Page 34 of One Hellish Passion

Maya swallowed hard, her anger slowly subsiding.

“I will go and give these reports to the Doctor,” Pammi added and hurried to the Doctor’s cabin. Maya was puzzled. That means her mother didn’t get the panic attack because of Ranveer. In fact, he just helped them? But that one help doesn’t overshadow his past sins.

Ranveer closed the gap between the two. Maya retreated, finding herself against the wall. He seized the moment to trap her there with his arms.

“You put one hell of a show today, Maya Bajaj.”

She narrowed her eyes. Could this be more humiliating?

“And what was that? You were planning to give an interview against me exposing my real character? Really?” He clenched his jaw. “What did you think my proposal to you was for? Did you even give me a chance to clarify that? You were always so busy presuming things.”

Maya was speechless. She really had no clue what he wanted to propose to her. He had said it was personal and nothing to do with her job. At Hong Kong Ranveer had even declared he would be staying in her hotel room without her will. So, she presumed he wanted to sleep with her.

“If I really wanted to play nasty, I could have used any other way. But know what?” he scowled angrily. “You are not my type, Maya Bajaj, and you wouldn’t be one even in the next seven births.”

He slammed his fist against the side wall before striding towards the exit. Maya shut her eyes, finally exhaling a sigh, though relief was the last thing she felt right now. How was she supposed to think good of Ranveer when he had ruined her life once? He was the one why her confidence in walking the ramp had crushed down forever. How could she forget what he did to ruin her career? To break her down?

Modeling had been Maya’s life. She had started shooting for little ad shows since she was 15. Maya had those cute doll-like features that made her look attractive. These advertisements gave her enough recognition to boost up her career and she became a well-known model at the age of 20. She had a good number of projects signed up for the next one year. Maya loved working in front of the cameras; the focus lights fascinated her. It was one such fashion show organized by her modelling agency that was made to fit her schedule at the last minute. She got a message on her phone about the event venue. It was in some five-star hotel. She wasn’t sure why only she got this assignment and not the other models from her agency.

When she reached there a tall man introduced himself to be the manager of that event and took her inside. She was asked to change her outfits in the dressing room where the other models were. She noticed the ramp was arranged at the backside of the hotel, and it looked like a very private affair. There were no chances of any media sneaking in, as if no one was aware such a show was happening.

The designer gave her the dress she was supposed to wear for the show. It was skinny and short. Maya objected and argued for a better length, after which she was given another gown with a slit at the front. Soon she became suspicious of this entire event. Even the models looked unfamiliar to her. She had never worked with any of those before, and she wondered what this show was all about. Yet, she dressed and waited in the queue for her turn to walk the ramp. Her heart beat frantically as she heard a loud cheer of men when the first few models began their walk. Something was amiss. But before she could do anything about it, her turn was next, and she had to hurry out. She took her usual pose and walked the ramp, the cheer getting intense. There were no women out there in the audience, except the models. A group of 20 – 30 men had occupied the chairs. Everyone was eyeing the models like this was the first time they were seeing a woman. She felt cheap and disgusting. Suddenly someone from the crowd read out the number written on the dress she was wearing.

“I will buy Number 8” that stranger said aloud.

Maya was terrified. She realized this wasn’t a fashion show. The women here were being auctioned. Tears welled up in her eyes wondering why would someone deceive her to be a part of this? She had to take action before it was too late. Maya turned around and sprinted off the ramp. The men behind started howling, urging her to stop, but she didn't. She ran as fast as possible, feeling utterly cheap. Fortunately, she managed to hail a cab and went straight home.

Though she had no plans of sharing this incident with her mother, Garima still sensed her fear and asked her to speak up. When she narrated the incident, Garima was equally angry and shocked. She couldn't believe something like this had happened to her daughter. She suffered a mild panic attack that same night. After recovering from it she took a promise from Maya never to walk on the ramp again. It was difficult for Maya to make that promise, but she did it for her mother. She knew that even if she walked the ramp again, she would never face it with the same confidence. She would always fear the authenticity of the event and be scared to face the cameras or the crowd again.

Still the thought of who did this to her nagged her mind. And the next day Maya finally got her answers. It was Ranveer Malhotra who wanted to avenge her. He confessed his actions to her by calling her up that night. Although until that day she had only heard his name and had never personally met him, after knowing it was him behind that incident, Maya only hoped she never met him in her life.

Chapter 11

City Hospital

Maya returned to the hospital after freshening up at her home. She didn't want to leave her mother's side for even a minute, but Pammi aunty suggested she should go home for a while, at least to drop off her luggage that she had dragged all the way from the airport. When Maya returned, she headed straight to her mother’s room. Garima was wide awake, lost in some thoughts.

“Mom,” Maya reached her and touched her hand.

Garima flinched.

“Mom… I am so happy you are okay now,” Maya tried to build the conversation. Garima kept looking at the other side, not willing to talk to her. It hurt Maya. She sat next to her mother on the patient bed and turned Garima’s chin so that they could see each other. That’s when she noticed tears in her mother’s eyes.

“Mom. Why are you crying?” she asked worried.

“You lied to me,” Garima blurted out. “You lied to me all the time that you have left modeling.”

Maya stared at her mother in horror. She didn’t know how to react. Her mother found out about her previous event? Now she knew why her mother got that panic attack. She must have found that newspaper which Maya forgot to tear off and instead hid it behind the shoe rack at their apartment.

“It’s not what you think it is, Mom. Let me explain,” she insisted.

“Explain? What will you explain, Maya? I saw your picture in the newspaper. You were on the ramp. And you were posing as a show stopper. You had promised me that you won’t do modeling again. You told me that you were just training the models now for Blitz. All that was a lie.”

“No, Mom. What you saw is right but that’s not the complete truth.”

“Another lie,” Garima sighed, looking elsewhere.

Maya tried to explain.

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