The Bestseller She Wrote (18 page)

She hurriedly went on to Sanjay’s Facebook page and looked for the article about the EasyLib event in TOI which he had tagged Aditya in. She found it easily enough and clicked on the link. It opened up on the TOI website. Shreya was in the photo with Aditya and the EasyLib team.

But it was not her presence in the picture which irked her. She had asked Aditya about the picture and he had told her that all of them were employees of EasyLib. He had lied to her. If he had nothing to fear or hide, then why would
he lie?

She hated lies.

And more importantly, she hated liars.

39

M
AYA COULD CONTAIN
herself no longer. She stormed up to Aditya and asked him, ‘Isn’t Shreya the same girl who asked you that arrogant and snide question in Bangalore?’

‘Oh yes. She is,’ Aditya acknowledged. ‘And it was not an arrogant or insulting question. The manner in which she asked the question was inappropriate, not the question itself.’

‘Semantics,’ Maya argued. ‘Why didn’t you tell me she was the same girl?’

‘It wasn’t that important.’

‘She was there at your book event at EasyLib too?’

‘Yeah, she was. Why? What happened?’

‘But when I had asked you about the people in the picture that TOI carried, you told me that they were all employees of EasyLib. But this woman was there too. You lied to me,’ Maya was peeved. Her face had gone red and she was beginning to stammer. ‘Why?’

‘Did I?’ Aditya asked coolly.

‘Yes!’

‘Maya,’ Aditya spoke in a very loving and assuaging tone, ‘come, sit here.’ He patted the seat next to his. When she sat down, he put his arms around her shoulder and asked, ‘What is the issue? What’s on your mind? Out with it.’

‘You lied to me about her. Why would you do that?’ She was angry, upset and irritated.

‘Look. I didn’t lie to you. The TOI picture had seven or eight people. Everyone else apart from her and me was from EasyLib. In fact till you told me right now, I was not even aware that she was in the picture. I didn’t even see the snap closely to look at the others. I just looked at myself and saw if I looked okay. I did, so I moved on.’

‘Why is she in your team? I thought you didn’t like her. Wasn’t that what you told me?’

‘Sanjay hired her. HR allocated her to my team because we wanted the wealth management project to be handled by someone confidentially. And what better way to manage confidentiality than have a new resource who will do as told and has no internal alignments? She is writing a book, so she asked for my help. That’s it. As for the party today, Kiwi invited her, I didn’t. You know Vaishali . Pick up the phone and ask her.’

‘Did you rehearse these lines knowing that I will ask you or are these impromptu?’ She wiped the tears which had rolled down her cheeks.

Aditya knew that he had managed to calm her fears. She had been won over for the time being.

‘Be careful, Aditya,’ Maya said. ‘She isn’t harmless. Stay away from her,’ she warned. Aditya just nodded his head and kept quiet.

That night he was about to sleep when he got a message on his mobile.

Maya heard the phone beep and looked at him.

‘Who is it?’

‘Sanjay. He just dropped off Tim at his house. SMSing to say thanks.’

Despite his calm exterior Aditya was worried. He was lucky that Maya hadn’t seen the phone screen.

He immediately brought up Shreya’s contact on his phone and altered her name to Ram Kumar. Henceforth even if Shreya messaged him late and Maya inadvertently saw it, she wouldn’t know it was Shreya, for it would show up as Ram Kumar.

Matter resolved for the time being.

40

‘
L
AST NIGHT AFTER
the party, Vaishali and I went out for coffee. She wanted to spend some time with me; gave me a long list of changes she wants done to the manuscript.’ Shreya didn’t even wait for Aditya to walk into his cabin the next morning.

‘Good. So things are moving.’

‘Good? What do you mean good? Why should I make the changes she wants?’ Shreya was indignant.

‘That’s the way it normally works, baby. These editors know what are the flaws in a book. For a newcomer, it is always safe to trust your editor. And Vaishali is a seasoned editor, she is good.’

‘Will you first read the changes she is recommending,’ Shreya said, forcibly handing him a printout, ‘before you begin your lecture?’

Aditya looked at her. He didn’t like the way she was speaking to him, but then their relationship went beyond that of a subordinate and supervisor.

He started reading the sheet that Shreya had given him. On the top of the page were the words ‘Suggested alterations for Shreya Kaushik’s untitled book.’

a) Change Aditya’s name to something more rustic. The name does not suit the character.

b) Detailing of locations in the book needs to be fleshed out. As of now it is very elementary. The average reader will have to be told what those locations stand for. Take a relook at pages: 4, 89,112 and 165.

c) The book is short. Can we look at adding another 15,000 words? We need to have a book of at least 200 pages. Readers will hesitate paying a good price for something less than that.

d) Reduce the gore in the rape scene. While it is very hard-hitting, it might put off many.

There were a few more easy-to-manage points on the list. He read through everything and looked at her.

‘What is wrong with this?’ asked Aditya. ‘Everything she says is reasonable.’

‘Another 15,000 words? It will kill the pace of the book, won’t it?’

‘It might not. Provided you add some incidents, which add some texture to the story or characters. Not too difficult. It might kill the pace in a thriller but not in a book like yours. A little bit of focus on prose and detailing may only add to the value of the book. Vaishali is right.’

‘It will take a lot of time. Where will I find time to do all this, Aditya?’

‘Don’t worry. This will not take too long, max two weeks,’ Aditya reassured her.

‘Hmm,’ Shreya looked dejected.

‘I will help you with this. Let’s start with the easiest.’

‘Easiest?’

‘Yes. Think of a name for Aditya. Do edit-find-replace in the word document,’ Aditya laughed. ‘Isn’t that the easiest thing to do?’

Shreya made a face and walked back to her seat. Once there she dialled him on the intercom. ‘Coming home this evening?’

‘Yes. Provided this asshole Tim doesn’t screw it up.’

‘Language, Aditya.’

‘Haha,’ he laughed. ‘You just reminded me of Maya.’ Shreya banged the phone down.

*

That evening after work, Shreya left on time and went home. Aditya left half an hour later and followed her to her house.

Shreya was alone at home when Aditya reached. ‘Isn’t Sunaina here?’ he enquired. The excitement in his voice was palpable. Of late, this had become a daily affair. Every day, on his way back, Aditya would spend some time with Shreya at her home and then head back to his house. Invariably one thing would lead to another and they would end up in bed.

‘She has gone to Kolkata on an assignment.
The Indian Express
is covering the Trinamool Congress annual celebrations and felt that it would be a good learning ground for new journalists. So they sent her to be a part of it.’

‘Wow.’

‘What’s on your mind, lover boy?’

‘Shall we focus on the book before we digress into something else?’ Aditya had a wide grin on his face. Shreya’s attire was distracting him. She was wearing hot pants which tantalisingly ended a couple of inches below her butt. Whenever she got up and walked away from him, it drew his gaze like a magnet.

‘Sure, but if you don’t stop focusing on my derriere, Mr Kapoor, there is no way I am going to be able to focus on what I have to do to please Vaishali ,’ Shreya teased.

‘Have you considered the fact that someone here also needs to be pleased?’ Aditya was at his flirtatious best.

‘Like how?’

Aditya pulled her towards him in a seamless motion. Before she could even realise it, she was on his lap. Aditya didn’t have to put in much effort to take off the clothes that didn’t want to be there in the first place.

‘What about the book?’ Shreya whispered, her breath coming in short gasps.

‘We will see, once we are done with the author,’ Aditya commented as his hands slipped past the unbuttoned shorts into the elastic of her panties. Shreya moaned. Aditya’s lips had engulfed her right nipple even as he stood up. He struggled out of his trousers and managed to kick them off. With his lips still sucking on Shreya’s erect nipples, he led her to the bedroom.

A tired Shreya fell asleep in his arms almost immediately after their steamy session. Aditya stayed there for about an hour, trying to make sure that he didn’t move and wake her up. She was lying naked in front of him. He thought about how Shreya’s life had been deprived of love. He was not in a position to give her long-term solace. He could only ensure that she was happy as long as the relationship lasted. But after that, what?

A hand snaked up to his cheek and went on to play with his hair. Shreya had woken up. ‘Where are you lost, baby?’ she asked.

‘It’s nothing,’ Aditya smiled as he got up to wear his clothes.

‘Stay back,’ Shreya implored. Aditya looked at her. She was patting the side of the bed that he had just got up from. He smiled. ‘Got to go . . . people are waiting.’

‘I know,’ she made a face but then she quickly changed her mood. ‘It’s okay. I should be happy that we are able to spend this time together.’ She got up and hugged him. ‘It’s just that when you are with me, I feel that my life has a purpose. I feel closer to my dream. I feel that I will become someone that I will be proud of.’

‘I know,’ Aditya hugged her back.

‘We never discussed the book,’ she complained.

‘Tomorrow. Stay away from me and we will close it.’ Aditya kissed her and left the house.

41

A
DITYA WAS ON
his way back from Shreya’s house when Vaishali called to confirm that everything was as per schedule for his book launch. August 8th was fixed as the date for the launch of Aditya’s fifth book. It was a month away.

‘I am comfortable with that. We then get the entire season for the book,’ he said. August onwards was considered the peak season for book sales in India.

‘Correct,’ Vaishali responded. ‘We need to close out the book launch details. Where do you want to do it? A bookstore, mall, college . . . where? I can get the marketing team to get cracking on it.’

‘Obviously a bookstore. Where is the doubt?’ Aditya loved the quaint romantic appeal of a bookstore. ‘Bookstores have made me who I am. We owe it to them, Vaishali . We must help herd crowds back into the stores, or else the bookstores will all play the vanishing act soon. As it is Reliance TimeOut shut shop two years back. We don’t want Crossword and Landmark to down their shutters. Without these bookstores, there will be no books, and without books, there will be no culture. So . . .’ he paused and took a deep breath, ‘bookstores it is.’

‘Noted. Will be executed accordingly,’ Vaishali replied.

‘When is Shreya’s book launch?’ Aditya asked.

‘Targeting for November. Need a clear three months between your book and hers.’

‘You think my book will eat into her sales or vice versa?’

‘Neither actually,’ Vaishali responded calmly. ‘We need you to help promote her book. And for two months you will be busy with your own book. That’s why November. Might slip to December depending on how your book tour works out, and how punctual she is with regard to her commitment.’

‘Aaah. Now I get it. Fine by me.’

*

‘Had dinner?’ Maya asked as she opened the door for him, ‘Or should I warm it up for you?’

‘Not too hungry. I’ll have it in a while, baby.’

‘What took you so long? I was waiting for you to come.’

Whenever Maya said something like that, it meant she was waiting to tell him something important. ‘Tim had called for a meeting, and you know how he is,’ Aditya lied. ‘Why? What happened?’

Maya smiled. ‘Our school has been selected to represent India in the
World Emerging Trends in Education
conference. And . . .’ she fluttered her eyelashes like a hummingbird flaps its tiny wings, ‘. . . and guess what? Nita Ambani wants me to go.’

‘Wow! That’s great news. So where is the conference?’

‘Paris.’ Her eyes lit up.

‘Amazing! I will also come. When is it?’

‘Next month.’

‘Oh shit. Hope it is not on 8th August.’

‘Why? What happened?’

‘My book launch. Kiwi called today. And also, towards the end of August is when we will be doing all the people actions—sacking 290 people in my business. I will be a bit messed up.’