Chapter 51
Sanjana knew she would find Harman in the library that evening and sure enough he was sprawled on the couch, reading a thick tome. If he was surprised to see her, he did not show it, but straightened to stand up immediately.
"Hi," she said a little apprehensively. "I just needed to talk to you for a couple minutes, if you are not busy?"
"Sure," he said, smiling easily. He gestured to the armchair across from the sofa and waited for her.
She took a deep breath and retold her story about her conversation with Ash and her brother. Sanjana peered at him. "My one semester of business is so not equipped to deal with coming up with a comprehensive report," she finished in a huff. "I did not know who else to ask for help." She tried on her best lost and helpless look.
"I could do it for you, if you like," he offered immediately.
"That's sweet of you, but I know how busy you are. At the same time, I need to learn. All I want from you is some guidance. I just need a little bit of your time."
"You are serious about this?" Harman asked. He was sure to know this meant that she would give up a familiar life to start something new. If only he knew how much she loved him, he wouldn't ask this. Didn't he realize that this was one more thing to keep her here? She looked at him straight in the eye. "Yes."
Not a word was uttered for a moment. Finally Harman looked away. "Ok. I will help you," and was rewarded with a smile that clenched his insides. He was not sure what to feel right at this moment, learning that she was committed to this extent. Why was she doing it? Dare he ask, lest the answer be something he suspected?
Moving around the desk that he and his father shared, Harman drew a pad and made notes.
"I didn't know you still wore glasses," she said walking over to him.
"Hmm..." he said and looked up, blinking a little when he realized that she had come to stand next to him. His throat dried up. "Yeah, I switched to contacts and only wear glasses when I am at home."
"It suits you," she said smiling a little.
He cleared his throat. "Er'ok then," he said handing the sheet of paper to her. "This is what I need you to find out information on." Sanjana looked down at the paper with short bullet points. "Most of it will be fairly simple and I am sure Ash will help you with, since she is sure to have ideas. We can work on the rest." He smiled at her reassuringly.
"Thanks Harman," Sanjana said and patted his arm before turned away, failing to see the love that glittered in his eyes as they watched her leave.
-----
When Lalit took that phone call in his office, he had no inkling of what was in store.
"Kapoor saab, kaise ho aap?" he greeted.
"Theek, Lalit-ji, bilkul theek. How was your trip?"
"Excellent. It has been my wife's wish to see Mata-ji, so now I can truly say I have fulfilled her wish," Lalit said laughingly. "How is Mrs. Kapoor? You did get the invitation to the party, right?"
"Of course and we will be there to give our best wishes to Gayatri bhabhi." There was a slight pause at the other end. "The reason I called was that my wife and I wanted to see if we could drop by one evening before then."
Lalit frowned. "Of course, you are most welcome any time. Koi khaas baat?"
"Kuch aisa hi samajhiye," Mr. Kapoor said laughing. "We wanted to put forth a marriage proposal for our niece and your son Prem."
"Kapoor saab, we are honored, but unfortunately we have already picked out the girl we want Prem to marry," Lalit said apologetically. "Nothing is official yet, so we haven't said anything to anyone."
"Oh, I see," the other man said and continued as if nothing had happened. "Archana has always valued tradition. And if it helps with the decision, her father is also a very wealthy property developer, who will be very generous to her." The oil in the other man's voice oozed though the phone. "We did happen to see your son with someone on Saturday. I hope you don't mind me saying so, but do you really think she will be suited for your family?"
"What do you mean?"
The other man cleared his throat. "Well it is not my place to say anything, but the girl we saw with Prem did seem a too'er'westernized. I suppose you get used to that living in Canada ." There was a sigh. "Thank you for your time, Lalit-ji. We will see you on Saturday."
Lalit stared at the phone in his hand after the other person had already hung up. Could it be true? Had he really seen Prem with someone else? Would his son do that, knowing how much he and Gayatri were hoping Prem should marry Heer?
His first instinct was to call and ask him. Even as he reached out to dial his number, something stopped him. What if Prem did say it was true? Fear gripped him. Harman did not agree to marry Meher. His oldest could very well deny him also. He thought of Heer and wondered what he would tell her, deciding to act before she actually made up her mind about marrying Prem. A quick glance at the time showed that it was nearly lunch-time and decided that there was no time like the present to set things right.
Lalit found Heer in the dining room, setting up the table. She smiled when she saw him. An ache pierced through his heart. "Heer beta, where is Gayatri?"
"She's in her room," she said. "Did you want me to get her for you?"
"No," he said a little vehemently and Heer glanced up, surprised. "I...I wanted to talk to you."
She nodded and he continued. "I know I have pestered you a lot in the past month asking you to make up your mind about'" he couldn't say it and swallowed. "I made a big mistake. I should have never asked you to marry Prem. He doesn't deserve you. I am sorry." He looked at Heer to find her still as a statue, staring at him. The moment he stopped talking, she bent her head and went back to laying out the plates.
"This is very sudden, isn't it?" Heer asked quietly.
As much as Lalit did not want to think about it, he decided he owed her an explanation. "I think Prem is seeing someone else. Kapoor called me today and..." She looked up with stricken eyes and all the blood seemed to have drained from her face.
"Papa-ji, about that, I can explain..." She looked like she had seen a ghost.
His eyes narrowed. "You mean you know about this?" She nodded and Lalit knew instantly Prem must have told her something. What about what Prem wants, she had asked and now her words reverberated in his head. Why had he not listened?
"Did Prem ask you to cover up for him?"
"No, papa-ji, woh..." Of course she would not betray a confidence, unlike his son. Lalit raised his hand, as if to ward off what she was about to say. "I don't blame you beta and understand you were in an awkward position. I will not forgive Prem for this." His heart broke when he thought of it and without saying another word walked away, eyes smarting.
Chapter 52
Excellent, Heer thought as she slumped onto a chair staring into space. The scene that had just taken place seemed right out of a script from a bad comedy. Or from one of those soaps that people couldn't seem to get enough of these days. Prem, it seemed had the right idea about nosy, interfering busy bodies. And now Prem was taking the blame for something that was partly her fault too and vaguely wondered what Lalit would have said if he knew that the 'someone' had been none other than Heer.
She debated if she should wait till later and try to explain to Lalit again or if she should talk to Prem first. The fact that looking to Prem for answers had become second nature, completely escaped her notice.
To give due credit, Heer did try to talk to Lalit again. But he would not hear a word, stating that it was not her place to defend Prem. Not anymore. That left only one thing to do and that was to call Prem to let him know what had happened. Maybe he could talk his father around. Time seemed to drag that day. When Heer caught herself actually feeling happy for an excuse to call him, she decided that the fine line between being in love and being obsessed had just been crossed. She consoled herself that it was only because she was bored and had no one to talk to. Meher, keeping her promise to Prem, had already begun preparing for her exams. Sanjana had taken herself off early, to see Ash, she had said. She seemed very determined to see this through and Heer just hoped that whatever they did, it would bring them closer to their dreams.
Dinner was a quiet affair. Lalit was pre-occupied, so much so that Gayatri glanced at him oddly a couple times. This confirmed Heer's suspicion that he had not confided to Gayatri about what he had found out this afternoon. It was almost ten thirty before she felt it was safe to call him, without being interrupted. He answered on the third ring.
"What time is it?" was the first thing she asked him.
"It's one in the morning."
"What are you still doing up?"
His laughter sent a tingle up her spine. "Is that why you called me, to ask what I am doing up so late? If you must know, I couldn't sleep."
Heer was so tempted to ask him why he couldn't sleep, but then decided not to get sidetracked, which was very easy where he was concerned. "No. There is a problem," she started and went on to explain her conversation with Lalit.
"Why am I not surprised?" Prem drawled and she could not tell what he was really feeling.
"I haven't seen papa-ji this upset. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen."
"Dad should have called me before coming to you with this," Prem said, now the annoyance in his voice evident. "He is more than likely not going to want to talk to me now. It'll have to be after I get back."
"What are you going to tell him?" Heer was curious. She knew what would happen once Lalit found out the truth and had already braced her self for it. What was it about her and Prem that keeping their relationship under wraps was turning out to be so impossible?
"That I am going to marry the girl I went out with," he retorted, almost smug.
Her heart skipped a beat. "He is not going to approve, you know."
"Well, it is going to happen with or without his blessing," Prem said determined. "I have half a mind to let him stew on that for a while. I am sure it is going to be interesting to watch."
"Prem," she admonished. "That is terrible."
"That would teach him not to meddle," he shot back at her.
"He means well," Heer told him. "He loves you and that is why he'"
"You think I don't know that?" She heard him take a deep breath.
"Maybe if I tried again tomorrow'"
"Leave it. It's not like he blames you."
"No, only because he thinks that you are most likely bullying me into keeping quiet about this woman you are seeing." Heer couldn't help but smile. "And now my life is ruined."
Prem gave a deep throaty laugh. "Maybe dad will start looking for another guy to get you married off to, now that I am off the hook."
Heer sat up, this thought not having occurred to her at all. "Do you really think he is going to do that?" The horror of it was evident in her tone.
"Possibly," he said amused. "So, here's your chance to be free of me."
"But I don't want to be..." Heer caught herself just in time.
"Don't want to be...what?" Prem asked quietly. The silence on the line throbbed with tension.
Don't want to be free of you; she had been going to say. "Nothing'I have to go." She mumbled a hasty good night and hung up before he got the chance to say another word. The pillow felt cool against her flushed cheeks as Heer stared into space. If she kept this up, it would not be long before Prem would guess how she felt about him. As she had already decided to tell him, it would not be a bad thing, Heer thought. But she wanted to pick a time, not to mention her nerve and do it. And not blurt it out when she did not mean to.
The phone beeped and she picked it up with a resigned sigh. Sure enough it was a text from Prem. "You can't evade me forever. Good night." She had to smile at that. How could she evade him, when all she had to do was look inside her heart to find him?
-----
Gayatri was in her room, sorting out the jewelry she wanted the girls to wear tomorrow, when the sound of something shattering reached her ears. She stopped short near the entrance to the hall, the scene that greeted her looking familiar. Heer, it seemed, had dropped the plate she had been holding, most probably because she had collided with Prem, while coming out of the kitchen. The floor was strewn with sliced cucumbers, a few clinging to the leg of his trousers.
"Bloody hell! Look at the mess you have made," he exclaimed staring down. The pleasure of seeing her son back home dimmed a little at his rudeness and decided to intervene before he reduced the poor girl to tears. So, she was completely taken aback when she heard Heer say, "Yes it is really nice to see you too." Gayatri bit back her laughter as Heer surveyed the mess. "Get over it. I am more worried about how to get this cleaned up," and then proceeded to pick up the shards of china.
To her even greater surprise, Prem grinned down at Heer and squat down to help her. "Sorry," he said so softly, that Gayatri almost did not hear him. He picked up a piece of cucumber. "Do you think I can eat this?"
Heer made a face. "That's disgusting," she said, pulling the offending piece from his grasp.
Prem gave her a look of disbelief. "You haven't heard of the five second rule?" She shook her head and while he explained away, Gayatri quietly made her way back to her room. Toh, she thought, baat yahan tak pohonch gayi hai. She had often thought, knowing the forceful personality that was Prem's, Heer would most likely be bullied into giving in to him most of the time. But after what she had just seen, Gayatri was convinced that she was just perfect for her son. There was no doubt in her mind. She had a wedding to plan.
Edited by sshekar - 16 years ago
