Overrated (Part 1)

Society was cruel.

It had standards and expectations that no one could reach.

Either you were too fair or dark.

Either you were too skinny or fat.

Either you were too polite or rude.

Either you were too lazy or a workaholic.

And these were just a few from the long long list of what society thought and believed.

As for me, I was a 20-something guy with lanky limbs that looked like they would just fall off any moment, an unruly and unmanageable mop of dark hair making me look like there was a permanent pot of bushes on my head, my large ears that could have belonged to a giant and my somewhat-stooped posture, paired with my stature giving everyone the idea that I was unhealthy. Like, about-to-faint unhealthy.

In short, I was a tall and lanky fellow, without much muscles to show. Always have been.

There had been instances in my childhood where some of the elderly people of the housing complex we resided in, at that time, had asked me on more than one occasion whether I was not being fed properly by my parents.

And my mother, being a mother obviously, had taken the comment to her heart and tried to over feed me, in hopes of getting me chubby. The memories of which were enough to send a chill down my spine, even now.

“Ishaan! Let’s go, dude!” My roommate, Hardik, who was also my colleague, hollered from the living room.  

“Coming!” I shouted back.

Once again focusing on my reflection in the mirror that stared back with wide eyes, I let out a deep sigh. I might not get another chance to sigh this freely once I went out this door tonight.

Refusing to acknowledge the slight heartbroken look on my own face, I looked at my attire for the evening once again. It’s just a pitch black shirt and equally black denims with a simple slate gray Nehru jacket to give the attire a traditional look. Hardik finalised the outfit from the limited options my wardrobe had to offer.

Truth be told, I did not want to go.

Watching my crush of almost 4 years getting married to some stranger was not something I ever planned to do. 

But did I have any choice? No. Apparently not attending your colleague’s wedding reception party was considered… rude?

“Ishaaaaaaaaan!!!” Hardik called once again. More like whined.

Of course, he was impatient. After all, he was going there to stuff his deeper-than-Mariana Trench stomach and get his fill of ogling at ‘pretty creations of nature’.

Letting out another sigh, I finally turned away from the mirror and took my wallet and phone before leaving the room.

*****

Like any other Indian wedding, there was music, food, people and a whole lot of noise.

We soon found some of our other colleagues who had managed to make it. Some of them had the same moto as Hardik, while some had more of a friendly relation with the bride.

I trailed behind the group when it was our turn to congratulate the newly weds and wish them a happy married life. And I stayed behind when we were made to face the camera for a happy click.

It was not like I had ever expected my feelings to be reciprocated. No. I was quite practical about everything in life in general and had a fair idea how these things worked.

People would insist about how looks didn’t matter and all, but the truth was looks dominated every other aspect of a person. No questions asked. At least, in comparison to personality. If a person’s bank balance was added to the equation, then that would win the priority hands down.

In my case, I had neither looks nor what one would refer to as a huge bank balance.

So, yes. My expectations were never very high. But it didn’t hurt any less.

Nursing that significantly insignificant hurt heart of mine, I found myself following the rest of the group from my office, in their eating spree. The venue was divided into two portions, one indoor, where the bride and groom were seated and a lot more chairs were arranged for guests, and another outdoor, an open and large space where long tables lined the periphery of the area with food displayed on them while the middle space was littered with smaller, circular tables and chairs arranged together.

Hardik, I and the rest of our colleagues went around the area and scanned the dishes on offer. Every now and then, someone from our small group would suggest some dish that we ‘must try’ and the rest would end up adding it to our plates.

Well, it was free food, heart broken or not. No harm done.

We were settled on one of the tables, devouring the delicious food when a particularly spicy dish hit my taste buds hard. I almost choked, grabbing the attention of the rest of the occupants of the table.

“Dude, drink some water or something.” Hardik supplied, with a mouthful of chicken. The rest nodded somewhat sympathetically, their focus from plates wavering only for those few seconds before getting back to eating.

Trying to suppress a coughing fit, courtesy of my irritated throat, which was thanks to the spicy dish, I left the table and made my way to the makeshift drinks counter.

I swiftly grabbed one of the numerous bottles of water that were placed on one side of the counter and was busy chugging down the contents when a particularly soothing smell invaded my senses.

Lavender.

Separating the bottle from my lips, I turned my head towards the aroma to see a figure standing right beside me, a few inches shorter than me. The very first thing to grab my attention were the ear piercings. There were a total of… 4? No, 5 piercings. Starting from the usual place on the earlobe, the piercings gradually went upwards. The 1st from the bottom had a small golden ring, the 2nd and 4th had smaller rings with tiny stones embedded that twinkled in the lights, but it looked like the rings were interconnected with a tiny chain, the 3rd had a star shaped stud and the 5th one had another ring with a long chain of golden beads hanging from it.

Following the beads down the chain, my eyes landed on a long slender neck, exposed by the short hair. Like those androgynous haircuts. With undercut, maybe?

As if sensing my stare, the figure turned to look at me and large dark pools met mine. Were those contact lenses?

The first thing I noticed on her face was not her oval face, not her button nose, not her round cheeks and not her shapely eyebrows. No. The first thing I noticed was a small stone stud sitting securely on one side of her nose. A nose piercing, then. That was followed by her dark painted lips - that were definitely not red - moving, and I was broken out of whatever trance I was in when I heard her words.

“Lover boy!” She said, quite cheerfully.

“Huh?” I was confused.

Chuckling to what I assumed must be my confused face, she added. “Saw you in there when you were greeting the new couple with your colleagues. Looked quite heart-broken to be honest. One of the many admirers of Radhika, I presume.” There was a teasing tone to her voice. “Or is it the groom you were crushing on? No judgments.” She added, raising her hands as if in surrender.

That was when my gaze flickered to her hands and followed up her arms. Well, one arm actually, as the dark blue top she was wearing covered only one arm and left the other bare. Which was covered in tattoos starting from the top most of the arm and ending at the wrist. A sleeve?

Being effectively distracted, it took me a few seconds before her words finally sank in. I immediately felt my cheeks becoming warmer as embarrassment washed over me. First, being caught gawking at someone. Then, that said someone correctly guessing your well-kept secret. To top it all off, suggesting something ridiculously more embarrassing.

“Th-that’s not-” I started to say, to somehow explain that she was wrong. But I was interrupted when a man made an appearance behind the counter.

She immediately turned towards the said man and a slight movement at the periphery of my vision caught my attention. The man had just placed two bottles of water on the counter, one similar to the ones already placed on the side of the counter.

“See? Told you.” She said as if proving a point, as she grabbed the bottles. 

The next moment, she turned to me. “Don’t forget the desserts.” She chimed. And turned to walk away.

After she had taken a couple of steps away, I was finally able to see her full attire.

A dark blue crop top, with only one full-sleeve paired with a multi-coloured skirt. The attire itself was quite simple, to be honest. What brought an edge to it was the hairstyle, tattoos and ear pierc- 

Hold on! 

My eyes narrowed momentarily as they caught onto something on one side of her exposed waist. Within a moment they widened when I realised it was beautifully carved black ink peaking from beneath the top. The fact that the ink seemed to continue not only upwards beneath the top but also downwards disappearing beneath her skirt, made me gulp. How big was the design?

I didn’t get to ponder much on it as I was effectively brought back to my surroundings by the man behind the drinks counter.

“Sir? Do you need anything?” He asked patiently. Though I was quite sure he was internally judging me for even looking at the… girl? woman? lady? What should I refer to her as?

She was young enough to be a girl. But maybe she was an adult after all. Then wo-

“Sir?” My thoughts were once again interrupted by the man.

“Nothing, thank you.” I finally addressed him, grabbed two bottles of water and walked away to the table my colleagues were still seated at.

“I thought you went to drink water, not manufacture it. What took you so long?” Hardik quipped as I sat back in front of my abandoned plate.

“Nothing.” I said, focusing back on the food. It was very much likely that the encounter today was going to be the only one.

Just then one of our colleagues stood up from the chair they were occupying. “Let’s get some desserts.”

The words made me think back to the words the woman had spoken before walking away.

I groaned internally when the realisation hit me that she must have seen us fill our plates to the brim.

Did I come here only to embarrass myself repeatedly? That too to the same person?

I let out a sigh. No use in pondering over that now, was it?

KIDNAPPED (PART 5 of 5)

She didn't look like she could kill someone.

Then again, she didn't look like she could kidnap someone either.

His head was throbbing. He was groggy. The feeling was somehow familiar yet his brain was too foggy to make anything of it.

He groaned as he tried to open his eyes. But some kind of bright warm light made it a very difficult feat for him.

After struggling for God knows how long, he was finally able to open his eyes and was greeted with the sunlight that was entering the room through the windows and falling right on his eyes.

Another groan left his lips as he turned his throbbing head to the other side. This time he was faced with a beige wall that lacked any kind of decorating items. 

Slowly but steadily he realised that he was in his room. Having shifted to his new apartment only a week ago, he had barely gotten enough time to unpack all his belongings and settle down, so the decorations had to wait.

He tried to locate his phone on the bed with his wandering hands, to see the time, as he could not figure what time of the day it was.

Once he found it, he brought it close to his face and was not-so-pleasantly surprised to see it was nearing 4:30 p.m.

He tried to remember what could have happened the night before to make him sleep through the day and also give him such a massive headache. As the memories of the previous night flooded his mind, he groaned once again thinking about how his manager would probably chew his head off if she came to know that he had spent almost the entire night at a party.

Checking his phone once again to see if he had any missed calls or messages from his manager, he finally noticed 4 missed calls and 2 messages, all timed around two hours ago. The first message simply consisted of some colourful and choice words and the second simply consisted of the information about when and where he was supposed to meet her before the interview he had this evening. Looking at the time once again, he deduced that he had about 2 and a half hours before he had to leave.

He stayed splayed on his bed for another couple of minutes before even attempting to leave the bed.

After he managed to sit up, he realised that he must have had too much to drink the previous night to leave him feeling this groggy and dizzy. Another couple of minutes passed in which he tried not to fall face-first as he made his way towards his bathroom.

A thorough shower later he felt a little better but thought it would be best if he took a pill for his headache. And also if he ate something, because if not his throbbing head then his growling stomach was sure to kill him.

Slowly making his way to his still new kitchen, he took out some juice from his refrigerator and heated up some of the home cooked food his mother had packed and stored for him two days back when she had come to visit him, in the microwave oven.

He ate as he checked the news feeds and the notifications of his various Social Media accounts. Nothing seemed to pique his interest.

After he was done, he washed the glass and the container from which he had directly eaten his meal and took a pill for headache, before making his way back to his bedroom.

It was while he was looking through his closet to find something suitable to wear when his eyes landed on two boxes placed at the bottom shelf. And an unconscious smile found its way onto his lips.

It has been a little more than 6 years since that fateful night. The night when he was kidnapped by a young woman whose name was still unknown to him save for the information that her name started with T and she liked the colour green.

He still remembered how he had found himself splayed on his bed in his room in his tiny apartment of those days, the following day. At first, he found it hard to believe that he was not murdered by those buffed up ‘boys’ of ‘T’ as he was sure he would be and the police would probably have found his dead and decaying body a few days later in some garbage.

But that was definitely not the case as he woke up, safe and sound, at his own place.

However, that was not all. When he made to leave the bed, he found that his room was littered with several boxes of different sizes. One of a brand new iphone with a sticky note on it stating “Sorry about your phone. All your contacts are already saved in this one. -T”. Another consisted of the 3-piece suit in orange he wore, with a similar sticky note stating “Coz you liked it sooooooo much. -T”. Another consisted of the neon green sneakers, the sticky note stating “And this too. -T”. Another two boxes consisted of the white sneakers and denim and blazer set that she had chosen for him to wear. “Coz you looked like a runway model in them. -T”, the sticky note said. And another had the watch case along with the four watches she had asked him to choose from, with the note stating “I know you liked them all. -T”.

One particularly big box was gift wrapped in black, complete with a red ribbon, unlike the others which were simply brown boxes. The note on it stated “A gift from the girls. -T”. Though he had been afraid to see what was in it, he had later found that it consisted of a grooming kit and a set of four cologne.

There were also two envelopes on the bedside table, along with a glass of water and a pill for his headache. “You should drink a lot of water and stay hydrated for today. Try to stay indoors and take rest for the day. -T”, the note stuck to the glass stated.

One of the envelopes had a signed check with double the amount of what he got for his usual shoots. Alas, he could not make out the name from the signature. The other envelope had the recipes of the vegetable soup and the reddish concoction. “Coz you seemed to love the taste. -T”.

He had felt overwhelmed to say the least. Each and every note was written in the same handwriting and signed in the same way. Except for the recipes, of course.

It was quite clear to him that she had indeed written all the notes herself. She didn’t need to do all those. Or give him those things. Sparing his life would have been enough for sure. But with time he had learned to cherish those, as a reminder of the night when he thought he would never get to see the light of the day again.

He still had each and every item he got that day and he also used them from time to time. All except the 3-piece suit in orange and the neon green sneakers. Like who would even think of wearing them in their right state of mind! Definitely not him!

Now, so many years later, his fame has only increased and he has become a well-known face, having starred as the face and main character of numerous hit TV drama series.

Shaking his head he picked out what he would wear to the interview that evening.

As he got ready, he could not help but let out a little chuckle as he remembered the events of that night.

The night he was kidnapped.

********** 

KIDNAPPED (PART 4 of 5)

She didn't look like she could kill someone.

Then again, she didn't look like she could kidnap someone either.

A loud scream was what greeted him when he entered the hall where the party was being held. Followed by several other voices trying to match the same intensity of the first scream.

He had closed his eyes on instinct, afraid that he would be jumped at and attacked right as soon as he was spotted. But when the screams quieted down just a little bit and still nothing happened, he opened, first one and then the other eye to see a bunch of young women, most of them seeming to be in their 20s, jumping in their spot in what he guessed was excitement, a few of them wiping their eyes to get rid of the few tear drops that managed to escape some kohl lined and some smokey eyes. The woman in the middle was in a full-on crying mode, her lips stretched in a very weird yet excited looking smile. 

Standing beside that ‘hysterical yet excited looking woman in the middle’, he saw ‘her’. ‘She’ was dressed in a sea-green sequined mini dress that hugged her body like a second skin. A section of the dress that should have covered the left side of her torso had a deep horizontal cut reaching her midriff, while the right side had no sleeve, leaving her right shoulder completely bare contrary to the left side which had a full sleeve, paired with nude high-heeled pumps. If his knowledge of dresses were anywhere close to be credible, he would say it was a cut-out, one-shoulder dress. But he was not sure. The neckline was deep enough to reveal only a little cleavage. Overall the dress highlighted ‘her’ hourglass body that he had not noticed till then. It was not his fault though, given his situation and all, he reasoned in his mind.

He also noticed how she had something green on her each time. She loved green, he guessed.

‘Her’ red-painted lips were parted in the same brilliant smile she had given him several times since meeting him in the washroom. He could see ‘she’ was side-hugging the ‘hysterical woman in the middle’ who, he finally noticed, was sporting a sash in pink with ‘BRIDE-TO-BE’ running across it in white, which meant this particular ‘hysterical woman’ was the reason behind his current situation.

He wanted to curse her from the depth of his heart. But then remembered that she was getting married next week. What could be worse than that?

‘She’ was saying something near her ear, while ‘her’ sparkling eyes were on him. ‘She’ seemed happy. As if ‘she’ had accomplished some unimaginable task.

Oh well. If him being sacrificed made them so happy then so be it. He shrugged internally.

He stayed standing there like a statue, that is until he felt one of the guards guiding him towards a makeshift raised platform of sorts. That was supposed to be his stage, he deduced and got on top of it. He watched as the women took seats on the number of couches and chairs placed all over the rest of the huge hall.

‘She’, along with her ‘hungry she-wolves’, looked at him expectantly. And he had no idea what he should do or say.

Should he start with some kind of speech? Or just start dancing like a monkey? ‘She’ did kidnap him to perform something here. And also gave him time to think about it.

But come on! How could he? How could anyone in his current situation?

In his internal, almost panic, he had completely missed when ‘she’ had walked up to the makeshift stage and come to stand right beside him.

“Well, what can I say?” She started. “I mean it's no news to us by now how big of a fan my dear best friend is of this handsome right here. So it should also not be a surprise that I would, no doubt, bring him here for this special night.” The bunch of ‘she-wolves in their 20s’ burst into loud cheers. Some even shouting, “We love you, T!”

He glanced at her. She was smiling that brilliant smile of hers. So her name started with T?

“Thank you for this exceptional and overwhelming response. You girls seem to have rendered him speechless. But, the party is just starting. And this handsome here, after knowing the reason why he was invited, had very graciously offered to perform something special for the ‘bride-to-be’. With the assistance of truly yours.” She bowed.

His eyes widened to resemble a saucer at that. He had not prepared anything even for a solo. And she was suggesting a duet?!

She turned to him after looking at one of her ‘boys’ and nodding.

“You are clearly too nervous to do anything so just follow my lead, yeah?” She said, stepping closer. “And don’t worry. No one is going to eat you up.” Then she leaned towards him, bringing her lips closer to his ear. “At least not yet.” She whispered.

His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. In fear or something else, he could not be sure. He wanted to believe it was in fear, though.

Soon music started and he found himself following her lead, just like she had told him to do.

To his complete surprise, they did quite well. He did not trip, neither fall, nor step on her feet. So yes, they did very well. And not just one song but around three or four. Not that he was complaining. Neither was he counting. He just felt that the entire time, he was in a daze, not able to comprehend what was happening and running on autopilot.

However, that did not last long. Because he soon found himself being surrounded by those ‘hungry she-wolves’, all of them pulling at him to dance with them. He was quite literally being pulled in different directions. All the while being showered by compliments. 

“Damn, you are so handsome!” One exclaimed.

“Please dance with me!” Another shouted.

“Such a nice guy. Are you married?” Another one asked while pulling him towards her.

“He is off-limits, girls. Stop bothering our special guest.” ‘She’ winked as she pulled him out of the crazy crowd.

That was just the start, though. During the span of the whole night, he was approached more than once and in more than one way.

While most of them were innocent requests for autographs and selfies, some were not so innocent at all.

One particular offer scarred as well as scared him to death. Mainly because the ‘girl’ that approached him was totally hammered and had quite abruptly landed on his lap, demanding him to carry her to one of the bedrooms upstairs and devour her all night long.

Gratefully, ‘she’ seemed to pop up each and every time someone came near him and dragged them away. And he was able to breathe properly and heave a sigh of relief each time that happened.

Or maybe he should not be so grateful, seeing that she is exactly why he was in this situation in the first place? 

Whatever the case, however he wanted to see the whole thing, she and her ‘boys’ did keep him safe from the ‘hungry she-wolves’ all night long. One of the buffed up ‘boys’ also made sure that he had something to eat and some non-alcoholic drinks, so that he did not starve to death.

As the night proceeded, one thought became more and more prominent in his mind. What after the night ended?

So far, he had been safe. None of the stuffs that he was scared of had happened. Neither was he ‘manhandled’ by the ‘boys’, nor eaten up by the ‘hungry she-wolves’. His limbs were also very much safe from the ‘babies’.

But what next?

Of course, ‘she’ would not let him go just like that? He may not know her name, but he had seen her face. That would be enough to identify her and put her behind the bars for kidnapping him, right? But did he want to put her behind the bars? She had kept him safe and only been gentle with him, if he was to ignore the occasional threats that is.

But why would she take that risk? When she could very easily kill him, as she had said earlier in the room.

So, cold blooded murder it was, he deduced.

His head was spinning with all these thoughts when he felt someone put a hand on one of his shoulders.

“How you doing there, handsome? Having fun?” She asked. Then she looked back at her best friend, the BRIDE-TO-BE ‘girl’, and said, “She is really very happy to see you here, you know.”

Her lips were once again pulled in that brilliant smile of hers when she turned back to look at him. “Did you have this punch?” It was then that he noticed the glass she was holding out to him. “It’s one of my cook’s specialties. You should definitely try it.” Saying so she handed him the glass and turned away to go back to her ‘girls’.

He looked down at the concoction. It was a bit reddish in colour and had a fruity smell. He scanned the hall and found four buffed up guards at four different corners of the hall. He was sure there were more somewhere in the hall where he could not see them. He looked back at her and saw her laughing at something one of the ‘girls’ had said.

She seemed to sense his gaze on her and suddenly turned to look at him, her eyes locking with his and she smiled again. One of her hands lifted, raising the glass she was holding, filled with a similar reddish concoction as his, as a toast. To his death? 

She didn’t look like she would kill someone. Then again, she didn’t look like she would kidnap someone either.

He looked down at his glass once again. Here goes nothing, he thought, and raised the glass to his lips. Tentatively taking a sip, he found that he really liked the taste of whatever that concoction was and soon he found himself taking a second sip. Then a third.

Within the next half an hour he had already downed his fourth or fifth glass, he was not exactly sure. And once again, on this strange night, he was filled with the urge to go relieve himself in the bathroom.

As he made his way to the room upstairs, two guards followed him. But no one followed him when he entered the bathroom. He found that odd.

As he re-entered the room after doing his business in the bathroom, he found ‘her’ sitting in the same armchair like she had done earlier in the evening.

Her eyes met his. She smiled that brilliant smile. And for the second time that day, her voice held a command as she said, “Boys.”

********** 

KIDNAPPED (PART 3 of 5)

 

She didn't look like she could kill someone.

Then again, she didn't look like she could kidnap someone either.

True to what ‘she’ had said earlier, the bodyguards did not leave him alone. Not even in the bathroom. One of them, if not two, always stood in the room. Not that they hovered right beside him or something. No. But they were always present.

After ‘she’ had graciously pointed it out that he had no other option but to be a part of the so-called party for her best friend and left him to decide what he wanted to do, he decided that he would rather have a proper bath, a proper meal, dress up properly and try to enjoy what could be his very last moments before he was possibly murdered in cold blood.

So here he was, showered, because he could not bring himself to soak in the bathtub with one huge buffed up piece of reminder of his current situation, standing guard near the bathroom door and so he opted to take refuge behind the shower curtain and had silently sent prayer to the millions of Gods and Goddesses when no one followed him there; had devoured another bowl of soup, because he was not sure he would be able to stomach anything else in his current situation; got dressed in what looked like a really expensive 3-piece suit in bright orange, and paired it with a pair of neon green sneakers, because ‘she’ did say he could pick anything he wanted; decided to have a very obnoxious dance number blast through the music system to dance to like a monkey, and eat as much unhealthy food he could get his hands on.

If he was going to die, he would rather die with a blast. How bad could getting molested by a bunch of ‘women’ be?

He felt a shiver run down his spine at that thought.

He sat on the edge of the bed, his hair dripping, his teeth gnawing at his lips, his legs bouncing up and down in anxiety. One look at the luxurious room, the way too comfortable bed, and the walk-in closet had made him feel like he was a goat who was being fed twice its weight before it was to be taken to the slaughter house.

Just a few minutes ago he was feeling hyperactive with anxiety and nerves and now he felt drained. Depressed even.

“Hey hands-” the door to the room opened and her voice was heard. But it seemed like she paused mid-sentence. He turned to her to see she had an amused look as she took in his appearance. “You that nervous, huh?” She chuckled and shook her head as she entered the room. 

He watched her wordlessly as she made her way to the closet, followed by one of the buffed up guards. “I imagined your dressing sense to be a bit more, um, fashionable? Seeing that you are a model and all. Well, nothing to worry about. As long as I am here, I am not going to let you ruin your own image and my best friend’s bachelorette party like this, handsome.” He heard her say from inside the closet. A few seconds later, she walked out with the guard following behind her and carrying a pile of clothes, a smaller box which looked like a watch case with four watches visible from the upper transparent lid and a bigger box, which probably contained some fancy shoes.

She walked up to him and stood right in front of him. His eyes stayed fixed on her as he continued to watch her every move.

Taking a towel off the pile that the guard was carrying, she started drying his hair. He was quite taken aback by the action but stayed still. 

“Have you decided what you want to do?” She asked. He remained quiet. “Aww! You look like a kicked puppy, handsome.” She smiled.

“I have a name, you know? You don’t have to keep calling me handsome.” He finally said.

“Yeah, I know. But where’s the fun in that?” She winked as she continued to dry his hair. She looked different from when she was in this room with him earlier. She was still in the same light green bathrobe but her hair was styled in some way and looked shinier and more wavy. Her face looked brighter and this time he was sure she had some light makeup on. Her eyes looked different too with the eye makeup done. They looked bigger but the spark stayed the same.

“At least you could tell me your name.” He heard himself saying.

“I could, yes. But again, where’s the fun in that?” She smirked. “Now let’s get serious because I gotta tell you something. The girls will probably, no scratch that, surely drag you with them to dance and drink. But you don’t have to worry. I will protect you from those hungry she-wolves.” She laughed at her own joke.

Giving a final rub, she backed away and dropped the towel on the floor. “You should get ready. You can choose whichever you like.” She said pointing towards the watch case. “The girls will start arriving any minute now. You can take your own sweet time, considering you are the surprise guest after all. But don’t surprise me by not coming downstairs at all, yeah? I would very much hate to let my boys manhandle you.” She winked before walking away and out the door.

Not long after that, he could hear the wild screams and shouts of what he guessed were the ‘girls’, from somewhere in the ‘bungalow’.

He looked at the clothes that were placed beside him on the bed and let out a sigh. He really didn't have any other choice now, did he?

Once dressed in the clothes that ‘she’ had chosen for him, he looked at himself in the full length mirror. Donning a V-neck white t-shirt, paired with dark denims and black informal blazer with a pair of white sneakers to complete the look, he looked like he was ready for a fashion shoot.

He fidgeted with the lapels of the blazer he was wearing. He looked at the watch he had donned and contemplated his next move. He had taken around half an hour to get ready. Usually he would have taken only 5-10 minutes. But today he was quite literally moving at a snail’s pace, only delaying the inevitable. As he looked up and at the mirror, he caught the eye of one of the guards. The latter's eye held zero emotions, which was equivalent to zero sympathies for him. 

He had noticed how all the 'buffed up pieces of reminder' had not looked at him directly, always looking straight ahead, as if deliberately yet very subtly avoiding meeting his eyes. He hadn’t tried to speak to them too, except for when he had told one of them to bring him the second bowl of soup. He knew very well by now that their hands were tied as well. ‘She’ clearly said ‘she’ blackmailed her ‘boys’ to help her.

Though that particular piece of information had piqued his interest as well. Why would an employer need to blackmail her employees to do her bidding? Shouldn’t it be like ‘her wish is their command’ or something?

But he had soon lost that little spark of curiosity as well.  

He looked at the watch once again. Another 5 minutes wasted. He contemplated delaying more. But the silent threat of being ‘manhandled’ by her buffed up ‘boys’ sneaked a peek into his mind and gave him that slight push he needed to head towards the door of the room.

The guard stationed near the door opened it for him and two of them followed him as he walked down the corridor and reached the stairs which he believed would lead him to the ‘hungry she-wolves’.

**********

KIDNAPPED (PART 2 of 5)

She didn't look like she could kill someone.

Then again, she didn't look like she could kidnap someone either.

He felt dazed and tired, his eyelids felt heavy and his throat felt dry.

It took him sometime to finally be able to open his eyes and another few seconds to adjust to the bright lights. Once he was able to see properly, he found himself staring at a white ceiling decorated with some fancy ceiling lights. The walls were painted in what seemed to be off-white but were decorated with paintings and some more fancy lights, the windows covered with heavy dark curtains. He frowned. This was not his room.

His frown deepened when he heard a somewhat familiar voice but could not remember where he had heard it.

“Oh he is awake!” The same voice spoke, a bit louder this time. “Rise and shine, handsome.”

He turned his head to see the owner of the voice and as soon as his groggy brain registered the face, the events from earlier came crashing in. In an instant, he was wide awake and sitting up on the comfortable bed.

For a second he felt his head spin, but he dared not close his eyes, clearly afraid of what that woman might do to him.

“Here.” He saw her approaching him with a glass of water in her hand. He eyed it warily.

“Come on, handsome. You gotta trust me.” She then proceeded to take a sip from the glass before extending the same towards him once again. “See? Absolutely nothing.”

He didn’t want to. But his throat felt so dry that it was beginning to hurt a little. Tentatively, he took the glass from her and took a sip. What he had decided would be a little sip, turned into big gulps as soon as the cool water hit his throat, soothing the little burning sensation at the back of his throat.

A chuckle was heard and he opened his eyes, which he had unintentionally closed while drinking the glass of water, and looked up to see the woman.

She was no more dressed in those badass looking denims and flannel but was wrapped in a rather fluffy light green bathrobe that reached her knees. Her slightly wet hair was down and her highlights looked darker.

He kept his eyes on her. So, he was a little startled when he felt someone take the glass away from his grasp. Looking to his side, he saw one of the bodyguards standing there holding a tray while another filled the now empty glass with water. Both the tray and the glass were placed on a bed table that was then placed right in front of him on the bed.

“I was not sure what you would like and also didn’t think you would want to have anything heavy before the performance so I had them make some vegetable soup. At least, it’s healthy.” She shrugged. “If you prefer something else, you can always tell them.”

“What performance?” He was confused. He was tempted to devour the soup. Not that he loved soup. But he had had a light lunch before the shoot, which had lasted for more than 3 hours and did not get any chance to have anything else in between except for some juice. He was famished to say the least. So the soup did look tempting. But before he attacked it, he wanted to know what she meant by performance. And more importantly, who was she and why was he kidnapped.

“Oops! My bad.” She gave a sheepish smile. “Don’t worry, though. I will explain while you enjoy your soup. You were out for more than an hour and I don’t think you should keep your growling stomach waiting for much longer.” As if on cue, my stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. She smiled. “Told ya.”

Not wanting to embarrass myself any further I spooned a small amount of the soup and tasted it. It tasted like heaven.

“Tasty right? My cook has magical skills, I tell you.” She grinned. The woman looked innocent, completely harmless with that smile of hers. It didn’t look like she wanted to harm him. So what did she want from him? He was growing more and more curious.

“So, you can hate me all you want but you gotta do me this favour, yeah?” She began. “And it’s not really my fault, you know.” She sat on a single seater armchair that was placed in front of the bed. “I did call your manager to book an appointment like a month ago. But she insisted that you were not available. Something about tight schedules and shoots and stuff. So I had to do this.” She shrugged again. 

“I still don’t get it.” He said. He was halfway through his soup and was thinking back to the past couple of months. Sure he had shoots. That’s what he did for a living, being a model. He was also recently launched as the face of an upcoming TV drama series. But the shooting had not started yet and was not scheduled for another month or so due to the pandemic situation. So he was trying to understand why his manager would turn down a booking.

“My best friend is a huge fan of yours. Like from the very beginning when you started your modelling career. And she is getting married next week. So I wanted to surprise her by booking you to perform at her Bachelorette Party. I tried to explain the same to your manager too. I even said that I would throw the party whenever you would be free and even double the amount. But she was being damn adamant and refused to listen to anything.”

As her words sank in, he finally understood why his manager had refused. He had received similar offers during the beginning of his career as a model from big names in the industry for private parties but had turned down each offer. And strictly told his manager to do the same if and when such offers came. And he had his reasons.

As stupid as it may sound, he absolutely did not want to end up brutally assaulted, physically or sexually or both in one of those private parties. He had seen enough crime shows to know what could happen in these kinds of notorious parties. Yes, he was a scaredy cat. Sue him.

“You ok there?” Her voice shook him out of his thoughts and brought him back to the present.

“Ye-yeah.” His voice broke. He saw her looking at him strangely and he could not decipher the look. But he was not curious anymore.

“What if I don’t want to? You do realise you have kidnapped me, right?” He asked, unsure where he got the courage from.

She tsked. “And I can kill you just as easily.” Her eyes held the same spark from before but other than that her face remained serious. “It took me around two weeks to find some juicy stuffs on these boys and another week to blackmail them to help me with this. And yet another couple of days to plan everything out in detail. Not to forget to get all the information about your whereabouts. And also preparing for the party. See all the hassle I had to go through. And you are here already, aren’t you? Might as well do it, yeah?”

A lump had formed in his throat. The soup was nearly all gone. He gulped down the entire content of the glass to get rid of the lump.

“What do I have to do?” He asked, not seeing any other way out.

“Well, you have around two hours to think about what you want to do. I mean, initially I had thought you could either sing if you wanted or dance or just sit there and look handsome. But I happened to watch a particular program and I could see that you are a really good dancer. Seeing that it was on national TV, I am sure the girls are aware of it too and would definitely not let you off the hook easily so you gotta perform something. The boys would be with you at all times, no matter what. You can eat and drink whatever you want, except alcohol. That’s only reserved for the bride-to-be and friends. You can finalise the songs to dance to and choose whatever you want to wear from this closet.” She pointed towards one side of the room that had a double door. “Don’t think about trying to run away because you will get caught. This whole bungalow is surrounded by guards. Though they have specific instructions of not hurting you, I can’t guarantee the dogs won’t tear off your limbs if they see you running.”

“Do-dogs!” His eyes widened. His little scaredy cat mind raising its timid head.

“Yeah. My babies. They are so cute. See.” She unlocked her phone and showed him some pictures of huge hounds. While most of them were singles of only one dog or a dog with the woman standing or sitting beside the beast, one particular picture seemed like a group photo with the woman in the middle, surrounded by around 10 or 12 huge dogs.

How could she call them cute?! And click pictures!! 

But seeing her phone, reminded him of something. He started searching for his phone. “Where’s my phone?” He asked, not finding it on his person.

“Oh, here.” She threw it towards him. What landed in front of him was not his phone but the remains of what used to be his phone, dismantled and broken to pieces. “By the way, I texted your manager letting her know that you met one of your friends and are going to be spending your night at his place, catching up and stuff, before putting a hammer through that thing.” She winked at him as she stood up from the armchair and walked towards the door. “Let them know if you need anything at all, yeah? See you later, handsome. Ciao!”

As she had said, two guards stayed back in the room with him.

He let out a sigh.

**********

KIDNAPPED (PART 1 of 5)

She didn't look like she could kill someone.

Then again, she didn't look like she could kidnap someone either.

He let out a sigh of relief when the photographer gave a satisfied nod and smiled.

"They turned out to be really good. Good job, everyone! Let's pack up!"

"Thank you." He returned the smile and went back to the green room to get the designer clothes off and change into his comfortable clothes a.k.a. faded denims and a simple white t-shirt.

He was tying the laces of his converse when a tap was heard on the door of the green room.

"Yeah?" He called out.

"Are you done?" He heard his manager's voice.

"Yes, almost. You can just wait in the car. I will be down in a minute." He wanted to go to the washroom once before leaving. The traffic would be heavy at this time of the day, adding more minutes if not an hour, to the already two and a half hours drive to his apartment.

He got an 'O.K.' in reply as the sound of heels clicking on the tiled floor reached his ears.

Collecting his belongings, his phone, wallet, his sunglasses which will not be needed anymore considering the sun has already advanced on its westward journey and was nearing the horizon, and his mask.

God did he hate that contraption! He knew it was necessary at this trying times but he often felt suffocated in those and chose to put them on only when in public places or surrounded by people. He had to go without one for the shoot and stayed without it while changing as no one else was there except him in the greenroom. But he would have to put it on while going out and heading towards the washroom as he was sure a whole lot of people would be loitering in the hall and corridor, packing up their equipments and stuff.

Entering the washroom, he looked around once and released a sigh of relief when he found that he was the only one in there and took his mask off. Given the pandemic situation, not many people were allowed in the shoot locations so this was not really a surprise.

Relieving himself, he stood in front of one of the sinks to wash his hands when he heard the door to the washroom opening and closing. Looking up in the mirror, he saw two buffed up figures dressed in black shirts and blue denims making their way towards the urinals. They looked like bodyguards. He shrugged internally. Some other celebrity must have come to visit the Ad agency.

However, when he looked up in the mirror once again, to check his appearance once before exiting the washroom and heading down to his car where his manager and driver were waiting for him along with one of his own bodyguards, he found the two supposedly bodyguards standing a few steps behind him on his either sides. At this, he frowned.

“Can I help you with something?” He asked, confused.

“Yes, you can.” A female voice was heard. His eyes widened when one of the stall doors opened and a young woman walked out of it, probably in her mid-20s. She was dressed in light blue high waisted distressed denims, black leather boots, unbuttoned dark green and navy blue chequered flannel shirt underneath which she wore what looked like a black bralette. Her wavy hair was down and he could clearly see the natural black interspersed with occasional streaks of highlights running down from roots to tips. There didn’t seem to be any makeup on her light caramel skin but he could not be sure. She did not have any mask on, unlike the men who wore black masks that covered the lower half of their faces.

“Can you turn around, please? I like to look my prey in the eyes.” She said. It was then that he realised he had frozen at his spot, still facing the mirror and had been looking at the reflection of the woman.

That realisation soon lost it’s importance as her words sank in and he turned around in shock. “Wha-what do you mean by your prey?”

The woman ignored his question and walked forward from where she had been standing in front of the stall she had exited and stood in front of him. “Better, don’t you think? Now I have a very very very important question for you.”

Standing this close, he could now clearly see her dark brown eyes sparkling in the bright lights.

“Do you have any other appointments or engagements tonight?” She looked serious. Like ‘life and death situation’ serious. And he found himself shaking his head in negation.

The change was instant. Her lips parted in a brilliantly bright smile as she clapped her hands once and loudly exclaimed “Great!”

“Can I please see your phone?” Her eyes looked so innocent. Her face reminded him of his niece who would look at him with the same expression whenever she wanted anything from him.

But he was not a fool. He knew how dangerous a situation this could be. He tried to take an account of his surroundings. He was very much aware of the two muscle men still standing on his either side. The young woman was right in front of him. Would he be able to push past her and run towards the door to the washroom? The chances were really slim. He was not sure but the men and even the woman could be armed and things could go downhill in the blink of an eye. Would it be worth the risk? He didn’t even know what these people wanted. They had plenty of time to harm him if they wanted. And who would wait so long and ask if he was free this evening before kidnapping him?

Nonetheless, he was wary as his eyes scanned the washroom once more. His breath hitched when he could make out a third figure near the door, dressed similarly as the two men beside him.

“You don’t have to give it to me. You can just keep it in your hand while I see what brand and model it is. You can do that, can’t you?” The woman pleaded, her eyes taking on a puppy look.

“Ye-yeah, I guess.” He stuttered, still not liking the situation he was in but not knowing what else he could do, he took out his phone from his pocket and held it up for her to see.

The innocent look was soon replaced with a smirk. “Fingerprint lock, I see. Boys.” Her voice held a command as she spoke the last word.

The next second, he felt something being pressed to his nose and mouth and he was slowly being pulled into unconsciousness. The last thing he heard was the woman’s far away yet somehow soothing voice saying, “Let’s get going then.”

**********