chapter 17

The Reputation of Slut!“Dim the lights please,” I murmured as I came through. A ripple of laughter swam through the room. As I opened my eyes, I saw Pratham, Ankit, Shiva, and Sarv huddled around me. “What happened?” Shiva asked as Pratham helped me with some water. I shook my head. I was not sure what I saw…“Given you passed out in my arms and almost gave me a heart attack, I think I deserve to know what happened,” Pratham was worried.“And so do I. I have been slogging all day. What happened? Why were you glaring at the door before you passed out?” Ankit pointed at the exit skeptically. I looked at him confused. Pratham added quickly, “I saw you too. Who were you staring at? It seemed you had seen a ghost.”“You didn’t see him?” I clasped my mouth in shock.“Who is this ‘him’?” Pratham pressed. “We didn’t see anybody,” Sarv added. Was I hallucinating? I wondered. “So, there was nobody there?” I inquired skeptically. Pratham and others shook their heads simultaneously. “Who could scare you to the extent of making you faint?” Pratham asked frantically. I didn’t respond. Furious at all the secrets I was keeping, he stood up. “They took all the jewelry because it was expensive. Change your clothes so that I can get someone to drop them off at their office. And yeah, keep your damn secrets. I don’t think I relish in your dark pasts.” And he marched out. Ankit and Sarv followed him, and Shiva helped me change.When I was done, Shiva asked, “You really don’t feel anything for him?” I just stared at her. “Pratham really loves you. He was dead worried when you passed out. And not to mention the way he was doting over you before…”“Stop! Please Stop IT!” I yelled, unable to control myself. Today’s events were just too much for me to bear. “What do you think will happen? Pratham loves me, but so what? He doesn’t deserve a girl like me. What do you think will happen when he finds out the truth?” “What truth?” Shiva asked flabbergasted.“That I am a Slut!” I whispered in tears.“No, you are not. That’s just a label…” she started, but I interrupted her, “That’s not just a label, Shiva. What do you call a girl who has been abused and made a fool of by not one but three boys? And looking at Akshara’s fiasco, this slut’s past is still haunting me. Do you think a boy like Pratham deserves a slut like me? His mother would want a girl who could fill in the gap of his lost sister. Do you think I can do that? No, he deserves a pure girl, someone like you. Not a cursed one like me. I am doomed Shiva, everything around me crumbles. I won’t ruin Pratham’s life.” I finished and stepped out.All three boys had come back in, and the way they were looking at me, I knew I was a little too loud, but I didn’t care. I just placed the dress on the table and left.I stepped out, tears flowing continuously. I randomly chose a direction and started walking. After a few minutes, I heard a familiar sound. The sound of a Bullet motorcycle. Pratham was riding slowly next to me. He stopped, but I kept on walking. He halted a little ahead, but I didn’t stop again. The third time he stopped, he grabbed my wrist and looked into my eyes. There was immense pain in his. As if I had betrayed him. We didn’t say a word, but somehow I knew that at this moment he needed me. He just needed me around him, just like I needed him around me. He pulled out another helmet, and I put it on and sat behind him.He started his bike, took a U-turn, and rode on.Indeed, I was going in the wrong direction.  Pratham didn’t approach me again with his proposal. I assumed he had finally understood that I was not the right girl for him. I was relieved a bit, but deep down, I was hurting. Every time I saw him, which was a lot, I saw my lost love. And the way he looked at me, I felt he too thought the same, but I knew he was better off without me.Within months my face was plastered on many billboards across NCR. They had chosen some very candid photographs, and they were stunning. Pratham was very impressed by his work, and the campaign was so successful that I had received some modeling assignments – which Pratham asked me to deny – and he got some shoot assignments, which he accepted.“You will learn who are the right people to work for,” he explained. I didn’t care about anything, whatever he said was fine with me. Plus, I was hoping to get a call from Rakshit any day – getting in touch with him was my only reason to model. I was hoping that if not him, then maybe my mother might see me and contact me to cash the opportunity, I still remembered how greedy she was.However, months passed, and no one contacted. “Don’t worry. Next, we will aim for Television. Maybe he is not in NCR,” Pratham assured me one day. I just nodded. Could he understand the pain?