OS: One Night Stand

For Gayu

Shivaay sat in his car and looked at the narrow alley leading to her house.

Anika. His Paanika.

He felt her throw a glass of water on his face.

He looked up eagerly, his hand on his face to wipe away the water.

There was no Paanika by him. Nor was there water on his face.

He was alone.

He hit the steering wheel.

He had lost his temper. He had shouted at her.

And she had left with tears in her eyes.

He shut his eyes tight as the break in her voice as she bid farewell to dadi rang in his ears.

He clenched his slim fingers around the steering wheel and lowered his head to rest his forehead on his hands.

But he couldn't fail. He couldn't fall. He couldn't be wrong. He couldn't give up.

'Sit up, Shivaay Singh Oberoi,' his head told him. 'You are strong. You are the Great Wall of Shivaay. Your family rests safe behind the wall that you are. You are no weakling. Sit straight and face the music.'

He sat up.

A vendor selling jasmine garlands walked past him, calling out to ladies to buy his fragrant goods.

Shivaay lowered his window. Smells and sounds of the street reached him.

He could hear the bustle of the street, girls laughing, men talking, vendors calling out to customers, a radio playing an item song...The aroma of roasted peanuts and hot samosas assailed his nostrils, but his mind remained with his Paanika.

It was stupid to come here, he knew. It was over. He had sent her away. What was he doing here? He should be home with his family.

On that thought, he opened the door and walked towards her house.

***

Anika heard the knock on the door and frowned.

Who was it?

She turned to look at Sahil. He was asleep, his sweet face pressed against her pillow.

The knock sounded again.

Buaji must be asleep, she thought. She unwound her legs and got down from her bed, feeling like an old woman. She walked to the front door and opened it.

Shivaay Singh Oberoi. Her nemesis.

He looked at her face lit by a mellow light. He could see the tracks her dried tears had left on her pale cheeks. She looked drained, exhausted.

Anika stared at him. Bagad Billa was here? Really here after throwing her out of his house? She wanted to ask him what he was doing there, but shock swallowed her voice.

She wanted to keep him at the door, keep him out of her house and her head, but he brushed past her and entered her home.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked, her voice sounding rusty.

"Talking to you," he said.

"You have abuses left for me? I thought you had finished," she said caustically.

"You were wrong to let Dev in. How dare you let him meet my sister? I told you clearly that I wanted her to have nothing to do with that bas***d. How dare you disobey my orders, Anika?" he asked, anger lighting up his blue-green eyes.

"I heard all this a few hours back," Anika said quietly. "If you don't have anything new to say, go home."

"I let you work in my home," he began

Anika cut in, "Your dadi asked me to organise your wedding."

"I let you spend time with my family," he began.

"It would have been very difficult to avoid your family as I was working from your home," she retorted.

"Anika," he began.

She cut in. "It is good that you stopped by. I took your phone by mistake." She handed it over.

He had to return her phone. She took care not to touch his fingers.

"You would have received calls from Raju halwai and Nathuram Decorators had you kept my phone. Then your temper would soar and you would throw my phone to the ground. Acha hua aap aa gaye," she added.

He looked down at his phone. He hadn't even noticed that the phone with him wasn't his.

"I am sure you want to leave now. Aap Shivaay Singh Oberoi ho. He doesn't have time to waste in the houses of chote log, yateem sadakchap," she added.

He swallowed through a dry throat. He shouldn't have said it. Not that he believed otherwise, but he shouldn't have said it.

"Waise, aap se ek baat poochoon?" she asked.

He looked at her serious, hurt eyes.

"When a khandaani man like Mr. Chabra has an affair with a woman and has a najaayaz son, Dev, does he stop being khaandaani?" she asked simply. "Don't mind me asking. Woh kya he, I couldn't understand your definition of khandaani."

He cleared his throat and said, "Dev is a mistake of a khandaani man."

"So Mr. Chabra stops being khandaani when he has an illegitimate son?" she asked again.

Shivaay looked around for an answer, feeling trapped. His fingers pulled at the collar of his blue shirt.

"If Mr. Chabra had brought his legitimate son's proposal for Priyanka, would you have accepted it?" she asked.

"There is no scandal attached to the legitimate son. So, yes, he would have been acceptable," Shivaay said. "But this is irrelevant. The Chabras are liars. The Oberois don't associate with liars."

"Galti Mr. Chabra ne kiya," Anika said thoughtfully. "Par saza Dev ko mil raha he. Don't you think that is unfair?"

Shivay turned away in exasperation. "This is how the world works, Anika. Practical bano. Otherwise this world will crush you. Khandaan matters. Your birth matters. Your pedigree matters."

"Wealth bhi matters," Anika added.

"Of course," Shivaay said.

"So if a yateem sadakchap makes money, then does he become khandaani?" she asked. "If a yateem sadakchap marries a khandaani man, does she become khandaani?"

Shivaay turned away.

"I used to think that Priyanka is lucky. She has three brothers to look after her. Par ab pata chala how unlucky she is," Anika said, trying to steady her voice.

"I did it for her," Shivaay shouted.

"Yes, you did what you think is right for her. She never got a chance to tell you what she thought of the situation. You never asked. Mr. Shivaay Singh Oberoi, she is not a cat or a dog that has to put up with whatever the owner does. She is a human being. Unfortunately she is a human being who has every other person in her family making decisions on her behalf. Koi to unki sunta hi nahi. Nobody wants to know what she thinks or feels," she bit out.

"Prinku is my first priority," he hissed.

"Is she? I thought it was khandaan, pedigree and blood," she said, unruffled.

He glared at her.

"You better leave, Mr. Shivaay Singh Oberoi. What if you catch some of my low class mentality if you breathe the same air as me?" she asked.

He looked at her, his eyes wild, angry, passionate. "Chup raho, Anika," he shouted.

They stood looking at each other, their eyes truthful but their lips silent.

Finally she said, "You think you are tope, that you are great, that you are smarter than others. But the truth is that you are a fool, Shivaay Singh Oberoi." There was no heat in her words, just a lurking sadness. "You don't have a dil. And the eyes and ears you have don't work most of the time. Only your mouth works and it works overtime."

He listened to her as though she were imparting divine knowledge.

"You can't see what is happening before your eyes. And even if you see it, you can't understand. You used to say, I sense you, I sense you. Jab aapko koi sense hi nahi he to kya sense kar rahe the aap?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly. "I thought, you are educated, you are intelligent, you know me. Jhoot boloongi to aap samajh jaayenge ki sach kya he. Lekin aap to ek number ka," she paused a moment and then said, "ullu nikle." Tears glinted in her tired eyes, lancing his heart. "Ullu Singh Oberoi. Gadha Singh Oberoi. Senseless Singh Oberoi. Tadibaaz Singh Oberoi."

His eyes narrowed. "Kya keh rahi ho?" he asked, disregarding the insults he was used to hearing from her lips.

"Nothing," Anika said. Her lips parted as she drew in breath to hold back her tears. "Ullu mein bhi thi. I thought I knew you, that you knew me. I should have known...Aap jayiye yahan se."

"No," Shivaay said. "Tell me the truth."

"Look within yourself," she said, turning to leave. "Shut the door on your way out."

"I want a glass of water," he blurted out to keep her with him.

"On your face?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No, to drink," he clarified.

Anika left the room.

Shivaay sat down, his legs giving way. Had Anika lied? Had she stayed true to him? Was there a possibility that she hadn't betrayed him? If there was the slightest chance that she had stood by him, he would carry her to Oberoi mansion and...

She returned with the glass of water and placed it before him. "I have to make a phone call," she said softly. "Please shut the door on your way out."

He nodded.

Anika left the room.

He took the glass of water, his hand trembling slightly. He brought it to his lips and sipped, his mind dissecting her words furiously for one clue that she hadn't betrayed him..

Cool wind blew through the large windows. The fragrance of jasmine permeated the air. He placed the glass on the table and leaned back.

He didn't want to move. He was comfortable here.

He didn't want to go home. He never wanted to get up from where he was sitting. A night staring at the pool in his house and thinking of Anika or a night sitting in her living room?

A night spent in her living room looked more palatable. No, he wasn't going anywhere.

Anika returned ten minutes later to find him asleep on her sofa.

"O bete ki!" she muttered.