Silently Falling in Love: Lucky Charm THIS IS THE EDITED VERSION

Chapter 21 - Shiv and Shakti

Tired, I wanted to go back to my room. I headed towards the elevator when someone caught my attention. I saw the back of a man with dark black hair touching the tip of his collar, about six feet tall wearing slacks and a button-down shirt. It looked like Alex. But that was impossible; I hadn't told him I was here.

He turned, and I clearly saw his profile. It was definitely Alex. I knew his profile like the back of my hand. How many times had I stared at it? I'd spent a lifetime looking at the profile awake and asleep, up close and from a distance. It was definitely Alex. He smiled and laughed. I'd spent the afternoon devastated while my husband was a room away acting like his normal charming self.

I stared in disbelief. Then I saw the object of his smiles and laughter. A tall blonde woman with long legs came up to him and slipped into his arms. She looked like a model that had walked off a magazine cover. He hugged and kissed her on the cheek. They chatted about something. Moments later, they both walked towards the elevator.

Even though I suspected the infidelity, seeing it, confirming it, was like a knife going through me. He was meeting his mistress in the same hotel I was staying. The same hotel I had asked him to take me. Maybe that's why he had never brought me here. Maybe this was the place he and his mistress stayed.

He must really be bored with me if he was with a blond. I knew he preferred brunettes. But maybe that's what a mid-life crisis does to you; it makes you want something new, a change. He already owned a motorcycle, so maybe going crazy was sleeping with a blonde. Before me he had a thing for models. Perhaps this was him missing his youth.

I sat back down in my seat from the shock of it all. I wanted the truth but confirming it was harder than I ever imagined it would be. I placed my head in my hands, so people wouldn't see me hyperventilating. Breathe in, breathe out. Inhale. Exhale Om. Inhale. Exhale Om. Inhale. Exhale Om. I needed my simple mantra of Om to get me through this.

I lowered my hands into my lap and my wedding band and engagement ring stared back at me; taunting me with its sparkles. The wedding ring and a band that Alex had designed. The rings had black and white diamonds. He had used both color diamonds long before it had become popular.

After we declared our love for each other, things were incredible. Incredible dates, romantic dinners, phone calls snuck in during the workday and long nights at each other's apartments. I didn't ask about marriage and he said nothing about marriage, but he knew that's what I wanted. I trusted him, and I assumed when the time was right, he'd bring up the topic or he'd go directly to my parents and ask for my hand.

And Alex definitely didn't disappoint me. One morning after I rushed out of his apartment to get to work on time, I received a phone call almost as soon as I sat down at my desk.

Panting I picked up the phone. "Hello, this is Anjali Malkani."

"Hello Anjali Malkani, you've just won the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes and you will receive an all-inclusive paid trip to Hawaii. You just have to go on the trip within the month and take the person you spent the night with last night. Can you manage that? I can have the papers sent to your office this afternoon." Alex said in his best Ed McMahon accent, which was awful.

I laughed so hard. "Alex, sweetheart, I love you, but please never try to impersonate anyone. You're awful. I didn't believe the call even for a second."

"I admit I'm terrible. But Ed McMahon has the best job in the world. I'm envious of his job. All joking aside, let's run away to Hawaii this month. We've never taken a vacation together and I want you all to myself uninterrupted. Go away with me. I can have everything arranged within forty-eight hours. I have enough miles to take us anywhere. I just need you to say yes."