Serendipity

14

The newspaperman rang the doorbell as he left the day's edition at the Kapadia household doorstep. GK was the first one to get it, open and read it.

"ANUJ!" He screamed.

Half asleep, Anuj grumpily made his way to the living room. Rubbing his eyes, willing the sleep to go away, he wondered what had elicited such a forceful reaction from him.

GK was not looking happy. As soon as Anuj made his way to the living room, GK ordered him to fire his entire PR team.

"What happened?" truly wondering the cause behind such an emphatic diktat.

"Calm down GK."

Anuj placed a glass of water in his hand. In response to Anuj's question, GK threw the day's newspaper at him.

The headlines on Page 3 read: Has India's most eligible bachelor finally found his bride? Under the headline was a picture of Anuj opening the door of his car for Anupama to get in. A short article followed mainly detailing Anuj's history in the business world. Thankfully Anupama's name had not been mentioned anywhere, yet.

With his sleep having swiftly disappeared, he hollered for tea. Rubbing the back of his neck, he picked up his phone to bark instructions to his PR team. But before he disappeared into his bedroom to deal with the aftermath of this rumour, he called out to GK: "Call Anupama and see if she's okay! I'll go see her as soon as I can."

*****

It was closer to noon by the time Anuj made it to Anupama's house. Even then he only chose to make the trip because Anupama's phone had been switched off for the past two hours.

Carrying a copy of the newspaper, he ascended the steps, two at a time, to her apartment. While he rang her doorbell, his hands continued to fidget with the magnets.

When no one answered, he tried ringing the doorbell once again and then knocking. Still no answer. He was about to turn back when a neighbour spotted him.

"I didn't know Anupama was engaged to such a top businessman," the neighbour commented. Before Anuj had a chance to respond, she continued: "It's nice to see something good finally happening in Anupama's life.

"I still remember the day she came to rent this place, the landlord was so rude to her. He refused to rent it to a single woman. He even asked her why she was single at this age. Poor Anupama, she didn't have an answer.

"Luckily the owner was desperate for the money. So he'd relented and agreed to lease the apartment to her on a month-to-month basis. The rent she pays is extortion, but poor girl, at least she has a roof over her head. Other places won't even consider a single woman."

As Anuj digested the new information that was given to him, the neighbour continued. "I'm sure things will change drastically for her, now that the world knows she's your fiancé."

When Anuj nodded, she invited him home for tea and snacks. "Anupama hasn't answered her door since morning. If you like, you can leave your number with me. I'll let you know as soon as she's home."

He thanked her for her hospitality and knocked again on Anupama's door, once the neighbour was out of earshot.

"Anupama, open the door. It's Anuj."

Moments later the door opened and Anupama stood in front of him. This was far worse than what he'd ever imagined.

*****

"Anupama are you okay?" Anuj was beginning to worry that her behaviour was a reaction to the trauma from the news. She nodded and then laughed, one that reached her eyes and Anuj stood there, looking at her, mesmerized with her ability to find joy in such a dire situation.

He closed the door behind him and made his way to the divaan. Anupama walked into the kitchen and came back with a hot cup of masala chai. When Anuj raised his eyebrow in question, she merely shrugged, pulled up one of the plastic chairs and sat in front of him.

For a self-made billionaire who had cracked some very innovative business deals, Anuj found himself quite out of depth. He didn't understand what was going on. So he waited, patiently, for Anupama to say something first.

The silence was interrupted by the loud ringing of the doorbell followed by a knock. When Anupama ignored it, Anuj gestured her to open it. She did. And in walked her landlord, waving a copy of the day's newspaper.

"Anupama, I had already told you that I don't rent this place to single women. And I had warned you about behaviour. Tell me, what is it that you were doing with Anuj Kapadia, for I refuse to believe that a man like him would want to get married to a girl like you."

He would've said more had Anuj not cleared his throat to indicate his presence. Grumpily the landlord turned to see Anuj Kapadia sitting on the divaan sipping on a cup of tea.

There was an instant change in his demeanour. Plastering a smile on his face, the landlord placed himself on the plastic chair in front of Anuj.

"It is my fortune that I'm getting to meet the Pride of Gujarat in person, the man who's made Gujarat and Gujaratis proud throughout the world. All thanks to my sister Anupama."

His next sentence was addressed to her. "Why didn't you tell me you were engaged to Anuj Kapadia when you came to me six months ago looking for a flat?"

"Because she wasn't, she isn't, YET," Anuj tartly replied.

The landlord had the decency to look chastised. Nevertheless, he continued: "But she will be, very soon. Isn't it?

"It's only a matter of time. Every time we saw your interview on TV or read about you in the papers, people always speculated that you would marry a foreigner. But I always knew that you would marry a nice, cultured Gujarati girl, just like Anupama."

Anuj nodded at this piece of information he'd received about himself from Anupama's landlord, whom he'd met for the first time. He was used to this. Before he could give the man a fitting retort, Anupama handed him another cup of tea.

It was only then that the landlord looked around the apartment and noticed the appalling condition it was in.

"Sister, why didn't you tell me about this? This apartment is no place for my sister to live in. If your brother doesn't take care of you, who will?"

Smiling embarrassedly at Anuj, he told Anupama: "Let me know when it's convenient for you and I'll send the painters over to repaint this apartment and fix any other issues you might have."

"She won't need that...I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

The landlord shivered. Anuj never had to raise his voice to make it evident that he always meant business.

"Sir, I'm sorry if my behaviour has displeased you in any way but I seriously didn't know that she was your fiancé."

"Doesn't matter. Thank you for visiting."

While Anupama took the cup of unfinished tea from the landlord's hand, he slowly got up and made his way out of the apartment, confused as to what had actually happened.