Page 161 of One Indian Girl
‘You could have told me that what I was doing was wrong.’
‘You had a family. What am I supposed to say to you? “Let’s be together. Leave your wife and little kids”?’
‘I wish you had,’ he said in a bleak voice.
I paced up and down his suite a few times. He sat there, still on his knees.
‘Sit on the sofa, Neel. There is no need to be so dramatic.’
He complied and sat back on the sofa.
‘Fine. Not dramatic, but be pragmatic,’ he said.
‘This is so stupid, Neel. Really, I expected better from you.’
‘So I acted late. Is that what your anger is about? Go ahead, yell at me.’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘I missed you every day. I didn’t contact you. But I did what I had to do with my life. Then I heard about your wedding and it was now or never. So I came here. To take you away. With me. Forever.’
He walked up to me. He held my shoulders with both hands.
‘Neel, just stop,’ I said.
‘Fine, hit me. Slap me. You did it once. Do it again. As many times as you want. But come with me.’
I felt his breath on my face. He had Ralph Lauren’s Romance on, the same perfume he used to wear when he came to bed with me.
‘Leave me, Neel,’ I said, even though I didn’t make any effort to extract myself from his grip.
He held my shoulders tighter.
‘I said leave me,’ I said, my voice breaking. I started to cry.
Radhika, what is with you and your tear taps?
‘Shh,’ he said, ‘enough now. It’s okay. I am here now. It’s all going to be fine.’
He placed his hand on the back of my head. He pushed my head forward until my forehead rested on his chest. He didn’t try and kiss me. He just patted my head a couple of times. He brought his mouth close to my ear and whispered, ‘I will be here, in this room. The pilot is waiting for my instructions. You calm down. Go back and think. It’s a lot for you to take in. I will wait until you give the go-ahead. Then we will do what we have to.’
I nodded.
I lifted my head.
‘I need to go. I really do,’ I said.
I raced down the hotel corridor, my mind racing a million times faster than my steps. At the function room entrance, I found Debu.
‘Debu!’ I said, looking around to ensure nobody saw us. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Baby, I tried calling you so many times. You don’t pick up.’
I couldn’t talk to him here. Anyone from my or Brijesh’s family could walk in anytime. I saw a staff door near the function room. I pushed it open. Debu and I entered the kitchen area of the hotel.
‘You can’t land up here like this,’ I said.
‘I had no choice. I thought you would be at the sangeet practice. I didn’t see you there.’
