Titaliya

Chapter 8

"Poor Anjali bitiya," Mami said at the end of their explanation. "And you... Phati Saadi. How are you? I never imagined Arnavbitwa could be so cruel. You did a good thing leaving him."

"My name is Vedanshi, Mamiji," she said again. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I took a job here, Khush- Vedaji," Akash answered. "At Maison de Merveilles, as the CFO."

"Nani, isn't that-"

"Yes beta. I've bought the fashion house earlier this year," Nani said. "I didn't think it would be an issue hiring Akash. He got the offer two weeks before we met. Of course, he's got a wonderful resume. Your joining date is in ten days, isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Akash said.

"We were planning to leave for Paris in ten days, but we can move the date forward. We can spend more time in Paris together. We'll spend five days here, and then leave. Is that alright?"

Nani looked at Payal. The girl didn't dare to look up at her. She'd been twelve when they last met, skinny with two plaits tied up with ribbons. She couldn't be angry at a child because of what her parents did.

"The past is the past, Payal. I still think your parents are idiots, to have taken Veda away from me. But you were a child then. You're not to blame. You probably made my granddaughter's life better in Lucknow. So, we'll enjoy our time together here. Have you ever tried Bordeaux?"

***

Arnav walked towards the Hermes store. There were still two days till the meeting, but he wanted to get an idea of the clientele of the brand to improve his presentation. The bags inside were gorgeous. The costs would have made Khushi's heart skip a beat.

The shopping attendants were helping a group of dark-haired women. Two older ones and three younger. The one in the middle picked out a brown sling bag and tried it on. The older woman with silver hair kept asking for more of the bags, but the younger one stopped her.

There was something familiar about the woman. Her hair was shorter with pink ends. She wore khaki chinos and a sleeveless top. There were no embellishments to her outfit.

"Nani, one for each of us is enough!"

It was the same voice too. He started to go towards her, and stopped. The girl was speaking to the attendant in French.

"C'est tres joli, n'est pas?" she asked the attendant, trying on the bag. The shopping attendant couldn't help but smile as the girl struck a pose.

[It's very pretty, isn't it?]

It couldn't be Khushi. Khushi barely spoke English, let alone French. He was hallucinating. He walked out of the store and got back into his car. He needed to work, do his presentation, and then surprise Akash and Payal at their new house. Perhaps with some gifts he would be able to lessen some of their disgust towards him and redeem himself.

***

Sharda Nani cancelled their hotel rooms and they chose to stay at Payal and Akash's house during their stay in Paris. Veda rejoiced seeing the way Mami accepted Payal and treated her well. Perhaps it was the absence of Mami's judgemental kitty party friends from Delhi. Perhaps it was that they were enjoying themselves in the beautiful city, but all seemed right with the world. They spent their days lounging around the house or seeing all the popular tourist spots. When they had energy left they had dinners of French cuisine with wine.

She wondered how her outlook of the world had changed so much in such a short time. She didn't pray much anymore. She still believed in god, but she believed in herself more. God hadn't done a thing to save her from Arnav Singh Raizada. Her grandmother had. And Nani had introduced her to new thoughts and new things. She discovered she liked wine and night walks along the Seine. Among all the lovers there, young and old, she was usually the outlier. A single woman, smiling to herself, her hands clasped behind her back, earphones plugged into her ears and without a care in the world. She liked clasping her hands behind her back, holding her own hand. She finally loved herself this way.