It was around evening 5:00 PM, office closing time. I heard everyone leaving and they all went off. Since I still had some work, I told Vini to leave and stayed back. After some time, my work was finished. I closed my laptop, looked around, and realized everyone on our side had already left. I packed my things into my bag and came out of the office.
I thought of booking a cab, but somehow the address that monster had given was just a few steps away. So I decided to walk calmly. Finally, I reached the address he had given. That address turned out to be a hotel. And that hotel belonged to none other than that psycho fellow himself, because the hotel name was "Varma Group of Villas."
It seemed like they had built this hotel for business meetings or stays whenever needed.
Looking at the hotel, it felt like Indra's palace—so high-tech and massive that it wasn't even clear how many floors it had.
"Why do I even care about all this?" I thought to myself and stepped inside the hotel.
I took my phone out of my bag and called that monster of a man. He picked up and asked, "So, you came?"
"Yes sir, I've come," I replied.
"Good. I've informed the receptionist. Tell her your name and she'll give you the room details. And don't use the lift—climb the stairs and come. If you try to act smart, I'll give you a new punishment. This is my place. Everyone here is under my watch. Remember that," he said in a deep voice and cut the call.
Meanwhile, sri was saying to jay
"Hey, Jay it's not good what you told her . We're on the 50th floor. It'll take at least 50 seconds but you gave only 20 minutes to her to climb all the stairs. Why didn't you tell her to take the lift?"
Jai smirked and replied,
"I told her like that on purpose. If someone messes with Jay Dev Varma, they must endure at least this much punishment. This is nothing. There's much more coming. If I don't show her day-and-night stars every day, what's the point?"
Here I was thinking, Oh God… climbing the stairs? That psycho lives on some unknown floor in this palace-like hotel.
I went to the receptionist and told her my name.
"Yes madam. The CEO sir is on the 50th floor, right side, 4th room—the CEO cabin. Please go there," she said calmly, delivering what felt like a death sentence.
I froze like ice.
"50th floor?" I asked, staring at her like a frog in a well.
"Hurry up, madam. Sir asked you to come within 20 minutes," she said.
I immediately remembered his warning about punishment if I was late. I rushed to the staircase and started climbing.
"Oh God, how many more steps are there?"
I kept looking upward, climbing step by step, cursing that psycho endlessly in my mind, climbing as fast as I could to reach on time.
Jai was sitting casually in the CEO chair, legs crossed, watching Hasini on the monitor with a cunning smile.
Sri, standing beside him, thought silently,
"What kind of sadism is this? Poor girl… how much she must be suffering climbing all those stairs."
Somehow, after climbing all the stairs, I finally reached the 50th floor. I went to the room he mentioned, took a deep breath, and gently knocked on the door.
"May I come in, sir?"
"Yes, come in," came the reply.
I slowly opened the door and went inside.
He was sitting stylishly in his chair, legs crossed, staring straight at me.
Looking at his watch, he said,
"Not bad. You have a sense of time. You came exactly one minute before time was up. Great. If you were even one minute late, you'd have seen my new punishment today. Oh, you missed it—shit," he said, getting up from his chair and sitting on the table in front of me.
You're already fixed on punishing me even if I hadn't come, I thought.
But poor you—if you mess with this Hasini, you'll only see darkness forever.
Aloud, I said innocently,
"Oh really, sir? We still have seven months left in our agreement, right? Take your time and show me all your punishment types slowly, sir."
Jay thought to himself, I will. Very soon. I'll show you much more, and looked at Sri, signaling him to leave. After Sri left, he pointed to the chair opposite him.
"Come, sit."
"Yes sir," I said and sat down, looking at him.
He handed me a board with blank white papers and said,
"Write."
"What should I write, sir?" I asked nervously.
"About you. Your family. Your hobbies. Your likes and dislikes. Everything," he said in a deep voice, looking at his phone.
"Why, sir?" I asked again, scared. What does he need my details for?
He immediately lifted his head, brought his face very close to mine, and stared at me. I leaned back in fear. He came even closer and said,
"If you move back any further, your front teeth will fall out. Be careful," staring straight into my eyes.
You already know that when I look at him, words just disappear. I kept staring at him in fear. My eyelids were opening and closing on their own, fighting each other. I could clearly hear a heartbeat—but I didn't know if it was mine or his.
Still staring at him, I asked innocently,
"Why, sir?"
"Look behind you," he said, raising his eyebrows.
When I looked back, there was no space left to lean further. I understood that if I moved even a little more, my teeth would definitely be gone. I stayed silent, staring into his eyes.
"You're going to act as my girlfriend in front of my family, right? So they shouldn't feel that you're just a temporary arrangement to escape the girl they selected for me. They'll interrogate us like CBI officers—whether we really know each other or not. That's why we need to write our biographies. Got it? Or should I explain more?" he said, placing both his hands on the chair I was sitting on, leaning toward me.
That was it. I started sweating from head to toe. I was trembling as if I had fever and chills.
"Yes sir… I… I understand… somewhat," I stammered.
"Okay. Cool, cool. Shall we start writing?" he said with a cunning smile, tucking the strands of hair dancing on my cheek behind my ear.
"Yes… yes sir," I said, nodding my head in a circular motion.