This story is divided into three sections to maintain the flow of ideas:
Chapter 1: House Hunting
Chapter 2: Life in the new house
Chapter 3: Radhika's web
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: House Hunting
Radhika was new in town. She had landed a great job in Geographic Information Systems industry. The pay was good to start off her career with and that is what brought her down to a small town in the southern part of India all the way from her home in Delhi. Being a single girl and without any family in this new town, finding a home was really tough. With the duration on company provided accommodations nearing an end, she had to find a home for herself real soon. She contacted many real estate brokers but all most of them would simply not pick up her case as they knew that it was nearly impossible to find a house for her due to the conservative nature of the town. Who would be interested in renting out an apartment to a pretty, single girl? Not only will it attract a lot of untoward attention of many rowdy characters of the area but also it meant a lot of responsibility for the person whose house she would be living in. Even if a few landlords would seem to be agreeing, their wives would barge in suddenly remembering that a close nephew would be joining them soon and so the house would need to be vacated soon anyway.
With her levels of frustration increasing, she got ready to see her umpteenth house for the day. The area was still upcoming with a lot of plots undergoing construction and many others lying vacant. Due to the new road construction in the area, it had appraised a lot in value and was a central location for commute. It was at a convenient distance from Radhika's office. She went in the house along with the broker. The broker had already briefed her. The house belonged to Murali Krishna. He was a low-level clerk in the government sector and his wife was a schoolteacher. They had a young daughter who was pursuing a career in the field of medicine. They needed to bolster their income to support the stiff education fee. It was his luck that his ancestral property was rapidly rising in value due to the new roadways and land development. He was hoping for a good rent from the house by renting out the lower portion of the house while living in the upper.
With the advent of software industry in town, a lot of bachelors had suddenly appeared on the scene who were willing to pay high rents. However, the house owners preferred Radhika since they had a grown-up girl in the house and did not want to rent the house to bachelors. Since Radhika could afford the high rent all by herself, she seemed to be a great match. As she walked in to meet them, the house owners studied Radhika discreetly from head to toe. She was really fair and that made her easily stand out from the local public. She was dressed tastefully in a long black dress, a gold chain with a pendant around her neck and her hair tied back in a tight bun. Murali Krishna watched closely as the sweet damsel took off her sandals and put her fair and neatly manicured foot inside the door of the house. As a part of the local culture, shoes were not meant to be brought inside the house. While Manju, the wife was getting happy to see the girl respecting their culture, Murali was getting thrilled as he could see her fair slender legs shine through the black skirt at the points of contact. They chatted briefly as she was shown around the house.
Radhika simply loved the house with all the spacious cupboards and nice rooms. She was also happy to see the bulky prison like iron door in front of her main door. Since she was going to stay alone, she felt comfortable with that kind of security. Soon they were done with the tour and sitting at the table discussing rent and terms. Manju, the landlady, was comfortable speaking only in the local dialect so she communicated through her husband for whatever she wanted to say. She was trying to get as much money out of Radhika as possible. The broker was trying to appease both the parties trying to finalize the deal. After a long discussion, the terms were finally settled, and Radhika handed over the advance to the landlord. As Murali gripped the cash he also got a touch of Radhika's smooth creamy skin. That small touch set a few sparks flying in his mind. He was amazed that how soft her hand felt. Soon she stepped out of the house deciding on the move in date and really happy that she finally had a house.
Chapter 2: Life in the new house
The broker helped Radhika move in and she also ordered some furniture. Piece by piece, Radhika started building her home choosing every item by her hand. She simply loved the house. Over the few weeks that she stayed in the house, Lata, the daughter of the landlord got close to Radhika. She was impressed by her style and fashionable clothing and started copying her too. Radhika also lent her a few items of her makeup. As the days passed, Radhika kept getting new stuff in the house including furniture and electronics. All this was not going well with the landlady. She was simply getting more and more jealous of her tenant. She started feeling that the rent was not high enough and probably Radhika could pay more. She was getting annoyed at seeing her get all the new and expensive stuff in the house. She started feeling that Lata has stopped concentrating in her studies and was just trying to copy the fashionable ways of Radhika.
Of course, she could do nothing about the rent as the terms were notarized now, but she constantly kept nagging her husband to increase the rent. Murali stopped her every time and said that he would increase the rent by a big amount in a longer time duration otherwise the rent may seem low again after a few months. As the neighbors started talking to her about her new tenant and her beauty, she started getting more jealous of her. She started to think that people are comparing Radhika with her daughter. Although Lata herself was pretty with light olive skin she was nowhere in beauty compared to the fair Radhika. The long legs, the fair skin, curvy body, and long hair made all the men lust for her. She was an exotic beauty in the area.
A major part of Radhika's weekend was spent with Lata in the first few months. They would go into the town on Radhika's scooty and visit markets and do shopping. However, any good that Radhika did, only made Lata's jealous mother feel that she was trying to show them down. She asked Lata for all the minute details about whatever they did when they were out. Then she would get upset about how easily Radhika was spending the money. She would throw her ATM card at anything she wanted and get it without a second thought. Surely, she was doing really well and could afford to spend more on rent was her constant observation.
Finally, she could not take it anymore and stopped Lata from mixing with Radhika. However, Lata would find time and come talk to Radhika now and then. When Radhika asked her that why was she was no longer accompanying her outside, Lata stated that her mother wanted her to focus on her studies. Being an astute girl who was living independently, Radhika started to understand Manju better. By her behavior and attitude, she understood that Manju did not like her too much and was always trying to compare herself with her. Through casual discussions with Lata, she understood that she cared deeply about money and was on the lookout to squeeze more out of her.