“Where are you going?”
“To Vikram’s room.” Natasha turns around and gives her friend a determined look.
“What?” Priya narrows her eyes. “So the rumors aren't wrong?”
“What rumors?”
“That there’s something brewing between you and Vikram.”
“There’s nothing brewing between us,” Natasha hisses before turning back. Next moment, she’s on her way to Vikram’s office.
Once on his floor, Natasha darts to his cabin. Reaching his office, she pushes the door and storms into the room.
“Why the hell you canceled the engagement?” she cries.
Vikram leans back in his chair, swiveling it, a ball pen twirling between his fingers.
“Would you stop playing with the fucking pen and tell me what’s wrong with you? When things were getting back on track, you lit up a bomb and destroyed every damn thing,” she yells. She cries on the top of her lungs coz she knows that his office is soundproofed.
“You won’t get away from me so easily, Natasha Malik. What did you think? I will marry some other woman and you’ll have your happily ever after with your pussy boyfriend. I’ll never ever let you live in peace. You’ve ruined my life and now it’s my turn.”
“Damn. Vicky.” She pushes her sweaty bangs back on her head and massages her temple before sliding into a chair in front of him. A sudden weakness creeps around her and she sinks into the chair like some wilted fallen leaf sinks into the mud.
“Don’t you dare call me by that name.”
“Stop it,” she shouts, “Do you have any idea what have you done? You’ve put thousands of lives at stake. You’ve lost all your chances of getting the Jaysingh Enterprises back to its previous state. Yours is a crumbling company, Mister Jaysingh. It will collapse and bite the dust for lack of funding. Mister Purohit was your only chance, and you've ruined that as well.”
“Why did you steal money, Natasha Malik? What’s going on with you? If you answer these simple questions of mine, I'll answer all yours. It's tit for tat, right?” Vikram smirks.
Natasha sucks in a sharp breath. Suddenly, it feels as if the air of the cabin has become denser and thicker. It has become devoid of any oxygen, and Natasha is having difficulty breathing.
“Tell me, Natasha Malik. Your silence isn’t going to solve any problem.”
“On one condition.”
“Speak up. I’m ready to accept every fucking condition of yours. Just tell me what made you steal a few hundred bucks from my office drawer.” Vikram pushes his chair and leans on the table, palms of his hands resting against the Mahogany wood.
“Rishabh is a professional hacker. He’s out on bail, still facing charges of hacking the accounts of the company we both used to work with. He’s been blackmailing me to get him all the money he demands else he will expose our affair to press and on social media. He has hacked my cell phone. He has all those voice messages and texts that we exchanged.” Natasha sniffs.
“Bastard. I have a sixth sense telling me that he's a jerk but never knew he could stoop so low he will become a real fucktard.” Vikram stands upright and pivots on his heels.
“Once our affair becomes public, it will malign your image. Mister Purohit will never want to marry his daughter to a man who’s already linked to another woman.”
“You’re still an innocent little girl like you were years ago, Natz.” Natasha feels him speaking against her ear. She never realizes when he came close to her and went on his haunches. Vikram swivels her chair and now she’s facing him. He dabs the corners of her eyes and cups her face with his huge hands.
“The father-daughter duo is least bothered about my clandestine affairs and linkups. Sakshi only wants to sleep with me and Purohit wants what his daughter wants.”
“What?”
He nods and then he leans forward and their foreheads kiss. Natasha feels her eyes shutting on their own accord as she inhales the intoxication whirling around her. His cologne tantalizes her senses. Heat floats across her skin. She feels like melting into the warmth emanated from his body. She leans on him, resting her head on his broad chest, his strong arms wrapped around her. For a moment, she wants to forget everything. Forget the fact that she’s hiding an even bigger truth from him. The truth of her pregnancy. No matter how hard Natasha tries, she couldn’t get herself an inch away from the truth that possesses the potential of a raging storm. She pulls back and stares inside his deep dark eyes.
“Relax. Let it go, baby,” Vikram whispers. Coarse fingers caress her cheeks, thumbs dabbing the corners of her eyes.
“There’s one more truth that Rishabh knows but you don’t.” She holds his hands.
“Let that come out as well.”
She gazes at Vikram for a long while.
“Tell me what’s bothering you, baby.” Strong fingers clear her face off any stray hairs, pushing them behind her ears. He speaks low, his voice as soft as cotton pillow. Pure and natural and so much suffused with love and tender care Natasha feels like releasing all the pent-up guilt and grief. Guilt that she has been suffering for the past several months since she got to know about her pregnancy. Grief of seeing Vikram go out of her life once she tells him the truth. But she must reveal the secret about her pregnancy. Vikram is the father of her child and no matter how much he hates the crazy little one nighters and their shocking aftermaths, he has got all the rights to know about his offspring.
“I’m sorry for hiding this from you. I wanted to tell you, but I was apprehensive. Unsure about your reaction. I was afraid that you will leave me, go out of my life. But now, I think the time has come when you should know the truth. I can’t hide it anymore. It’s not letting me breathe. It’s suffocating to my soul.”
“There’s no truth in the world that can separate us now. We’re bound to be together. Did you get that, Natasha Malik? We’re destined to be together.” He swallows, gulping emotions. Natasha notices a thin film of water sparkling his dark eyes. How much she wants to wallow into the sheer depth of those obsidian pools. If only she could unchain herself from the shackles of her own head and heart.
“Promise me you’ll not regret anything. Promise me you’ll never blame yourself nor me. Promise me you’ll never call our first night a mistake.”
“I promise.” He lifts her hand to his lips and presses a kiss on her fingers.
“Promise me you’ll never force yourself to commit into something just for the sake of having me in your life.”
“I promise.”
“Promise me you’ll never call it unexpected, accidental, unwanted.”
“I promise.”
Natasha drops her gaze to her lap. Her lips quiver, round to form a word but then nothing comes out of her mouth. How the hell is she going to reveal the truth to him?
“Promise me you’ll forgive me for hiding the truth from you for so many months. When I had all the time to tell you, when you were around me all the time, I kept my mouth shut. And now, when things have gotten worse, almost out of control, when you’re trying to make ends meet, I’m revealing a heart-shattering secret to you.”
“Forgiven.” His husky baritone assaults each fiber of Natasha’s being. She can’t hide the truth anymore. She’s going to tell him, and all of it.
Natasha clears her throat. “Kabeer is your kid, Vikram. He’s a Jaysingh.” She looks inside his eyes.
His eyes grow narrow. His forehead creases. At once, he rises on his feet and stands upright, looking down at her.
“Rishabh knows this. He's threatening me to reveal the truth of our secret baby in the press and on social media."
“Rishabh knows everything and I’m a fool blind man who despite being around you all the time couldn’t get a hint that a child in your belly could be mine… Shit.” His voice wobbles. “How could I forget that I slept with you unprotected? How could I forget that I not only broke one but all rules that night? I went for a one-night fling and ended up getting you pregnant.” He clears his throat. “I didn’t
know what possessed me that night that I didn’t care about anything.” He goes on his knees and places his hands on Natasha’s thighs. “You could have stopped me. Why the hell you slept with a stranger without using a condom? You were looking for a one-night hook-up that night, were you?”
“You’ve never been a stranger to me, Vicky. Not that night. Not ever. But how could you indulge into an unprotected sex with a stranger like me. You never knew me, Vikram, were you?”
“Your face looked familiar. It reminded me of the girl who I was crushing on all through my high school but never got the courage to talk to. And though you looked like her I never thought you were the same girl. Your transformation was miraculous I couldn’t believe my eyes. Later, when I kissed you it felt like home. You felt like the woman I always longed for. I found peace with you. And you also didn’t stop me. Why?”
“Because I wanted you. That night, you’ve given me something which probably you hadn't given to any woman before. You’d given me a part of your body. You made me feel special and I loved that feeling.”
“Oh, Natz.” He softly bangs his forehead with hers. “I have slept with several women but I always either pulled away or used rubber. It felt so natural with you, so intense, I went with the flow. I didn’t even care you could get pregnant. And then the next day you were gone. That was the most crucial moment in my life, especially when I realized I won’t be able to see you ever again. Why did you never stay?”
“I was in disbelief that I’m just a sweet little one-nighter for you. I never wanted to scratch old wounds. I wanted to keep it a perfect love bubble memory to cherish. I wanted to start afresh. If not good, I was living an okay life. I’d moved on from my past relationship, but I could never move on from my one-night stand with you. And then I found out I’m pregnant.”
“It’s because of my carelessness you’ve had to deal with the unexpected…” Natasha places a finger on his lips.
“You’ve promised me you’ll never call it unexpected.”
“I’m sorry, baby. But tell me the truth—Was it never unexpected, unwanted for you?”
“Never. I felt blessed when I found out that I’m pregnant with your child. It felt like god has sent his healing touch in the form of this little seedling. Me and Rishabh broke up ages ago. That night, he dropped in at my flat, drunk. He hit me, abused me. He wanted money. I gave him whatever cash I had at home and warned him to leave and never come back or else I’ll call the cops. He left, swearing, muttering curses. I’d had enough of him, enough of the trauma of an abusive relationship. That night, instead of wallowing in self-pity, I wiped my face, took a shower, applied makeup to cover the bruises on my face and arms, throw in one of the skimpiest outfits I had in my wardrobe and went out to take over the night.”
“And then you met me.”
“I’d been stalking you on social media on and off. I learned that you’re in India. I learned that you’re in Mumbai. I learned that Galaxy is your favorite pub. You often post pics about your life and friends on Insta. When I stepped out of my house, I realized it was Christmas eve. Then and there, I made a secret wish. I wished I could find you. I wished I could find my high school crush. I wished I could get a chance to spend time with Vikram Jaysingh. Besides making a Christmas wish, I asked God. I asked Him—would I ever be able to find my happily ever after? And then I went on the roads.
“I reached Galaxy. Fortunately, luck favored me. I saw you there, downing one shot after another. You looked upset. I wanted to go to you, talk to you. But I was unsure. Unsure about your reaction. Unsure whether would you be able to recognize me or not or if at all you recognize me what would we talk about. You’d never talked to me ever before. I was still a stranger to you. So, I took on the dance floor.”
“And then I noticed you…” Vikram holds her hands and makes her rise. “And you seemed like the only woman on earth that could offer me peace. I was on sex fast, but you drew me in, and I gave into the moment.”
“And we have Kabeer.” Natasha plays with the buttons of his white crisp shirt.
“I want to see my son.” His eyes gleam like twinkling stars in the night sky.
“You will soon but first you have to think about saving the company. Everybody’s job is at stake.”
“The company is going to be auctioned tomorrow,” Vikram says.
“What?”
“Come on, sit and I’ll explain.” He makes her sit on the chair. Then scurries to his own chair and slides into it.
“The money is distributed evenly among the employees and the shareholders. The amount would be enough for them to start something of their own or spend it wisely until they find their next job.”
“What about the customers who’ve booked flats with us?”
“We’ve already emailed them and provided them with enough information. They have an option of either going ahead with us or terminating the contract. In case they terminate, they will get their money back.”
“All sounds well and good except we couldn’t save Jaysingh Enterprises.”
“It’s all karma. Perhaps, Dad’s karma wasn’t good enough to save his crumbling empire.”
“You’re still so bitter about your dad, Vicky. May his soul rest in peace. Stop blaming him for everything.”
“I wish I could.” He smirks and throws his head back, facing the ceiling.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Vikram picks the sleeping infant up and holds him close to his chest, wrapping his arms around his cottony soft body. He plants a kiss on the sleeping baby’s head.
“How are you feeling?” A warm hand lands on his back and he shifts on his feet.
“Heavenly,” Vikram whispers, eyes filling with unshed tears of love.
“Can I ask you something?” Vikram puts the baby back into his cradle.
“I’m surprised.” Natasha widens her eyes.
“On what?”
“You asking permission is like sighting a sun on a cold winter day.” She throws a lopsided smile. “Aren’t you in the habit of barking orders all the time, Vikram Jaysingh, are you?”
“You think like that?” Vikram follows her to the living room.
“Oh, come on,” Natasha says rolling her eyes, “Sleep. Sit. Drink. Eat. Go. These are the words you use in your everyday communication. There never existed "can" or "please" in your dictionary before.”
“I’ve always been a gentleman, but I think that’s not enough for you. You want me to beg and urge and yearn.” Vikram locks Natasha in his arms pulling her to his chest.
“A dominating gentleman. A ruthless lover.” She lifts her eyes and stares at him, her fingers fiddling with the buttons of his shirt.
“Tell me you don’t like it and I’ll try to change myself, only for you, Natz.”
“I like you the way you are. Your dominance turns me on. Your ruthlessness makes me go wet.”
“Then move in with me. You’ll have ample doses of dominance and ruthlessness from morning till night at regular intervals.” Vikram tightens his grip around her waist.
“I’m ready to move in with you, Vikram, but there’s so much going on I’m still not sure if this is the right time to make such an important decision. I mean the company’s fate is at stake. Besides, an ulcer named Rishabh will never let me live in peace.”
“We’re moving to Krishnagiri, to my aunt’s old farmhouse.”
“Are you serious? Why do you want to move to Krishnagiri?”
“Yup. It’s my dream project and I’m determined to see it going live. No matter what. If I stay in the town, I’ll feel more inspired than staying eighty miles away from my dream. I’ve set up everything here. The auction is next week. I’ll try to make it to the auction only if I'm done with setting up the farmhouse for you and the baby. Else, Keshav will look after the things. As far as your ex is concerned, I’ve already informed the inspector general about him who’s a close friend of mine. City cops are after him. He’ll be in the lockup in the next twenty-four hours.” Vik
ram stops for a while and reads Natasha’s changing expressions. He notices her face regaining its natural color, her eyebrows relaxing returning to their original curves that Vikram is so crazy about. Her lips are tilting on the sides, curving into a smile. “Is there anything else that’s stopping you from moving in with me. I believe you like the town of Krishnagiri, do you?”
“I love Krishnagiri. I have so many memories attached to the small town. I have Samantha there.”
“So you ready?”
“With all my heart and soul, I want to move in with you, Vicky. Can’t wait. When are we leaving?”
“Umm.” Vikram lifts his hands and glances at his Rolex. “How long would you take to pack things up?”
“Half an hour.”
“We will leave in half an hour.”
“Great!” Natasha smiles and squirms coz, she wants to begin packing. So much in so less time. She must get all Kabeer’s stuff packed, then pack for herself. She wants to at least pack all the necessary things for the baby. The rest, of course, will be taken care of by packers and movers.
Natasha can’t contain herself. How much she wanted to go back to the quaint town. When she moved to the city, it felt as if she had lost a piece of her own self in the calmness and sleepiness of the town. Now, when Vikram wants to go and settle down in Krishnagiri, she just can’t stop herself from smiling and grinning.
“Let me go, Vicky. We’ll get late.”
“You look so sexy when you’re happy and grinning it puts my dude at alert. How about a quickie?”
“No. Keep your dude in check. Ask him to wait till we reach the farmhouse.” She shoves Vikram in his chest and slips out of the encirclement of his arms.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Natasha watches snowflakes twirl and swirl in the cold winter breeze as their car navigates through the snowy roads of the hilly town. With Vikram behind the wheel and little Kabeer snuggled under the blanket, cuddled in her arms and sleeping, life seems like a fairy-tale to Natasha.
Beautiful green wreaths decorated with ribbons and confetti hanging at the wooden door appear quite warm and welcoming to Natasha.
Accidentally Ever After Page 15
