章 15: Where Is The Party Tonight?- Part 3 [Aarav]
"It was my sister's joke. I stole it from her. I can't even make my own jokes," Ru gave another sob.
Aarav lifted himself and sat beside Ru on the bench. Ru was lying on his side with his back to Aarav. After much wrestling, Aarav settled on patting the guy on the back.
"Now, you know what to do if someone angers you," Aarav teased, but Ru was clueless like always.
"What?"
"You can sing to them." Aarav ragged. But instead of getting mad, Ru scoffed.
"The silver lining."
Aarav nodded. "The silver lining."
Ru went completely quiet for a second and then asked in a small, nervous voice, "Was it really bad?"
Aarav sighed quietly. He was not known for being diplomatic, but he did not want to hurt the guy with his blunt words either. He began to say there had been worse singers when his phone pinged. He glanced at the screen and frowned. It was Maria's assistant, Shyam.
The text was barely legible and said [Cum 2 d hall quik].
"Sh-t" Aarav whispered under his breath but not before Ru heard.
"What is it?" He sprang up.
Aarav dashed out of the pool area, not waiting for Ru. He hopped over the fence, snaked through the maze of people, and rushed through the glass double doors into the hall. Inside, the music was turned off, and there were loud noises and cursing. Aarav pushed and shoved his way through the crowd until he reached the area of commotion. His eyes quickly found Maria crouching on the floor. Her hand was pressed to her head, and a lady was screaming at her while a couple of men were trying to hold her back.
Aarav flew to Maria's side. "You okay?" She nodded but stayed silent, her hand pressing against her head. When Aarav pried her hand away, they were all sticky, smelling of fresh blood.
"You slut, you fu-king whore! If I see you coming near my husband one more time, I will kill you! You understand?!" The lady was shouting at the top of her lungs, all sweaty and fuming with a broken champagne bottle still clutched in her hand.
Aarav felt every eye upon them, mouths quietly whispering. He helped Maria up, guarding her from the crazy woman, and carefully they made their way out of the lobby.
"You guys, you okay, I just heard," the host of the party came rushing over from the garden and gave a shoulder to Maria.
"I am okay, sir," Maria mumbled.
They made their way out of the house and walked down the paved entryway, leaving behind that screaming woman and the rest of the guests.
"Do you need a car? I can call an ambulance too." The host seemed genuinely worried, but Aarav politely declined.
"That won't be needed, Sir," Shyam chimed in from behind, "we have a car, and I have called a clinic."
The host and a few other servants from the villa accompanied Maria over to Aarav's car. It was the easiest to get out of parking. Aarav was surprised to see Ru standing there, too. They settled Maria in the backseat of the car. She was indeed a very brave girl, not making one sound. The host and the servants made sure the street was clear and the paparazzis were not clicking when the four of them left the villa.
"What a nice, humble guy," Ru noted of KJo, as he sat beside Maria on the back, "nothing like the show he does where he is bragging all the time."
"He should not be inviting insane people at his party." Aarav was super pissed. That person could have easily hurt Maria real bad. "What's the address of the clinic?" He grumbled.
The assistant placed the google map on his phone on the car's dashboard.
It was ten minutes from Madh island, and thankfully, the traffic was not too bad. When they arrived at the clinic, Maria was immediately taken to the operation theatre. It was a five-centimeter cut to her scalp, and needed stitches. They did not see it at first, but in the lights of the hospital lobby, Aarav saw how much the poor girl had bled, her beautiful gold hair all brown and matted with blood, and her blue dress was stiffened in dried blood too.
They decided to wait in the friends and family area while the doctors did the procedure.
"You okay?" Ru asked Aarav while the assistant made a bunch of calls.
Aarav nodded absently. He was not okay at all. Something very bad could have happened right before him, and he would have done nothing to stop it. The thought made his blood boil. He left to get some cold water to calm himself down. He also grabbed a couple of cokes and vegan bars in case the other two wanted to eat something. They had no clue how long they might have to stay there.
When he returned to the waiting area, Ru was sitting by the assistant, prattling on about something. The assistant smiled and shrugged. Aarav wanted to walk up to them and offer the coke and the bars but got annoyed by the way Ru was looking at Shyam. He was not as ugly as Aarav would have liked him to be, with a pair of glasses that made him approachable. So, Aarav sat across them instead and fished out his phone to stare at.
Ru sniggered again at something the assistant said. It was impossible not to overhear them even though Aarav did not want to hear.
"It is okay," Shyam said, "about earlier. Half the new singers aren't even that great."
"Really?" Ru exclaimed wondrously. The guy was an industry insider. Of course, Ru was going to bat his eyelashes at him.
The assistant nodded. "Even the most successful ones have their songs corrected post-production." He then brought out his handkerchief and offered it to Ru. "Here."
Ru looked clueless for a moment, looking all around him.
"Your, ummm," Shyam pointed to the dark marks under Ru's eyes and cheeks. The idiot was bawling by the pool and did not even realize it was messing up his mascara. Ru happily took the kerchief and started to rub his cheeks vigorously.
Aarav felt a pounding in his head and closed his eyes.
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The doctors kept Maria at the hospital for twenty-four hours observation. He was tired and wanted to leave right away, but Shyam lived not too far from the clinic, so he reluctantly dropped him off. When they returned to the apartment, Aarav went straight to his room and slammed his door shut. He wanted to go to sleep right away and not think about the goddamned evening for one….more….second. But, his brain protested. He had a knot in his stomach and had a horrible sinking feeling he could not shake off. He left his bed twice, once to get warm milk, the second time to pace around a little. Finally, he gave up and stepped out of his room. The lights were still on in Ru's room.
Aarav knocked twice. There was no answer. He knocked again.
"What is it?" Ru answered from inside the room.
"Can you open for a second?" Aarav sounded tired but did not care.
Few seconds later, the door opened. Ru was standing there in his hello kitty night pajamas. Aarav wanted to laugh but only managed a little smirk.
"What is it?" Ru lifted a thin eyebrow.
Aarav realized he did not know the answer to Ru's question. He did not know why he knocked at his door so late at night. He looked over Ru's shoulder, trying to think of something.
"I am not sleeping with you," Ru asserted, sounding firm.
Aarav sighed in defeat. "Can I stay with you tonight?" His voice shook a little. He stood there awkward and nervous. "No sex."
Ru looked at him for a long second, like he was contemplating the request. Aarav was about to turn back when Ru spoke. "All right," he said, moving out of the way, "but my bed is quite small. Don't kick me to the floor in your sleep."
Aarav took off his shirt and jeans, and climbed onto the bed. It was the first time he had ever gone into someone's bed and did not know what to expect. The mattress was too soft, and the pillow was too fluffy for his liking, but he did not complain.
"Do you want me to turn off the lights?"
"Yeah," Aarav answered weakly and pulled one end of the comforter over him. It was warm and cozy. He heard Ru walk over and climb into the bed.
Five minutes had not gone by when Aarav turned and hugged Ru tightly.
"You said…" Ru was alarmed.
"Don't worry. I just want to hug you," Aarav admitted at last.
At first, it was uncomfortable, hugging without sex, but then, Aarav relaxed. Ru, too, began to breathe easy. He smelled of fresh soap. Aarav sniffed his soft, curly hair and fell asleep within a minute.
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