THE TRAP

THE TRAP
"Huh? I don't remember," Avani replied arrogantly, avoiding eye contact. In reality, she remembered every single word he had said to her all those years. How could she forget those words?
With a sudden jerk, he pulled her towards him, encircling one hand around her waist with no distance between them, "Let me remind you then...Even if you are not willing to come with me, I will make you mine and take you away with or without your consent,” he whispered in front of her lips, fanning his hot breath across them.
Rishabh expressed his desires for Avani more firmly while looking deep into her eyes with a level of intensity she hadn't experienced before. Today, his eyes held a darkness with unknown emotions and feelings that she couldn't quite explain. Her lips parted with a gasp in response to the sudden intensity, and she instinctively placed her hands on his shoulders for support.
"Avani, I love you; I need you in my life. You may say, I am crazily obsessed with you. I fell hard for you the day I saw you for the first time. I know I hurt you, but trust me, love, there was a reason behind that. You don’t know, I was going insane with the feeling that you were not with me. I missed you so much—missed your beautiful smiles which always brightened my days, missed touching you, missed taking you in my embrace. I missed every single thing about you," Rishabh expressed, holding her close, his eyes revealing the pain of separation.

She gazed into his coffee-brown eyes, reflecting the agony within. "Then tell me the truth, why did you break up with me, claiming you had another girl in your life, Rishabh?" Avani questioned with welled up eyes, pain was evident in her voice.

"I will tell you, Avani, once the right time comes," he replied, caressing her cheeks. Lost in his deep voice and whispers, they leaned in for a kiss, just an inch away from their lips, when a sudden knock on the door brought them back to reality.

"Bro, leave Avani di now. You guys can continue after your marriage. Please open the door before anyone comes up; it’s been more than 15 mins," Kriti whispered with a giggle

Avani pushed him away slightly and quickly opened the door, and Shreya took her with her. Avani's face was all flushed red with embarrassment.

"So, what did you do? She is blushing quite hard," Kriti asked Rishabh, placing her hand on his shoulder, while Avani turned her back to leave to avoid another embarrassing conversation. He chuckled, slipping his hands into his pockets. Avani turned back, looking in shock and tapped her cheeks to tone down their colour.

Rishabh laughed, shaking his head side to side. Shreya and Kriti exchanged laughs but Avani gave a death glare to Shreya, who understood her look and coughed hard to control her laughter while looking in another direction.

All of them went downstairs, and Avani joined her mother in the kitchen to help with the preparations for lunch. She started setting the table for everyone and peeked into the living room. She saw Anish  and Rishabh engrossed in a serious conversation.

Later, she saw Anish took Rishabh into a brotherly hug.

‘Don’t tell me he has taken my brother also on his side. This guy is showing his magical charms to my family. What would happen, if they came to know he is the same person who broke my heart a year ago?’ Avani thought as she set up plates on the dining table.

“Mom, why is Siya’s family here?” Avani asked her mother while placing plates on the table.

“They are related.” Her mother explained, and Avani   looked at Rishabh from the kitchen. He was staring at her from head to toe, and she shot daggers at him, narrowing her eyes.

'Damn it, how did I miss this? Am I this dumb?' Avani thought to herself. 'Who would say, we were in relationship for ten long years?' Avani thought again.

Avani picked up her phone from the kitchen counter and immediately texted him, 'Why didn’t you tell me about Siya related to you?' while clicking on send button, he signaled him to check his phone.

Breaking the stare, Rishabh glanced at his phone, read the message, and replied, "I thought you knew." Avani narrowed her eyes at him and looked away.

'Wow! Another bomb struck in my territory. Siya is his first cousin. That means he will be there for every marriage function, as I came to know he is the only dear brother of Siya.

'Anything else you have hidden from me? Like secret love affairs, etc.' Avani messaged him and angrily stomped her phone on the kitchen counter.

Avani saw him reading the message and typing a response on his phone. Her phone blinked again.

Opening the text received from him, it read, 'Nothing, just... you are my crazy obsession. Now it is no more a secret, baby.'

She sighed and put her phone back on the kitchen counter. "Idiot," she muttered to herself.