"They gave maya pills to sleep. Tara was running behind, and she caught a glimpse of the number plate. she broke into tears and fell on her knees. she rushed to a telephone booth and called Lav, but he didn't pick up. she tried again and again, but still no answer. so she dialed Vedh and this time he picked up. Tara let out a shaky breath of relief. Thank god, at least someone answered. He recognized her voice right away and said, "Tara, is everything ok? what happened".
"Everything alright?"She responded, "Yes… listen."
She explained everything. She told him where she was. He arrived at that place.
"Tara, it's already late. We should head back. I think you should return home. Your parents must be waiting for you."
She called her parents and informed them, but he didn't listen."Listen, Tara," he said firmly, "I'm a man. I can handle this."
Tara shot him a sharp look. "And I'm a woman. I can handle it even better than you 'so-called stronger men.' So if you want to go, fine. But don't you ever dare tell me what to do."
He bent down to her height. "Alright, madam. Sorry, sorry."
Vedh knew someone who was well aware of the places connected to the kidnapping. He called him, but there was no reply. When he didn't pick up, Vedh noticed the phone was switched off.
So he grabbed his bike keys and drove off, Tara following right behind. She hopped onto the bike. It was late at night, the streets empty except for the dim lights. "A chill wind blew through their damp hair."
When they reached, Vedh tried to wake the man up, but he was sleeping heavily. Tara called out to him, "Wake up, you're not made of stone!"
She shook his arm harder. "Come on, get up!" But still no response. "Tara got really annoyed and told Vedh to move aside. "She said let me see now, how the hell are u not going to wake up now."
She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Arghhh! Get the f up!. Vedh closed his ears, and he woke up.
He woke up instantly, heart racing. "W-what just…?"
Tara gave a smile and smirked towards him, as if she won the whole world. Vedh just blinked multiple times in disbelief. Vedh explained the situation to him. He suggested a few places to search.
It was breezy, Vedh's hair was flying in the air. He was low-key looking dashing. Tara was struck seeing him on the bike, trying to fix his hair and gloves.
She heard a honk by a car driver. She silently sat on his bike. Vedh was watching her on the side mirror and was blushing like an idiot.
They searched all the places he suggested, but they couldn't find her. Every possible alley where kidnappings usually happen, they checked.
Tara got frustrated and was slapping herself. "It's all because of me," she repeated three times. "I shouldn't have gone."
She had a runny nose and tears were pouring out of her eyes. Vedh gave her a napkin. "It's ok, we'll find her. It's late already, we have to return now. It's like 3 pm now". As he was comforting her, she slept in his lap without realizing. He patted her head. His heartbeat went crazy. "He lifted her up and made her sit on the bike, one hand on the bike and the other at her back, holding Tara". "They reached Tara's home, and Vedh thought about lifting her again, but her parents were strict and he'd probably get scolded… or worse."
"He tried to wake her up by gently tugging her hair back and said, 'Wake up, princess.' Just hearing the word 'princess,' she slowly opened her eyes, her face puffed and bloated from just waking up. He grinned. 'Ayoo, look at you… so cute!' He squeezed her cheeks and patted her head. She gave him a side-eye before turning away.
"Vedh wanted her to stay a bit longer, but it was already late. They both said, 'Heyy!' at the same time. Vedh smirked. 'What? You're gonna miss me or what? Listen, it's late, I have to go, Taraa,' he said in a teasing tone. Tara rolled her eyes. 'Bruuh, who's stopping you?'"
I was saying we still have to look for her tomorrow.""Yeah, sure. Good night!""You too."