A month and a half back 

Rao Mansion, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad

The middle aged man sighed in exasperation as the dour faced security personnel stared at him from his six feet three height like he was but some insignificant insect beneath the sole of his mirror polished shoe. 

If Milind Deshmukh hadn't been so utterly desperate to meet his daughter, he would have been very, very scared of the giant of man with arms like the size of tree trunks completely covered in questionable tattoos, who had stopped him at the entrance. He looked like he could snap someone's spine in two with just a hand. 

Considering who he worked for, he very well might have done just that quite a few times. 

But desperation makes people do impossible things. 

"I am telling you for the last time Sir. Please leave or else I will have to make you. And none of us would want that. You cannot enter without an appointment."

The guy retorted gruffly and Milind glared back at him undeterred. 

"And I am telling you, I have explicit permission from your boss to enter whenever I like."

The man clearly having had enough was just about to grab Milind by the arm and evidently throw him out on the street in front when a voice from the side barked at him waspishly. 

"Rehman! Atanni pravēśin̄canivvaṇḍi."

Another man came and stood by Milind and the security named Rehman, his suited self and coiffed hair and the gold watch at his wrist indicating a post of higher authority.

"But Sir..."

"No buts. The Boss said Mr. Deshmukh can enter the premises whenever he desires. Weren't you there in the last meeting?"

Rehman shook his head confused and the other man sighed. 

"Sorry Sir. You can go in. But please go through the frisking. It's standard procedure."

Milind rolled his eyes and let the now sheepish looking man frisk him thoroughly all the while muttering in his native tongue incomprehensible to them. 

"Hē mast āhē. Not like he is a gangster but the Prime Minister of India."

"Did you say something Sir?"

"Nothing Sir. Now can I go? Or else do you want me to get a radio testing done too?"

The suited man gestured him inside with a perfectly artificial practised grace feigning a sweeping bow as he almost stormed his way in. 

Milind entered the sparkling hall of the Rao Mansion and found himself being greeted by a large framed picture at the opposite wall. Raghav Rao seemed to smirk down lightly at his guest, half amused, half bored yet the aura surrounding even a lifeless photo seemed to weigh down over Milind. 

The man was insufferable yet he couldn't deny the constant awe he inspired from everyone around him. 

As if on cue he heard the sound of soft payals chinking and the rustle of Angora silk which brought the heart warming fragrance of wild strawberries and jasmine which he was innately familiar with. 

"Pallu.."

"Kaka..."

There is something immensely beautiful seeing a daughter fly into her father's arms, however big she might get. Milind breathed in his child's comforting scent and Pallavi buried her face in his neck, struggling mightily to hold back the tears in her eyes. 

"Kaka....I missed you."

"Mājhyā priya mulagī. I missed you too. How are you? Is everything okay? Are you keeping fine? You didn't even call once last week. I was getting so worried. I.."

"Bass.. calm down Kaka. I am fine. I am alright. And I was so busy with work that I couldn't find out time. Please take a breath and sit down. You have come after so long."

Pallavi dragged him towards the couch and kneeled in front of him on the soft Persian carpet, holding his hands. She looked slightly tired, signs of dark circles beneath her eyes and hair a little ruffled, the ends of the yellow silk saree wrinkled. 

No one could say anything much had changed in her dressing style. Only that the fabric of her sarees seemed expensive even as they looked classically monochrome and plain. She wore no jewellery except two bangles which did look like it is priced at the entire Deshmukh Nivas's valuation and of course, the traditional Telegu style mangalsutra. 

He looked at her carefully and could see two miniscule diamonds on her ears yet Milind was not fooled from the size. He knew nothing of jewellery, yet he was sure those costed a fortune at least. 

Yet the bright golden yellow, the few bits of jewellery and most importantly the little red filling on the partition of her beautiful hair gave Milind an obscene and frightening amount of peace. 

Now if only she hadn't married such a Goddamned ba...

"I am not being tortured here Kaka, if that is what you are thinking."

Pallavi answered tiredly and Milind averted her gaze. 

"He is not such a monster as you think him to be."

"Isn't he?"

"No."

"Then why doesn't he tell the truth? What is he hiding? What are you hiding? Why did you both have to do this? What great desperation did you have that you had to take such a huge step?"

"I can't tell you Kaka! I can't tell you even if I want to! Please... just please trust me! Please."

Milind wiped the few tears which had rolled down her beautiful face and sighed. 

"I trust you Pallavi. I know you have something going underway. I can make amends with the fact that you probably didn't think that you could tell us.. your family what you wanted.. who you wanted. But what I can't make amends with is you deliberately doing something which you aren't happy with, but are forced due to either circumstances or people."

Pallavi sighed and got up and sat on the opposite sofa facing her uncle and found herself unable to look him straight in the eye. She was silent for a long time and when she spoke there was no quake in her voice, only a steady but quiet conviction.

"Have faith in your daughter Kaka. She wouldn't do anything which will harm her family's reputation or hurt their feelings."

"I have full faith on her. I am only concerned that she will lose herself trying to shoulder on the entire world for other people because she is self sacrificing to a fault."

Pallavi cracked a smile at him and Milind grinned at her. The moment broke the next second as the footsteps reverberating in the entire hall sounded like the hooves of death as the man came down the stairs. 

Raghav Rao in person was far more intimidating than that of his photo. The man veritably vibrated with power, forcing everyone present in any room to centre their attention on him. You could not simply ignore him. 

His aura was magnetic, his persona electric and his visage... terrifying in all it's suave attractiveness. 

Milind could understand why his daughter would be feel any inkling of attraction to the man.

Pallavi had always been undauntingly strong, a literal wildfire at her core. However calm she shows herself to be, Milind has seen the sheer power the slight chit of a girl had hidden beneath yards of silk and a disarming sweet genteelness. 

Like attracts like. 

And power attracts power. 

Raghav, clad in his usual overpriced Armani, charcoal black with a red shirt this time stalked down the hall, right in front of them, grunting at someone on the phone. 

"Okay. Keep me posted."

He cut the call swiftly pocketing the mobile and turned towards them with all the agility of a panther on hunt. Raghav tilted his head in acknowledgement at Milind which the latter royally ignored in favour of giving the former a glare. Raghav's obsidian eyes seemed to sparkle in poorly masked amusement at his wife's uncle's sloppy intimidation tactics, no doubt. 

"Mr. Deshmukh, what a pleasant surprise. Hope you are having a good time."

"I was.. until now."

Raghav gave a nastily provocative smirk at that, clearly enjoying the undercurrent of hostility in the interaction to the fullest. 

"Ouch. Touché ."

"Raghav.."

Pallavi's voice seemed to bring the incorrigible scoundrel back on track and he gave her an unreadable look as she stood up from her seat. 

"I will be late. Have a dinner appointment with the Arab clients. Don't wait up."

He said oddly calmly and turned swiftly and had almost covered the entire length of the hall towards the exit with massive strides within the few seconds Pallavi had taken to respond. 

"Did you take the pills? I kept them at your desk with the coffee. You were.."

"No. Didn't need them. The coffee cleared the headache."

"But.."

"I still have them with me for later. Don't wait up and have the dinner before going to sleep. I shouldn't have to hear Rajan complaining to me about you missing it again."

With that the man was gone as speedily as he had come leaving his wife to glare at his back with a strange annoyance. 

"All his staff has turned into literal spies. Who complains to their boss about his wife's eating habits. Incorrigible people!"

Pallavi muttered angrily under her breath completely missing the odd looks her uncle was giving her. 

"Pallu, tell me truthfully. Do you love him? Raghav...?"

She seemed to freeze at the question, the blood draining from her face immediately as her knuckles gripped the edge of the sofa as if she would stumble without it's support. Milind stood up horrified as Pallavi regained her senses the next instant and seemed to mask herself perfectly but the damage had already been done. 

"Pallu.."

"Love isn't a joke. We cannot throw it around like peanuts. It is too sacred an emotion to attach itself with just anybody for any purpose."

"What does that even mean?"

Pallavi seemed to stare at her husband's photo next, her eyes strangely bright, an unfamiliar expression on her face. She seemed to be lost to the world at present. Yet Milind waited patiently for her to respond as if knowing that there is more to this than he can ever begin to imagine. 

"I don't know Kaka. For the first time in my life.. I have no idea."

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Secretariat Building, Raisina Hills, New Delhi

"I am hundred percent sure Madam. This is him."

"We have to be absolutely certain Akshay. We cannot play with variables here. If we make even a slight mistake, it will be a national disaster. And the party cannot afford another public embarrassment so close to the elections."

"I know Madam. Believe me when I say this, that I will recognize this person even in my sleep. Give us the green signal ma'am. I swear on my post that I won't disappoint you."

The forty year old woman who had been walking through the corridors of the Secretariat building, the man called Akshay at her heels stopped and swiftly turned around. 

Her curly raven hair had started escaping the bun on her nape to flutter in the scorching summer wind of Delhi. The fans overhead squeaked as if in approval and she sighed, bringing in the edge of the pallu of her slate grey Chanderi silk, wiped the beads of sweat on her temple . 

Her PA scrambled to hand her the bottle of water from which she took a healthy swig, making Akshay wait for a good few minutes before staring him in the eye. 

"One chance."

Akshay almost whooped but held himself back at the right moment.

"One chance only Akshay. We can't afford a do over. Make sure you hit the target the first time."

"Understood Madam. Will give you the updates as we proceed. Jay Hind."

"Jai Hind."

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Some non descriptive village at the outskirts of Andhra Pradesh

"Shubhu! Stop running around like that. You will fall and get hurt."

Shikha Chowdhury, a woman in her mid thirties, the respected wife of the Sarpanch, a mother, called out frantically to her four year old son who was playing in the backyard of their house. She had been sitting, going over the accounts for her husband seated on the courtyard while her toddler created mischief all over.

She was a very contended woman. 

She had everything in her life. 

A good husband. A steady income for her family. A little healthy child. Respect and adoration from her neighbours and the locality in general. 

There was no want in her life. 

Nothing lacking. 

"Shikha! Come over here a moment."

Her husband's voice brought her focus to the man in his late thirties who had been seated at the swing in front. She stood up from her seat and approached him to peep over the newspaper he had been going through. 

"What?"

"See this... apparently the police has caught the people who were smuggling red sandalwood from our area."

"That's great news. Now atleast those barbarians would stop cutting off our forests."

"Hmm... I certainly hope so."

"Yes, why wouldn't it be I.. Shubhu! No! Don't put that in your mouth..uff this boy!"

And Shikha took off behind her son leaving her husband to muse over the issue pensively. 

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Rao Mansion, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad

"Bhabi, please eat something or else Anna will scold me."

Rajan beseeched Pallavi who was playing around with her food instead of eating it. She kept glancing at the empty chair in front of him which generally had her husband seated on it, who was currently in absentia. 

"Your Anna is a piece of work."

She snapped finally, forcing herself to gobble down a morsel of food with the help of water. She was tired of this cat and mouse game they were playing. Previously at least they would fight with each other, that gave her some semblance of normalcy but of late, even that had stopped. 

All they could speak in front of each other were a few unmeaningful words. 

It was like someone had doused them with a bucket of ice cold water and left them to shiver till they get dried. 

She hated it. 

This pretentious play of a marriage, a relationship, a bond. 

She wanted her old Raghav back. The one who would get furious at small little things, who would jab and snap at her as sharply as she would claw back and snip at him. She wanted to see that uncontrollable fire burning in his onyx eyes which had always hypnotized her. 

She wanted her Ghamandi Rao back. 

This pathetic attempt at playing house was getting on her nerves. 

She stood up wiping her lips apologizing to Rajan for not being able to eat any more and trudged up the stairs to reach her.. their bedroom. She changed into her silk night dress and climbed on the bed hoping to fall asleep but for nought. After tossing and turning for half an hour she gave up. 

She took the upper part of his nightrobe and wrapped it over herself, drowning in his fragrance immediately. Finally the constant feeling of a bubbling nausea left her in peace and she found her eyes drooping. She snuggled into his side of the bed and went to sleep with a last thought lingering at the back of her mind. 

She wished she could go back in time and undo whatever happened that day, all those months ago. That one single night which managed to uproot her entire world as she knew it. 

Karma was a bitch. 

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A/N:- Sorry if the Telegu and Marathi sentences are wrong. I used google translate.