Page 1 of That Same Old Love

CHAPTER 1

“Oh God! No! No. No. No. No!”

Mahi stared into her messy purse. She had gone through it plenty of times to know that the house key was definitely missing. And also enough to know that she would have to go to the neighbor’s house and ask them for the emergency spare key.

She was tired and hungry after a long journey, which was made even longer due to a missed flight connection. She was really looking forward to crashing in her childhood home the moment she entered inside. And now, she had to find a way to get inside the damn house first.

“Great. Just great. And it’s not even six in the morning,” she muttered, looking towards the neighboring houses.

Almost all of the homes had been renovated in some way or the other over the years. Although not as much as the opposite house.

The opposite house was currently occupied since the lights were turned on the top floor. And she thought she even saw someone’s shadow move.

But wow! It wasn’t anything like the modest two-leveled structure from before.

“You need to focus!” she muttered to herself as she peeled her eyes away from the house. She had plenty of time to gawk at the odd-looking house from her balcony if she could get inside first.

“Okay then…” she said tiredly and walked across the street.

She rang the neighbor’s doorbell a few times and waited impatiently. “Oh, come on. Hurry up and open already,” she muttered.

On the fourth or maybe the fifth ring, she heard footsteps inside, and then the door was finally opened.

Mahi looked at the man standing at the doorway with a grim look. She stared at his face, especially at the thin eyebrow scar and was shell-shocked.

* * *

“Tarzan?” Mahi blurted his nickname from their college days, remembering it too late that he hated that name with a passion.

His face grew even grimmer, which she didn’t think could be possible. “No. It’s Samrat Reddy,” he growled.

She was still gaping at him in shock.

With a barely concealed thin lipped sneer, he gave her a quick sweeping look from the top of her head to the bottom of her four inch platform heels. He had often given her similar looks during their college days, and it usually meant that she wasn’t worth noticing or even wasting time on.

That same old bloody look made her dormant attention-seeking insecure persona rear its ugly head. “Why the hell are you still living here?” Her tone came out as surly.

He raised an eyebrow at her tone. “Why is that any of your business?” he asked icily. “And is that why you rang my bell so many times this early in the morning? Simply to ask me why I lived here? Now, if you’ll excuse me, unlike you, I’m rather busy.”

He was just about to close the door, but had to stop when she put her foot in between and said, “Wait!”

“What?” he snapped impatiently.

She was annoyed at his rudeness. But beggars can’t be choosers. And she really needed the spare key and also had to use a bathroom.

Fidgeting a little and feeling ridiculous about the entire situation, she used her most friendly and polite tone. “I lost my house keys and my parents told me that they kept a spare key here… I also need to use your bathroom urgently, and then borrow your phone to make a few calls… since I don’t have a phone yet.”

He didn’t move or respond to her for a few seconds. “Quite a list of demands. You really haven’t changed much, have you?Demanding as ever,” he said, shaking his head and sneering slightly. But he thankfully moved aside. “Come in. The guest bathroom is to the right, next to the elevator.”

She didn’t want to argue with him or get defensive about his inaccurate deductions.

Quickly going into his house, she found the bathroom.

After a while, when she was washing her hands, she stared at the white marble lined bright bathroom. There were way too many buttons next to the shower cubicle.

Shaking her head slightly, she went out to the living room and took in her surroundings.

No family pictures or anything resembling remotely homey even on the inside. The interior of the house had an extremely cold and sterile modern decor. There were several large control panels with touch screens and buttons. Even the furniture looked sleek and ultra-modern with buttons on them.

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