THE ROYAL AFFAIR

ENJOYING LONDON

Shnaya had now been in London for five months . She had settled comfortably in this new life .

College life was both interesting and exciting . She had made new friends although Monica and Sanjay were still her favourite.

Weekdays were spent in studying and designing but lately on Sundays Monica and Sanjay would take her sightseeing.

She had been to London before but it was a long time back . London was still very beautiful and scenic. She had visited Madam Tussauds , London Eye , Big Ben and the tower of London in the last few weeks

London Eye had been fascinating .The structure was 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel had a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft). When it opened to the public in 2000 it was the . Infact the Eye was described by its operators as "the world's tallest observation wheel. Shnaya just loved it . It gave her a sense of freedom . It represented her and her ambitions .

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The next Sunday they visited the Tower Bridge in London. Tower Bridge was a combined and in , built between 1886 and 1894. The bridge crossed the close to the and was now an iconic symbol of London.

Shnaya being a hopeless romantic imagined visiting this bridge again hand in hand with Vikram but then sighed thinking this was too good to be true .

She had to understand that all that was in the past and she had to focus on the future and forget about Vikram . She knew Vikram had given her a year but she knew Maya very well. She might have been fooled by her but when Maya wanted some she took it by hook or crook . And here the situation was in Maya's favour because Vikram was still in love with Maya . So it was a win win situation for Maya .

But then Shnaya had the right to dream and hope so maybe one day this would happen and she would walk with someone who loved her on the Tower Bridge even if it was not Vikram .

Anyway life was very good for Shnaya if she set aside her heartache .

Shnaya felt like a student again and enjoyed being with her age group .Life was perfect . Everyone treated her as another student . No one knew that she was married to a King . she had deliberatly not told anyone because her future was uncertain . But she was enjoying this phase of her life. Sometimes she felt as if the rest had just been a dream - a dream which was over .

Life was free from the politics of the royal family , the duties of being a queen and the pressure to measure up to everyones expectations.

Last but not the least she didn't have to compete with anyone for a mans affection .

The only regret and ache in her heart was her love for Vikram . His face still haunted her dreams and her body still ached for him .

Shnaya received a surprise when her father Kunwarbir Verma paid her a surprise visit . He had come on the pretext of meeting some clients for the exhibition but the real reason was Shnaya .

He had been worried sick for her . He wanted to see how she was managing and if she needed any financial help .

He was both surprised and happy to see that she had managed beautifully . Her one bed room appartment was spacious and adequately furnished , In a good location and her kitchen was well equipped . He was planning on staying at a hotel but Shnaya insisted that he stay with her and she could manage on her sofa cum bed .

Kunwarbir Verma had planned to stay for three days but his daughter was overjoyed to meet him so he extended his visit and stayed with her for an entire week . Shnaya seemed to be happy outwardly but he could sense that something was wrong . He also noticed that during his one week stay not once had Vikram called her . If they were a happily married couple then why where they not talking with each other ?

When he enquired about Vikram Shnaya just changed the topic . He was worried for hos daughter .She had been forced into this marriage and now she was unhappy. He was to blame for this mess .

He was leaving tomorrow. Shnaya was trying to be brave but he could see that she was on the verge of tears . He decided to reopen the topic of Vikram . When Shnaya refused to divulge any information he calmly informed her that he would speak to Vikram directly or bedt would be he pay a visit to Vikram.

Shnaya was scared because she knew-how determined her father could be and she knew that he loved her too much to see her suffer in silence .

She made him promise her that he wouldn't ask Vikram anything and would not go to meet him in Rajgarh . She made him swear on her life if he even decided to discuss this with anyone .

She assured him that by the end of this year everything would be settled .

He promised her reluctantly . He would be back in three months for the London Exhibition. Everything was finalised for the exhibition and Shnaya was to have a part of the venue to display her designs .

Before leaving her he gave her the keys to a new BMW so that she needn't travel by public transport . He also gave her a cheque of 5000 pounds which she refused to accept but he blackmailed her that it was his price for not taking any action .

She dropped her father at the airport and then went to meet Monica and Sanjay because she didn't want to stay alone in her appartment as she was missing her father .