Serendipity

39

Back home, Kavya stretched her legs inside the bucket filled with hot water. Her stilettos had strained her calf muscles and she was now relaxing them by dipping her painful feet into a bucket filled with warm water and Epsom salt. Her face nevertheless had a glow to it, a satisfied look. She thought about her time on the 30th floor and smiled.

She'd stepped out of the elevator nervously, praying no one caught her where she wasn't supposed to be. But as she looked around, she began to relax. No one was there. Huge oak double doors stood to the far right. A large traditional desk was placed right next to the double doors. The desk was strewn with papers, many that had Anuj Kapadia's name on it. Kavya gauged that it belonged to his secretary, but whoever that person was, wasn't there. She gingerly opened the doors to peek into Anuj Kapadia's cabin only to stand mesmerized by the view of Ahmedabad's skyline that graced his entire cabin, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling glass walls that lined an entire wall.

The room was sparsely but tastefully furnished - a desk and a chair, to the left and a sofa set, coffee table, and rug to the right. The walls lining the door were decorated with pieces of modern art and the only piece Kavya recognized was a set of screenprints by Andy Warhol titled Electric Chairs that had recently been valued at 750,000 USD.

She heard the slight clink of the elevator doors and quickly stumbled to find a hiding spot, lest she is discovered. The elevator opened, yet no one stepped out. She sighed. As she turned to make her way out, she spotted a rather odd-looking key on Anuj's secretary's desk - square with a hollow cylindrical hole protruding out of it. It was the special key that led to this floor. She quickly pocketed the key before stepping into the open elevator and making her way back to her floor. Suddenly she wasn't annoyed anymore.

Vanraj, who'd just entered the bedroom looked at his smiling wife with unease. Kavya's behaviour was getting more and more confusing. Something was up. Was Kavya cheating on him? He rubbished the thought as soon as it crossed his mind but it nevertheless left him uneasy. He knew asking her about it would not result in any straight answers. And so he decided to dig a little on his own. 

*****

GK forayed into Anupama's room, fully aware that she wasn't at home. It wasn't that he meant to pry on her. But the room had once belonged to his mentor and best friend - Anand and Gayatri Kapadia. And it still held a lot of memories from their days in this house. Truth be told, GK felt Gayatri's presence in every part of the house, more after Anupama had moved in to live with them. 

When he'd allowed Anupama to live in Anand and Gayatri's bedroom, he'd been a bit apprehensive. Was he making the right decision? But as he got to know her, as she continued to shed her layers of despair and despondency, he saw what a truly bright jewel she was. And he was glad of what he did. And what he was going to do. 

He walked to the armoire at the far end of the room and opened it. It was still neatly stacked with all of Gayatri's silk saris and jewelry, just the way Gayatri had left it.

Over the years, Anuj had from time to time divested the house of all its memories - sometimes under the pretext of prudent asset management and other times because things were getting old and spoilt. However, even Anuj hadn't been able to find it in his heart to touch this particular part of the house.

GK opened one of the drawers nestled within the armoire and pulled out a small red cloth bag. He smiled as he looked at it. Gayatri had left this for her son's bride. He would gift it to Anupama. After all that she'd done for him and Anuj, she deserved to have this. 

Over the years, given the kind of girls who'd thrown themselves at Anuj, GK had been wary of fulfilling Gayatri's last wish, believing that this particular item only belonged to her true successor. Only a person with the heart that Gayatri Kapadia possessed would be able to appreciate the value of what that bag held. 

GK was glad Anuj had found Anupama. He knew what was there in both their hearts. Now if only Anuj and Anupama spoke to each other like mature adults...

*****

Anuj stood shocked, his brain refusing to believe what his body had just felt. 

He was in the school for their monthly trustee meeting. While walking down the hallway to the Principal's office, he'd heard faint music followed by some foot-tapping and had casually ventured into the gymnasium to see what was going on. 

He'd been pleasantly surprised and a tad happy to see Anupama dancing after 26 long years. She looked happy and carefree, and he was content watching her from afar as always.

Standing by the gymnasium door, he'd quietly smiled to himself seeing her heal a little in front of his eyes. She'd begun to smile a lot more, she'd begun to laugh in the same carefree manner she did 26 years ago and now she'd begun to dance again. 

Satisfied with the happiness that came from simply seeing her happy, he'd turned to leave when she'd twirled and twirled and twirled to come right in front of him. She'd placed her head on her hands, and when she'd looked up into his eyes with so much love and adoration, he felt himself slipping. And then, she'd impulsively placed a chaste peck on his lips.

The strained thread of patience that was holding his sanity together broke and he turned her around to push her firmly against the wall, while his lips, which had been waiting to do this for 26 long years, claimed hers as his. 

He coaxed her to open, brushing his tongue against her lips, rubbing her hands up and down, trying to elicit a sigh. He pulled his lips away from hers, kissing her face, her forehead, her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, peppering kisses across her jawline before claiming her lips back.

Anupama was a mass of sensations, ones she never knew existed. Copulation for her had been a marital duty, meant to be performed for procreation. She'd never felt any emotions for Vanraj and neither had Vanraj exhibited such raw hunger and passion for her. Despite having been married for 26 years and having given birth to three children, she felt shy, blushing as she slowly buried her hands in his hair angling him in a way he could deepen the kiss.

The school bell rang bringing this teenage makeout session to an abrupt halt. As the two moved away to put some much-needed space between, they dared to steal looks at each other. Anupama resembled a tomato, and Anuj desperately needed a comb. Suddenly the two of them burst out laughing. They laughed so hard that tears began pooling in their eyes. 

And Anupama casually stepped closer to Anuj as both their hands went around each other's bodies binding them into a blissful embrace.