funniest plan. Shlok Agnigotri would continue to blue hair for one whole day. She had bribed the servant to mix blue hair color poweder into Shlok's shampoo but the color would only last for day. The perfect revenge for Agnigotri.
None of the girls understood this when Astha explained, so she just dropped it and went down to breakfast. After everyone had showered and such, and prettied up, the host waltzed in happily.
"Girls," she began. "No dates today."
Collective groans rose up from all around Astha. "Oh but I wanted him to see this outfit," Radika said, sighing. Host practically sparkled. Astha had a sneaking suspicion she enjoyed tormenting the girls. "Actually," Host said merrily, "Two of Shlok's friends are paying us a visit."
The girls piped up. "Really?" exclaimed Rose.
"Yes. They're going to be interviewing each of you individually and reporting the results to Shlok, so he can get a better understanding of all of your vivid personalities."
Astha rolled her eyes.
Parvati once again began to sing her off-key song.
Lavanya gave her a look. "No, Parvati, he is not all yours. He could be mine, or Rose's, or Radika's, or Rubi's, or even Astha's. Well, probably not Astha's (and she gave Astha a quick flash of teeth) but you know what I mean." The girls giggled. "So which one of us five is it going to be?" they wondered.
Astha swallowed to keep her temper in check. They were right; she wasn't going to be The One he picked to marry or whatever, but they could at least include her...before Astha could stop herself, she'd said the dratted words. "Remember girls? I'm playing hard-to-get?"
"Oh, so you really were!" Rose yelled and all of the girls squealed joyfully. "Eek! Eek! Oh Astha, you smart, wicked women!"
Astha wanted to smack her head against the wall. Out of all the things she could have said, she just had to say this. Blast it. Around three that afternoon, Shlok's friend Ajay and Raj showed up.
"Hello," they grunted. "The first one we have chosen to interview is Rose."
Rose got up and left the room with the two of them. "What kind of questions do you think they're going to ask?" Radika asked worriedly.
"Oh, probably stuff like, kids and where you want to live, and careers and all that stuff," Parvati assured her. "It'll be fine."
Radika's brows furrowed but she nodded. Twenty-two minutes later (Lavanya was timing) Rose came back, smiling widely. "Shlok picked the questions, according to Raj and Ajay," she said happily.
Ajay stuck his head in the door and summoned Lavanya, who hurriedly followed him, looking a bit anxious. To whittle away the time, Astha took out yet another book and began to read in earnest, trying to drone out the constant chattering of the girls. Topics ranged from fashion, accessorizing, Agnigotri, and fat-free desserts (this was a new one, actually, and Astha, ever the experimenter, decided to listen in).
"Have you tried those fudge bars? The green ones, they claim to have only one hundred calories per bar and no fat at all?"
"Really, they must taste so terrible then."
"No! They're actually quite good, much better than when I was dieting, then I could only have those orange wafer disgusting."
"Oh, those, they have no sugar at all!"
"I know, it's terrible really but they did help me shrink my dress size, which was fabulous, because I had to attend my sister's wedding."
"Your sister got married?! Really! Tell me all about it!"
Somewhere between sister's wedding and honeymoon and snarky nail polish colors, Astha tuned out. When she tuned back in, she realized that Lavanya was back and Parvati was gone. Lavanya was sparkling with joy as she came back in.
"I think that my answers must have been absolutely perfect."
Sooner or later, it was Astha's turn, and she followed "Raj" out to the gardens, where they had set up a table that looked like a lemonade stand.
"Hello Astha said "Raj", looking at the sheet with confusion. Astha smiled brightly.
"Shlok said he had a special question for you. Should we start with that?"
Astha shrugged.
"Okay. It is, 'If I let Rubi go, do you think she'd eventually let it go or would she kill me?"
Astha laughed. "I think she'd kill both Shlok and herself," she said amiably.
However, that was the only question that Astha really appreciated out of the rest of them. Obviously, Shlok was only interested in one thing.
"So where would you prefer to have a perfect kiss? On the beach or in island?" Astha blushed, as she often did when the word 'kiss' and 'you' were in the same sentence.
"Erm beach," she finally said, her face turning various shades of tomato.
Raj hooted. "I hear the beach can be romantic," he said crudely.
Astha wanted to curse the papers on which the questions were written. I'll set them on fire, she thought savagely.
Ajay had the next question. "On an average, how many times a day would you wanted to be kissed?"
Astha pursed her lips. "I'm not going to answer that."
Ajay shrugged. "Fine, moving on. How many kids do you want?"
Astha relaxed. Finally a question she could answer. "Well, I'm very busy with my career, so I don't really have time for the little devil, I mean, for the children. But I suppose maybe one. Maximum two."
Raj smiled coarsely. "Well, use birth control then," he advised. Astha ripped the paper apart.
"Hey, no fair!" Ajay cried. "That's got all the fun questions! The other sheet's all the boring ones!"
Astha smirked. "Fire away."
Ajay rolled his eyes and went on to read the next question. "Do you have an active career?"
Astha rolled her eyes. "Of course I do."
Raj read the next question. "What do you like better? Cats or Dogs?"
"Cats, although dog's are nice as well."
"Does Rubi look like dogs?" Ajay asked. "That's another special, question for you."
Astha snorted. "Poor Rubi. Shlok must really hate her."
Before Ajay or Raj could say anything more, a man interrupted them quite rudely. A man with bright blue hair. He looked a bit crazy as he stormed into the question session wearing just boxers.
"Astha Kiloskar!" he shrieked angrily as he saw her. "How could you! It's my hair! My beautiful hair!"
Astha smiled sweetly. "It was so perfect wasn't it."
"Gah! Why'd you do it?" he asked unhappily, petting his precious hair.
"To get back at you for that stupid French stunt," she explained patiently, as if talking to a two-year-old.
"But that was weeks ago! This is my hair! That was your food!"
Astha shrugged. "It'll wash off tomorrow. Until then, my 'perfect haired' friend, until then." She walked back inside, ignoring the frustrated stream of curses behind her.
To be Cont..
