Fiction, inspired by another, grander bit of fiction |A love story in 3 parts
Part 1
I knew it in the first minute I saw him that I was going to sleep with him. It felt inevitable. As if it had already happened. The man walking towards me was not a stranger, even though I was meeting him for the first time. My memories of our togetherness had a stronger reality than all the actual events of my twenty-year-old life.
I was a model employee at Tara Glamping resorts. I had never broken any rule in the staff rule book, especially the one around “limiting the interactions with guests to polite social conversations.” But that morning, there was no doubt in my mind that no rule book in the world, no fear of unemployment, could stop the intense longing in my body. At some level, I was vaguely aware that I was heading towards danger. But in the five seconds that Lakshya got out of his car and walked towards my desk, it was already too late for me to protect myself. This man and I had a connection that I was powerless to resist. My mouth was dry. I swallowed rapidly and tried to look professional. I said the words that I had said a hundred times before, only now they sounded like someone else was saying them. “Good morning, sir. My name is Suparnika Rao. Welcome to Tara Glamping. Can I request you for your passport?”
He either held my gaze for a whole minute or maybe time stood still. We spoke about this later, of course, and he said that he too, had had that strange sense that he and I had known each other before. He told me that he had a sudden vision of us in each other’s arms, a vision so strong and startling that it took his breath away. I believe him now, but on that morning, he did not look like someone whose breath could be taken away. He wasn’t tall, but stood with the confidence of someone who knows he’s turning heads everywhere. Thick black hair pulled in a ponytail, large trusting brown eyes. A mouth that was on the verge of breaking into happy laughter. He seemed to me a picture of unruffled calm, with that self-assurance that only the really rich people have, the ones whose lives have no place for disappointments. The very name on the passport spelled power. Lakshya Suryavanshy.
Fantastic. I have the hots for one of the Suryavanshys. Even in this forest, where news reaches either two weeks after the event or not at all, we had heard of the Suryavanshys. My conviction that I had met this man, been close to him, was even more bizarre now. I had grown up in a hovel. There is no way that our life paths could have crossed. I suppressed my thoughts, checked him and his family in, even cracked a weak joke asking him if they could please bring some phone coverage to our village some time. “For you, Ms Rao, anything,” he said, as he walked away with Jason who was driving them to their tents.
Lalita, managing the reception desk with me, cocked an eyebrow once they were out of earshot. “Nikki, I’m sure you know this already, but you might have a bit of a crush coming on? Your pupils look crazy dilated, and you’re breathing like you’ve been running. Calm down a bit, hain? No hanky-panky with guests, you know that, na? And especially not with him. You’ll become a national sensation in five minutes. You know who they are, right? It’s so weird that they’re here. I guess they wanted to get away from all the attention, but how long will it be before some smart aleck journalist traces them here? As though I don’t have enough problems. Now I have to deal with three secret celebrity guests who are the most famous members of the country’s most famous family, ugh!”
I let my breath out in a whoosh and sat down. My knees were shaking. I smiled at her, “Message received, I will resist his charms!”
Lalita didn’t smile back. “Nikki, you okay?”
“I’m okay. Just a bit tired. Didn’t sleep too well. Okay if I take a quick sutta break? Be back in five!”
“Take ten minutes. Try and come back without that weird expression on your face. How can anyone look like they’re in love and also scared to death at the same time!”
I ran over to my tent. The staff tents were basic, very unlike guests tents in terms of style, but they were comfortable. I’ve worked in very dingy places so Tara’s staff tents were positively luxurious. I washed and looked at my face. Not a bad face. Small and round with nice big eyes, which did seem abnormally dilated. A long, shapely nose that, my first boyfriend, who was a bit of a poet, had called exquisite. I knew I was attractive in a girl-next-door kind of way, and I was happy with whatever attention came my way. But at this moment, I wished I were irresistible. I wanted Lakshya to fall hard for me.
I had never felt like this. I left home and started working when I turned sixteen. I was the oldest of four siblings, and my parents made it clear that they had done what they could for me. The one thing I could do was run a household — my mother had trained me well — and that became the basis of my career. I was clean, looked respectable and spoke English well, thanks to the many NGOs in our neighbourhood. I had worked hard in the last four years. Cook, receptionist, housekeeping, bookkeeping, I had done it all. I had worked my way from one resort to another, moving on whenever I could get a leg up, steadily saving money. It had been a good four years, filled with friends and lovers, but no one had gripped my soul like this. The intensity of my emotions was frightening. But I knew it in my bones that he wanted me too, and that calmed me a little. I washed my face one more time, and walked out of my tent, promising myself that Lakshya would come to my tent before the week was over.
Part 2
He came to my tent that very night. And every night after that. That week I learned the meaning of joy. Every night, my skin came alive in his hands. I stopped trying to understand the uncanny feeling that we had known each other bodies for ever. Lalita stopped telling me to watch my step, merely shaking her head at me whenever she caught me daydreaming and smiling. She knew, of course. Everyone knew. Even his brother and sister-in-law, who were a quiet couple, so much in love, so oblivious to everything around them. Even they knew. I teased Lakshya that he was being such a third wheel, holidaying with those lovebirds, and he laughed. If he hadn’t decided to join their trip, how would he and I have met?
Was it the second night or the third that Lakshya and I went swimming in the moonlight and then fell asleep on the riverbank? Was it the third day or the fourth when his gentle older brother invited me to breakfast? I went feeling like I was going to be executed, but he and his wife were wonderful. The four of us laughed and talked for hours. Was it an afternoon or an evening when he played his flute as I sat listening and crying? I don’t remember, it’s all a happy blur.
But I do remember the last night. I will remember it until the day I die. Perhaps after that too.
For a few moments, I couldn’t figure out why I had woken up. It was dark outside. I looked at the time. Two a.m. We were a tangle of arms and legs and I could feel Lakshya’s warm breath on me. Why was I awake, and why was I feeling so crushed with sadness? I remembered, and with remembrance came pain. I pushed him away and got out of bed. He opened his beautiful eyes and looked at me. He always wakes up fully alert, he never has those half-asleep moments of vulnerability that regular people do.
“What happened Nikki? Why are you awake? Come back to bed, baby.”
“No. I don’t want to come back to bed,” I said, as I wore my clothes in silence, trying to suppress the agony in my chest. I was not going to cry.
He raised his head on an arm and smiled. “What if I make you come back? Okay, okay, I can see you’re upset. Are you sad because I’m leaving tomorrow?”
I did not say anything. I felt like the rock in my chest was growing bigger by the minute. I wanted to believe that I was angry with him. But that would be a lie. I sat down and looked at him. There were things I wanted him to say, promises I wanted to hear. But I couldn’t say what I wanted because what I wanted was impossible.
“Alright, you’re definitely not coming back to bed, I can see that,” he said, and started to get dressed. “Maybe you’re right, I should leave right now rather than the morning. But why are you upset, my darling? You always did know that I was going to leave. You know I can’t stay”
Why not, sobbed the voice in my head. But I said something completely different. “Lakshya, you never told me you were married.”
He looked surprised. “What? Nikki, the whole country knows I’m married. I got married ten days ago, and it has been all over the news. You can’t be serious. You really didn’t know? When did you find out?”
“Today. Nita told me. I don’t read the news.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s hilarious! Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, but see it from my point of view! I keep complaining to bhaiya that our lives are an open book, and I wish I would meet someone who did not know absolutely everything about my life! I had no idea I’ve actually met that someone here in this forest!” He came to me with outstretched arms, still laughing. “My poor baby, it must have annoyed you so much. It sounds crazy, but I believe you. I’ve actually never seen you reading anything.”
I pushed his arms away. I hated him for laughing at me. Anger bubbled up inside me and bubbled up into words that seem to come from nowhere. “So you and your wife — you guys have an open marriage? You are okay with your partner sleeping with other people?”
Lakshya’s eyes narrowed, the laughter vanished. “What are you trying to say, Nikki? No, we don’t have an open marriage. Tell me what you’re saying, please.”
I did not know what I was saying. I did not care that he was married. I wanted him to stay with me. Or at least promise to come back. But I couldn’t say those things. I was miserable and I wanted to hurt him. “So you basically got married and decided to go on a solo honeymoon? To have one glorious lay per week in twenty locations? With your brother as wingman? Why did his wife come along and cramp his style?”
“Nikki, stop. You’re making me very angry.” He said, and turned away to leave.
The rock in my chest was a red-hot ball. I was afraid that he was leaving me, angry that he cared so little. I was shaking as I said his name, but he did not turn around. “Lakshya, I will tell everyone you slept with me. Five days after your wedding, you hooked up with the first girl you met at a campsite. I wonder what headline they’ll put –”
He turned around, punched my face and slammed the door in one movement. For a second, I wondered what the loud noise was and why all the room lights had gone out. Then came blinding pain, and I fell on the floor.
A few minutes later, the door opened. I heard footsteps that came close to where I lay. I was filled with terror that Lakshya had come back to hit me again, but there was strength in me to get up and run. I opened my eyes. I couldn’t see clearly, but it wasn’t Lakshya. It was it his brother. Raghav’s face was close to mine, peering cautiously. Sia was kneeling behind him.
Raghav spoke softly. “Nikki, are you able to sit up? Can we look at you? Lakshya told me you’re hurt.”
He and Sia helped me sit up against the bed. She put a cushion behind me. I tried to speak but my mouth hurt. Raghav noticed and gently patted my hand. “Don’t try to speak. I think your nose is broken. I’ll go get the doctor. I know what happened. But you were being a very silly girl, weren’t you? The whole world knows Lakshya has a very short fuse — why did you provoke him, saying things like you’ll tell the media about your relationship, huh? You know how deeply we care about our family name. I know you didn’t mean it, you’re not going to tell anyone, are you? No, don’t try to talk, I know you can’t speak. It’s okay, you’ll get better once we take you to the hospital.”
I was so tired. I wished he would go away and let me sleep. He continued to speak, “You’re a sensible kid. You know what the story needs to be. I think we’ll say that you were very hurt and angry because you loved him and he did not return your feelings. You threatened him with a gun. No wait, you threatened me and Sia. To protect us, Lakshya pushed you away and that’s how you fell down and broke your nose. That sounds much better. Nikki, our father spent all his life building the family name. Fifty years of work. We can’t let you destroy it, beta.”
I closed my eyes. He continued to speak, “You understand what I’m saying, don’t you, Nikki? I really don’t have a choice, and neither do you. Nothing disrespectful about the Suryavanshys can ever be written, anywhere. Sia, can you stay with her? I’ll go get the doctor now.”
I heard him walk away. Sia sat down on the floor next to me. She whispered, “I’m sorry”. I was vaguely surprised that she sounded truly sad.
I slept and dreamed as we sat together waiting for the doctor. I dreamt that I had met these three people in another life. In many other lives. And I would keep meeting them. That’s why they seemed familiar. In one life after another, Lakshya hurts me. He shoots my face at close range in some life. He kicks my face with steel toed boots. In another life, he cuts my nose off with a sword. In every one of those lives, Sia comforts me as I lie in pain, waiting for relief.
Part 3
The Bombay Chronicle | 07 December 2020
NO FIR AGAINST MR LAKSHYA SURYAVANSHY
Injured girl says it was an accident
From our correspondent in Lonavala: The Suryavanshy assault case took an unexpected turn last evening. The injured girl, who has been identified as one Ms Suparnika Rao, has refused to lodge any complaint against Mr Lakshya Suryavanshy, who, by one eyewitness account, had been seen leaving Ms Rao’s room a few minutes before the attack was discovered.
Mr Suryavanshy had been detained on suspicion based on the eyewitness’s statements, but was permitted to leave the station as soon as Ms Rao’s statement was taken by the police. No FIR was recorded. Mr Lakshya Suryavanshy was accompanied by his elder brother and sister-in-law, Mr Raghav Suryavanshy and Mrs Sia Suryavanshy. Mr Raghav gave a short statement to the press:
“This is a difficult time for our family, given my father’s illness and the ongoing legal battle around the CEO position. So, as you can appreciate, this crisis comes at a particularly bad time. But our father’s life inspires us to practise strength and kindness, always, but especially during difficult times. We are grateful that justice has prevailed. The police have established beyond any doubt that my brother acted to protect me and my wife. The lady in question is young and was carried away by her feelings for my brother. We hold no grudge against her and forgive her completely. We will be paying all her hospital expenses including those for cosmetic surgery for her nose. That’s all I have to say, and I will request the press to respect our family’s need for privacy during this time. Thank you all for not blowing this out of proportion.”
The three members of the Suryavanshy family have now left Tara Resorts near Lonavala, where the assault occurred. Their destination remains unknown. They are currently on an extended trip of the subcontinent, the exact duration of which has not been revealed. As per a spokesperson from Suryavanshy Industries, the two eldest brothers have been advised to a long sabbatical from their position on the board until the legal battle is concluded. Ms Rao, when contacted, refused to speak with our correspondent.
