Janvi felt her head pound from stress and she closed her eyes in an attempt that it might stop. But it didn't.
"You okay?" Veer asked her as he slipped in between the sheets.
"I'm fine. My heads hurts. That's all. Are the girls asleep?"
"Yes. They're nice and tucked it and now it's your turn." He stood up from the bed and walked to the dressing table. "You're working too much."
"I have to. I am stressed about how we'll cope once that virus reached India."
He picked a small bottle and walked towards the bed and sat behind her. The smell of lavender filled the room and she could already feel her headache fading away. She felt his fingers massage her temple and she groaned in relief.
"Stop worrying. We'll be fine. You're already stressing about Sakshi's image and the company."
"I'm trying to convince her not to divorce but she's adamant. Can you try talking to her? This will really ruin her image."
"No way. I hate that guy. I am relieved she's divorcing him."
Janvi groaned, "Listen to me Veer. There are different sets of rules for women in politics... Oh yes...a little to the right please....." she groaned and continued, "Either they have to be single all their lives or be faithfully married. Divorced women are still a taboo."
"I get that. I am just saying that I feel guilty for telling her to stay in that hellish marriage. She was married off to him because of me. Because I refused to marry Priya Sandhini. And just now after dad is gone, she's finally doing things her own way. She deserves to be free too. Like me."
"But Veer...I understand how important politics is to her and I'm not telling her to be a devoted wife. I'm just telling her to stall the divorce until after she's settled."
"You're right, Mrs. Rane. Maybe you can push out a scandal which will show her in favourable light. I'm pretty sure he's having an affair. Maybe if that got out, and she got divorced, the people can sympathize with her."
"I hate him. He's having an affair?"
"I think so and her in-laws are really trashy. That's why I'm strongly on her side to just get a divorce. I want her to be happy."
"I hope so. I'll find a solution. Now, if I could just write up a plan for next year..."
"Nope." He leaned forward and shut her laptop. "We're going to sleep now, Mrs. Rane."
Janvi groaned. "Noooooo. I just need like 20 minute..."
"No. " he said pulling her laptop away from her and setting it on her desk.
She sighed and gave up. She slipped inside the covers. He switched of the lamps. "How's your blog coming along?" She enquired about the House husbands blog he wrote. She was actually surprised at how quickly his blog took off.
"It's going okay." The bed dipped. "I think I might have a book by next year, nothing sure though."
"That's amazing!" She turned towards him and caressed his jaw.
She knew how hard it was on him. He did have a lot of haters and trolls who called him names and questioned his masculinity. But at the end of the day, he was perfect to her.
The most important lesson she learnt through her marriage with Veer was that, there were a million ways to say - I love you without saying the words itself and somehow they perfectly knew it meant - I love you.
"I'm so proud of you." That was one way.
In the darkness, her lips found his. And she sighed as his hands pulled her closer. As his hands and lips hers, every caress had a thousand confessions. And she perfectly understood what they meant.
***
Sakshi rolled her eyes at the caller ID. It was her husband. Soon to be ex-husband. She ignored his call and raised the coffee cup to her lips. The coffee smelled divine.
The phone vibrated again ruining her mood. She knew what he wanted to talk about. She would've talked to him if he had kept his promise and showed up months back.
She almost caught a plane to go to Switzerland and go off on him about making her wait. She hated waiting. She was the only one waiting. Her secretary told her that he had immediately rerouted the plane to Switzerland because of his sister, Priya who was on trouble.
That was months ago. Currently, she assumed he was finally free enough to accommodate his wife, her, into his busy schedule. Well too bad for him, she was pretty busy too. She swiped the screen to end the call and swtched off her phone.
"That's a bit harsh. Don't you think?"
She froze as she recognized his voice. No way in hell. He walked towards the empty seat in front of her and plopped down. He crossed his legs. Wasn't he supposed to be in Switzerland? What was he doing in Singapore? She was here because she needed to tie up unfinished business. Her secretary had warned her that once the virus reached India, there might be a travel ban and it might make things harder for business. She squinted at him. What was he here for?
He was dressed in a perfectly pressed navy blue suit. He leaned his head on his palm and looked at her amused as if he were some monarch on a throne watching a clown.
Well she looked the part. She had been so busy she had slept late and almost missed her flight. She was wearing a t shirt, a jeans and a jacket. Her hair was in a bun. She looked messy.
"That could've been an emergency." He said.
Sakshi put on the b*tch mask she always used and sipped the coffee. She set the cup down. "Well, it wasn't though." She smiled baring her teeth.
Somehow, he looked more amused. Anger flared inside her. How dare he. "Besides I don't waste my time on people who can't keep up with appointments."
"Fair enough. I had to sort out something so I wasn't there. But I'm here now. And I'll be in India for a long time and we can meet and talk."
She gave a chuckle, "I'm afraid the time for that has passed. Once you reach India, the papers will reach you and you just have to sign them. Then, I'll be on way and you can be on yours.
She watched his face tighten. "Sakshi..." Her breath hitched, she hoped he hadn't noticed that.
"We're not going to get divorced that soon. Never if I have my way." He twirled his wedding band.
Sakshi's eyes snapped to the movement. She never understood why he wore a wedding band. Most Indian men didn't. She took a deep breath, "If you sign it will be over soon enough. I don't want to drag you to court."
"Neither do I."
Sakshi looked at him confused.
He looked at her as if he were a predators watching a prey. Sakshi stood her ground. "I'm talking about the 2 billion dollars you have to give me back."
Sakshi scoffed. "So that's what you meant by meet and talk. Blackmailing me." She air quoted his words and looked away from him. Internally, she was screaming profanities at him. "If you're worried about the money, I'm ready to sign any papers which says I owe you that much money. I'll pay you back in installments."
He said nothing and took out his phone and checked his messages. Sakshi rolled her eyes. She already had five years worth of getting ignored while he was on his phone.
***
Siddharth internally groaned. That's not what he wanted. He didn't want the money or even need it. He just wanted her to give their marriage a chance. He realised that he had gone the wrong way about it. As she had said,blackmailing her wasn't the way.
He knew it rattled her that he had caught he unaware and when she wasn't in her best state. Her dark circles told him she was tired. He shouldn't have opened this topic here and now.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. It was probably his secretary trying to tell him his private jet was ready. He took out his phone and checked his messages.
Through his peripheral vision, he saw Sakshi roll her eyes. He ignored her.
Rightly enough, it was his secretary telling him about the jet. He typed out a message and looked at Sakshi.
"Are you flying private?" He asked her.
"No."
There it was. The wall had gone up again. The distance between them seemed miles and miles.
"I have a private jet ready and waiting. You could join me?"
Sakshi looked at him as if he was from an entirely another planet. He knew it was out of character for him. But he was trying to erase the distance between them.
Even if it meant taking it slow, one step at a time. He hoped she would take his extended hand.
"I am flying to Delhi. Not Mumbai." She said.
Siddharth sighed. "I can drop you in Delhi, you know?"
Her head snapped to the announcement, he realised it was boarding call for her plane.
"I...You don't have to go through the trouble. I have first class tickets. I'm fine." She stood up and grabbed her things.
He wasn't that hard headed to understand No said in different forms. "Okay then. We'll meet and talk, Sakshi, whenever you're back in Mumbai."
For a moment he thought she would say No to that too but she sighed and said, "We'll see."
She grabbed her things and he let her go this time. The next time, he promised himself that he would be more prepared and he hoped he could convince her to stay.
***
End.
*****