Before Sakshi could say anything to her dad, Vikram speaks, “I’ll drop you. Don’t worry.”
“Cool. Let’s go then.” She flutters like a butterfly, her other hand rubbing Vikram’s arm.
“Yup.” Vikram smiles and he knows his smile is having lethal effects on the lady’s heart.
God!
What is he going to do if this woman also wants to get laid with him? No matter how hard he tries, he just can’t stop women from throwing themselves at him.
Vikram presses a hand at the small of Sakshi’s back and ushers her to the exit of the restaurant.
Chapter Eighteen
“Okay, so you’re trying to convince me that you just dropped the lady home and that’s it.” Keshav sounds amused.
“Why would I convince you?" Sucking a much-needed breath of fresh air, Vikram closes his eyes and throws his head back, shoving his hands in the pockets of his ash-gray Armani suit.
Cold breeze flows past him and he inhales the fragrance of the yellow evening. How fascinating it is to stand on the rooftop and bask in the glory of the setting sun.
“I still don’t believe you. The woman was all over you. She was eye-fucking you the entire time her dad and I chatted.”
“Eye-fucking, huh?” Vikram smirks.
“Oh come on, dude, get me the spice. What the hell happened after the two of you left the restaurant?”
“Nothing happened. We had some burgers at Tino’s and then I dropped her home.”
“What?” Keshav narrows his eyes as he reaches out to Vikram. “You okay? Since when Mister Vikram Jaysingh started avoiding women.”
“I’m on sex fast. I hope you know that.”
“Your sex fast is history, man. You’ve broken it long ago, haven’t you?”
Keshav’s words remind Vikram about his one-night encounter with Natasha. Yes, he’d broken his rules that night. Rules of abstinence. But he has no regrets, except that this time his one-night stand has gotten under his skin.
“Let’s not talk about it.” Vikram turns around and marches to the arrangement of the rattan chairs set with a table and an umbrella, a steaming china kettle elegantly sitting on the cotton clad tabletop.
He slides into a chair and poured some steaming tea into the teacups. “Have some tea and stop thinking about women. We have a lot to do and the day has just begun.”
“I have only one woman in life—Pinkie Ahuja, and she will never let me dream about any other woman.” Keshav sinks into another chair
"Ha Ha. Good for you." Vikram laughs, cold breeze ruffling his hair.
Few moments of silence pass by and when Vikram drifts his eyes to Keshav, he finds him staring.
“What are you staring at?” Vikram sets his teacup on the saucer and asks.
“Are you all right?”
Vikram keeps quiet.
“Don’t tell me you’re falling for our new accountant.”
Again, Vikram doesn’t speak.
“Shit! You are in love, dude.” Keshav sits bolt upright in his chair. “When? I mean how? That night?”
Vikram throws his head back and sucks in a long breath. He doesn’t speak for a long while and only gazes at the clear blue sky with blotches of white clouds strewn all over it.
“I don’t know if it happened that night or several nights ago while I was in high school. I had a crush on her the entire high school but never felt anything beyond infatuation or a fleeting attraction. I thought she was a passing feeling. With time, I’ll forget her. And in fact, I did forget her. But…” Vikram lets his words trail.
“It’s more than a crush or a fleeting attraction. It’s being sick in love.” Keshav sets the teacup on the saucer and leans back in his chair.
“I never wanted to fall in love back then. Neither with her nor with any other girl for that matter.”
“Love has its own sneaky ways, man,” Keshav sighs, “What happened when you met her at the pub?”
“Firstly, I didn’t recognize her. She had changed a lot. I’d always remembered her as a nerdy teenage girl, wearing thick glasses and wrapped in layers of clothing. She has grown very beautiful.” Vikram stops for a while, closes his eyes and recalls the chain of events of that sultry night. “But then, I felt a connection with her. It felt like I knew her. In fact, I asked her—if we knew each other but she lied. I was dazed, partly from alcohol and partly from the rush of hormones that weren’t letting me behave sane. Even then, I never thought of sleeping with her. She looked heartbroken. I only wanted to comfort her, give her a ride around the city before dropping her home, but…”
“You guys ended up in a hotel and then everything was history.”
“And the next morning, she was gone. She didn’t even bother to say goodbye. A fucking piece of paper scribbled with uneven cursive waited for me when I woke up.”
“Since then you’d been trying to find her.”
“Yes. I found her and realized that she’s Natasha Malik, my high school crush.”
“So what’s bothering you now. Go and tell her. Show her your heart, dude. Don’t wait.”
“She hates me.” Anxiety washes over him. Bitter bile burns his throat.
“I don’t understand. Does she hate you for getting her a job?”
“I never knew that offering help is such a bad thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whenever I try to help her, she denies. She has walls around her, and she wants me to stay outside those walls.”
“You know how to break the walls. You’re Vikram Jaysingh, man. A sophisticated billionaire who has women waiting for him. You’ve got the charms. And if nothing works, your towering personality can make any woman go weak in her knees and wet...”
Vikram laughs heartily. “You won’t stop, will you?”
“I stopped. Didn’t say a word after wet.”
A mere thought of Natasha going wet in her panties makes Vikram’s dude twitch with desperation. How much he wants to feel the silkiness of her folds. How much he wants to rub her insides, moving in and out of her silky smoothness, filling her with his seed and making love with her.
If only he could make her move on. She’s still clinging to her past, still nursing her broken heart. Who’s the fucking asshole who's broken her heart, knocked her up and then ran away, leaving her to deal with the unwanted pregnancy.
Is her pregnancy accidental, unwanted?
Or is she willingly carrying the spawn of a schmuck in her womb?
Vikram has a chest full of questions but not a single answer to the ramblings of his head.
Why the hell she ends every conversation with a ruthless NO. Doesn’t she know any other words than NO?
I must change her NO into a YES. No matter what?
Let me check if she needs any help with locating her new doctor.
With that thought, Vikram rises from his chair. “Will be off for a while. Tell Priya to keep me updated about the arrangements,” Vikram speaks as he strides to the exit of the terrace.
“We still have plenty of time. Why don’t you call N and find out where’s she? I haven’t seen her around. I hope she’s not planning to skip the party.”
“You better get your shit together before thinking about others. Did you talk to Harriet?” Vikram spins on his feet, shoving his hands in his pants’ pockets.
“Shit. I forgot. I’ll call her now.”
“Do you remember what you are going to talk to her?”
“Yes, to arrange the business suite for Mister Purohit and his daughter, in case they want to get freshened up or relax after or before the high tea.”
“Good! You can be useful sometimes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Get back to work.” Vikram turns around and strides to the exit with long quick steps.
Chapter Nineteen
Natasha feels that she is overreacting, getting upset over nothing. It could be he’s just trying to help her out. But what to do when old wounds hurt longer. Natasha needs to move on, move on f
rom the trauma of heartbreak she’d endured when he went abroad without even a word to her. But then he never knew she ever existed. They had never talked. How could she expect that he would tell her everything about his life and that he’s going to spend the rest of his life in some Tuscany town.
It was through a common friend that Natasha got to know about Vikram’s parents' separation and that Vikram was accompanying his mother to Italy. He wasn’t a baby. He was a grown-up boy, more mature than any other boy of his age. But he preferred uprooting himself and going along with his mother. It could be he felt very protective about his mother that he wanted to be with her in those fragile moments. Moments when she was dealing with a bitter divorce.
Natasha feels her heart filled with warmth and tenderness as she gazes out the window sitting at the backseat of her Uber taxi.
The appointment with the doctor went well. She has had a few hiccups while reaching the clinic but then everything is well that ends well. She reached the clinic on time, met with the doctor and the gynae did all the routine checkups. The doc has assured her that she and the baby are both doing fine. Natasha is happy the way her pregnancy is progressing. Her baby is healthy and doing good. She’s looking forward to feeling the baby move inside her belly.
Natasha’s heart swells with happiness and gratitude the moment she imagines holding her little bundle of joy in her hands.
I should call Vikram and inform him that the doctor’s visit went well. He’s been calling and texting since the fall of the evening.
Natasha fishes out her mobile from her purse and pinches in Vikram’s number.
Full ring and he doesn’t pick up the phone. Must be busy with the delegation from Purohit Developers.
Natasha calls the reception desk and informs that she will be reaching the office in the next thirty minutes.
Shoving the mobile phone back in her purse, she again gazes out the window. The roads gleam, orange evening sprawling all over the bustling city.
What a beautiful little thing life is. She never thought she would ever be able to meet Vikram Jaysingh in her life. But then they met. They parted again and met again. And now she works for him. She works in his company. Now, she can see him and talk to him every day. How much things have changed now?
When earlier she used to silently beg for a single glance, now all the time she avoids his penetrating stare. His eyes pierce through her soul. She wants to look inside them. She wants to stare at him like he stares at her. But then she doesn’t want to get hurt again. This is the only reason, she’s trying to keep a distance with the brown-eyed hunk. And she’s determined to not let Vikram sneak inside her heart once again and play with her feelings. If only she could tell herself that he was never gone. If only she could make her believe that he was very much there the entire time.
The vehicle comes to an abrupt halt and then slowly crawls on the crowded road. Natasha notices vehicles swarming the road. Evening rush grows stronger as the driver navigates through the crowd of honking cars, buses, and bikes.
“It’s going to be a hectic ride,” Natasha mumbles. Her eyes drift from the window to her wristwatch.
I don’t think I would be able to make it.
Pushing the stray hairs behind her ears, she again dials Vikram’s number. And again it goes to the voice message.
Natasha listens to the voice message, patiently waiting for the beep. And when it beeps, she begins recording her message. “Hi Vikram, Natasha here. It’s crazy traffic out here. I’m going to go home. Will see you on Monday. Bye.”
Have I done the right thing? This meeting is important. Should I try reaching the office? At least, I can try.
Instead of instructing the driver to change routes, Natasha decides to go with her previous plan of attending the meeting. Though bleak, there are still chances that she could at least make it to the meeting in case they have started late. Something which sounds possible. Business meetings often tend to start late and stretch longer.
***
By the time Natasha reaches the venue, it’s seven. She scrambles to the entrance of the giant white-stoned five-star hotel. Her heels clank against the marble stairs. When she reaches the glass door, the doorkeeper nods and pushes the door wider for her.
Inside, the hotel lobby is bathed in bright yellow light. Without looking anywhere else, she rushes to the reception.
“Excuse me.” Words fall from her mouth like pearls of a broken necklace.
“Yes, please,” the charming woman who wears a blue printed saree with a nameplate of Palak speaks.
“Is the Jaysingh Enterprises staff meet still going on?”
“Oh, yes. It’ still on. Third floor, mam.”
“Thank you.”
Natasha rushes to the elevator. In no time, she is on the third floor. The floor houses three banquet halls, numbering 1, 2, and 3. In haste, Natasha forgot to read the welcome board at the hotel entrance that must be displaying the number of the party hall. She also failed to ask the receptionist about it.
What should she do now?
Natasha marches to the number 2, she pushes the door and peeks through the crack.
No. Not this one. She closes the door. Turning around, she glances both the closed doors, one by one.
Should I toss a coin?
Natasha opens the zipper of her purse and fishes out a five-rupee coin.
If it’s heads, I will go to door number two. If it’s tails, I will go to number three.
There’s a movement of people in the busy lobby. Guests are coming and going in and out of the party halls. Natasha tries to sneak a glance as and when the doors open, but she couldn’t guess which party hall is hosting the party she desperately wants to attend.
Is it because of Vikram she is so desperate to attend the party? Does she want to express her gratitude to Vikram by showing up at the meet? Or is she feeling guilty of declining any help Vikram offers to her? Is she here to mend the damage?
But how does it matter? Why does she want to repair if anything is broken between them?
Natasha is in her thoughts when the door in front of her opens and Priya emerges out of it.
“Wow! What a surprise. I thought you’re never gonna come.” Priya edges closer and holds her hands.
“I got late.”
“You aren’t late. The party is still young.”
“Phew!” Natasha exhales a cold sigh.
“Go go go… I’ll be right back.”
“Yeah,” Natasha mumbles, shoving the coin back in her purse. She then brushes a hand over her hair. She could have used the women's room, at least brush her hair and fix her makeup but it’s already late. She doesn’t want to wait anymore. She desperately wants to reach Vikram. He will be surprised. She wants to enjoy the sight of those dimples growing deep and those eyes shining bright.
Vikram’s dashing image clouds Natasha’s vision. Taking a deep breath, she enters the party hall.
Inside, it’s dimly lit. She notices everyone dining and having fun. Her eyes search for Vikram. Her heart thrums inside her chest. What has gone wrong with her? Why does it feel like she has time-traveled back in the past? She recalls those high school years when she had crazily crushed on Vikram.
Her heart pounds harder as her feet falter with every step she takes. Sweat coats her skin. Despite the freezing coldness of the room, she feels all hot and sweaty. Natasha wipes the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand and steps forward. Her eyes dart between faces of her colleagues. She longs for a face that has been the reason for her happiness and sorrows for the past several years. She longs for Vikram.
Is he not at the party?
She is in her thoughts when someone presses a hand at her back. She shifts her head only to find Priya standing beside her.
“Looking for someone?” Priya asks, her brown eyes gleaming.
“Where’s Vikram? I’d been calling him since evening but couldn’t reach him.”
“He was here a while ago.” Priya scans the hu
ge hall and then her gaze sticks to the entrance. “There he is.”
Natasha notices Vikram entering the party hall. But he’s not alone. He has a stunning beauty in the crook of his arm. She is wearing a short black dress with a plunging neckline. Her hair is all indigo and pixie cut. They are all smiles. The woman every now and then is reaching to Vikram’s ear, whispering sweet nothings. And then they smile and laugh. The woman throws her head back as if Vikram has cracked some dirty joke.
The two of them brush past the crowd and reach the other end of the hall. Now, Vikram has his arm around woman’s narrow waist.
Natasha feels her heart shattering into pieces. A wave of nausea rises in the pit of her stomach and travels to her throat. “Who’s she?” Her words wobble as emotions choke her throat.
“She’s Sakshi Purohit. Mister Purohit’s one and only daughter and heiress of the big business empire. If Vikram woos her in, we’re all set. We all will have a safe future.”
Woos her in? She’s already into him. The way she’s clinging to him it feels like the two have been glued together with an adhesive stronger than Fevicol.
Natasha drifts her eyes away from the happy-looking couple and buries her stare to the carpet.
“Did you eat anything?” Priya asks.
Natasha shakes her head.
“Let’s get to the table. I’m starving and you’re also looking pale.” Priya grabs Natasha’s arm and drags her to the nearby table.
The white linen-clad huge table has all kinds of foods spread on it. The arrangement is appetizing to anyone’s eye but not to Natasha’s. She has no appetite left. She is least interested in staying, let alone eating. She wants to go back home and lock herself up in her two-bedroom apartment, never to come out. She wants to forget everything. But she can't do that as well. Because that flat reminds her of someone. The one and only Vikram Jaysingh. The man who has broken her heart, not once, not twice but several times.
Chapter Twenty
Monday…
“Send Natasha Malik in. Now!” Vikram speaks into the receiver and then slams it on the cradle.
Accidentally Ever After Page 8
