Chapter 3 - Akshata and Vaishnavi
Akshata knew Sundar wouldn't have anything normal to say; it was too late in the night to message inquiring about her health. But she did find it super weird that he had gotten straight to the point. She had taken the WhatsApp message from Sundar straight to Vaishnavi, who was the only roommate with whom she had previously shared Sundar's abnormal fantasies. Akshata had also shared with Vaishnavi that she nurtured a soft spot for Sundar at that time. That was nearly 3 months ago.
A part of her still fancied Sundar and wanted to find out if her and him would work out. Even though she was 8 years younger to him, Akshata was confident in her personality and sexuality to keep the relationship balanced, but the guy had been in a committed relationship when she was at GD Tech and he had neither made a move on her nor seemed in any way interested. And now that he had made a move, she was sure his idea of a relationship with her was very dissimilar to what she had in mind. Having said that, there was no denying that her deep dive into the world of BDSM and power exchange had left her wet and excited. So, a part of her wanted to experience having a man completely under her control too - the part of her that wanted to get even for all the harassment she had had to face from males ever since she hit puberty. But this was Sundar; would she be able to be as cruel as those women she had seen in those videos on sadomasochism? These feelings and a hundred more were flying through her mind as she sat looking at Sundar's words, "Akshata, would it be okay if I took care of you for the next three months?"
Vaishnavi, who was seated beside her and looking at her with mild concern, spoke, "Akshu, what's the matter? Tell me, yaar."
19-year-old Akshata shared all of her feelings with the 25-year-old Vaishnavi and looked at the older girl with trepidation, sensing, perhaps, that her feelings were all misplaced and Vaishnavi was going to shoot them all down and ask her to block Sundar on WhatsApp and be done with it.
It was therefore that Akshata was surprised when Vaishnavi simply asked her, "Do you trust him?"
"Of course, Vaish, I do. He was a thorough gentleman at GD Tech."
Vaishnavi considered this for a while and then asked, "Question 2: How much money does he make?"
Akshata did not like the sound of this question and nor did she particularly enjoy the twinkle in Vaishnavi's eyes as she asked this. "He told me he made 7 lakhs per annum, which is around sixty thousand a month. Why do you ask? What has that got to do with anything?" If Akshata had not enjoyed the question or the twinkle in Vaishnavi's eyes, she liked the sudden glow on Vaishnavi's face least of all.
"That, Akshu, has got everything to do with everything. He may not be rich exactly, but how many others do you know that make so much money?" Saying this, Vaishnavi got even closer to Akshata on the bed and her voice reduced in octaves till she was almost whispering.
Vaishnavi spoke for a good 20 minutes. She knew all the right things to say. The reluctant Akshata that received Sundar's proposal at 12:33 AM was not the Akshata that emerged at 1 AM after their chat. All of Akshata's fears had been allayed by the more experienced Vaishnavi. She had manipulated Akshata's longing for Sundar's affections into what she felt would turn into a mutually beneficial relationship for all involved, except Sundar of course. In conclusion, Vaishnavi asked Akshata to wait till the morning of the next day before replying. What was more, Vaishnavi even gave her the exact text of the WhatsApp reply to send to Sundar. It went like this: "Sundar, use just one sentence and tell me what exactly do you mean by 'taking care of me'. Reply in 2 minutes or this thing stops right here and I block you."
With Vaishnavi by her side, Akshata felt safe and happy to go ahead with this. It was going to be once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure, but she was ready for it. Hugging Vaishnavi tightly, she got up off the bed. Mobile phone in hand, Akshata headed straight to the washroom. After about 20 minutes inside, she heard a soft knock and a badly suppressed giggle from the door.
"Hurry up, Akshu. We have just the one washroom, you know..." It was Vaishnavi, and Akshata could have sworn there was an edge to her voice that she had heard only on those rare occasions when Vaishnavi and her had gotten intimate...
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