Attempt to Murder: Episode 4

"Would you mind if I borrow your beloved for a celebratory dance?" Kavya addressed Meher, disrupting the tranquil sweeping over our table.

"Not a bit, he's all yours..." responded Meher and then quickly added, "do return him once you've taught him how to let his body loose and actually dance for a change!" 

"In that case, I'm afraid I won't ever be able to hand him back over to you. For all his other qualities, he's never been one to shake a leg with." The two of them shared a good laugh at the expense of my incapability to dance. Meher and Kavya had become fast-friends over the five years of law school and then beyond at the firm. They stuck together in each others' times of trouble and shared a unique bond of love which also involved me as one of its many focal points.

"Come on, it's not that bad," I interjected their merry-making in a last-ditch effort to salvage some grace for my dancing skills. Meher was the one person who had selflessly taken care of Kavya after the dramatic events of Freshers Night and this became the launching pad of their relationship. They were inseparable through the college years and really looked out for one another, forging a trust that would last them their lifetimes. Essentially, Meher substituted me as Kavya's partner-in-crime for all practical purposes, except for the fact that she did not break her heart like I did. With that said and done, Kavya presently led me on to the dance floor with a peculiar sense of urgency or nervousness that I couldn't place as being characteristic of her at all. This only compounded the eerie state of things of the night.

Learning about me from Kavya's perspective during the initial period of their friendship had aroused both curiosity and anger in Meher's mind, as she told me later on during our courtship. The curiosity was rooted in all the praise which Kavya showered upon me despite how things had ended that night. Meher was quite impressed with the vivid descriptions Kavya made of all the fun times we enjoyed in our outings. On the other hand, the anger stemmed, obviously, from the closing events of Freshers' Night. I couldn't really appreciate at first why so much of their anger was directed towards me when all I had done was make a choice that suited me. Meher then calmly explained that I must not look at the choice in isolation, but in consonance with the entire sequence of incidents that steered Kavya into a serene alleyway of infatuation with me. The outings, escapades and what not deceived her to believe that I was as interested as her in taking things to the next level. However, when she sought some sort of reciprocation for her feelings from me - first by asking me to be her date to the Freshers' and afterwards by attempting that kiss - I resisted and deserted her vehicle of love, blindsiding it straight into a dead-end. A total wreck. Meher emphasized that Kavya had become so emotionally invested in the idea of us that facing such an outright refusal left her devastated. A portion of the blame lay upon me since my own confusion regarding how I felt about Kavya led her to think that we both wanted something more.

Truth be told, the manner in which Meher made me perceive how my actions had caused so much pain was what induced me to surrender completely in my love for her. But that's a subject for another story! For now, Kavya and I began to dance the foxtrot with our bodies pressed closely together, my right hand enclosed round her waist and the left hand stretched out to meet her right. We struggled to keep up with the rhythm after a while though, mostly due to being woefully out of touch coupled with my lack of dexterity. So we switched to concentrating on having a conversation instead and Kavya placed her hands around my shoulders and neck, strangely resembling the manner in which she had held me that night right before pressing forward for a kiss. "What's going on tonight Kavya? I've not seen you wear that dress for a long, long time," so began my pursuit of a confrontation with her.

"You've cut straight to the chase, how very nice of you," she retorted sharply.
"I don't understand what you're getting at" I said, sensing the rage in her tone.
"Don't try to act so innocent, I know every last bit of you."
"Excuse me, is there something about me that's bothering you?"
"What do you think this dress signifies to me, huh, it brings to my mind all the agony that you caused me."

"Exactly. Out of all the glorious dresses that you have, why did you wear this one tonight?"

"Because you've brought all that agony back into my life as well as Meher's!"

"Meher's? Stop with all the riddles and let it out, whatever you are talking about."
"Well, here we go, I'm talking about the fact that you've been cheating on Meher...with Vidhi."
"Whaattttt? Are you even listening to yourself?"
"Don't even try to refute this or justify yourself now, understand?"
"Justify? You are insane, this doesn't make any sense."

"You are the insane one here, you know, cheating on Meher! She sounded so hurt earlier when I told her. You've broken her trust."

"Just shut up Kavya, okay. Let me go and talk to Meher so we can clear whatever misunderstanding this is."

"Hold your horses mister, I'm not letting you go anywhere near Meher at any cost."

A heavy blow descended swiftly upon my head with a loud thud. Somebody had dealt me a knockout punch with all their might, who could it be? I had taken a severe hit to the back of my head that zapped me out of consciousness. Feeling very dizzy, I swayed backward and forward a little with every ounce of energy I could muster in a bid to hold on to something. "Let me ta-talk to Me...her, I haven't dooneeee anyth..."  I stuttered and tried to plead with my assailants, but couldn't complete the sentence before letting out a sharp squeal and swirling on to the ground in an ugly mess.

Darkness.