Chapter 23
The morning of 31st December was welcomed by the thick layers of snow on the ground as the snowflakes softly flicked onto the roof of her house, on the trees in the nearby forest, on the road and buildings everywhere around. It wasn't usual to snow in London so heavily and after many a years the area witnessed the splendor of such magnificent snowfall. Ishani excitedly got up and headed towards the gate. As she reached there she saw it fell incessantly, soundlessly and the trees were all covered in snow and there was only the blanket of whitish powder lying all across the planes, as far as her eyes could see nothing was visible but white, dazzling snow. The forest on the northward seemed to be having come alive as the snow on the bows of the trees glistened richly and it seemed they would come to life and dance along the flakes falling over them. The atmosphere was filled with magic as if an angel had showered the earth with stardust and it was meant to remain white forever under the soft shades of sun and moon and the gleaming stars.
The snow underneath her feet crunched tenderly as Ishani set her right foot out of the rim of her house and the snowflakes, still falling ever gently, tickled her cheeks.
"This is amazing!" Ishani said excitedly, and stretched out her hands into the air; the snow fell over her palms and melted into livid, shapeless water. She could see the children playing with each other in the ground, making snowmen and laughing merrily and throwing the snowballs at each other. Ishani's gaze ran towards Mr. Watson's hotel, which now belonged to Ranveer: it too remained colored with white snow and for a few moments her heart was filled a strange longing and she hoped somehow, from anywhere, she could be with Ranveer as they always desired to play carelessly in childhood under the snow. But she subsided the feeling thinking he couldn't be here, for this area was never in his hands and only Rishi looked after it.
"Nothing can be better than snow on New Year Eve," she thought to herself and went off to prepare for the grand evening that awaited her.
*
"I'm glad to be a part of your project, sir," Ishani said to Mr. A. K. Gupta, her new business partner, as the meeting came to its final stage. Mr. Gupta returned the respect for her with the same enthusiasm.
"It's an honor to work with you, Ms. Parekh. Your father was a great man and he still holds the same respect in my mind as he did years ago. Although I never met him, call it my bad luck, to be sure, I heard a lot about him and the sudden demise of him was extremely saddening," Mr. Gupta replied. Ishani could see a sense of pity in his eyes and she did not pretend to like it as she said:
"Thank you, sir. And my father would have been glad had he been here, but you don't have to feel bad since I am here to take my father's legacy further and he, in all ways, would be proud of that." She smiled.
Mr. Gupta understood the gist of Ishani's response as his eyes were filled with an admiration for her. "Like father, like daughter," he said. "By the way, a very happy new year to you, in advance as there is still time."
Ishani returned the wishes courteously and moved towards the other side. Guests were gathered there and Ishani shared the greetings with them. Suddenly Ishani saw Puneet enter the hall and he too noticed her as he made his way towards her. Ishani looked behind him for any sign of Ranveer's, though in her heart she hoped he stayed at his home due to his bad health, but he was not present there. Puneet approached Ishani and soon after she realized he was not alone, but brought Sally with him too. A smile crept over Ishani's face as she saw Puneet and Sally by her side, a genial smile on their faces too.
"What a pleasant surprise!" Ishani exclaimed, her tone bit teasing as she saw Puneet slightly blush.
"Hello, Ms. Parekh," Puneet said and Sally too repeated.
"Wonderful evening, is it?" Ishani said. Puneet nodded.
"It is and tonight it's going to be much more fun," he said.
"Fun? No need to tell."
"Yes, New Year eve in London is always wonderful and the fireworks at night have no competition at all. It's always fantastic and with fresh snow it becomes the best thing in the world." Puneet sighed.
Ishani raised her eyebrows. "You sound like a poet."
"I do? I think I blame the evening itself." Puneet chuckled.
After the lighthearted conversation Ishani looked at Puneet curiously whilst he was lost in talking to Sally.
"Puneet, how is everything going on?" she asked with worry in her voice.
Puneet sighed. "We're close at it and probably things will get better soon. RV sir is positive and so am I."
The mention of RV's name gave Ishani's heart a leap and she could not refrain herself from asking what she forced to bury until now.
"And...what...about RV? Isn't he coming here?" she said, her voice little hoarse.
But before Puneet could answer anything Ishani saw a familiar figure entering the party hall and found her breathing almost on edge. She saw Ranveer walking towards the place she was standing and he looked exceptionally charming as for a change he remained out of his three-piece-suit and donned a dark-blue jeans and a simple white tee with a brown jacket. Ishani saw him walking towards her and she moved forwards to greet him but he walked past her as soon as he came there ignoring Ishani as if she did not exist. Ishani appallingly looked at him while he showed no signs of noticing her presence and went upto Mr. Gupta. Ishani saw the two of them greeting each other courteously as Mr. Gupta gestured Ranveer to take a seat. Ranveer settled himself on the couch in front of his host and even now he seemed to not noticing the presence of smoldering Ishani. Ishani could not help but feel angry and sometimes wanted to rush to him and let him know of her presence which he benevolently ignored, but instead of doing any of that she followed Puneet who proceeded towards his boss. Ishani, Puneet and Ranveer sat there, silently as Mr. Gupta talked about his business and plans in London. He appeared to be very proud of Ranveer for having taken over the market in such a short span while Ranveer politely nodded and smiled in between.
"You know, this is time world acknowledges our talent," Mr. Gupta said; "for we, Indians, can reach upto any heights we want. We have our own technology enough never to borrow anything from others and now young generation like you, RV, are making us proud."
"Thank you, sir. We're working and that's just it!" Ranveer replied.
"You have been here for nearly 2 years, right?"
"1 year, 7 months. Yes, sir."
"And you have not been to India since then? Don't you miss your country?"
"We miss the things which we leave behind, and I never left my country, so there is no question I ever will miss it." Ranveer smiled.
Mr. Gupta and Ranveer kept talking for a long time and many deals were made and Mr. Gupta said he would like to work with Ranveer too once he has established his business in the country.
The time Ishani spent there seemed to have slowed down considerably as she found herself getting sick of the closed room and loud music and worst of all Ranveer's ignorance. Many young men came upto her, asked her to dance with them but she denied as humbly as possible. There came a moment her mind refused to understand anything Ranveer and Mr. Gupta were talking about and she found herself yawning when suddenly a young man extended his hand in front of her.
"Would you please give me the honour to dance with you, Ma'am?" he asked politely. She remembered this man being Stephen Garnett, the youngest son of Mr. Peter Garnett, her business partner from Austria, who had visited London to have few days back.
Ishani looked around and realized nothing had changed too much; she looked at Ranveer who was still engrossed in his conversation with other guests, and she could tell, except 4 people in the party no one knew who he was. Ishani stiffened her lips, and faked a smiled. "Sure; why not!" and very reluctantly gave her hand in Stephen's. He took her to the dance floor and wrapped his arms around her.
"Excuse me, please," she said, and moved away. Ishani looked behind, towards the guests, there were not many people sitting now but Ranveer still did not move. And now he was sitting all by himself and Puneet and Sally were dancing among the other guests somewhere near her. Ishani moved her gaze away and looked at Stephen and smiled as she tried not to look upon Ranveer. Despite not wanting to the memories of her dance with Ranveer kept flashing in front of her eyes and she hoped to live that moment again. It must have been a couple of minutes since she was here Ishani felt Stephen suddenly stopped in the middle of their dance and looked slightly terrified. She looked at him questioningly while he did not move, and soon Ishani realized he was looking at someone behind her. Ishani turned to look at the newcomer and almost gasped in shock to find Ranveer, who now looked extremely angry as well as annoyed. Stephen did not dare say anything and nor did Ranveer say anything at all and before Ranveer could even ask him to leave Stephen looked at Ishani shamefully and ran away. Now Ishani and Ranveer stood there silently, a familiar feeling rolling up in her hearts.
"What were you doing here?" Ranveer asked angrily.
"I'm doing what everyone else is doing," Ishani responded, slightly crossly. "Enjoying the party."
"Oh, really?" Ranveer raised his eyebrows and Ishani looked amazed.
"Yes!" she snapped.
"Don't think what your lover will think if he finds this out?" Ranveer said.
"What has he got to do anything with my being here?"
"Nothing really, but thought to remind you of your boyfriend," Ranveer taunted.
"What's wrong with you, Ranveer? I'm here, I know that, and why do you have to remind me of someone I'm supposed to marry in some days?" Ishani replied, getting irritated with the conversation.
Ranveer laughed. "Because the man you were here with few minutes back is a bas***d, an idiot, and in no way the kind of person you should even stand with; and you were...heh! You know, this Stephen guy was making life-long kind of promises to a lady few minutes back and after that he was with someone else. How long do you think I have been here? 20 minutes and in 20 minutes he has tried...kissing to 2 different women. Now doesn't that want you make him hit hard? He's a rich spoiled brat. That's it!"
Ishani stared at Ranveer's face to find any signs of exaggeration or lies but saw none, and she never knew Stephen Garnett had a darker background. "Uh"I didn't know he was like that. But has anything that got to do with Chirag?" she said after few moments.
"You should atleast be loyal to the people you claim to love," Ranveer said wistfully. Saying this Ranveer walked away glancing at her, leaving Ishani into rueful thoughts and disappeared somewhere beyond her sight. She wished he stopped talking to her like that for her pre-existing calamities were enough to prickle her drastically even now.
*
The New Year eve was grand; people prepared to welcome another year and leave the past one behind. They all waited for the upcoming enticing moments that approached them right after one year all of them knew how to make it all perfect. Ishani talked to people she knew and was glad to know few were from India, those who had known her family well for past many years but left her father's side when he had needed them perhaps the most. Their eyes only emanated shame in them but Ishani nodded telling there were no hard feelings from her side. For sometime things again went weary and uninteresting and she made her way towards the bar into the corner. It was not occupied by many people and the ones present there kept leaving as she approached the place.
"How can I help you, Ma'am?" the bartender asked.
"I don't know. I just need something to cheer myself up. Also it's too cold here," Ishani replied.
"Sure, ma'am." The waiter put a glass with a light brown liquid in front of her.
"Thank you," Ishani said and turned to leave, but saw Ranveer walking towards her again. She for a moment felt he was coming to her, probably to ask her not to drink, but he again ignored her and went upto Mr. Khanna who was not standing very far from Ishani.
"Hello, Mr. Khanna," he said.
"Hello, Mr. RV. How are you?"
"I'm grand," Ranveer said. "How is everything with you? Heard you had your daughter's wedding. Hopefully all went well."
"Yeah, sure. It was amazing. More than amazing, I must say."
"Mr. Khanna, why are your hands empty? Not drinking anything?" and saying this Ranveer snatched the glass of wine from Ishani's hand. "Thank you, Ms. Parekh."
Ishani angrily looked at him and Mr. Khanna looked slightly embarrassed too.
"No need to feel bad for Ms Parekh, Mr. Khanna; she's not a drinker. She won't mind this," he said, looking at Ishani who was fuming with his weird behavior.
"Of course, not," she said to Mr. Khanna. "I'll take another one. It's very cold so I will take one." Ishani ordered another glass.
"Mr. Khanna," Ranveer said, "Don't you think people should not do the things that are harmful for them?" Mr. Khanna nodded.
Ishani understood from Ranveer's tone that Ranveer was talking about her. "And, Mr. Khanna, don't you think people should first look at themselves before preaching others?" Ishani replied in the same tone as Ranveer. Mr. Khanna nodded again.
"There are people who can handle things before they get worse, but few..." before Ranveer could finish his sentence Ishani interrupted him:
"Those people aren't any better. Don't you think you should have stayed away from drinking for a week already? But you had to show you are some whatever..."
"I could handle all that. And you are NOT going to drink."
"You could handle?" Ishani mocked. "I saw you that evening."
"So what?" Ranveer fumbled, as if caught off guard. "Just once, okay? It happened just once."
"Twice," Ishani retorted. "Oh, wait! It must have been many other times too, right? So basically, you can simply not ask me not to drink. Now go and have fun and leave me alone."
Neither Ishani nor Ranveer realized when Mr. Khanna left them arguing as they both snapped at each other before a phone call to Ranveer interrupted their fighting session. He looked at Ishani, warning her not to drink and asking the bartender not to serve her anything harmful he went outside to attend the call.
"Hello," he said.
"Ranveer," came his mother's voice. "I didn't mean to disturb you in your party but just wanted to warn you not to drink at all today. Say no to anyone who asks you to drink, understand?"
"Maa, why all you women have to be so much worried about my drinking?"
"'All you women'? What is that?"
"Nothing," Ranveer said, thinking it would be a bad idea to tell her about Ishani now. "I meant all of you happen to be too over-protective about us."
Amba chuckled and Ranveer assured he has not touched wine this evening at all and is not drinking either.
"That's like a good boy," Amba said affectionately and wishing him a happy new year in advance she disconnected the call.
Ranveer came back to the party hall to find everything deadly-silent except few guests murmuring; he moved forward hoping it was not what he feared it to be: drunk Ishani. The music fell silent, the murmurs too died down as he took each step ahead and coming further his jaw dropped in almost shock: Ishani stood on the stage, asking everyone to shut their mouths up, her index finger on her lips gesturing the same, and her eyes struggling to remain open.
Ranveer glanced at the bartender who looked afraid. "I'm sorry, sir," he said slowly, "ma'am threatened me. She said if I don't serve her the strongest of the drink tonight she'd get me fired. I couldn't afford that, you know."
Ranveer walked further ignoring the fear in the bartender's tone and saw Ishani was now asking everyone to be silent.
"Silent, everybody! And, you two," she said pointing towards a couple, "please pay attention here." Ranveer strolled toward her and realized there was no way to getting to Ishani.
"First of all a very happy new year to all of you in advance," said Ishani and giggled. "Guys, you all know it's very important day for us. And For me too. You know what, today I finalized a deal with Mr. Gupta and I thank him very much for this," Ishani continued, and Ranveer knew she had no idea what she was talking about as her eyes kept drooping low when she spoke and her words fumbled. He tried getting to her but was pushed backwards by the crowd, some silly young kids' he thought.
"Well," she added, "you know, it is a big achievement for me," she said stressing big' and turned serious.
"Ishani!" Ranveer shouted, but was unheard as Ishani did not pay any attention to him.
"I have something t let you know...about something very important." Ishani could not hold herself up and Ranveer knew what was next so he rushed towards her penetrating through the crowd and grabbed her before she could fall. Ishani looked at him and whispered his name slowly while he looked at everyone around.
"I'm sorry. I think she was drunk too much to have any senses of hers. I apologize on her behalf; you guys carry on," he said and brought Ishani out of the party.
Hey, guys! I'm really sorry for my late update and further sorry for one more thing that I won't be updating the next chapter until next month. :)
Members Lounge
