Serendipity

28

It had been 12 hours. 12 hours since she was escorted out of the Antra Room at the Radisson Blu. 12 hours since she'd been denied entry to that Press Conference. Kavya Shah was frustrated and running was the only way she knew to relieve some of it. She recalled incidents from the press conference, Anuj had been rude, Anupama condescending and that servant GK, had the audacity to sit right next to Anuj on the podium.

She'd done her homework. GK was a measly worker in Anuj's father's business whom Anuj had adopted. He'd taken care of GK and considered him part of the family. But GK, he'd taken things a bit too far. How dare he?

"Hello Mr Karodiya, I'm here on behalf of the Bhaskar Group. Could you please tell me where I should be sitting?"

GK had looked at her with piercing eyes, clearly indicating that her earlier charade of wiping coffee off Anuj's shirt had not gone unnoticed.

"Can I see your ID card?"

Kavya had fumbled. She'd managed to bribe the security to let her into the conference, but she hadn't anticipated anyone to actually question her presence.

"ID card, I don't really have it with me, but Anuj knows me very well. I'm sure he won't mind me sticking around."

"You mean Mr Kapadia?"

"No, he's Mr Kapadia for you, I call him Anuj."

GK smirked at that. Another one in the market for a wealthy husband.

"I don't think my son knows you."

"Your son?"

"Yes..." But before he could continue Anupama had appeared. "Kaka, I guess its time to begin the conference. Why don't you go and take your place on the podium? I'll have the coffee served before we begin."

She bent down and took GK's blessings before making her way to ask the servers to fill the coffee mugs on the podium.

"So you were saying?" GK turned his full attention to Kavya, who was red with embarrassment. He should have felt benevolent. He didn't. Something about this woman annoyed him. He signalled for the PR Manager.

"Please escort this lady out. I believe she's here by mistake."

As the Manager politely asked Kavya to leave the conference room, she turned around to see GK standing right next to Anupama, laughing.

GK will be sorry, very sorry for throwing me out of today's press conference. After I marry Anuj, I will see to it that he'll make GK very sorry.

When she reached home after her run, she saw her husband and mother in law sitting in the living room, sharing their sorrows. Having no time for their daily drama, she made her way to her bedroom to shower and change. She momentarily thought about the press conference. What had actually happened there? She was confident that Anuj wouldn't have announced his engagement to that behenji. Whatever had happened, she would get to read about it in tomorrow's newspaper.

*****

Kavya was the first one up. She'd hardly slept throughout the night. Thoughts of Anuj and GK and the way the latter had treated her kept circulating in her mind. How dare he? Seeing Anuj had reminded her of everything her life was currently missing. The luxury, splendour and absence of family, all of which she would willingly take.

As she made her morning coffee, her mind went back to the days when she'd slowly begun her affair with Vanraj. She wanted to climb the ranks of society, a feat she didn't believe her then-husband Abhimanyu Gandhi was capable of. While Abhimanyu was an average, honest middle-class person, who loved her immensely, he wasn't ambitious. Or so she felt. And Kavya who'd always believed that she was born to lead the life of a princess didn't want to settle for love.

When she noticed Vanraj ogling at her at work, her mind concocted a plan to get Vanraj to fall in love with her. He was the head of Marketing of a leading advertising firm. He had it all, the corporate splendour, the invitations to exclusive parties, dinners with CEO's and leaders, and most importantly, lots of money.

The feat wasn't easy. While Vanraj was extremely comfortable taking all that she had to offer physically, he was always hesitant about divorcing his wife. It took her 9 years, but she had finally achieved what she'd set out to do. She was now Mrs Vanraj Shah.

Just as she'd gotten comfortable with that role, Anuj Kapadia had appeared in her life out of nowhere. And now, Kavya wanted more.

While Vanraj on his own was extremely manageable, his family members still clung to their very orthodox values. Fitting in had been challenging to say the least. His mother expected Kavya to get up in the morning and make breakfast, and his father expected her to partake in their daily prayers. Kavya was neither fond of cooking nor believed in God.

To add to that, she was also perhaps the only 37-year-old Indian woman who was a mother to three children, the oldest of whom was 25. She felt embarrassed every time the kids insisted on calling her Mom. And Vanraj wouldn't have it any other way.

The affair had worked in her favour. She'd enjoyed all of the luxuries of being associated with Vanraj Shah and none of the responsibilities. She didn't enjoy them at all.

With Anuj, she wouldn't have to deal with any of this. She could do as she pleased, with no one to question her. Kavya was beautiful and she worked extremely hard to maintain her looks. Men had always found her attractive. And Anuj was a man.

Smiling at the rationale her mind had convinced her of, she picked up the day's newspaper to read the headlines - India's Prince Charming finally finds his Cinderella. Underneath was a beautiful picture of Anuj and Anupama smiling at each other. The caption beneath the photo read: Anuj Kapadia announces his engagement to school teacher Anupama Joshi at an exclusive Press Conference.

Rage, unlike anything Kavya had ever felt, filled her. She scrunched the paper and threw it away. While she was busy pandering to the whims and fancies of this crazy family, Anupama had quietly managed to snag Anuj Kapadia. She was no bechari behenji. In fact, Kavya could have learnt a thing or two from Anupama, if only she hadn't been blind to the woman's capabilities.

She picked up a few more things and threw them around, screaming her frustration. She remembered Anuj and Anupama at the supermarket. And again at Anupama's house. Any blind person could see that they were mismatched. And yet, Anuj had fallen for her.

She took a deep breath to calm down. Maybe Vanraj was wrong. Maybe Anupama had exemplary skills in the boudoir that she had used to entice Anuj. If that's all it took, Kavya could go above and beyond.

She took a deep breath. What was done, was done. Taking another deep breath, Kavya carefully plotted her next steps. She needed a way to get in front of Anuj Kapadia, again and again. Proximity was the secret formula. She'd lured Vanraj while working with him. She could do the same thing with Anuj.

Gulping her now cold coffee, she quickly opened her laptop to see if there were any open positions at the AK Group that would suit her credentials. One step at a time.