Which was why I gave him a tight slap across his cheek. Consequences be damned. 
“How fuckin dare you, cunt?!” Of course the bastard didn't take it kindly as he slapped me back and pulled my hair, his eyes buldging with rage. I also mimicked the same, pulling his hair seeing nothing but red, despite my thundering heartbeat. 
This earned a not so pleasant reaction between his minions and the boys behind me as they cussed in the filthiest language possible and threatened to beat each other up. A commotion ensued as the men  brawled against each other, using their fists with their limbs. Their sounds of pain triggered me as I covered my ears and closed my eyes shut, moving away. Thankfully, Yash was there to rescue me as he circled his arms around me in a vice-like grip, successfully shielding me away from Raj and the others. I let him. Eventually Raj roar sliced through the uneven commotion like a red signal, ordering everyone to stop their theatrics at once. The men hesitantly withdrew their hands away as none of us wanted to end this with a violent bloodbath. 
“Tell me why you did it? Why are you so obsessed with us? Are you secretly gay?” I asked, earning a snicker from one of his minions. He was slapped immediately after. 
“No, I'm not. And I don't know what you're talking about.” 
I threw my hands in exasperation. “Well, of course you'd say the cheesiest thing from the playbook and waste our precious time.” 
“Who knows? One of you might be secretly recording this shit.”
“No, we are not carrying anything sus. You can check for yourselves. Mine should be checked by a woman.” I already clarified. 
After his minions checked us and confirmed no recorders (which included mobiles as they already confesticated them), Raj's whole demeanour changed as he let out a creepy laugh. 
“I'm sorry. I admit I didn't think this far. I was never going for the kill,” Raj smirked and I froze. “I only ordered the driver to graze Rithik a little. Give him a child's wound but guess he got too excited. Don't worry though, we dealt with him.” 
“Dealth with him? How exactly did you deal with him?” Shailesh said, bringing a fist to his face. “No wonder we weren't able to contact the driver!”
“But why did you want to hurt Rithik in the first place?” I questioned, still puzzled. “You do realize we can get you arrested for this.” 
The pointless charade of how's and why's went on with no clear conclusion in sight. Of course Raj wasn't willing to admit his crimes entirely. He often responded in code words he stupidly invented himself. It would have been really cute to witness his sick smirk behind the bars though. 
While talking to Rithik's friends earlier on, I got to know how Rithik and Raj were classmates in high school. They befriended each other and were good friends for a while until Rithik sort of abandoned Raj after he was promoted to a different class. Perhaps Rithik got an inkling of the kind of person Raj was and left before his bad influence affected him. They befriended again two years back and we could see how beautifully that ended up. Friendships were scary. 
In the end, we told Raj to stop acting upon a high school grudge and left the premises. Of course this wasn't the end. For now, I simply wanted to sink my head into the pillow and doze off. 
* * * 
I was just getting ready for the office when I glanced over the closed door of Khusboo's room. She still didn't wake up. Even last evening, she was cooped up in her room. Ayesha's message from two days ago hovered my mind. Something was bothering Khushboo and Ayesha wanted me to ask about it. I let out a tired sigh before entering Khushboo's abode.