Chapter 56

Chapter 55

 

"And now we come to these last few photos. She looks beautiful as usual, but the symbolism is lost on us, and you are missing entirely." After allowing her husband the opportunity to view, Naomi's mother slid the images across the table. They both observed the young man in front of them, noting his reactions, the way his eyes softened; how he gently caressed the photo he held.

"I missed her last shoot as I was attending a seminar out of town. Aside from the one shot that Rachna had sent to my mobile these are the first images of the shoot I've had the opportunity to see."

 "Yet there is significance in them to you?"

Rajeev nodded. "Kabir and Rachna's staircase. I left  to attend the seminar the morning before the photo shoot took place, and she met me on the staircase with a cup of coffee to take on the road with me. She was determined to tell me about her last photo shoot, and why it would mean the most to her." He had placed the pictures in a particular order, and now placed them on the table, one at a time.

"The step she was on when I first noticed her."  He smiled. "She was on the phone with you Aunty, reassuring you that she was eating well, and getting sufficient rest."

He placed the second photo down.  "The stair where I asked her for one week for us to get to know each other better. She hadn't been impressed that I had been so dismissive of her brother's influence over whether she remained in Banaras or not."

Holding onto the last photo just a little longer, he smiled and placed on top of the others.  "The step where, just after five AM, dressed in the most ridiculous Hello Kitty pajamas, Naomi confessed her love.  And then she kissed me on the cheek, wished me a safe journey and told me to leave."

For a few minutes there was complete silence, until Naomi's mother spoke. "Did you leave then Rajeev, without telling our daughter how you felt?"

"I did, only because by that time we had an audience of four, and my preference was that the discussion be conducted in private."

"But you did eventually?"
"Of course he did Shelly, how else would we all be where we are now?"  He turned piercing green eyes on the younger man.  "And speaking of which, how did you come to arrive in New York today of all days Rajeev?"

He laughed mockingly at himself, since he considered that his arrival was later than it should have been. "I'm here today only because my bullheadedness prevented me from arriving any sooner, Uncle.  My not being in the mood to deal with my brother,  resulted in me not learning that she had been crying late into the night until the end of the day when I arrived at my parents' home last night for dinner. Consequently I caught the first available flight today."

"Rajeev, what was the problem that you didn't want to communicate with your brother?"

 Now that wasn't the question he had anticipated, but he was coming to expect the unexpected from Naomi's mother. A seemingly innocuous question could hold so much weight with her, and now afforded this opportunity he was resolved to divulge any and everything to the pair who would ultimately determine his path forward.  "My regrets had gotten the better of me: regret that I had let her come to face her parents alone; regret over the promise she had exacted that I stay behind and take care of Rachna. I was rapidly becoming unfit company for anyone so I had no desire to talk to Vihaan any sooner than I had to. Ironically, this became my biggest regret; that through my inaction, my worst nightmare could have manifested itself. I knew she was due to talk to both of you; I knew that she had yet to contact me since, and then came to know that she had been up crying in the middle of the night. Staying away any longer become out of the question."

 

Leaning back on the sofa, Naomi's father studied Rajeev. Finally he sighed. "Son, I do hope the arrangements you've made for Rachna are suitable. At the very least you will be in for either an earful or  worse case, a bout of tears over your broken promise in the first instance, and if our princess doesn't deem that you have made adequate arrangements...well it would be real a shame for your reunion to spoiled because of this."

-------------

It was nowhere near settled, but they were one step closer, Rajeev thought as he sat in the make-up chair being subjected to all manner of torture.  How he had allowed Kabir to talk him into this - he shook his head.

"This really isn't your thing at all is it? A shame because you do have the looks to pull it off.  One last touch and we're done. Now I think the idea is that we scoot you this way so you can avoid her when she comes back for her touch up. You look really great."

"Thanks." He looked over to where Kabir was motioning him. When he reached there, the designer nodded approvingly. "This is payback for leaving Rachna isn't it?"

Kabir took the suit jacket the production assistant brought over and held it out to Rajeev.  "Not at all Rajeev. I figured perhaps you may want photos with her that the two of you were actually aware were being taken. Since they are guaranteed to be stunning, Nathanial and I figured, why not incorporate your reunion into the actual shoot.  Two birds, one stone so to speak.  Who knows this could the beginning of a new career for you Rajeev."

 

---------

"It still bothers me that we haven't heard from either of them; what am I going to tell Ma and Papa when I get home, other that I had to suffer through the nicest skype interrogation ever." Vihaan looked over his shoulder, past Aryia who he held perched on his shoulder, to Rachna who was laughing behind them.

"Aunty definitely has a way of going about things.  Oh to have been there when she casually dismissed Kabir last night and sent him back to his hotel room; my poor husband, his only consolation was that Naomi's mother effectively stopped Rajeev in his tracks last night as well. Count yourself lucky Vihaan, you just got a small sample of what your bhai has had to contend with."

"As he should, but frankly why I should have..."

"Don't worry you will understand when you have a daughter, Vihaan."

"Oh no, I will leave that up to Bhaiyaa and Bhabhi; I'll just be the favorite uncle. That way I know at the end of the day I can give the little ones back." He waited until Rachna locked her workroom, and then passed her the little girl. "See just like this."

She smiled taking her gleeful daughter into her arms. "Thik hai Vihaan, just remember this when it comes time to send your special little niece, the youngest, prettiest green-eyed  one who adores the ground her Chachaji walks on, off to her in-laws house. Make sure to call me and let me know how that goes for you."

He hesitated, pondering on Rachna's words."Oh God, you don't think I've made it worse for them do you ? Maybe I was too flippant with Bhabhi's mother; you'll have to call her back and let her know that we are a good family, Rachna. Oh God, Ma will kill me if I've gone and ruined..."

"Settle down Vihaan, I'm sure everything's okay. I'm sure that Aunty got a good sense of who you are and that you have been a good Devar and friend to Naomi.  Let's look at it as a good sign. She wouldn't have felt the need to seek you out if there wasn't some serious consideration being done about their relationship.  With their daughter relocating thousands of miles away from them, of course her parents are going to scrutinize everything." She held his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm glad you were here at the right time, Vihaan. Just think soon I'll be hard at work on her dress.  I may even  have to break the cardinal rule and outfit the Agarwal brothers as well, after all they will have to be worthy of the exquisite Banaras Beauty adorned bride they will be adding to their family."

"Aacha, beti, and I think it would be in your best interest to get started immediately. One thing is for sure, between KT Creations and Banaras Beauty, this is certain to be the most fashionable shaadi Banaras has seen since my own."

Both Rachna and Vihaan laughed at Daadi's outrageous comment.

"Vihaan you seem to have your timing right again this evening. Can we offer you dinner, beta? I will make sure to save you a seat next to me."

"Daadi you make me wish I was a few years younger, it's the only way I could possibly keep up with you. I would love to join you for dinner, thank you."

Rachna looked past Vihaan to where Sonal rested on the sofa with Sanjay.  Her head had risen, indicating her attention to their conversation. With all certainty she had to have heard the invitation.  Yet surprisingly she hadn't made a move to leave; interesting, very interesting.  Perhaps she meant to see this meal through.

--------

 

They hadn't talked in two days and she couldn't help but wonder if he was as disturbed as she was. She had been wrong not to contact to him after she had talked to her parents, and the matter hadn't improved when after her spa treatments that she had slept so much of the day away, missing another opportunity to contact him. That KT had to awaken her to eat something last night indicated how the stress of everything had taken a toll on her, but it had been no excuse.  Still she had thought to have awakened to at least some form of communication from Rajeev: a voicemail, text, email , something , but there hadn't been, nor had there been an answer to her  subsequent text. He had to be upset with her; there was no other reason for his absence.

She held up her hand to the artist who was about to begin touching up her makeup. "Can you just give me five minutes; I have a telephone call to make."

"Sure Naomi, just call out for me when you are ready."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." She watched the young woman walk away before picking up her mobile and dialing.

"Hi, how are you?"

"Rachna, how is he? Could he be so angry that he doesn't want to speak to me?"

"I don't understand what..."

"I mean, I know it's my fault that I shut out the world for little while after... but I was certain that he would be in touch after I spoke to Vihaan.   Maybe he's not feeling well or something.  Could that be it? Just find out for me, don't say it's me, just ask him how he is feeling , please?"

"I don't understand, what's wrong?"

"No never mind Ra. Forget that. Just ask him directly why he won't speak with me. Right now, make him give you an answer."

"I can't, he isn't home."

"Well he should be there soon, so..."

"Naomi, he's not here he's left." Her friend's silence alarmed her. "Naomi?"

"That's not possible Rachna," she whispered. "He promised me that he would stay with you." Her voice becoming increasingly shaky she asked her friend, "Do I mean so little to him that he can't keep one promise to me?"

Frantically mouthing to Vihaan to call his brother right now, Rachna tried to calm her friend down. "Naomi you're wrong, please don't think that."

--------

 

"What is it Vihaan?"

"How is it possible you leave to go to her, and she's now feeling worse than ever? Where the hell are you Bhaiyaa?"

"I don't have time for your theatrics, Vihaan, what..."

"Bhabhi needs you; get from wherever you're hiding and go to her now."

"What.." and then he turned and saw her head  resting  on her arms as she lay on the vanity table in front of her. Her shoulders heaved with sobs the sound of which hadn't reached where he stood, but whose existence was undeniable. "Kabir, can I have your handkerchief?" He took it when he produced it and headed for her.

 

"Naomi you have to calm down, everything's okay."

"How can you say that Ra? He's left you, and you're stuck there with that witch. Tomorrow I have to wear the most indecent dress ever, and today your husband decides out of the blue that I should shoot with some random guy, some stranger. How could he have left you, Rachna after he promised me?"

She startled when the mobile was grabbed out of her hand, and her face raised so that the tears could be wiped from her cheeks.  Kneeling beside her, her comforter's face was  partially obscured by the linen wiping her face, until she reached up and grabbed at cloth, and her eyes widened.

Taking the handkerchief back from her now lax grip, Rajeev cleared her face of her ruined mascara as he lectured.

"I left because my first priority is and always will be you, Sweetheart. Rachna is just fine. She has Gunjan and I suspect Vihaan with her as we speak. You on the other hand, have been suffering for past few days, and this was not acceptable to me.  I should have never let you come alone, so I'm here now so we can take care of this together, thik hai? We will both speak to your parents and resolve this one way or another. Now I have no idea why you would think it a bad idea to take some photographs with me Sweetheart, but I had to tolerate a whole lot so I could look good enough to be in your presence, so there will be no quarrel regarding this either."  His matter-of-fact talk was like a balm to her distress, steadying her, allowing her to calm down a bit.

He handed her his mobile. "Say hello and goodbye to your Devar, and thank him for watching out for Rachna." He smiled patiently as she spoke to his brother and then disconnected the call. He nodded to her phone, where she had left Rachna hanging on.

"Ra?"

"Enjoy your time with Mr. Bossy Overbearing Agarwal, thik hai? We will talk soon okay?"

"Goodbye Rachna; I'll talk to you later."

She hung up the phone and cast her eyes down. Rachna was wrong, he wasn't bossy or overbearing; he was dependable and constant and he loved her so much. For a second time her eyes filled with tears.

"You will come home with me to speak to Mummy and Daddy?"

He didn't correct her and let her know that they wouldn't be going far, just nodded. "Yes sweetheart, so no more tears, thik hai?" he said with one final wipe with the cloth before lowering his forehead to hers. "It has been unbearable being away from you."

"Really, I have had a great time without you, can't you tell," she said, laughing tearfully as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He stood taking her with him and enveloped her in the warmth of his embrace. They stood there in silence, their eyes closed, shutting out the world so that they were only aware of each other. It felt as he breathed for the both of them, the rise and fall of his chest releasing the last of her anxiety.  "Rajeev?"

"Hmm Sweetheart?"

"You look absolutely incredible. Are you really the one I'm to take these pictures with?"

"Ji Naomi, provided you let me go and get ready. How about I go back where I was waiting for you, and when you are ready, you come and teach me how this modeling stuff works. You have five minutes."

She looked up and smiled at his five minute ultimatum. "I think I can do that." Thankful for her heels, she didn't have far to reach when she reached for his kiss.

-------------------------------

"Rachna Aunty, did Rajeev Uncle go to New York to get Pari to bring her home?"

"Ha Sanjay, he did."

"And then they are going to get married?"

"Ha Beta, if everything goes to plan Rachna aunty will be making Pari a pretty dress for her wedding," Daadi remarked.

Vihaan paused and looked around the table "Pari?" he asked questioningly.

"Pari is Naomi," she responded.

"She has two names, Pari and Naomi," piped the young boy. "How come you didn't know Uncle, I thought she was your friend."

"She is beta, but she's a very new friend. We haven't even met in person yet, just spoken on the phone and on the computer, because I stay in London, remember?"

 

Sanjay did remember that Rajeev uncle's brother had said that he lived there.  Yesterday, he had wanted to ask him if he had gone on the Eye, but then mama got tired. And afterwards she had said that he shouldn't talk about London because those were the sad times, not like now which were the happy times, here at Papa's house with his sister.  If he promised not to talk about London, then he would be allowed to have dinner with everyone and not in the bedroom. He liked this a lot better, so he wouldn't talk about London anymore.

 

"Vihaan Uncle, do you have a picture of Pari on your phone like him?"

Supposing that he was referring to Rajeev, Vihaan nodded, and pulled up the image to show the youngster. "Yup my brother made sure to send one to me."

"Pari looked pretty that day."

"She did indeed, beta."

The little boy took another bite of his dinner chewing it slowly. "When she comes home you have to take a picture with her so you can have one like her other friend does."

"I will have to make sure I do, beta, just like Rajeev."

Sanjay shook his head. "No her other friend, who misses her a lot."

Vihaan looked around the table quizzingly, but thought nothing of the little boy's odd statement.

------------

"We're going to take a five minute break and then just do a few more, thik hai?"

"Sure KT, we'll just be here waiting" Naomi said smiling.

Walking away he heard her teasing laughter. "Oh no, you didn't call for that five minutes, Rajeev Agarwal, don't even think that you get a kiss for that." Kabir shook his head.

He reached Mohit and Nathanial as they studied the images.

"So what is the prognosis?"

Nathanial put his hand to his forehead. "They're getting better frame by frame Kabir. It has to be something from this set."

For KTs sake, Mohit went to the beginning of the set and flipped through them again. Kabir sighed. "You're right, both of you.  He won't like it though; it definitely isn't what he signed up for. He only wanted to do it for her certainly not to be used."

Mohit looked at the two designers. "I have the production folks on standby in case of a last minute request, but it will have to be submitted soon." He looked at his watch "Actually very soon, as in a couple of more photos and then that's it. You don't have time to negotiate with him KT; you have to make a call on way or another."

Mohit was right, Kabir thought as dialed the person who had known Rajeev longer than all of them. She picked up immediately.

"I have an issue Rachna."
"She's not had another meltdown has she?"

"I think that this may actually be worse than that.  How do you think Rajeev would react if his photos were included in the campaign; actually majorly featured in the campaign?"

Her pause told him everything he needed, and she reaffirmed it with her words. "It's not him at all."

He sighed. "That's what I figured. Would he do it for her, to make Naomi happy?"

"My God KT, are the photos that good that you're considering bribery?"

"They are incredible Rachna. Their chemistry is absolute magic."

"Thik hai, this is what you need to do then."

Kabir listened in wonder. "Mrs Tripathi I bow down to you, that is brilliant; you are brilliant, love."

"Thank you Kabir, but you have to give them the heads up. He won't be happy if he is totally blindsided."

"I love you Mrs. Tripathi. I will call you in a couple of hours thik hai?"

"I love you too KT."

 

He wandered back over to the couple. "You won't mind doing a few more for us will you? I have to tell you that the ones we have are brilliant. We will probably want one or two of them placed for the reception tomorrow, I hope that's okay?"

Naomi's eyes sparkled when she looked up at Rajeev. "I would love that; you wouldn't mind would you Rajeev?" She bit her lip nervously when he hesitated, finally exhaling when Rajeev smiled and kissed her forehead. "If only to make you happy sweetheart."

------------

 

"They look so stunning together don't you think?"  She looked across to her husband who sat on the bench; the perfect vantage to view the nearby photo-shoot. "He did an excellent job of comforting her as well. You can't tell by looking at her now that she had been so distraught not so long ago."

"It sounds, Shelly, that you have made your decision already. Are you truly satisfied that you know everything there is to know? This is no casual decision that we are making."

Naomi's mother reached into the bag that her husband limply held and offered him a chocolate covered almond. "And yet you still allowed them to meet. Jonas, be honest, if you had any serious concerns you could have eliminated everything by asking him not to meet her. Now that we have, there will be no way that we will be able to keep them away from each other."

"Don't you think she's too young?"

"She's almost four years older than we were, and weren't we sure all those years ago?"

"Things were different back then though."

"I agree, and frankly I'm thankful that it hasn't been a case of us learning about her marriage after the fact."

He shook his head vehemently. "No my princess wouldn't deny her daddy from walking her down the aisle." He ate another almond.  "Do they even walk down the aisle over in India?  Well it makes no difference, it not as if he has mentioned marriage anyway."

"There's a ring."

"My God, Shelly are you a private investigator in your spare time?" He laughed when his wife smacked him lightly.

"Perhaps I am not as gruff and overt as you are, but I am just as capable of getting the answers I want and am very thorough in my research.  I will admit that I do like him, a lot.  I still want to speak to her alone at some point, but I feel good about the two them."

"I see, so to think otherwise, I will be seen as the villain in their love story, is that what you are saying? I know I was abrupt with her..."

"You're her father and you love her and want the best for her, that's all. Perhaps you were a little curt, but you didn't have any real facts at the time. Besides, not every love story has to have a villain you know Jonas. And  for certain you are not the villain in theirs."

-------------

Abhi waved off the men as he sat in his office.

"Next time fellows, the first round will be on me."

He waited until he was sure that they had gone and removed the headphones from his laptop listened to the recording that had been sent to him.  With her own words, Naomi had proclaimed his right over her:

 

" He asked me to marry him you know, a couple of time actually, and I must have known deep down that it would be wrong to accept his proposals, but to tell the truth he was one more proposal from a yes.. because it would be easy."

 

He knew just how long to forward the recording to hear what he wanted , and it only affirmed that she had always been meant for him. He played it over and over hearing the words he needed to.

 

" He asked me to marry him you know, a couple of time actually, to tell the truth he was one more proposal from a yes."

He rewound the recording and started it again.

 "He asked me to marry him you know, a couple of time actually, to tell the truth he was one more proposal from a yes."

 

He sneered at the image he had just received, wondering when that useless Sonal had intended on telling him that Rajeev had gone to her. The man's closeness to Naomi galled him, but it would be allowed if only because it would bring her back into his proximity. She was his, she had basically said so herself. And he had no intention of sharing her with this coach for much longer.

[NOCOPY]

crtkelly2016-05-26 02:33:26