Tears of Okshana part 2

The Opera Tavern Bar: Kevin shoved a bottle of beer towards Viky, while taking a sip he scanned the entire place, a well decorated place, every corner had banners which read “LSE 1989”. It’s just 7 in the evening and already the place is buzzing with college kids. Billboards hits are being played by the DJ, who is just warming up before sways the crowd with some modern electronic music. Viky liked billboard hits, he never lost an opportunity to buy the chart busters cassettes back in India. Kevin got few of his friends at the bar, and introduced them to Viky. Two tall German students, one introduced himself as Stefan, Viky couldn’t register the other German’s name, he had a such a strong accent, Viky could hardly understand what he spoke. A tall Irish girl who is also one of Kevin’s friends introduced herself as Catherine, she had pleasant voice and a charming personality. She wore a green dress, which matched her green eyes making her look all the more attractive. All five of them got into conversation which transcends everything on this planet, geology, sociology, physics, mathematics, classical literature, politics, as they merrily drank their beer. Viky was thrilled to meet such people, who are not the stereotypical nerds.
Couple of hours has passed, Viky had quite a few beers, although not drunk, he could feel the buzz from alcohol as he joined the crowd on the dance floor. The DJ sure was playing some enthralling music, by now Viky knows almost half the people in there, all thanks to Kevin who is quite a popular character in this part of the city. Kevin is the students’ coordinator at the LSE, a position which is appropriate for his unassuming, jovial, easy going nature. As the music swayed the crowd, Viky noticed a small crowd has gathered around in the corner far end from the DJ, which made him quite curious. But, he tried to ignore it and looked away. Just then he felt Kevin’s hand grabbed his and almost dragged him out of the dance floor while shouting loud in his ears “You gotta see this mate”. Kevin dragged him towards the crowd which Viky had noticed earlier. There were two girls clad in very expensive and fashionable outfit in that corner. Kevin introduced one of them as Tatyana his girl friend, a brunette as tall as Viky, with dark brown eyes and long eye lashes. Her skin was deeply tanned, the bikini lines were well pronounced on her bare shoulders. Her smile had a innocent touch to it, making her look cute. She was born in Russia, but moved with her parents to London when she was just 8, she spoke English like a regular Londoner there was no hint of a foreign accent. She seemed to be a very relaxed person, Viky thought to himself Tatyana is an appropriate match for Kevin. The girl next to Tatyana was a bit taller than Viky, blonde, curled lock running on two sides of her fore head, deep sparkling blue eyes, she had diamond earrings which reflected the disco lights and made her look all the more dazzling. She extended her hand to Viky “ I am Okshana, you must be Kevin’s new flat mate Viky” her smile was deadly attractive, it was as glamorous as it can be while it had a faint touch of earthy attractiveness. Viky gulped down his beer and uttered a few words of politeness. Okshana excused herself and moved towards the dance floor, while she walked away, Viky couldn’t help but notice she is fatally attractive the way she swayed her body towards the crowd, there was an aura of her presence which made every head turn towards her at least once. Her stature had elegance, her movements were smooth, so natural , her curves were just perfect. Her remarkable cool nature made her look very inviting, yet there was something forbidden about her. As she danced in her silvery white dress, she swayed her head, her fingers playfully gestured Viky towards her. It was captivating, for a moment viky was mesmerized by this woman, but he held himself back and though it must be the alcohol which made him vulnerable. “Femme fatale” viky tried to remind himself. “What are you waiting for man, don’t keep a lady waiting” Kevin’s booking voice pierced his ears. He finished his beer in one gulp and walked towards Okshana, he decides to play along.
Okshana is well aware of herself and the kind of power she has over men. She has been with few men before, they were all attracted to her physical beauty and her father’s wealth, after all she the only child of the one and only Alexis Egorov. She secretly hated that, she could never show her true self to men, they all were far too shallow to under stand the true depth of her character. But, tonight the moment she set her eyes on Viky, she felt something different. Viky’s sharp dark eyes and his demeanour made her feel very different, very different indeed! The truth is she didn’t know what to do, so she resorted to her usual seductive methods to lure a man. Viky looked very calm and composed, making Okshana all though the more anxious. But, the truth is Viky is struggling to keep his calm, deep down his emotions has been stirred.
Viky walked towards Okshana, they danced for a while, their body slowly gyrating with the music. Vikys both hands around her waist and her hands around his neck, just then the DJ switched track to a popular love song, almost instinctively viky brought Okshana close to himself, their side of faces touched each other, he could smell the fragrance of her hair and her soft warm breath on his neck. His body was pressed against hers, feeling her chest rise up and down as she breathed heavily. Viky is no stranger to carnal desires of the flesh, he had been in few relationships before, which were quite a whirlwind of affairs. But, this is evoking such passion him, that he never thought it was possible, he only heard people could feel this way. The music stopped as the DJ announced that this was the last track of the night. They both jolted back from the embrace and looked into each others eyes, Okshana smiled “You dance well, you are quite a womanizer”. This is the first time he heard speak without the music, she had a thick Russian accent which made her sultry voice even more seductive. “ I like to try, if I don’t succeed, I try again” replied Viky, he usually has something to say in every situation. “Perhaps, we would see each other again sometime”
Okshana’s eyes lightened up “of course we will Viky, I am a Phd student in economics just like you, our research papers are on similar lines” Viky was taken aback by this, she already knew that! “your reputation precedes you Viky, your papers were published in Russia too” She made no secret of the fact that she has done some research on this. This made viky swell, a girl like Okshana was so interested in him, albeit for his work, but nevertheless Viky was beaming with pride. They bid each other good night, and parted ways. While on the way back he thought to himself, some one like Okshana really is into him. “might be my folly, must be all those beers and shots I had downed at the bar” he thought to himself.
Okshana slipped into her T shirt and lied down on her bed. ‘finally, I found you Viky, you are the only one who can help me. I had been reading your papers for years, only you have the knowledge and the skills to help me’

To be continued.................

Tears of Okshana

Moscow , winter, 2007 - It’s late in the night, the snow storm has passed away, leaving a thick blanket of white snow all over the city. In the suburb of Moscow everything looks so calm, almost all the houses in the neighborhood have become sleep haven for its dwellers, except one. The one at the far end of the neighborhood, a huge mansion surrounded by concrete wall protected by heavy security from any trespassers what so ever. The stony gray color of the wall and the house adds more to its august aura. The closer one goes, the wall towers above the tallest trees one has seen. The eeriness of the night almost transforms our imagination to any of the horror movies depicting Count Dracula’s castle. The main entrance looks nothing short of the pearly gates, but the security is probably a lot tighter than St. Peter’s own. One fourth of a mile inside is the castle of Alexis Egorov, the billionaire oil tycoon. The clock struck 2 somewhere in the distant. It’s all dark in the fortress of the czar except for the red blinking lights of the security cameras, which resembled the eyes of mystic creatures of the dark. On the right wing of the castle a window opens, a woman clad only in a bed sheet appears. One hand holding on the sheet to cover her body from the beastly Siberian cold wind and she holds an old letter from man she fell in love with many years back. The silvery light of the moon fell on her face which illuminated her snow white skin, the lines on her face would suggest nothing about her age. She looked on to the lifeless snow clad courtyard, her face showed no emotion, her glistening blue eyes were focused somewhere in the distant, she slowly blinked her eyes and a drop of pearly tear streamed down her frosty cheek. RING RING… the intercom phone rang, as she picked up the phone the sheet fell down from her body, her body was covered by the silver light, enlightening the epitome of feminine exquisite beauty on earth. The voice from the other end was of Ivan the head security of her father’s fortress “Madam Okshana, the helicopter is ready to take off in 45 minutes”. “Spasibo” replies Okshana with a faint smile and wipes the tears from her face, doesn’t bother to pick up the bed sheet and slowly walks in to her bathroom. About a couple of hours back Okshana had got a call from the man from Mombasa, Kenya. It didn’t take her a jiffy to realize who he was. It was her long lost love, he had called to request a rendezvous, his voice was tensed and nervous, the urge of man breathing his last few remaining breath. The call lasted for less than a couple of minutes, but it was enough, the bottled up feelings from the past came soaring up from her stomach almost choking her. In seconds she became oblivious to her surrounding and pictures from the past came flooding back, she started trembling and had to sit down and grab a glass of water.

London, autumn, 1989 - the weather’s a bit chilly for the Indian lad who hails from Chennai, he tightens the scarf around his neck and quickly tucks his hands in warmth of his over coat pockets. As he walks in Holborn-Strand-Convent garden, he notices that the fallen leaves on the ground are not green, but more yellow, red and orange in hue, which is a stark difference from his hometown. His mind drifts back to the warm humid conditions of Chennai, where autumn is non existent let alone winter. His thoughts for once were about his family and friends whom he has left behind to come to London to pursue his Phd in Economics at London School of Economics. It seemed almost surreal to be here, although he is of remarkable intelligence and had uncanny aptitude for unraveling the most complicated math models, but he still couldn’t come to grips with the fact that he made it to the coveted LSE. It’s a dream come true. Right from his early days in high school, he was showed dazzling brilliance in academics particularly in the field of mathematics. Everyone thought he would become an engineer, but that’s not what he had in mind. He stunned everyone by opting to study economics and statistics for his graduation. Beaten path is not his way, he wanted to have a deeper understanding of human beings which lead to him to choose his field of study. By the time he earned his post graduation, he has already written several articles which was published in various journals and earned him quite a reputation in the world of the intellects. But, he still didn’t know what he wants to do in his life. It was the letter from Sir Anthony Hawkins the noble laureate economist which proved to be a game changer. He has been invited to join Sir Hawkins in his research work at LSE. Immediately everything was clear to him, his future dawned on him.
“viky, ahh, there you are, we had been looking for you all over London, you alright?” It was Kevin his flat mate, and also a Phd student at LSE. Although their line of work is quite different, but their mutual respect and admiration sparked immediately after they met. Kevin is working on a thesis on social science.
“ye, just wanted to look around the beautiful city”
“Well forget the tour , get ready for tonight, we have the big ice breaker party tonight! Get ready for piss up mate!” Kevin points at the The Opera Tavern bar while walking towards it. Viky short for Vikram Srivastav, smiles and follows him. It’s been just few weeks he has been in London, he already feels he has found a dear old friend in Kevin. Kevin has developed quite a liking for him too. Viky was quite excited about this party, he is quite an outgoing person and simply likes to be in company of people. But, he had not the faintest idea what this night is going to do to his life.



To be continued................................