The Way We Were

Chapter 17

(2000: May 13)

Payal Sharma hummed as she unlocked her flat of four years, a 1BHK in Andheri West. In the beginning when she had arrived in Mumbai with Khushi in tow, expecting a big fat rejection at the production house, she was okay to stay as a guest of Shivaay Oberoi. However, when she had cracked the interview and got a breakdown of her fees, she knew she could easily get a flat.

The hard part had been convincing Shivaay to let Khushi and herself stay anywhere but at Oberoi Mansion. While Payal had nothing against the house as such, she always imagined it being a house to a king, or maybe some duke during the British era. It just felt odd. Khushi, however, had agreed with her. And the sisters had worn Shivaay down a month after his wedding into letting them move, purely on the fact that neither Shivaay nor Anika would be in India for a year. They had a master's to complete, still.

So, with his resources, Shivaay had secured them a flat midway between his house and Payal's place of work. She opened the door, and switched on the lights. The floor of the hall was sporting a fine line of dust, owing to her sleepless three nights at the studio. Payal changed her footwear and entered the kitchen. Grabbing a glass, she poured herself some water. Thank God she had cleaned out the dishes and not procrastinated. Otherwise, not just the stove and countertop, even the dishes would need a deep cleaning from her three day work spree. She gulped down a glass and filled another, moving to the bedroom.

She switched on the lights. What the hell was the whirring sound? Payal looked at ceiling, away from the bed, the cupboard, her desk and chairs; the ceiling fan better not have broken down. It was still. Payal looked at the power switches again. She hadn't turned on the fan at all. But then, where was the sound coming from?

It seemed a slight wind had picked up, the curtains at the window were indicating as much. Suddenly Payal jumped. Her telephone in the hall was ringing! She wondered why someone was calling at that number. Didn't they have her cell?

"Hello? Payal?" The voice was barely audible.

"Who is this? I can't hear you."

The call dropped, and Payal grabbed her purse from where she had dropped it mere minutes ago. Fishing out her cell phone, she was astounded to see dozens of missed calls. Everyone had been calling her since hours! She moved down to see even Akash had called her.

The phone rang again. She was quick to pick it up this time. "Hello?"

"Payal beta, get to the roof!"

"Mamaji, what-"

"The roof, now!"

Payal took a second to register what the whirring sound might be. But why would the Oberois want her at this time of the night? What was so urgent that they couldn't send a car?

She took less than thirty seconds to grab her essentials, her purse and lock up the unclean flat. Hurrying up the two floors, she heard some elevator doors ding.

"Type G." She heard someone shout. "Move, move, move."

For a split second, her heart stopped. Her flat? Her feet didn't, thankfully.

There was an ominous break in the noise. Payal knew that the Oberoi contraption had landed and down below, their was a lull. As the silence grew, she felt herself second guess. Was that really Mamaji? Was it Shivaay past this terrace door?

There was a crash, clearly a door breaking. Her hand pushed the terrace door open in reflex, taking in the sight of one of the many Oberoi helicopters she once had the opportunity to see perched atop the helipad of the apartment building. As if her presence had unlocked the door, it flew open and a man descended from it.