Two men overlooked the marketplace in front of them. Dressed in black pants and a red tunic leaned upon the wall of one of the buildings. The other stood beside him clad in similar black pants, white tunic with a black vest and leather boots.
"How about her, Armaan?" The leaning man questioned as he discretely pointed toward a young lady across from them. The other man simply shook his head no.
"No Rahul." He responded still wandering his gaze amongst the crowd.
"What about that one?" Rahul gestured with his head and then looked toward Armaan who turned his head to see the woman.
"Oh! She is beautiful!" Armaan commented not taking his eyes off of the lady. With her hair up in an elegant bun and a ballroom style dress, she strolled around the marketplace browsing through the tables of items. He couldn't move his eyes away from her. Rahul chuckled at his brother's state.
"Okay, then go talk to her." Rahul crossed his arms across his chest and looked to Armaan with his eyebrows raised, waiting for his reply. Armaan's head turned back to him in shock.
"What? You mean, just like that? What would I talk about?" Armaan said flabbergasted at the idea as he turned to eye the woman once again as she gracefully walked to a table with clothes running her hands through the many fabrics. Rahul stood up straight and turned to Armaan after hearing his answer.
"It doesn't matter. See, little brother, most men are so afraid of beautiful girls, that anyone who actually talks to them has the advantage." Rahul advised while Armaan continued to steal glances at her. "All you need to do is hold a conversation. Just make it up as you go." Armaan listened to Rahul's advice intently and decided to go for it.
"Okay."
When he saw that her path would cross directly in front of the two of them, he saw the perfect opportunity and waited for her to come closer. Once she did, Armaan walked right in front of her and stopped giving a grin. The woman looked up at the man furrowing her thin eyebrows together questioning the man.
"What?" She asked in her angelic voice indifferently.
"What?" Armaan repeated after her.
"Why are you just standing there?" She questioned.
"Oh! Umm..." Armaan stuttered. "I wanted to ask you something." She raised an eyebrow at him expectantly waiting for him to continue. Armaan stood in front of her grinning nervously.
"What... What is your name?" His eyes quickly glanced to Rahul who was leaning on the wall with his hands in his pockets watching the whole scene. She looked at Armaan incredulously.
"Pft! Not one you'll ever need to make use of!" She retorted back as she turned and began to walk away.
"Wait!! I wasn't ready. I was planning on being really charming... and funny!" She stopped and turned the upper half of her body to look back at him. "Can I have a second chance?" Armaan asked her hoping she would agree. But she simply smiled slyly and turned back around, continuing to walk away.
"Oh well." Armaan dejectedly twisted his head toward Rahul who began to walk toward him.
"Don't worry, Armaan! You made her smile, she'll remember you now." Rahul strolled up to him and patted the back of his shoulder. Armaan shifted his gaze back to her retreating figure and smirked.
"No, I can still fix this." He took a step forward rubbing his hands together. "I'll follow her, see where she lives." Armaan turned his head back to Rahul.
"Do what you want. Be home on time." Rahul raised his hand signaling his departure. Armaan did the same and then jogged toward the direction in which the woman had gone. He weaved through the crowd until he finally saw her once again. Maintaining his distance, Armaan followed behind her. Armaan continued to walk towards her not realizing that she had stopped. When he saw her revolving her head around, he had to think fast. He looked around and saw a large woodened, wheeled cart filled with piles of colored leaves. He quickly jumped in.
The woman felt a gaze upon her so she looked at her surroundings. Nothing. She turned herself and saw the leaves in a cart rustling. She walked up to the cart and inspected it. Not finding anything, she shrugged and thought that she was probably just imagining things. She continued in the direction she was walking.
Armaan peeked through some leaves and saw her starting to walk away. Breathing a sigh of relief he quietly climbed out of the cart and hid behind a wall. Peeking around it he watched her going down an alley way. It would be difficult to stay hidden in such a small space so Armaan looked around and saw wooden planks connecting the two buildings that made the alley way. He then saw a few crates stacked off to the side. He jumped up onto them and pulled himself up onto the planks. Hopping from one to another, he followed her down the alley making as little noise as possible.
She heard strange sounds once again. She stopped and turned around looking down the alley. Still nothing. She shook her head thinking she was going crazy. Armaan moved the vines that had concealed him from his face once he saw her walking once again.
"That was close." He whispered as he climbed down the building placing his feet on the protruding bricks in the wall. He continued to follow her hiding whenever she stopped to turn. Sometimes behind barrels on the pathway or sometimes behind stacked wooden crates. She finally walked through an arched walkway and down a few steps of stairs. Armaan waited at the top of the steps only allowing his eyes to peer over the side of the wall. She walked up to a door where there was a man standing. As she approached it the man placed his arm out blocking her way through the door. Armaan moved closer, remaining hidden, so he could hear them.
"I told you, I'm not interested." She said in a stern voice. The man moved his arm and placed it on his chest as he stepped closer to her.
"Yes, but I am." She looked at his eyes full of lust.
"Get in line." She pushed him to the side and walked to the door. The man grabbed her wrist and pushed her against it. Tightening his hold on her wrist he placed his other hand to the other side of her blocking her from escaping. His eyes trailed down her face to her neck and to her chest then back up to her eyes.
"I think not. I've decided I'm tired of waiting. Tired of waiting for you to open your legs on your own." Armaan saw her look at him disgustingly and decided to interfere. He revealed himself from his position and made his way to the two of them. Hearing the footsteps behind him the man turned.
"You! What are you doing here? This has nothing to do with you!" The man yelled still holding the woman against the door with one hand but letting her wrist go as he pointed to Armaan.
"Well, it's nice to see you too Vivek." Armaan said casually. "I think you're disturbing this young lady's day." He gestured to her. Vivek let go of her and the lady moved away from him and he moved towards Armaan.
"I said this has nothing to do with you." Vivek fisted his hand and flung it toward Armaan who moved himself to the side making him miss. Vivek tried to throw a few more punches, but Armaan avoided all of them. Realizing that he wasn't going to stop, Armaan chose to fight back. He jabbed him in the abdomen a few times. Vivek then threw his fist toward his face which Armaan did not expect. Armaan moved back by the force if the punch holding his jaw.
"You're stronger than the last time." Armaan commented giving a small chuckle before swinging his leg around, hitting him in the face and knocking him to the ground. Armaan walked up to him and placed his foot on his chest, pressing down. "Leave her alone." Vivek pushed his foot away and got up wiping the blood from his mouth. He began to back away with his finger lifted to Armaan.
"You will pay for interfering! Your whole family will!" He spat on the ground and turned to run away. Armaan looked back to the woman who stood against the wall clutching the side of her dress.
"Are you alright?" Armaan asked as he walked to her. She smiled at him and moved forward.
"I am now... Thank you." She said sweetly. "That was very kind of you."
Armaan bowed slightly and turned to walk away.
"You asked for my name earlier." Armaan stopped hearing her voice again. He turned his head to look over his shoulder. "It's Shilpa." She continued in her gentle voice.
"A pleasure, Shilpa!" He took hold of her hand and placed his lips onto her fair-skinned knuckles. "I am Armaan."
"Armaan!" She gasped. "Well, it seems as though you've earned yourself a second chance." She moved forward and placed a kiss on the lower part of his cheek due to his tall stature. As she moved away and walked through her door, Armaan was left smiling profusely at her retreating figure.
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