The Indian Tycoon's Marriage Deal (19 page)

Rohan looked sheepish. ‘Morning, Chief. I'm sorry, my mobile was…'

Krish waved away his apology. ‘Rohan, meet Akshay Verma and Shyam Mehra from MDS. They are private detectives.'

‘The same MDS that rescued kidnapped industrialist, Ram Sharan Goenka?'

Akshay, the older among the two, whose ramrod-straight posture hinted at a military background, nodded as he shook hands with Rohan. ‘Yes, Sir, the very same. We have an impeccable record in tracking down missing persons. The police were on the Goenka case for months, but when his family approached us, we located the criminals and rescued him in five days.'

Krish wrote out a cheque as he shook his head. ‘Uh-huh…Not good enough. Five days is too long. I want Maya located ASAP. You already have several leads that I have provided.'

Akshay nodded gravely. ‘We'll get on the job right away. Do you have any addresses that we could check out in her home town?'

Krish gave them an annoyed look. ‘You're not looking for a criminal. Finding someone in a small town like Howrah with the leads that I have given you shouldn't be tough. The sooner you find her, the bigger the bonus you get. And your clock has already started ticking.'

As soon as the detectives had left with an advance of five hundred thousand rupees, Krish instructed Rohan, ‘I need you to follow up with them and give me reports on their progress.'

Krish looked out of the large plate glass window at Connaught Place.

A worried Rohan looked at Krish. ‘Chief, are you okay?'

Krish turned around and Rohan saw the haunted look in his eyes. ‘Rohan, I need to find Maya urgently. I messed up. Big time.'

* * *

Maya struggled to put her life together piece by little piece. After being locked up for more than four years, the house had demanded her immediate attention. But that was the easy part. The difficult part was dealing with the unholy mess of her feelings.
How do you discipline your runaway heart, box up your love for a man who hates you and stash it away?

Her home had always been her refuge and yet she could find no comfort. Even after she had swept all the cobwebs away, scrubbed the floors, spent her meagre resources on getting a paint job done in bright colours, she didn't feel a shred of satisfaction. And the thought of spending a life without Krish made her eyes fill with tears all over again.

Startled at the loud knock on the door, she dashed away the tears that were streaming down her face. Just in time too. Mashi, the nurse who'd been such a godsend during Papa's last days, stormed in and folded her in a warm embrace.

‘
O Ma, tomaye dekhi!
Look at you, all grown up!' And then, clicking her tongue disapprovingly, ‘What's with you young people, why do you all want to look like dried sticks?' That brought a smile to Maya's face; she was amazed that her facial muscles hadn't forgotten how to!

Hands on her ample hips, Mashi gave her a mock fierce look. ‘Did you think you could sneak back into town and I wouldn't know?'

Maya's excuses that she was planning to look her up were instantly waved off as Mashi busily started opening up a tiffin box full of delicious food. ‘You sit down while I fetch a plate for you.'

‘You don't expect me to eat all this, do you?' Maya protested.

‘You need fattening up. That stick-thin look might be fashionable in Delhi, but not here. So, come on now, get on with it.'

In a way Maya welcomed Mashi's bossiness. At least it took her mind away from Krish. But if she'd thought she could deceive the doughty old nurse, she was sadly mistaken. ‘I know something happened in Delhi that you don't wish to talk about. But know one thing—if you ever want to talk, I'm here.'

Maya looked away—she didn't want to go there. Some day she would tell her about Krish, but not now. Not when the memory of his accusations and the contempt in his eyes still had the power to lacerate her heart to shreds. Not when the thought of spending the rest of her life without him filled her with a heart-aching loneliness that she had no idea how to deal with.

She changed the topic before Mashi bulldozed her any more on the issue. ‘I have got a job at St Joseph's Convent as a dance teacher.'

Mashi beamed. ‘Dance and kids—that should stop your waterworks.'

Sure, she hadn't missed her red, blotchy eyes. But, before she could shuffle away, Mashi wagged a finger at her sternly. ‘And if that doesn't cure you, I'll send you packing to the hospital. A few doses of bitter medicine should do the trick.'

With a hug and a peck on her cheek, Maya dashed off. As Mashi had predicted, the kids kept her on her toes. She was plunged into the energetic business of training a bunch of ten-year-olds for an upcoming inter-school dance competition. Her days were filled with the boundless energy and chatter of children while her nights were spent in a fruitless pursuit of exorcising Krish's memory.

* * *

The meeting had gone just as Krish had planned. Rohan had more than impressed the investors with his presentation on the DGE restructuring. As the investors applauded, Krish winked at Rohan and gave him a thumbs-up sign. Rohan beamed back at him briefly before turning to address a question that an investor had raised. Krish had begun to delegate more of DGE's work to Rohan, who had lived up to the challenge. Soon he would be ready to take on more responsibility. With a whole new management team in place, the DGE restructuring strategy was already beginning to impress clients and customers alike.

And yet, despite the relief, Krish felt restless, almost adrift. He checked his phone yet again to see if there was any message from the investigators. He stopped himself from dialling Akshay to check on their progress. He knew he had to give them time. But he was fast running out of patience. He felt torn between hope and despair. Hope that there would be some news of Maya. Despair that he would never ever be able to find her. It was almost as if she'd disappeared from the face of the earth.

As he threw open the door to his office, the receptionist approached him with a thick envelope marked ‘Urgent'.

‘Sir, this packet just came for you,' she said before hurrying away.

The packet had the MDS logo on one side. As he tore it open, a thick dossier slipped out. Finally! He collapsed into his chair and avidly began to read the report.

The investigations had led the detectives to the Howrah Government Hospital where Maya's father, Subodh Shome, had been treated for cirrhosis of the liver four years ago. He'd been under the care of a nurse called Laxmi Sarkar, who still worked in the hospital. She had refused to divulge any information about Maya and her whereabouts, claiming that as far as she knew, Maya had left town after her father had passed away. But the detectives had managed to glean from one of the ward boys the real story about Subodh Shome's death. On the day he was to be discharged, Shome had asked the ward boy to fetch him a razor as he wanted to shave before he left the hospital. The boy did as instructed and Shome went to the bathroom to shave. Half an hour later, the boy returned to find a commotion outside the bathroom. People were beating on the door and yelling to the occupant to get out. Finally, they broke the door down, only to find Shome lying dead on the floor: he had cut his wrist open with the razor.

Krish's jaws clenched tightly as he looked away from the document briefly. The investigators had stated the stark facts without any embellishment but they had the effect of a knockout punch. His heart went out to the nineteen-year-old Maya…Not only did she have to face the loss of her father but also cope with the trauma of his suicide. What would she have done? Who would she have turned to? Was there anybody to help her through the police investigations that would have followed on the heels of the discovery of her father's body? Taking a deep breath, he continued to read.

The nurse had been the only person who supported her through it all, accompanying her to the police station and bearing upon the officials to close the case without further delay as her father had left behind a suicide note in which he'd clearly stated that he alone was responsible for taking his own life.

Krish flipped some more pages, anxious to know if the detectives had managed to find Maya's whereabouts. And there it was in black-and-white. Her address. He clutched at the page and tore it out of the file. Thrusting it in his pocket, he picked up the phone on his desk and barked into it. ‘Get the G6 ready.'

He texted Rohan:
‘We have a lead. On my way to Howrah. Talk soon.'

By late afternoon, Krish had arrived in Kolkata. Rohan had made sure that there was a cab waiting to drive him to Howrah. He thrust the piece of paper at the driver. ‘Get me to this address as fast as you can.'

As the cabbie deftly steered them through the Kolkata traffic before speeding down the road towards Howrah, Krish wished they could go faster. Every minute that they spent on the road seemed like an eternity. He pulled out his BlackBerry and scrolled to the images folder. The image that flashed on the screen was of Maya at KD's birthday bash. The day he'd met her. Her lips were turned up in that heartbreaking Mona Lisa smile. He cursed himself for the millionth time for all the things he'd done wrong. He longed to wrap his arms around her, hold her close to his heart and never let go. But his hopes were fast fading away and the fears closing in. Fear that the past would forever stand like a barrier between them. Fear that she would reject him because he was his father's son. Fear that she would never feel anything but hatred for him. Fear that he was doomed to live a life without Maya—empty, lonely and meaningless.

* * *

Maya's home was filled with rambunctious ten-year-olds. They had made it to the quarter-finals of the dance competition and their incessant chatter was testimony to their high state of excitement. Keeping them focused on the practice for the next round of the contest was driving Maya crazy. She finally clapped her hands loudly and called for their attention in her sternest voice. ‘Listen up—if you don't practise now, you may as well forget about beating the St Mary's team in the next round.'

One pretty little girl whimpered, ‘O Maya-di, please don't say that.'

Maya gave her a stern look. ‘If you want to win, stop chatting and start practising.'

The kids quickly took their places as Maya turned on the music system. The music blared and the kids were soon absorbed in the ballet that told the heart-rending love story of Shakuntala, the queen who was cursed by an angry sage and lost the love of her husband, King Dushyant.

From time to time, Maya would correct their posture but she was delighted that there wasn't one false step. In fact, as the leads danced to the climactic scene where the star-crossed lovers reunite when the king recognises his queen after he finds the ring that he had given her she felt her throat choke up with emotion. It reminded her of her own lost love—but unfortunately for her there would never be a happy ever after!

So absorbed was she that she didn't see the shadow that darkened the door. The hairs at the back of her neck prickled. Just the way they did when Krish was near her. Why couldn't she get over him? Why did she yearn for him so much that she could actually feel his presence in the room?
You're so pathetic, Maya!
She turned to the girl closest to her, who'd stopped dancing and was looking beyond her. ‘What are you looking at?' she scolded the girl before glancing at the door.

The tall, muscular physique, the whiff of a familiar male scent, his tousled hair falling over his forehead, the stubble on his jaw line, which seemed even more angular and sculpted than she last remembered.
Krish!
Was she hallucinating? She was rooted to the spot as she watched him approach her. And then that gravelly, sexy voice she had believed she would only hear again in her dreams…‘Maya.' It sounded too real to be just a dream.

The spell was broken when one of the girls interjected, ‘Maya-di, we're done.'

She strained to put a smile on her face. ‘Well done. That was a good rehearsal. I will see you all at the hall at ten a.m. tomorrow.'

As the children filed out of the house, excitedly chatting among themselves, they darted looks at the tall, handsome man who had eyes only for their teacher.

Maya turned to Krish, her heart dancing to a crazy beat. ‘What are you doing here? If I remember right, you told me to get out of your life.'

That was when it hit her and her heart sank. Of course, they still had unfinished business between them. There was only one reason for him to seek her out. For a relationship that had begun with the signing of a contract, there could only be one way to end it—the signing of another one. He needed her signature to file for divorce.

‘Maya, just hear me out. Please.'

She couldn't bear to look at him. The desperation in his voice was enough to freeze the warm feelings that had bubbled within her. It was a desperation born out of his need for freedom. She was a burden around his neck and he needed to break free. Tears squeezed her throat. ‘You couldn't wait to get rid of me and now you have actually tracked me down. So, what is so important?'

For a moment, Krish seemed lost for words before he said simply, ‘You. You are the most important thing in the world to me.'

Anger flashed in her eyes. ‘Really? Somehow it's very hard for me to believe that.'

Something stirred in his eyes. Was it pain? But, before she could decipher it, he said, ‘I know…I know you're hurting…and frankly saying sorry is not enough. Apologising for all the hurt, the pain, the trauma that you and your family have suffered thanks to mine seems so inadequate. It's too little, too late. But believe me, if there's anything I could do to change the past I would. If there's any way that I could repent for my father's sins, I would.'

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears at the sincerity in his eyes. She turned away from him, walked towards the window, where the curtains were ruffling in the light evening breeze and the sky had turned a soft violet-pink. The magic hour. But right now, there was nothing magical about it as darkness fast descended into her life. Guilt. He obviously needed to unburden himself of his guilt.