Walk the Line - Chapter 37

The wedding was almost over. Akash leant forward and put the sindoor in Payal’s parting and it was done. They stood up, their dupattas tied and walked together to touch their elders’ feet to get their blessings. Everyone had smiles on their faces. The sisters hugged and the brothers hugged.

Khushi and Arnav looked at each other over their siblings’ shoulders. He blinked. Something was happening inside him. Something he didn’t want to admit as he’d watched the whole wedding take place. This was the first time he’d actually listened to what the pandit was saying. The vows during the pheres. He’d been listening with half an ear but the words had resonated in his head for some reason. His other half, the imp owned half had been aware of Khushi all through the ceremony, even when he’d not looked at her.

Khushi had known about the vows since she was a little girl. Both the Christian version of them and the Hindu version. She’d always thought that the day would come, one day, when she’d float down an aisle in a white billowing gown, her face hidden by yards of tulle, and a white bouquet of roses in her arms trailing to the floor. She’d have six bridesmaids and four little flower girls, there’d be a page boy carrying a little cushion with the rings on it. She would walk up to her Prince Charming in tails and cummerbund..... and he would turn... and at this point, she had always stopped.. because she had never been able to see his face.

Today, as she watched Payal and Akash getting married, she was acutely conscious of Arnav standing a few feet away. She knew his heated gaze was on her, she could feel it searing her skin and her face. As she’d watched Payal and Akash walk around the sacred fire, an image had popped into her brain. She, walking around the fire, in front of her a set of broad shoulders, dark hair, and long lean legs. She moves forwards for the last pheras and turns and .... she closed her eyes at this point... she knew whose face she’d wanted to see when she opened her eyes. Her eyes had flown open to look straight at Arnav and he’d been looking at her as if he could see into very brain and the same thought. His eyes narrowed for a second, and then he’d looked away.

The Bridal party made their way to the rooftop elevator. Both Payal and Akash would be changing out of their wedding outfits into something else for the reception. The entire nineteenth floor of the hotel had been reserved only for the wedding. Pat got into the elevator with Lavanya, and she noticed that it only stopped on the nineteenth before it went straight to the second floor. As the two of them headed to the ballroom, she excused herself to go to the restroom. Coming out, she wandered over to the railings over looking the main lobby. Guests were already coming in for the wedding, and the one elevator was manned by a burly security guard. Those who took the stairs, too, were stopped at the ballroom doors and asked to show their invitation cards. She watched the long line of people wending their way in. This was a society wedding and it showed. There were reporters downstairs, but none of them were being allowed into the hotel. They’d been kept outside. A discreet police presence was also there, as well as quite a few out of uniform personnel. She could spot them all, she thought. These people did not blend in so well, especially at an upscale event like this one. Nevertheless, she was impressed. Looked like Raizada had everything under control. She walked over to Lavanya who was busy chatting with NK, and the three of them headed into the ballroom together.

Up on the nineteenth floor, Payal was busy changing into her reception dress. This one too was a rich, heavy lehenga, but in a bottle green color with a deeply embellished skirt with a blood red border, and a blood red choli. The red veil stayed on her head. Khushi helped adjust the maang tika so that the sindoor in her center parting showed.

With Payal ready, she hurriedly changed into a new lehenga, as well. This one was in deep purple, the colour of aubergines, with silver and crystal work on it that sent a thousand sparkles around her. The necklace still stayed on her neck. She’s seen him looking at it, and knew what he was thinking. A secret smile played on her lips as she adjusted her bodice. Debs and Annie sat on her bed, her friends having come from early morning to help out with all the work.

The phone in the room rang, startling her.

‘Are you’ll ready to go downstairs?’ it was Dilip on the line.

‘Yes, we are,’ said Khushi, smiling.

‘We’re meeting at the elevators, then,’ he said.

They came out of the room and could see Akash and his group already waiting for them there. The elevator took them to the second floor. The event planner, Ms.Wendy D’Souza was waiting for them there.

‘Mr. Raizada,’ to Arnav, ‘you need to go make the announcement. You two,’ indicating Payal and Akash, ‘please wait here.’

Arnav walked into the room, along with the rest of the group, Khushi by his side. He walked up to the dais, mic in hand and said, ‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.’ A hush fell around the room. The lights dimmed, and a spotlight highlighted him, a tall figure in a dark blue suit, silver shirt and a silver blue cravat. ‘Thank you for gracing us with your presence to day.’ He looked around and said, ‘without further ado, I’d like to present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Akash Singh Raizada.’

The crowd burst into applause, as another golden spot hit the entrance where Akash and Payal stood framed in the doorway. Music crashed around them. Bursts of flashes indicated quick photos being snapped of the couple as they walked hand-in-hand on the petal-strewn carpet down the center of the hall, and made their way to the dais. The lights turned up again. Akash hugged Arnav, as Khushi also came up to the dais. Their family gathered around for a bit, before the guests started moving up to the dais to congratulate the couple.

Arnav stood back and then stepped right off the dais. He hated being in front of a crowd. Most people stopped by him, and congratulated him as well. His eyes were searching for Khushi. He spotted Jaime’s blond head and looked over. She was right next to him, laughing at something someone had said. He was surprised at the feeling of relief he felt at seeing her with Jaime. Anyone else, and the imp smirked at him. What were you gonna do? Hit ‘em upstyle? He shook his head. He had to work the room, he knew, so he started by moving into the crowd. A waiter stood in front of him with a tray of drinks in his hand. He picked up a glass of pineapple juice, barely glancing at the man who held the tray. ‘Thanks,’ he said, and moved away.

Shyam watched him go, his face unrevealing, although his eyes glittered. He turned his head and watched Khushi laugh and smile with the young blonde man. He had to keep away from her. For now. There was always time later, the night was just beginning.

Akash and Payal sat on the chairs during a little respite from the guests.

‘Akash,’ she said, ‘just how big is this crowd?’

‘About a thousand,’ he answered. He reached out and held her nervous hands on her lap. ‘You okay?’ She nodded. ‘Do you need anything?’

‘No, I’m good. I’d love something to drink though,’ she added as an afterthought.

‘Me too.’ He looked around for someone and spotted NK chatting with Lavanya at one end of the dais. ‘NK!’ he called.

NK was having the time of his life. Not only was Lavanya great to hang out with, even the American lady, Pat - who WAS she any way? - was a fun person to be with. He looked around to see Akash waving him over.

‘NK, can you get Payal and myself something to drink, please?’

‘Sure thing,’ said the ever obliging NK. ‘What do you want, Bhabiji? Bhai?’

‘Orange juice for me,’ Payal said.

‘Me too,’ said Akash.

‘Ooooohh!! I see now why you are both made for each other. You even like the same drink!’

Akash grimaced at his inane sense of humor. Payal hid a smile. NK jumped off the dais and looked around for a waiter. One was passing by him. ‘Hey, can you get two orange juices for the bride and groom?’ he asked the man.

He nodded and proceeded towards the bar. Coming straight at him was Jaime with Khushi in tow. He veered off to his right, and the two of them went by him. Forgetting the drinks for Payal and Akash, he went towards the back of the room which led to the outside corridor. It was a little less lit than the hall, but it led straight to the fire exit staircase. He looked around and there was no one there.

Back inside, Akash was waiting impatiently for the drinks to arrive. ‘NK, where’s our drinks, man?’ he asked.

NK scratched his head and looked around, but he couldn’t spot the waiter. Where the heck had he gone to?

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Pat. Something was tingling at her nerve ends, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

‘Oh, nothing, Pat,’ NK answered, having dropped the Ms.Cromley long ago. ‘Akash needs a drink and I’m trying to find the waiter who was getting it for them.’

Jaime came up just then, as did Arnav.

‘Ms.Cromley,’ he shook hands with her. ‘Glad you could make it. Are you enjoying yourself?’

‘Oh yes, I am. Lavanya and NK have been with me and been helping me with understanding the rituals.’

At the word ‘rituals’, she noticed the look that Arnav and Khushi shared for an instant, before both looked away.

‘Ms. Cromley. This is Khushi Kumar Gupta. She’s the sister of the bride. Khushi, this is agent Pat Cromley.’

Khushi’s eyes widened as she leaned forward to shake hands.

‘Agent, Nannav?’ asked NK looking shocked. ‘What kind of agent?’

‘FBI,’ Pat said, calmy. NK looked at Arnav, who nodded slightly. NK grew serious and nodded back as well.

‘And this is Jaime, Khushi’s cousin,’ he finished the introductions. Jaime had also been looking at Pat with a serious face.

‘Someone tell me what’s going on here?’ asked Lavanya suddenly, she felt left out but she could feel the undercurrents.

‘Nothing, Lavanya,’ answered ASR smoothly.

She took it at face value, then all of a sudden she remembered her thought. ‘ASR!’ she exclaimed. ‘I have to ask to you something,’ so saying she put her red-lacquered fingers on Arnav’s hand and dragged him away, moving into the crowd. He looked over his shoulder at Khushi who was staring at them both.

‘Where is that waiter?’ said NK again.

‘NK, tell me, what is it?’

‘Well, Akash and Payal had asked for some orange juice and I told a waiter to get it.’

‘Wait here,’ she said, hurrying off, and forgetting Arnav’s injunction of staying with NK or Jaime. They were both engrossed in entertaining Pat anyway. She found a waiter and directed him to take the juice to the bride and groom. Feeling parched herself, she headed to the bar. A tray appeared before her with a glass of orange juice on it. She gratefully picked it up, barely glancing at the waiter. She drank it thirstily, draining the glass, and looked for a place to put it down. At the same time, she was looking around the room, trying to find Arnav, but she couldn’t spot him anywhere.

Just then, another waiter came up to her. ‘Mr. Raizada asked you to come outside for a second,’ he said, pointing to a set of doors. She frowned. Why did Arnav want to meet her there? But knowing him, she knew that this was just his way of finding a little time together. After all, he’d done it before.

She walked towards the door, and was just opening it when a wave of nausea hit her. Opening the door, she looked around desperately for a bathroom. Spotting another set of doors, she ran towards it, hoping it led out to an area that she knew. She opened the door and ran through, but stopped when she saw that all it led to was the staircase. Barely had her mind grasped that when the door swung shut behind her, and something hard hit her on the head and she blacked out.

Rani Sahiba had watched Khushi step out of the doorway in a hurry. She followed her out, just in time to see the door to the stairwell close behind her. Oh well, she must have gone upstairs, she thought. She hadn’t seen Shyam yet. He’d told her that he’d be here, where was he? She looked around carefully. No. She couldn’t spot him anywhere. The guests were heading to the dining tables and she joined them, chatting with the lady on her left about what a wonderful reception it was. She pulled her phone out of her purse and texted, whr r u? and hit send.

ASR was trying to shrug off Lavanya’s which fingers digging into his arm. ‘Lavanya, what is it? What’s wrong with you?’

She looked around to make sure that no one was listening to them. ‘ASR,’ she said in a theatrical whisper. ‘The necklace.’

‘What necklace?’ he looked at her like she’d gone mad.

She waved a hand impatiently. ‘The necklace that Khushi is wearing. It’s the same one on your design.’

He raised an eyebrow, this was going to be a tough one to get out of, he thought. ‘So?’ attack is always the best form of defense.

‘So? SO?!!’ her voice raised up, and then she dropped it dramatically again. ‘You gave her the necklace.’ He let the eyebrow stay up, looking at her not answering her question. ‘Well, did you? And that dress was designed for her, right?’ Her eyes were sparkling bright, dimples out as she eagerly waited for his answer.

He shook his head exasperatedly and smirked, before shrugging her hand off and walking away. Well done, said the imp, clapping his hand. You think? he asked back.

She followed him, sputtering but didn’t ask any more embarrassing questions. Suddenly he felt a little light headed and stopped. Lavanya ran into his back. Looking up at his face, she noticed him rubbing his temple. Immediately, she was the concerned friend. ‘ASR, are you okay?’

He nodded his head, but felt another attack of vertigo. He swayed a little, and she held on to his arm. His heart was racing. He didn’t know why he felt like that. This didn’t feel like a drop in his blood sugar count. Something was different. He looked around, and then looked again. Lavanya was urging him to sit down, but he shrugged her off. The guests were milling around them, headed to the dinner table. His heart was pounding now, and a low throb started in his temple. Mouth dry, he looked around for the third time. Khushi! He couldn’t see her anywhere!

Walk the LIne - Chapter 36

The binging of the alarm clock woke up Pat. She sat up blearily. Sleep had come soon enough, but she’d woken up at the ungodly hour of 3 a.m. and battled to go sleep until it was 5. It was just 7 a.m. now and she knew she had to be up and get ready to for her day at work. She dragged herself out of bed and headed into the shower. Twenty minutes later, she was ready to face the day, minus her cup of coffee. She was dressed in a black suit, a pale blue pin-stripe shirt with the collar thrown wide open, and black low-heeled boots; her hair was loose, the bangs falling on her forehead, and cut straight at shoulder level. She picked up her laptop bag, and headed downstairs. It felt strange not to have a gun in a holster or behind her back, but she had been told not to carry a weapon this time. The local CBI would provide her with any weapons she might need. For now, she was purely there in a consulting capacity.

Down in the lobby there was an air of some sort of event taking place. She headed into the dining room, glancing up and seeing the preparations for the event on a second floor ballroom. She shrugged her shoulders and sat down at the sunny breakfast room. Coffee, flaky croissants and fried eggs, she had her first taste of Indian food, it was good! She was on her second cup of coffee when she noticed the same tall man whom she had seen yesterday. The maître d’ was talking to him and he seemed a little surprised as the maître gestured towards her. She watched him walk with long loping strides across to her.

‘Agent Cromley?’ he held out a hand.

She shook it. ‘Yes.’ He sat down at her table after making a ‘may I?’ gesture at the empty chair opposite.

‘Arnav Singh Raizada. Commissioner Bhardwaj said that you were staying at my hotel. I hope everything is your satisfaction?’

She was surprised at his English – she could hear the faint hint of American in it. ‘Yes, thank you,’ she responded, wondering why the commissioner would have mentioned her to the owner of the hotel.

‘Khushi, the girl you’re here to interview, is also staying here. She’s… my brother’s marrying her sister. Today’s the wedding. I was wondering if you would like to join us?‘

Pat raised her eyebrows. So this was the man who’d provided the commissioner with the information. She smiled at the invite and said, ‘I’ve never been to an Indian wedding.’

‘In that case, we’d be delighted to have you join us. I’ll introduce you to Khushi as well. She’s…. a little bit nervous about this.’

‘I know. Most victims go through that. But it’s been four years, so she’s had time to deal with it,’ she said.

‘She hasn’t been able to,’ he said in a low voice.

‘But she told you?’ her astute perception had picked up on the nuances. ‘She trusts you.’ She tilted her head to one side, her wise eyes looking at him. ‘Would you prefer to be there for the interview?’

‘Only if she has no problems with it,’ he said. She nodded. ‘I’ll leave you to your breakfast. Please let me know if there’s anything you need or… ‘

She nodded and smiled at him warmly, for the first time noticing the caramel brown eyes and the lop-sided smile. Whoa! This one was a charmer, she thought, although he seemed completely unaware of the effect that he had. With another nod in her direction, he walked away.

Arnav had been pleasantly surprised to see Agent Pat Cromley. She was in her late thirties, dark haired and blue eyed, she dressed severely (probably came with her job description, he thought), but her eyes were kind. Doing what she did for a living, she had to be tough inside and out. She reminded him of Anna, somehow. Khushi would be okay with her, he thought, feeling a bit relieved about the Agent. It was one thing for Khushi to open up to him, quite another to open up to a complete stranger and that too, a man. He didn’t stop to think that at the time Khushi had opened up to him, he was also a relative stranger. But he hadn’t forgotten that kiss between them, and a small smile tugged the corner of his lips as he went about his day.

****

Agent Cromley sat in the boardroom at the CBI offices in Delhi. She’d gone through the files and made some recommendations. Now, it was up to the Indians to take her up on those recommendations. One thing that she was able to help them with was the geographic profiling of the phone calls to the US. They had narrowed the comfort zone of the suspect to a few blocks in Vasant Kunj. A majority of the calls had come from that area.

‘That’s his comfort zone,’ she said. ‘Or hers.’

What interested her about this case was that the stalker was a woman. The prime suspect in this whole thing was a woman! The other girl had barely been able to give a description. So to know more about this woman, this Rani Sahiba, there was only one person who could tell her about it. Khushi Kumari Gupta. She was looking forward to the interview tomorrow.

***

Shyam looked at himself in the mirror as he adjusted his tie. His thick, bushy hair had been trimmed down till only a little stubble remained. A dark brush mustache covered his upper lip. His eyebrows had been dyed a lighter shade, lightening his whole face. He put on thick horn-rimmed glasses and then looked at himself. He smirked at the image. Even his mother would not recognize him now, he thought. His mother. What a joke. All she did was bear children, one after another, with no thought as to how she would feed them and no idea what their father’s names were. His mother, the whore, he thought, shrugging those past memories away. He wore a casual checked shirt with jeans and sneakers. He’d lost a bit of weight, along with some of the muscle, since he’d been planning this.

Reverse parking his old, but souped up Suzuki in the employee lot, he entered the Raizada Hotel through the staff entrance, and made his way into the kitchens. The hotel had hired several temporary staff for the wedding and he was one of them. He would be serving at the banquet tonight. He’d made sure of it. He changed into the uniform in the dressing room, stowing his clothes in the duffel bag he had with him. Through the maze of back corridors, he made his way to the kitchen. The chef was preparing to explain to the special staff the menu for the night. Plates of food were waiting to be tasted and explained.

Shyam stepped into the line of waiters, as the executive chef came up to the front and began explaining each dish. Each dish was accompanied by a tasting so the waiters knew what they were serving and how it tasted. The big kitchen would be doing double service today. The restaurant would remain open while the Raizada wedding was on. This particular menu was for the Raizada reception and seated dinner that would follow the wedding. Each of the courses, especially the hors d’oeuvres would need to be explained to the guests. These were a mix of Indian and Western food, although everything was vegetarian in keeping with the Raizada’s social norms. This would be followed by the elegant dinner service.

Shyam listened attentively. He had to be good at this role. So good, that no one would suspect him of being anything other than a waiter.

The sommelier next explained the drinks accompanying the meal. There were alcoholic as well as nonalcoholic beverages for the guests.

The explanations over, each of the serving staff were given a menu with descriptions, and they were asked to taste the food. Shyam mingled with them, tasting the extremely delicious food.

It was now about four in the afternoon. The wedding started in three hours. He went with the rest of the staff to the big ballroom where the main reception and banquet was to be held. The decorations were almost complete and last minute touches were being put into place. The decor was that of a typical Indian wedding. Lots of red and gold with hints of purple and blue. Each table was decorated with a low flower arrangement of purple and white orchids. White, gold-bordered china was placed precisely in front of each seating place. There were no place cards, except at the front row of tables, which were for the bride’s and groom’s families. The idea was to let the guests mingle and get to know one another. At one end, stood a raised dais with two large flower decorated chairs all in white and gold. This was where the bride and groom would be seated. Against one wall, the deejay was setting up his equipment. At the opposite wall, a bar was being set up, and Shyam was assigned to help the men setting up the bar. He worked hard, helping set up the bottles on the elegant wooden shelving at the back of the bar. He took time out to take a good look around. Yes, he’d be able to move freely around when he was handing out the drinks, he thought. Just then, there was a stir in the room, a buzzing like something had happened. He looked around towards the door just in time to see a tall good-looking man enter the room. He walked with an air of ownership, his lean frame sucking in the air around him, making him look taller than the six-feet that he was. So this is Arnav Singh Raizada in person, thought Shyam, unaware that his face twitched as he thought.

The man next to him, nudged him and said, ‘don’t let Raizada catch you standing around. He can smell a lazy person a mile away and he’ll have you out of here like that,’ snapping his fingers for emphasis.

Almost on cue, Arnav looked across at him, and then looked away as he surveyed the room. Then he started walking to the bar. Thankfully, his phone rang just then and he stopped to answer it, before turning around and walking away. Shyam let go the breath he’d been holding and went back to opening boxes of glasses. His phone rang just at that moment and he looked at the caller id. Rani Sahiba. He pressed the Ignore button and went back to his work.

***

Pat sat in the war room - as they had begun to term it now - staring at the pictures in front of her. Twenty-five girls missing in the last fifteen months. Who knows how many were not reported. She’d quickly figured out that the Indian systems were not as state-of-the-art as she was used to. They had copious files, but not the kind of databases where you could cross-reference the missing data and come up with patterns. This was going to be difficult. She ran a hand through her hair and looked up as one of the CBI agents walked in.

Ratan Singh had been assigned to the case from the Delhi office. In his late thirties, he was one of the veterans on the force, based on his experience. He had also been trained at the FBI and that was one of the reasons why he’d been chosen to lead the Indian team.

‘What do you think?’ he asked Pat.

She shook her head. ‘There’s something missing,’ she said. ‘I can’t quite put my finger on it. I can understand this slave-trafficking. But I don’t understand the interest in the Gupta girl. She doesn’t fit the profile of the kinds of girls that’ve gone missing so far. She’s smart, educated, comes from a well-to-do family. So why the interest in her? It seems to me to be a more personal thing with her. It doesn’t seem to be a vendetta. I can’t find any past links between her and this Rani Sahiba or Shyam.’

He nodded. ‘That’s what we think too.’

She looked at her watch, almost four in the evening. She should be getting back to the hotel if she was going to attend this wedding, she thought. Her phone rang and she answered it.

‘Good evening, Ms. Cromley,’ the woman at the other end said. ‘My name is Lavanya Kashyap and Mr.Raizada asked me to get in touch with you.’

‘Hullo, Ms.Kashyap,’ she said, frowning in puzzlement.

‘I’m the COO of AR Group and Mr. Raizada mentioned that he’d invited you to join us for the wedding. As you know, this is a formal affair, so I was wondering if I could help you with some clothes, should you need it.’

Pat could hear the smile at the other end of the line. ‘Thank you so much,’ she said. ‘Yes, I would really like some help.’ She waved goodbye to Ratan who was stepping out of the room.

‘Okay - please tell me your size and I’ll meet you at the hotel in about half an hour?’

‘Fine,’ she said.

Entering the hotel lobby, she spotted Lavanya almost immediately. The tall, model-like girl with the dimples and the black, silky hair at the reception had to be her. With her was a man holding a black garment bag. She walked across to her. ‘Ms. Kashyap?’ she asked.

Lavanya shook hands enthusiastically with her. ‘Ms. Cromley. So nice to meet you. Let’s go to your room,’ she said.

They went up to Pat’s room and the man laid the garment bag on the bed. Lavanya thanked him and he left.

‘Ms. Cromley, here are a few outfits from our collection. Please pick an outfit and let’s see how you look in it!’

Pat looked at the jewel toned dresses in the bag. Each one was a beautiful evening gown, with beaded or crystal work on it. The one that caught her eye was a midnight blue one. It was simple, elegant, with bead work on the one shoulder and on one hip. She loved it.

‘Go on, try it,’ urged Lavanya.

She went into the bathroom and changed. She came out and Lavanya clapped her hands in delight. ‘It’s perfect!’ she exclaimed.

She looked at herself in the full-length mirror. It was perfect, she thought. There was an Indian touch to it, in the bead work, but the cut and the lines were all international. She looked at the price tag and mentally converted the number into dollars and gasped! This was expensive! It was haute couture prices! She couldn’t afford this. Turning to Lavanya, she said, ‘Look, it’s gorgeous. But I can’t afford this.’

Lavanya looked shocked. ‘Oh, didn’t I tell you? This is complimentary from AR Designs, Ms. Cromley. Mr. Raizada had personally asked me to tell you this, and I forgot!’

‘But I can’t accept this,’ she protested.

Lavanya laid a hand on her arm, suddenly serious. ‘Ms. Cromley. I don’t know who you are and what you are doing here. All I know is that you are helping a friend of mine. Arnav is a dear friend of mine, and I have an inkling that this is something to do with Khushi - someone who is special to him, personally. And this is his way of saying thank you for helping, Ms. Cromley. So I would take this gesture at face value and leave it at that.’

Pat stared at her. Behind the flighty exterior, Ms. Kashyap was brainy and astute. She wouldn’t be the COO of a company like AR if Arnav didn’t have complete confidence in her abilities and trust in her judgement. She nodded her head. ‘Alright. I’ll take it,’ she said.

‘Good. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?’

‘No,’ Pat smiled, ‘you’ve done enough already. Thank you so much.’

‘Okay, then. I’ll leave you to get dressed. The wedding is on the rooftop at seven. One of the elevators has been programmed to take the guests up. I’ll come and get you at five to seven?’ she asked.

‘Perfect,’ she smiled. ‘I’ll be ready.’

‘Now, I must be off and getting ready myself,’ said Lavanya. ‘Oh, and don’t worry about the rest. Someone will pick it up from your room later.’

‘Thanks,’ she said once more, before shutting the door behind the other girl.

At precisely five to seven, the doorbell rang. She had been a little surprised to find that hotel rooms had door bells, but it just seemed to make sense. She opened the door to see Lavanya dressed in typical Indian style. A gorgeous silver and hunter green lehenga, flowers in her hair, and loads of heavy jewelry, and lots of skin showing. With her was another tall, fair man, who had equally deep dimples as he smiled at her.

‘Ms. Cromley,’ she began.

‘Please, call me Pat,’ she protested.

‘Pat, then. Pat, this is NK. He’s Arnav’s cousin. NK - this is Pat Cromley.’

NK smiled at her, holding out his hand. ‘Hi. Welcome to India.’

Her eyes widened at his accent. Pure American. He grinned right back at her. ‘I live in San Francisco. Been there all my life. Although I love India, too,’ he said, giving Lavanya a very meaningful look, which she promptly ignored. ‘Come on. We’re getting late for the wedding,’ he said, offering an arm to each woman.

The three of them went down to the lobby. Pat was impressed to notice that one of the elevators had velvet ropes around it that said, ‘Invitation only. Raizada-Gupta wedding.’ So Raizada was taking precautions with his security well, she thought. They stepped into the elevators, the burly security guard, having immediately recognized Lavanya, and it swooshed up to the rooftop on the twentieth floor.

The roof had been decorated with flowers and fairy lights. With the fading light from the dusk, it looked almost fairy tale like. Screens of flowers had been set up dividing the area into three parts. The center was dominated by a raised mandap, which was where the wedding would actually take place. A pandit sat at the sacred fire performing some pre-wedding rituals.

There were people milling around although it seemed like a small crowd, and from behind the screens could be heard more voices. The pandit stood up and immediately everyone’s attention was on him.

‘It’s time for the jay-mala,’ he said. ‘Bring the bride and the groom forward.’

From behind one screen, Akash and his immediate family came forward. He was resplendent in a red embellished sherwani, a turban on his head. Beside him on either side were Anjali and Arnav, both looking equally regal. Anjali wore a heavy maroon sari with gold embroidery and even heavier jewelery. Arnav was in a deceptively simple dark gold sherwani style short jacket, with jodhpur style trousers a couple of shades darker than his jacket. NK went over and joined the family, standing with his and Akash’s parents.

From behind the other screen, Anna stepped out with her friends and family. She held a thaali in her hands, and walked across to Akash. She performed the aarti, applying a small tika to his forehead, smiling with joy at her new son-in-law-to-be. There were jokes being made and people were laughing at something someone said. She couldn’t understand most of it, but the happiness in the atmosphere was infectious and she smiled along with them. She was glad that she had Lavanya at her side to give her a commentary of what was going on.

Now it was time for the bride. Payal came out from behind the screen, accompanied by Khushi and Jaime. Pat figured it had to be Khushi, as she was the sister of the bride and seemed to be doing all the things a bridesmaid of honor would do. She and Jaime walked slowly with Payal to the center where Akash stood.

Payal was dressed in red today. A deep flaming red, from her veil to her lehenga and choli. Heavy jewelry adorned her face, neck, arms and waist. Her eyes were downcast as befit a bride. The faint hint of blush on her face was nothing artificial.

She watched as the bride and groom exchanged garlands and clapped with everyone around them.

Then she let her eyes take in Khushi. So this was Khushi Kumari Gupta. She saw a tall girl in her early twenties, with big eyes, and an incredibly beautiful peaches-and-cream complexion.

‘The bride’s mother - she’s not Indian, is she?’ she whispered to Lavanya.

‘No,’ said Lavanya, ‘she’s American. That’s Jaime, next to Payal, the blonde. He’s their cousin.’

Pat nodded her head. How ironic, she thought, the one Indian wedding she’d likely ever see in all her life, and the mother of the bride was American! In fact, so was the bride’s entire family! Now the whole crowd moved over to the mandap, and she and Lavanya also moved up with them. The families stood to the two sides, as the bride and groom sat on low stools in front of the fire. Khushi stood just behind Payal, while Arnav stood just behind Akash. She noticed that while everyone’s attention was focused on the bride and groom, these two couldn’t seem to stop looking at each other. There was a faint smile on Arnav’s face, while Khushi was doing her best not to blush, but failing miserably at it.

Suddenly, she heard Lavanya gasp beside her. She quickly looked at her. Lavanya seemed to be staring at Khushi. She frowned, and looked at Khushi. Nothing. She was still standing in the same place that she had been before. But Lavanya was smiling slowly, the dimples appearing on her cheeks as she looked from Khushi to Arnav and back again, as if she had discovered some sort of secret. Pat wondered what it was.

Arnav had been impatient to see Khushi. The whole day, he hadn’t had time to even call her, it had been so busy and he’d started to feel a little bit light headed. He’d finally taken his medication and eaten something and was now feeling much better. Waiting for Khushi to walk out with Payal had almost taken all his patience. Finally she had appeared, and his heart seemed to start beating almost immediately.

She was wearing a canary yellow lehenga with gold work on it, and a red choli. The dupatta barely hid the expanse of pale creamy skin of her back and hips and suddenly he’d wanted to go to her and cover her up. That skin was for his eyes only, dammit! he thought. The imp cackled in delight. Stop it! he said. Then his eyes had fallen on it. The necklace. She was wearing it for the first time. The red ruby glowed as it nestled in the soft fall of her breasts above the low neckline of the choli, kissing her skin where he had this sudden urge to kiss her. He couldn’t take his eyes off it, it was stupid to be feeling jealous of a piece of jewelry! he’d thought. Right you are, said the imp, still cackling madly. He stood there, once in a while, looking across at her, sometimes their eyes would meet, and he’d just drown in hers. Sometimes, she’d looked away and he’d see the blush climbing up her neck.

Akash and Payal were finally getting married, and Arnav Singh Raizada was completely missing the whole affair, laughed the imp. 

****  

Walk the Line - Chapter 35

Commissioner Bhardwaj heard his phone buzzing as he walked into his room. He checked the caller id. Arnav Singh Raizada. Finally. He called the number back and Arnav picked up almost immediately. 

‘Hello?’ 

‘Arnav. Bhardwaj speaking. How are you?’

‘I’m fine, sir. I saw that you were trying to reach me.’

‘Yes, are you okay? I was getting a bit worried about you.’

Arnav shook his head impatiently. ‘It’s okay. I was out for the day, and left my phone in the car.’

Bhardwaj raised his eyebrows at that. It wasn’t any of his business how Arnav handled his business, he decided and came straight to the point. ‘Arnav, the CBI has been digging into Shyam’s back ground. It’s troubling to say the least. I’d like to meet with you.’

Arnav looked at the clock, seven p.m. ‘I can meet with you right away. We can meet at my hotel, the restaurant will be open. Perhaps we can have dinner?’

‘Excellent. I’ll see you in half an hour, then.’ Commissioner Bhardwaj hung up the phone. 

Arnav hurriedly changed out of his casual clothes and threw on a suit forgoing the tie. As he hurried down the stairs, he heard his sister calling after him, ‘Chotey? Where’re you off to now? Dinner is almost ready.’

‘Sorry, di. But I do have to go out. It’s urgent.’

‘Another emergency?’ she came up to him, her hand cupping his face. ‘Chotey, you have to slow down. You’ve been gone all day, working, and now you’re running off again? Tomorrow is the wedding and so much work is still left,’ she whined. ‘And you shouldn’t be working so hard.’

‘Di, I promise, I’ll do it all when I come back. Right now, this is something that I have to do. I’ll have dinner out, okay?’

She looked at him with her large reproachful eyes, her lips pouting as she knew she couldn’t stop him. ‘Okay,’ she said reluctantly.

For the second time that day, Arnav drew up at the Raizada Hotel. The Commissioner was waiting for him in the lounge. He waved him over, and Arnav led the way to the dimly lit dining room. They ordered from the menu, the chef having been told that Mr. Raizada was in the house, so everything better be perfect, by the maitre d’. 

They ordered a shot of whiskey each and waited for the drinks to arrive, chatting about inconsequential things. When the stubby glasses were in front of them, they settled down to business.

‘Arnav, CBI worked backwards from the time you mentioned Shyam Manohar Jha came into existence. He lived in Lucknow for a while and they started their search there. Turns out, his real name is Sudhir Kumar Jha. He worked part-time at a dress store. There he met a lady. So far, the only name they have is Rani Sahiba. No one knows her real identity. At some point, Sudhir and Rani Sahiba got married. There is no record of the marriage, so it must have been a quickie temple marriage. 

‘Then one day, Sudhir quit his job and vanished. Six years ago, Shyam Manohar Jha surfaced in Delhi. What they are still investigating is where he gets his money from. He has a bank account, and he deposits money there but only at irregular intervals. Not large sums, nothing to raise flags, and its always in cash. He doesn’t have credit cards. But they have found an address for him.’ He gave an address is a sleazy part of the city. ‘They raided there. The rooms were empty. There was no one there. It had been cleaned out. Once again, he is on the run.

‘Now, we also know that in the last six years, there has been a significant increase in slave-trafficking in Delhi. The CBI has been on the case for a couple of years only. What is apparent is this: girls from out of town are lured to Delhi with the promise of jobs - modeling, acting, veejay-ing, glamourous jobs. They arrive in Delhi and it’s as if they are swallowed up. No one knows where these girls go to. 

‘The only break we got was when one of the girls managed to escape. She named a Rani Sahiba as being the person who is behind this ring.’

Arnav felt a cold hand clutch his throat. He swallowed a drink of the whiskey to clear it. The waiters arrived with their appetizers and Bhardwaj waited till they had left before resuming. 

‘She showed us a house in Vasant Kunj, but again, there was nothing there. What is interesting is that it’s next to the house that Ms. Gupta was kept when she was kidnapped. The only thing linking these two cases is Rani Sahiba and the address in Vasant Kunj. That’s why it took us such a long time to get to some results.

‘Coming to the phone calls Ms. Gupta received in the US, we talked to the FBI and were given access to the LUDs of those calls. We traced the calls. All of them came from the Delhi area, but were all over the place. We don’t have that much expertise in the kind of profiling that the FBI does. So they are lending us an expert. He’s arriving tonight, and he’ll be working with the CBI on this. The only thing is, he might need to interview Ms. Gupta again. He’s already gone through the transcripts of her interviews and feels that there is material in there that needs more details. And she is the only one that can provide them.’

Arnav could feel the coldness wrap itself around his heart. Hearing Khushi’s name in conjunction with this entire sordid matter was taking his utmost self-control. He wanted to get up and punch a hole in a wall somewhere. But he sat there, calmly drinking his whiskey and listening carefully. She had been so close, so close to something drastic happening to her, to being lost forever; and for some reason, Rani Sahiba still wanted her. 

He looked at the Commissioner and asked the same question, ‘so why are they stalking her even now?’ 

‘That’s something we haven’t figured out yet. Perhaps the profiler will be able to help us there.’ He chewed thoughtfully and said, ‘will it be possible for her to be interviewed tomorrow?’

‘It’s the wedding,’ said Arnav, shaking his head. ‘I don’t know that she can make the time for it.’

Bhardwaj sighed. ‘Okay. But the day after, it has to happen. We need to shut down this operation, if that’s indeed what it is.’

Arnav nodded. ‘I’ll talk to her,’ he said. 

‘Meanwhile, for tomorrow, I’m going to suggest that she is always shadowed by someone. Do you need a bodyguard for her?’

Arnav shook his head again. ‘I have that covered, her cousin and mine will be with her constantly. I’ve made sure to explain to them what has happened. They’ve known about the phone calls in the US, so they are prepared to protect her.’

‘Good,’ the policeman approved.

They finished the meal with some more discussions around Khushi’s safety. By the time, they finished it was almost nine-thirty. They headed out the front doors, where the valet was bringing around the commissioner’s car. Arnav saw him into the car and was about to ask for his car when a thought struck him. He pulled out his phone and called. 

She picked up on the second ring. 

‘Khushi?’ the husky voice never failed to make shivers run down her spine. 

‘Arnav?’

‘Khushi. Sorry for calling so late, but I need to talk to you.’

‘Now?’

‘If possible,’ he held his breath although he didn’t know it. 

‘Okay,’ she said after a little thought. He let out his breath.

‘Are you in your suite?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Good, I’ll see you in five minutes,’ he said and hung up.

Khushi looked at her phone in puzzlement. Payal looked at her with raised brows. ‘It’s Arnav. He wants to come over.’

Payal smiled, ‘looks like someone can’t stay away from someone,’ she teased. 

Khushi gave her an exasperated look and headed into the bedroom. She picked up her robe and was just heading back to the living room, when the doorbell rang. Payal opened the door much to Arnav’s discomfort. He’d forgotten that Payal shared the room with her. He looked at Payal and said, ‘Hi’.

‘Come on in, Arnav,’ she smiled widely at him. He blinked in surprised. Sure, she was going to be his sister-in-law, but what’s with the big smile? he thought. 

Khushi walked in from the bedroom, wrapped in a large fluffy robe that came down to her calves. ‘Hi,‘ he said to her, too. 

‘Hi,‘ she said back, looking warily at him.

‘Er, Payal? I need to speak to Khushi alone, please,‘ he said. 

‘But of course,‘ said Payal, ‘I’ll leave you two alone.‘ With a smirk she walked into the bedroom and very dramatically swung the door shut behind her. 

He looked at Khushi with raised eyebrows, ‘what’s going on with her?‘ he asked, completely forgetting that the last time he had seen Payal he had been passionately kissing her sister.

‘Maybe because she saw us kissing,‘ Khushi said sarcastically, her cheeks still tinged with pink from her sister’s antics. 

He stopped in his tracks, feeling a dull heat rising up his throat. He wasn’t going to go into that, now. He couldn’t. He had to focus on the more important stuff. 

‘Khushi,’ he came across to her and led her to a sofa. ‘Sit. We need to talk.’

She looked at him suspiciously as he sat down beside her. Unlike her, he was dressed in a formal suit, while she was already in pajamas. She tucked her feet under her and turned sideways to look at him. 

‘So. Talk,’ she said. 

He’d barely had any time to think over what he would say to her. He looked at her face at a loss for words. Her rumpled look, makeup free face, the short plait and the robe made him yearn to just pull her into his arms and shelter her from whatever was wrong with her world. He wanted to make sure she was safe, always. She had lightened up a lot, since the calls had stopped, but he wanted her to have that sense of safety always. He was surprised at how intense these feelings were, but right now, he had to make her understand the seriousness of what they could potentially be up against. 

She was looking at his face equally intensely. The relaxed look had given way to carefully gelled and styled hair and the formal wear - like he wore an armor. His eyes were tired although still alert. She noted the tired lines that had not been there on his brow earlier today. She wanted to run her fingers through those lines and wipe them away. His lips were compressed and she could see the tension in his jaw lines. She wanted to hold him and tell him to rest for a bit. He couldn’t take the weight of the entire world on his shoulders and not relax a bit. 

Without thinking, she raised her hand and smoothed it tenderly over his brow. He was surprised at her gesture. He held her hand looking at it. He raised his eyes. ‘Khushi, this is serious,’ he said.

She nodded, a frown crinkling up her forehead. 

‘The CBI has been digging into Shyam. They found out who he really is. But they’ve not been able to find out about Rani Sahiba. They seem to be involved in some really nasty stuff. Tomorrow an FBI agent is coming to help with the investigation. He will need to talk to you.’ He felt her fingers curl around his tightly. ‘It’s going to be okay, Khushi, but tomorrow we have to be very careful. Promise me, you won’t be alone. Keep NK or Jamie with you. Please?’

She nodded, recognizing that he was just giving her the bare facts, and not the entire story. She was right. 

‘I ... I think you should do the interview day after tomorrow, Khushi,’ he said. ‘And this time, tell him everything. Everything that you told me.’

Her eyes lowered. She tried to tug her hand away, but he wouldn’t let her. He wanted her to know that he would be there for her. But this was something she had to do on her own. ‘Khushi, if you want to put them away, you have to help the police.’

She looked at him, her eyes filled with tears. ‘Do I have to?’

He nodded. A tear spilled over and another. He put his arms around her. ‘It’s going to be okay. Shhhh.’ He didn’t know what else to say. He felt helpless at having to put her through this. She clung to him, silently crying into his shoulder. He hated having to be the one that was responsible for those tears. All he could do was hold her and say ‘Shhh... ‘ every once in a while. Finally, she stopped crying. 

She drew back and looked at his suit, seeing the dark marks of her tears on it. ‘I ruined your suit,’ she sniffed. 

He couldn’t help smiling. ‘It’s okay.’ He put his fingers under her chin. ‘You okay?’

She nodded. He smoothed back her hair from her flushed face. 

‘I’ll go with you to meet the agent, okay?’ She nodded again. ‘Stay close to NK and Jaime tomorrow. I’ll be busy, you know that, and so will you. If you need me, all you have to do is call me, are you okay with that?’ She nodded once more. ‘I should be going now, it’s late.’ He untangled him self from her, getting up. All of a sudden, he was extremely tired. 

She stood up too, and then leaned up to place a soft kiss on his cheek. ‘Thank you,’ she said. They looked at each other for a long second, before he finally left. 

She let herself into the bedroom where Payal was sitting on the bed, trying to look engrossed in her book. She looked up at her sister, who didn’t seem to be glowing. In fact, she looked like she’d been crying. All her sisterly instincts rose up at once. 

‘Khushi, what’s wrong? What did Arnav say to make you cry? What is wrong with him?’ she was really mad at Arnav. 

‘It’s not Arnav, jiji,’ said Khushi, feeling the same tiredness now.. ‘Go to sleep. It’s not important.’

‘Khushi?’ her sister was not about to give up so easily.

She shook her head and crawled into her side of the bed. ‘Go to sleep, Jiji,’ turning away and curling under the comforter. She didn’t know how she was going to get past the next day, but get past she had to. This whole trip to India had been so much more than she had bargained for. Surprisingly, with all these thoughts running through her head, she fell asleep almost immediately. 

*** 

Agent Pat Cromley stepped into the humid air of Delhi and looked around. Looking around, the agent spotted the man standing with a sign that said ‘P Cromley’ on it. Heading towards the man, Pat stopped and said, ‘are you here for me?’ The man, rather the driver, looked surprised to see Pat there. The tall brunette with a handsome face, in a sharply pressed suit even after twenty-plus hours in the air, was certainly not what he’d been expecting. ‘Pat Cromley?’ she asked again. He nodded. ‘I’m Pat.’ He hurriedly took her bag from her hand and let the way to the parking lot. 

He put her bags in the trunk and opened the door for her. She got in and they headed out. Agent Pat Cromley was looking around as the car drove through the dark streets of Delhi. This was her first visit here, but she was here on a case, and that was her first priority. She leaned back and kept an eye on the streets they passed, till they drew up at the Raizada Hotel. She was impressed. This was as good as any five-star hotel in the world, she thought. As she clicked her way to the reception desk, she passed a tall man, good looking with a slight scar over his left eyebrow. He had his head down, but she was surprised to see almost everyone straighten up as he passed by. She reached the desk and turned around, the valet was just pulling up the tall man’s SUV. He got in, started the car and drove off. She turned around and put her passport on the desk. ‘You have a reservation for a Pat Cromley?’ she asked the front desk attendant. 

‘Just  a minute please, let me check,’ the attendant looked through something on her screen. ‘Yes, ma’am. You are in room 1503,’ she said. ‘If I can just get you to initial here, and a credit card please?’

Two minutes later, she was ready to go to her room. She entered the elevators and the doors shut. On the fifteenth floor, she was amazed at the view. Room 1503 was a warm inviting roon. She sighed and kicked off her high heels, before sinking into one of the sofas. Tomorrow was another day. She needed to go to bed. Right now. Jet-lag was a bitch, she thought. 

Walk the Line - Chapter 34

Arnav pulled into the parking lot of AR Group of Companies. He came around to open the door for her and helped her out. She was surprised at this and ridiculously pleased. It was still early evening, though past office hours so most people had gone home and the underground lot was almost empty. He kept an arm around her waist as they headed to the elevators. Her head was on his shoulder and he stole a quick kiss as the doors closed on them. 

They walked in through the doors and saw Aman standing there. An Aman who couldn’t help the look of surprise on his face to see his usually dapper boss walk in with floppy hair, casual dockers and a rumpled tee, with a woman, around whose waist he had his arm draped. His mouth fell open even further as he recognized said woman - Khushi Kumari Gupta?!! What was his boss doing with Ms. Gupta who looked equally disheveled, he noticed in another part of his brain. 

‘Aman, shut your mouth,’ said ASR. He shut it. ‘Did you get the everything on Di’s list?’ he asked, completely unconscious of the fact that he still had his arm around Khushi. Aman could only nod, seeming to have lost control of his vocal chords too. ‘Where is it?’

Arnav was looking at him impatiently. 

Quickly clearing his throat, he finally said ‘down in my car, ASR’. 

‘Fine. Let’s go,’ with that, he headed back to the elevators again. The trio stepped into the elevators and ASR finally let go of Khushi. He didn’t usually do this, but the wine and the day in the sun had probably gone to his head, he thought. One look at Khushi’s sleepy eyes, and he knew it wasn’t the wine and it wasn’t the day. It was Khushi. He raked his hair back impatiently with his fingers, his eyes narrowing in thought. Oh no, Dude, don’t start that again, said the imp, shaking his head. 

The two men loaded up the car while Khushi waited for them. Before long, they had finished loading up the car and Arnav got in. The drive back to the hotel was quiet, each lost in their thoughts. Neither wanted to break it. Too soon, they had reached the hotel. They got out of the car, and the valet came running up to them. He opened the trunk to get her bags out. Handing the keys to the valet, he gestured for Khushi to go ahead into the hotel. They rode the elevators, still in silence. 

Khushi stole a glance at his profile, noticing with a sinking heart that his jaw was clenched, while he looked straight ahead, his eyebrows lowered in a frown. She wondered what had upset him. He walked her to the door of her suite. She opened it and they walked in. Payal was nowhere to be seen. He placed her bag in the living room and turned to go. 

He stopped with his hand on the door, and then slowly turned around. 

She was standing in the middle of the room. There was something forlorn in her eyes. They almost seemed to be asking him, what happened? He turned around then, and walked out of the door. 

Downstairs, he got in the car and was about to start it when he heard the soft buzzing. What the?! He looked around, trying to figure out where the sounds were coming from. Belatedly he remember the phones he’d put in the glove compartment. He took them out, and realized he’d have to go back upstairs to give hers. He sat there for a second, thinking, he could give it to the front desk and.. no.... He headed back upstairs again, and knocked on her door. A few seconds passed while he waited. He frowned as he saw the number of missed calls on his phone. He scrolled through them, and then realized the door hadn’t opened. He knocked again, a little louder this time, starting to feel uneasy. He knocked again with a ‘Khushi?!’ just to reinforce it. The door opened. 

‘What took you so long?’ he asked Khushi who was staring at him blankly. 

‘I was in the restroom,’ she said, annoyed at his tone. 

‘Do you know...? Never mind. Your phone,’ he said, holding it out to her. 

She took it, ‘Thanks.’

They stood there a little awkwardly, and then they both spoke together.

‘I should-’

‘Do you-’

‘I should go,’ he said, after a little pause. She nodded her head, eyes down. He sighed, not wanting to leave things like this. Stepping a little further in, he cupped her face with his hand and leaned in for a kiss. Her arms came up into his hair, as she returned the kiss. His arms wrapped around her pulling her close. 

‘Khushi?’ the question broke into their little world. Payal was standing at the door with an astonished look on her face. Arnav turned around, still keeping one arm around her. 

‘Payal,’ he said. ‘I was just leaving.’ He kissed Khushi on the forehead and strode out the door. 

Payal’s round eyes followed him out, and then she came in, shutting the door. ‘Khushi,’ she grabbed her sister by the arms. ‘What was that?’ Khushi swallowed, not wanting to go into long explanations. ‘What’s going on with you and Arnav?’

‘I ...Jiji.. we,’ she tried articulating exactly what was going on, but it was a little hard. ‘Jiji... we,’ she tried again. 

‘He was kissing you,’ said Payal, a small smile on her face, ‘and you weren’t exactly saying no, were you?’

Khushi shook her head, the smile on her sister’s face giving her some relief. ‘I don’t know, jiji. I don’t know what’s going on.. we just.. ‘

Payal looked at her sister’s worried eyes. She took a deep breath and said, ‘I just don’t want you getting hurt, okay? Akash has told me a little bit about Arnav, and I don’t know if he’s the right kind of person for you. But you have to make that decision, Khushi. Both of you.’

‘I don’t know, jiji,’ she sighed. ‘Sometimes, he’s so open and then he just closes up. I don’t know what it is about him, but .. I don’t know what to do,’ she turned away, not wanting her sister to see the distress in her eyes. 

‘Is he the Prince Charming you always dreamt of?’ asked Payal gently. 

‘As if,’ she exclaimed, turning around. ‘Anything but! Then again,’ she looked away, a smile playing on her lips, ‘he ...’ her smile broadened. 

‘Are you in love with him?’

Khushi stopped, eyes widening with something like panic in them. She didn’t say anything, but her heart was hammering. Could it be? Had she gone and fallen for a man who didn’t believe in love and marriage and the whole traditional thing? She liked him. She couldn’t deny that. She liked being around him, being kissed and ... everything else. But in love? No.. she wasn’t in love. 

Her racing thoughts came to a screeching halt as she noticed her sister’s face. There was something like ... like... amusement on it. ‘What’re you laughing at?’ she asked.

‘No, Khushi, nothing,’ said she innocently. ‘I really need to use the bathroom.’ So saying, she left her sister alone with her thoughts.

****

Arnav pulled into the driveway of Shantivan and parked his car. He’d seen the number of calls he’d got, di, di, di, police, aman.....Police? It must be Bhardwaj, he thought. He headed into the house and went straight up to his room, ignoring his sisters ‘Chotey?’ in the hall, for once. 

Anjali was confused. It wasn’t like Chotey to just ignore her and walk away. Something must be on his mind. She looked at Dilip, deeply engrossed in something on his iPad. ‘Listen,’ she said. ‘Chotey just walked away from me without replying. I’m worried. What happened to him?’

He looked up with a sigh. When his wife got on the I’m-worried-about-Chotey train there was nothing that would stop her. He had to forgo his work and worry about her. ‘What is it, honey?’ he said. 

She repeated what she’d just said. He looked at her affectionately. ‘Tell you what, he probably needs some coffee. Why don’t you make him a cup and I’ll take it up to him. I’ll talk to him, then, okay?’

‘Fine,’ she said, still looking distressed. ‘Oh, one more thing. He left in a business suit this morning, and came back in casuals. And he was supposed to go shopping, but where is the shopping? We need those for the wedding tomorrow,’ still in worried state. 

Right on cue, they heard a ‘Hari!’ from Arnav’s room. The servant ran to do his master’s bidding. Two minutes later, he came down and headed out. They watched in silence as he returned with bags of shopping evidently from Arnav’s car. Dilip raised his eyebrows and looked at his wife. ‘Looks like the shopping question is answered, now for the suit,’ he murmured. Hari ran out once more and this time returned with a garment bag, evidently containing the suit that Arnav had worn this morning. He headed up the stairs with it. ‘Well, I guess that answers your questions,’ he looked at his wife.

‘Still... just talk to him. Something is going on with him.’

‘You know he doesn’t talk unless he wants to,’ he reminded her. 

She looked exasperated. ‘The least you can do is try,’ she stated. He sighed. Oh well, when the wife was stubborn, one just had to give in. 

Ten minutes later, he carried up a tray with two mugs of coffee on it to his brother-in-law’s room. He knocked on the door, and Arnav yelled, ‘Come in’. He entered and  saw Arnav sitting at his laptop, his finger in his ear, turning off his bluetooth. His phone was sitting on the bed, linked to a charger and he’d changed out of his clothes into some cargo shorts and a black tee, hair still damp from a shower.

‘Jijaji,’ he smiled at him. 

‘Coffee?’ Dilip smiled back. He really liked his brother-in-law. The guy was way too mature for his age, but steady as a rock and a hard-headed business man. And most of all, he would do anything for his sister, which earned him brownie points in Dilip’s book. 

‘Yeah, why not?’ Arnav answered, taking off the bluetooth and standing up. They took the mugs of coffee and headed out to the pool area, sitting down at the table there. 

‘Di sent you?’ Arnav asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. 

He nodded. They both chuckled and sipped their coffee in companionable silence. Dilip broke it again. 

‘She’s worried about you,’ he said. 

Frown. ‘Me? Why?’

‘Well, you did leave today in a suit and you came back in casuals. You didn’t answer your phone all day. And you completely ignored her when you got back. You know what she is like, she latched on to all these things, and now, I need to find the answers for her,’ Dilip smiled ruefully. 

Arnav bent his head looking into the dark liquid in his coffee. He took a sip and then said. ‘I was out.’ 

‘ We know that.’ Quiet. ‘With Khushi?’

Arnav’s head shot around, eyes narrowed. 

‘Arnav,’ Dilip paused, wondering quite how to put it. He sighed. ‘Look, you and Khushi were arguing when you left. Next thing we know, you’re not picking up your phone. You know your sister. She was calling everybody to find you. I figured you’d turned it off ‘cause you didn’t want anyone interrupting your time with her. Put two and two together come up with four. You must be out somewhere with her, and it certainly wasn’t shopping... was it?’ He looked keenly at the younger man. ‘Besides when the police were trying to get hold of you, they couldn’t. Why were the police trying to get hold of you, Arnav?’ he asked. He really was curious about this. What could be so important that the police needed to connect with him, and how come nobody in the family knew about it?

Arnav sighed, wondering how much he really wanted his brother-in-law to know. Not much, he decided. ‘Yes, I was out with Khushi,’ he admitted in a low voice, completely bypassing the police question. 

Dilip was surprised. He hadn’t expected an admission from his close-mouthed brother-in-law. This must be really serious! 

‘I was out with her at the farmhouse,’ he said. He leaned back in the chair, looking up at the darkening sky. ‘We..... just needed some time,’ he finished. To think things through, he thought. He didn’t really need a third degree now, but somehow he felt a little better talking about it. He pushed his hair back and looked at his brother-in-law. ‘I don’t know what it is about her, but...’

‘Do you like her?’ gently. 

A nod. ‘Yeah,’ a small lop-sided smile. 

‘How serious is it?’

‘I don’t know,’ honestly. ‘She’s like nobody I’ve met. But I don’t have the time for anything else right now,’ repeating what he’d told Khushi. 

Dilip sighed. ‘Arnav, this is something you have to find out for yourself. But take a moment to think about Khushi. It’s obvious you both have something ... for each other. I can’t tell you what to do about it.’

Arnav nodded, appreciating the fact that his brother-in-law was giving him this space. 

‘But, Arnav, there’s one thing. Sometimes, these things happen at the most awkward of times. Falling in love isn’t something you plan for, and it doesn’t always happen at your convenience, you know. It just does.’

In love? Arnav looked at him, shocked. No. He wasn’t in love. Love wasn’t something he believed in. Yes, people went around saying they were in love. And yes, his di and jijaji seemed so in love. But what was it really? He knew it wasn’t love he felt for Khushi. Or was it? He was confused as hell. 

Dilip watched his face go blank. He knew him well enough to know that the curtains were drawn. Whatever was going through Arnav Singh Raizada’s head, nobody would be able to peek in. He hoped it was the right kind of thoughts. He’d put the seed there. It was up to Arnav to figure it out. He wasn’t going to do much more than that. He clapped a hand on Arnav’s shoulder and then said, changing the topic, ‘What did the police want with you?’

For a second, Arnav stared at him blankly and then shook his head, ‘it’s not important.’

Well, that was all he was going to get for now, Dilip thought. He stood up. ‘I should go see what your sister is up to.’ He left. 

Arnav nodded. He still sat there, elbows on his knees, deep in thought. 

What Dilip didn’t know was that Arnav was not thinking about Khushi at that point. For once, he was examining himself. Looking inside, trying to figure out what was happening to him. The conversation had given him more food for thought than helped him. What was wrong with him? He pushed those thoughts away. 

Arnav Singh Raizada was nothing if not focused. He went back to his room and dialed the Police commissioner’s number. It went to voicemail. He left a message and hung up. 

Walk the Line - Chapter 33

They rode for a while in silence. Once in while, he pointed out something to her. The horse was going a little faster now, as he took it through a mango orchard. They climbed a slight slope  and then reached the top of the ridge. Below they could see the farmhouse. A little stream flowed along one side and he headed the horse towards it. The floor was all grass and the horse bent down to start grazing it. He swung off the saddle and hobbled it. Then he turned and held out his arms to her. She put her hands on his shoulders, feeling the muscles clench in them as he put his arms around her, smoothly swinging her down to the ground, but not before she slid down his body first.

She kept her gaze down, and then looked out over the hills, aware that he was looking at her face with a small frown on it. But he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he gestured towards a tree at the edge of the stream. ‘Let’s go there.’

She looked around in delight, the tree, the stream, the grassy knoll, it was all perfect.

She looked at him and said, ‘All this,’ waving her arms around, ‘it’s yours?’

He nodded shortly. ‘We use this place every once in a while, but mostly it stays empty,’ he said.

She felt a little like Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice when she saw Pemberly Place - not that she felt the regret of not accepting her Mr.Darcy...because let’s face it... he hadn’t yet asked her, had he?

‘I come out here when I need to clear my head. Clients love it, too.’

‘And did you need to?’ she asked.

‘Did I need to what?’ he looked puzzled.

‘Clear your head.’

He didn’t say anything for a while. He looked at the stream, a far away look in his eyes. Then he nodded. ‘Yes,’ he admitted. ‘Yes, I did.’

The imp slapped his forehead and said, yep, you surely do. Just don’t do what I think you’re gonna do, okay? Dude? You listening?

She couldn’t see his face, now that he had turned fully away from her. She laid a hand on his shoulder, feeling the slight flinch he gave at her touch. She took her hand away. He swung around at that. Lifting her left hand in both of his, he turned it over and opened it, looking at her palm, almost willing to be able to read her future in it... and perhaps his too? Then he bent and kissed it, a long, slow kiss, his eyes closed as if trying to tell her something. She raised her right hand to his face, loving the feel of his stubble on her softness. He opened his eyes and looked at her. They were blazing with an emotion she couldn’t define. Her heart was picking up its pace as she looked into his eyes.

He took a deep breath and held on to her hand, pulling her close with his other arm, holding her tight against his chest.

‘Khushi, I don’t even know how to begin.’

‘At the beginning?’ she attempted a little levity.

‘Be serious, Khushi,’ he gave her a little shake.

It made her a little nervous. She didn’t know what to make of him and his strange mood. He tucked her head under his chin and stood silently for a minute.

‘Khushi. I’ve been giving a lot of thought,’ she drew back and he let her. ‘To us,’ he swallowed and then went on. ‘Never in my life did I think I would let myself get so emotionally bound to someone that I am affected by it. What you, me, have.. I don’t know what to call it. I just don’t I have the time in my life for it, not right now.’

She stepped back as if she’d been shot, her face growing a little paler. Then she turned around, but not before he’d glimpsed the tears starting to form in her eyes. He closed his eyes in pain. His chest hurt. Really, physically hurt. He’d hurt her. But better this way than later, when ...?

She took deep breaths, trying to stop the tears from spilling over. So okay, its not like they had.. said anything to each other. So why was it hurting her so much? The beauty of the day faded, the colors taking on harsher tones, hurting her eyes. She blinked and one tear rolled down a cheek, which she quickly wiped away. She turned around. He was looking away, only a small slice of his profile visible to her. She breathed in again, and said, ‘It’s okay, Arnav. These things happen.’

He jerked at her words, turning around to stare at her.

‘Perhaps we should be going back,’ she said in a very flat tone. He looked into her eyes, and for once couldn’t read a thing in them. They were as flat as her tone.

‘No,’ he said.

‘No? I want to go home, Arnav,’ she said.

‘We’re not going home now,’ he gritted out, his hand reaching out to grab her arm. ‘We’re having lunch before going.’

‘Let me go,’ she was struggling to free herself, almost seconds before a sound registered in her ears. She stopped struggling and looked up. Uttam was driving up in an open jeep. HIs grip tightened on her arm. They stood there while Uttam drew up.

He opened the back of the jeep and pulled out blankets and a basket. Arnav went forward to help him. She stood on one side watching the scene. They spread the blanket under the tree and placed plates and glasses and a basket from which Uttam pulled out a small box of naans, and covered casseroles. He went back to the jeep and took out a small bottle holder in which was a bottle of red wine.

Her eyes widened as she saw the arrangements, her mouth open in her typical ‘O’.

Uttam handed Arnav the keys of the jeep and headed over to the horse. He would be taking it back. He bowed to her, mounted the horse and galloped away.

She was still standing there, when Arnav turned to her and gestured towards the blanket, ‘Lunch,’ he said. ‘Uttam went to a great deal of trouble to prepare this. So we might as well eat.’

She nodded and sat down. He opened the containers. There was naan, and tandoori chicken, and salad, and stuffed okra. It was a simple meal elevated by the bottle of 2000 Vietti Barolo Rocche that he opened. He poured two glasses handing one to her. She held our her hand and he stopped, looking at it with something like horror on his face. The marks of his fingers were imprinted clearly on her forearm, the angry red showing up against the cream of her skin. She withdrew her hand quickly, but he caught it.

There was pain in his eyes, as he met hers. ‘Did I do that?’ he whispered. Carefully he put the glass of wine down, running his fingers lightly over her skin. Her breath caught in her throat as he raised her hand and kissed the marks. ‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. ‘I’m sorry.’

She couldn’t help herself. Her other hand went out and pushed the hair back from his forehead. ‘It’s okay,’ she whispered.

‘No, It’s not. I don’t have the right to do anything like that. How can you say it’s okay?’

She looked at him, no more were her eyes flat. They held the pain she saw in his. ‘It’s okay. I don’t hurt,’ she said.

He looked at her, marveling how quickly she had forgiven him. He’d never hurt a woman before, how could he even have thought of hurting her?

She pushed his hair back again, allowing her fingers to linger in his hair, before smiling softly and saying, ‘Lunch? and what about some wine?’

He looked at her, then leaned forward to break off a piece of naan, picking up a piece of chicken and holding it out to her. She leaned forward to take it, but he held it to her mouth, his eyes on her lips as she opened her mouth so he could feed her. Her soft lips closed over his fingers, sending a shiver down his spine. She picked up some naan as well, feeding him like he fed her. The next time, she took a bite, he brought his hand back to his mouth and licked off his fingers. Her eyes stayed on his mouth and he could feel the heat rising in him. He held up the wine glass to her lips watching as she took a sip and then took a sip himself from the same glass. They ate like that, lost in each other, barely tasting the food, that poor Uttam had taken so much care to cook. Finally done, he made her sit, while he packed up everything and set it aside.

Uttam had provided some cushions, so the two of them took the blanket and moved over to the tree, under the shade, placing the cushions just so they could lean back and sat there quietly, enjoying this time together, finishing off the bottle of wine. He put his arm around her, his fingers rubbing up and down her arm as she nestled in the crook of his shoulder, her arm around her waist.

She was beginning to feel drowsy when he said, ‘Khushi?’

‘Mmmmm?’ she said sleepily.

‘Do you want to go back now?’ She shook her head. He buried his head in her hair and she could hear the soft chuckles in his chest. ‘We do need to get back.’

‘I don’t want to,’ she looked up at him with sleepy eyes, a pout on her face.

He couldn’t help himself. He bent down and kissed her. His lips feathering lightly over hers. ‘You’re drunk,’ he whispered.

‘No.’ She sat up straight. ‘No, ‘I’m not.’ Then she promptly reached over for the bottle of wine, which was empty at this point. She looked at him accusingly. ‘You finished the wine,’ she said with narrowed eyes.

‘No, I didn’t. You helped me.’ He pulled her back into his arms. ‘Listen, precious, I’ve got to get you home. But you need time to sober up.’

‘You drank as much as I did,’ she protested.

‘I know, but I can stand the alcohol much better than you obviously,’ he was smiling.

She went still for a moment and then said ,’am I?’

‘Am I what?’

‘Precious. You called me precious.’

He looked at her, her eyes, the slightly unfocused eyes, wide and innocent, looking right into his soul. Had he called her precious?

‘You are,’ he sais as honestly as his heart would allow. He didn’t know when and he didn’t know why, but she was very precious to him. She leaned over and kissed him. He wasn’t expecting it, he wasn’t even prepared for it, but when it came, he didn’t avoid it either.

For a few seconds, her soft lips moved over his, taking initiative, nipping at his lips, her soft tongue running across his closed lips. She pulled his lower lip between hers and he parted his mouth allowing her full access. He had no more defenses left. They came crashing down in front of her innocent plundering. He lay back, taking her with him. She was half on him, her hair falling like a curtain over them. A small world in which they were there alone. He raked his fingers through her hair, the subtle perfume powering through his senses. Eyes closed he let himself go.

She kissed his closed eyes, lingering over each one. Her fingers ran over his face, her fingertips learning the contours, memorizing them. She paused at the small scar under his left eyebrow. He opened his eyes. She was looking at the scar, as if she could feel the pain inside of her. His thumb rubbed across her lower lip, feeling the softness. She looked in his eyes, before leaning forward to kiss the scar.

He flipped her over, leaning over her now, his attention focused on her neck, he pushed back her hair, and bent down. Breathing deeply in the fragrance of her skin, before lightly licking the pulse hammering at her throat. His fingers trailed across her shoulders taking the spaghetti straps with them. He move back and looked at her face. There was a languidness in her eyes, Her hands reached down to the edges of his tee, He sat up, pulling her up with him. Her hands went of their own accord to the bottom of his tee, helping him out of it.

She ran her fingers along his abs, up towards his smooth chest, stopping for a moment at the hard planes of his ribs. Up to his Adam’s apple. She leaned across and placed her lips there, her tongue coming out to taste him, feeling him swallow. She moved lower, pushing him back, he lay like a feast in front of her. She feasted on him. Her lips and tongue kissing him across his chest, nipping on his nipples, smiling as she felt him gasp. Her power over him was intoxicating to her, and to him.

He felt helpless, being swept away on a sensuous tide over which he had no control.

‘Not fair,’ he gasped.

‘What?’ she sat up.

He tugged at the top she wore. ‘Not fair,’

She smiled at him, the age old smile of a woman who knows the power she holds in her tiny hands.

‘Make me,’ she dared him.

He sat up swiftly and in one motion stood up. Swooping down, he picked her up walking towards the stream.

‘Arnav. What are you doing? Put me down,’ she was kicking her legs. He grinned wickedly at her.

‘If you’re not playing fair, neither am I,’ he grinned.

‘What do you mean, not playing fair?’

He put her down on the hood of the jeep, his hands coming down on either side, effectively blocking her. They traveled over her face, moving lower as he focused on her chest, right in front of his eyes. He leaned in, kissing her between her breasts, the faint taste of her skin hitting his taste buds and rousing them. His hands moved up of their own accord, taking her top and lifting it off her head. There was no one to see them up here, as they hugged there, her bra a tiny barrier between them. He moved in closer till he stood between her legs. His arms wrapped around her back, her hands holding his head, cradling him. The bra was undone and dropped, and he finally, finally got to taste her. She arched her back as his lips closed over her breast. He worshipped it, every lave of his tongue leaving a trail of fire, his stubble rough on the smoothness of her sensitive skin, heightening her pleasure. She moaned softly. He smiled against her breast. His little kitten was finally making a sound, he thought. Her hands roamed restlessly on his back as he moved lower. She lay back, giving him access to her stomach. His tongue dipping and swirling into her navel, his hands never letting go of her softness.

Suddenly he stopped. She opened her eyes, looking straight up at the sky, before sitting up. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked. Her jeans had come unbuttoned, she didn’t know when, and he was staring at her hip.

‘You have a tattoo?’ he growled. She nodded. He pulled the jeans a little further down to get a better look. A Butterfly. Right on her hip bone. He smiled, wondering how much more she was going to surprise him. For a minute, he felt a little pang of jealousy for the unnamed, unseen tattoo artist, who’d actually spent time looking at this...at HIS..hip bone. ‘Do you have more?’ She smile and nodded at him.. completely unaware how incredibly sexy she looked sitting there half-naked, unselfconsciously with the warm sun dappling her skin. ‘Where?’ he was smiling at her, leaning down to drop a quick kiss on her pert nipples.

‘I need to get off this jeep,’ she smiled. He helped her off it, keeping his arms around her loosely. She turned around and tugged her jeans a little lower. There just at the base of her spine was a mustang in full gallop - a chocolate mustang with a white blaze. A low chuckle came from his throat.

Before he knew it, he was kneeling behind her, his big hands gripping her hips as he kissed the mustang, moving up, kissing her along her spine, feeling her breath quicken. His hands came up to hold her breasts from behind, his arousal pressing into the base of her spine. She gasped as she felt him. He nuzzled her neck, near her collarbone.

‘We gotta get you home,’ his voice was almost hoarse. ‘Before I do something we’ll both regret.’ He sighed and looked around for her top and her bra, handing them to her, before picking up his tee from the blanket. By the time he turned around, she was struggling to hook her bra, He came over and gently hooked it, giving one more kiss on her scar. Then he helped her put on her top.

He turned her around, and cupped her face in his hands. Her eyes were clear and trusting. ‘ Khushi, this has been one of the best days of my life. I wanted to say so much.. but you know me.. I can’t...’

‘Hush!’ she said, laying a finger on his lips. ‘It’s okay.’ His eyes thanked her. They gathered up their impromptu picnic before he helped her into the jeep. They drove back in silence, but a much more peaceable silence.

It was quiet on the drive back home, too. He glanced over at her, she was curled up on the seat, facing him. When he didn’t have to shift gears, he put his hand on hers, loathe to let her go even for a moment. He still hadn't resolved what it was he felt for her. But whatever it was.. he was content to let it be for now.

****