What a cowardly way to say goodbye. In total disbelief, Sanyukta stared at the letter resting over the marble vanity in her dressing room, the latter had been couriered to her only minutes ago. She shouldn't be surprised that her erstwhile fianc had chosen this method to break it off. After all Parth Shekhawat was a journalist, well-versed with words although this particular correspondence was simple and to the point
Thanks for everything Sanyukta , but it's time to end feel free to keep the ring. It's been fun.
Fun ?...After an eight month sham of n engagement, one would actually have had enough courtesy to tell her in person that it was over. Not that she was surprised at all. Not that she was angry.
Sanyukta yanked the one carat ring off her finger and hurled it across the room where it hit the wall and landed on the carpet somewhere, if happened to be sucked by vacuum by cleaning staff. She wanted absolutely no souvenirs of the relationship that had been based upon a lie.
The knock at door jolted back into the reality of what she had to do---her job
"five minutes" one of the member called
"Okay I'm ready"
Was she actually ready? Could she actually step in audience and pretend nothing happened, Off all the days...Today when she was going to deliver her first live performance ,a show centered on preparing meal for lovers on vacation.
Of course she can, Parth might have temporarily screwed up her but she refused to let careless disregard crew up her career.
After slipping on her favourite chef's smock, the covered with spoons Sanyukta did another quick review of her make-up tightened her ponytail. A few tears threatened behind her eyes, but she wouldn't allow them to fall. Instead she got mad and clung to her anger. That alone sent her out to face the crowd, a fake smile carefully placed.
She glanced towards the control booth and immediately spotted Randhir Shekhawat, Shekhawat Production's owner and Parth's older brother. Since the day she had taped her first show Randhir had always been there as a good friend and her support. And he wasn't easy to miss with his Greek god looks and carved features, with his concrete confidence that made some men cower as well as an undeniable sense of mystery that made women long to know his secrets.
Speaking of secrets Sanyukta briefly wondered if Randhir had known about Parth's plan. Ofcourse not. He would have told her . Atleast she thought he would. He'd served as her confidante on more than one occasion and they' d had more than their fair share of conversations, even if she'd done the most talking. Even if she hadn't been totally honest with him about her relationship with his brother.
Sanyukta had the strongest urge to run to Randhir , cry on his broad shoulders and curse Parth's bad timing. Not an idea..to execute she had to weather this storm alone, and first step entailed going out and giving her best to the fans.
"Thirty seconds" the stage manner called and when he reached down to countdown, Sanyukta's heart began to push against her chest.
Sanyukta strolled to the evergreen-bedecked stage on legs as stiff as wooden spoons, trying to take comfort from the rousing applause. but she felt only numbness, untill, she considered that everytime she she'd walked past onto this set for the past few months she'd talked about Parth. Then the anger returned. She'd pretended that their relationship had been made in heaven when, in fact, he'd given her a lot of hell.
And right then she decided that several ways to exact revenge did exist. Nothing like a woman scorned behind a stove.
The minute he saw her walk on stage , Randhir knew something was wrong with Sanyukta. She was a confident powerhouse girl with as much appeal as the meals she served up to her audience, and for the past year, he'd scheduled his meetings around her weekly show. In that time he'd learned to gauge every move she made, every detail of her body language . Every detail of her body.
He probably should feel guilty that he spent a good deal of time studying Sanyukta's finer points, particularly since she was engaged to his brother, but he didn't.
No one knew he fantasized about her frequently. No one would ever know that he regretted introducing her to Parth. But back then, he'd been in a relationship and by the time it had ended, Parth and Sanyukta had become a solid couple. So solid that they'd become engaged in a matter of weeks. For months he'd watched her talk about his brother during the show, and while her fan base had welcomed it, Randhir hadn't In fact, at times he'd hated it.
Still he firmly believed mixing business with pleasure could lead to problems in workplace. But there had been days when he'd wondered about what might have been right. Right now he still wondered over Sanyukta's mood.
She made it through first three quarters of the show without hitch, but she sounded overly cheerful, normally she would crack jokes and connected with audience but today she looked as if she probably wants to get over with it.
Following the final break, Sanyukta's show resumed to conduct the usual question-answer session. But instead she said
"we're going to do something different today intime we are left with"
She moved behind the workstation and propped her palms on the edge
"now that we have discussed a holiday meal guaranteed to jingle in you relationship, we shouldn't forget those who don't have a lover. Particularly those unfortunate few who have been jilted by some jerk at worst possible time "
When Sanyukta grabbed two hot pads, Randhir noticed the stage director standing offstage, flipping through the script and looking altogether confused. Sanyukta pulled a pan from the oven , turned and slammed it down onto the butcher counter
"I suggest you go ahead and make this chocolate souffl because you're going to want to eat the whole thing, and that's okay. But for the sake of your health, I suggest make a salad"
Sanyukta turned to the refrigerator, and the production assistant muttered
"What is she doing?"
"Don't panic, Jignesh" Randhir said "Sanyukta's professional. Let her go."
The control room director didn't appear to care for that answer
"We can't just let her go when we don't know where she's going on live TV"
Randhir held up his hand to silence everyone when Sanyukta returned to the counter with an armload of vegetables that she dropped onto the surface, when seeming not to care when a tomato rolled onto the floor.
She held up a large cucumber and something told Randhir she wasn't quite done.
Sanyukta slapped the cucumber onto a cutting onto a cutting board, then picked up a nearby clever.
"When you're thinking about the idiot who left you at the high point in life. Just imagine this is..." She looked up and grinned and that's when Randhir noticed hint of tears.
"well you catch the drift"
Then she began hacking away at the vegetables with a vengeance, leaving the studio's occupants stunned and the director demanding a fade out. But before the commercial could be called out a young woman called
"What are you and Parth doing for holidays, Sanyukta?"
Sanyukta looked up, clever still in hand and sent that lady a withering look.
"I'm not doing anything with Parth because the jackass dumped me."
For someone who prided herself on composure, Sanyukta had hit an all time low on the no-self control scale. She didn't know what had gotten onto her. With several whacks of clever , she'd shredded any possibility of a wider syndication beyond the region and when the knock came at the door, she expected to find a band of studio executives swooping down on her like a flock of hungry hawks.
She snatched a tissue from the holder and removed what she could of the mascara smudges beneath her eyes.
"Come in"
"What's going on with you?"
Sanyukta wasn't all that surprised to see the mirrored reflection of Randhir standing at the door. He was in charge of the studio, which meant in charge. She spun around on the stool and shrugged .
"I just made a total fool of myself"
He strolled into the room, hands in pockets, and stood there , silently studying her
"Go ahead, Randhir" she said "Tell me you're going to cancel the show. Just say something"
He took a couple of slow steps toward her and stopped, as if he feared she might go after him with nail file set.
"First you tell me what Parth did to you"
She slid the letter off the counter and offered it to him.
"This came about minutes before the show."
Randhir took the paper and scanned it before muttering, "bas***d"
Sanyukta pulled the band out of her ponytail to brush her strokes
"I knew this was inevitable. I just didn't think he'd handle it this way."
Randhir laid it down and leaned a hip against vanity
"You two been having problems?"
She slammed the drawer...
"Our entire relationship has been one big problem, Randhir. But I really don't want to talk about it, I want to talk about the repercussions I would face after today"
"We won't know for a few days" he said "Whatever happens I'll handle it."
She had no doubt he would, or at least he would try. She had to love him for trying to lighten the mood
"It was definitely not one of my finer moments but I was so furious at Parth. I couldn't think straight"
"If it makes you feel better , I'm not happy with him either" He folded the letter and slid it inside his pocket
"Do you know where he is right now?"
"He would probably be preparing to catch his flight for Chennai as he has to feature an author for the magazine"
Randhir checked his watch "It's four and he's never on time, I might be able to catch him at his apartment"
"What are you going to do ?" Sanyukta didn't find the plan amazing
"Have a talk with him"
She slid off the stool soon to realise how fragile she felt standing across Randhir
"Don't think about changing his mind. The relationship's already doomed"
"As far as I'm concerned, you're better off without him"
"He is your brother , Randhir"
"And his behaviour affected you"
He leaned over and swept a soft kiss across her cheek "Now I'll go home. Call you later"
After Randhir left Sanyukta touched the place where his lips had been only moments before , totally taken aback by the gesture. She knew Randhir was never prone to random bouts of affection. He wasn't the type of man who would openly displayed any emotions. Even then he used a hard, controlled tone and cutting looks as his weapon. He'd never had any reason to until today. Yet he'd kissed her cheek.
...
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