"I met him at an Aura Reading Class."
"They do classes for- of course they do." Shivaay shrugged, didn't know why he'd been surprised in the first place.
"And you see, his aura was so beautiful that I couldn't help but be drawn to him straight away. It was a beautiful gold. Like the sun. And then I started talking to him and he was just as lovely as his aura. I guess I should have expected that, after all, even if faces lie, auras can't."
Shivaay cleared his throat, unsure how else to respond. He noticed that Anika had lowered her head, her shoulders shaking. He almost smiled as he realised how hard she must be fighting not to giggle out loud. Then he remembered this was not a situation in which he was supposed to be amused and focused his attention back on Tia.
"So we went out for tea, at first it was just to discuss how he developed such a beautiful aura. And I was just fascinated by him. He's very rich because he invests well but he actually spends most of his time working with charities all over the world to build their profiles and attract further investment and he's recently turned to consulting major companies on how to increase their charitable outreach."
A light in Shivaay's eyes, he gripped the armrests of his chair and leaned forwards. "You can't possibly be talking about?"
"Kush Nadkarni." Tia nodded, dabbing at her eyes with a fresh tissue.
"I have been trying to get a meeting with that man for months to discuss how best to expand the philanthropic operations of Oberoi Industries, but I can't even get through to his bloody secretary."
Tia gave a quick smile. "Sorry, that's probably because of me. You see, Kush isn't really your biggest fan on account of us being engaged and all. And he doesn't want to accidentally send you negative vibes or be mean so he's just been trying to avoid meeting you." She shook her head. "Even now, as your fiancee is revealing that she's in love with another man... your mind is still thinking about business?"
Shivaay collapsed back into his seat as Tia addressed her next words to Anika.
"That night when the Oberoi mansion first got security codes and I asked you to open the door for me, it was because I went out to meet Kush. He was very upset that I'd broken it off with him and he wanted to convince me to give us another chance. When I went out and told him to leave and that I didn't want to see him again, he snuck into the house, determined to explain everything to Shivaay himself. Fortunately I convinced him not to and promised we would talk later. I told him to wait in my car."
"Oh!"
"Yes. Oh! I'm so sorry Anika, darling. You raced out thinking you were saving me from an intruder and really, it was just Kush. And I had to let you take the blame for the security breach and the intruder because I was too scared of being found out. I'm so so sorry, Anika darling. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Yes, Tia. Of course. Please don't cry again, I'm not even angry. There's nothing to forgive."
"And so I carried on seeing Kush because... well because he looks at me the same way Shivaay looks at you."
Anika looked up and met Shivaay's gaze. They both quickly turned away.
"I went along with the wedding preparations partly because I didn't want to tell Mummy and Papa, partly because I didn't want to tell Shivaay and mostly because I was hoping Shivaay would realise he was in love with you so I could blame it all on him and be free to marry Kush." She heaved an unhappy sigh. "But Shivaay you really are too thickheaded for your own good. I deliberately never came to your house when Anika was there so you could have moments alone, I kept persuading the two of you to go off and have private and emotional conversations. Hell, you guys I did everything short of locking you both in a cupboard with a condom!"
Anika blushed a shocking shade of vermillion at the same instant that Shivaay leapt out of his seat and yelled "Language!" at Tia.
"Sorry," she gave a small hiccup, "sorry. I will say though, that in my defence, I am very, very drunk and yet up until this point have avoided saying anything else inappropriate."
Shivaay slowly took his seat again, though his own cheeks were still a blazing pink.
"And so neither of us called off our engagement even though we both clearly wanted to. And we got engaged." Tia looked forlornly down at the ring on her finger. "And I spent all evening trying to convince myself I'd done the right thing. I was engaged to the man everyone wanted me to be engaged to. Kush had never been meant to be mine because if he had, he would have been. And then I got home... and there was a letter on my pillow." Tears started rolling down her cheeks at that. "It was from Kush, saying he's leaving for London tomorrow morning. And that he loves me. And that he hopes I find true happiness with my new husband, because the only thing that would cause him more pain than not being with me is if I was unhappy in the life I chose over one with him."
Anika's heart twisted for the young woman weeping beside her and she pulled her close, hugged her and let her cry until she was ready to speak again.
"So then I got ridiculously drunk and made a few decisions and I wrote a letter of my own to my parents. Then I packed a bag and called up my favourite and most trusted driver, Virat, and demanded that he meet me in five minutes. Then, in the car on my way over here, I got a call from Shivaay which was a cosmic sign that I was doing the right thing, so I demanded that he meet me here."
Anika's heart was racing so fast she felt faint. "Tia, why did you come here?" because over the past hour or so, it had become increasingly obvious that she hadn't come to berate Anika or Shivaay.
"To tie up loose ends, Anika darling." Finally grinning, she wiggled the ring off her finger and held it out to Shivaay. "I only bought this one because it was so expensive, my own little way of punishing you, I guess." She shrugged. "I knew alexandrite was the only way to put even a dent in the Oberoi coffers. I'm actually a diamond kind of girl."
Shivaay took the ring she offered, his eyes widening as he finally comprehended the enormity of what was happening, what Tia was doing.
"Darling," she looked at Anika. "Baby," then at Shivaay. "If there is one thing I've realised, it's that no matter how many positive vibes you send out into the world, it won't do a damn thing if you don't direct it. So this is me, directing my own future and giving you the chance to direct yours. Now, if you'll excuse me." She got to her feet and shook her hair out, smiling at the stunned duo still seated beside and in front of her. "I have a flight to catch. I'll be doing reiki for you both from the plane," she rolled her eyes, "because somehow I feel like if anyone can still manage to ruin this miraculously fortunate situation, it's you two absolute dunderheads. Anyways, ciao my beauties. I have to go see a beautiful man about a wonderful thing." She winked, smoothed out the front of her dress, and flounced out of the room before either Shivaay or Anika could so much as gather their thoughts.
Shivaay looked at Anika.
Anika looked at Shivaay.
They both looked at the ring Shivaay had placed on the table next to the pile of Tia's discarded tissues.
They looked back up at each other, dazed.
Everything had changed.
The Final Promise: "I Love You"
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I decided to post this relatively short chapter along with the last one in order to move onto the final arc of Part One. I don't plan out any of my chapters or know how I'm getting to the destinations I want to get to, I just kind of start writing whatever feels "right" and then assess the chapter as I go along- for example Kush (including his name) only came to life in this chapter as I wrote Tia's comments about him.
Sometimes I'll start in the middle of a chapter with a character saying or doing something and then go back and fill in the rest or sometimes I'll just pretend I'm watching the scene play out and start writing what I "see" happening. I started writing this chapter because I just felt like I REALLY wanted to know exactly why Tia was doing what she was doing and the only way I could do that was by writing it. 😆
This kind of chaotic writing can get pretty convoluted sometimes and I'm not sure that I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't write this way naturally... I wish I could share some of the first drafts of certain chapters with you- I had a whole chapter written with Pinky and Anika which ended up being completely rejected and rewritten as the short scene with Anika ranting to Omkara about Shivaay in Chapter 9. And before I had Anika deciding to leave the engagement ceremony herself, it was a fully fleshed out sequence with Soumya dragging her out and then convincing her to go and confront Shivaay... and there's so much more. I save all the scenes etc. that I reject in case I want to use lines or parts from them in later chapters, but once I'm happy with the way a particular scene plays out I've never felt as though the rejected version was better so please don't feel deprived.
Loool that was such a self-indulgent little ramble but I love, love, LOVE reading about other writers' processes and "behind-the-scenes" kind of snippets, so I guess it's for the "me-like" readers among you. 😆
Udne Ki Aasha
