"Well, yes." Tony sat back in the chair. "It is my understanding that the New Song Band is synonymous with our church's name. You guys have literally put us on the map."
"Well..." Aaron smiled.
"It means that there is a great responsibility for your lives to be reflective of what it means to be Christ-like."
Aaron listened, anticipating the punch line.
"How you live your private lives is very important," Pastor Greenwald said contemplatively. "That lady who is staying at your house?"
Aaron raised his eyebrows. "Word travels fast."
"Well," the pastor shrugged, "your brother volunteered the information while we were in the lift."
Aaron shook his head. "I am not discussing my relationship with her. You know, Pastor, I am so sorry to cut this reunion short but I was on my way out."
Greenwald got up. "I'll be watching you. Closely. I'll be watching all of you."
Aaron gave him a half-smile. "All the best in your ministry, Pastor."
Greenwald grunted.
Aaron watched him as he walked out and he slowly swung in his chair. His relationship with that girl, as the pastor so succinctly put it, was almost over. Four days to go and she was out of here.
*****
Home stage was the best place to be, Aaron concluded, looking over the sea of faces on Saturday night as they played to their loyal home crowd. They had started at eight and for three hours they entertained the crowd.
Alka was sitting in the front row with Farrah and Ruby. They seemed to be having a good time. Everyone seemed to love the music. They had veered to the secular once or twice with some folk tunes. Pastor Greenwald was not looking too pleased with their selections.
His expression got even more sour as they closed the concert with the traditional Jamaican Farewell instrumental. Tonight, though, when Aaron put the sax mouthpiece in his mouth he felt a sense of déjà vu. He had stood on a stage years ago playing a song with poignant lyrics that referred to Alka's leaving while she was in the audience.
She had been animated with the other women but when the song started she became still. He could see a scared look creep in her eyes and he realized that it was registering for her that she was leaving shortly. When Alice and Carson sang the hook of the song, But I'm sad to say I'm on my way, won't be back for many a day. It looked like it finally hit home for her.
She wouldn't be back for years, maybe another ten years, or fifteen or twenty. Who knew? He concentrated on the notes, even though they had been playing it for years. His mind was churning with a sudden fearful sadness. He breathed a sigh of relief when it was all over.
They got a standing ovation from the audience and they patted each other on the back. Aaron couldn't wait to get home. He found Alka in the audience some moments later in a group speaking to Pastor Greenwald.
"He's such a nice man," Alka said when Aaron took her hand. "He wanted to know about my background and all of that. He'll be a wonderful pastor for the church."
"Somehow I doubt that." Aaron smirked. "I think the church is going to be in for an upheaval and I think the band is in trouble."
"Why?" Alka asked.
"He has an axe to grind with Jayce," Aaron said. "I am afraid we are all going to be caught in the crosshairs."
"Oh," Alka said, "there is never a dull moment with you guys, is there?"
Aaron laughed. "No, come to think of it. Maybe you should stay in Jamaica and add to the fun."
Alka bit her lip and shuffled in the seat. "That last song really did me in."
Aaron nodded. "In two days you will be on your way. Ironic, huh?"
*****
Alka looked through the window at the scenery as it rushed past her window. "I shouldn't have come back."
Aaron laughed harshly. "Now she says it."
Alka blinked rapidly. Her eyes felt gritty, as if she was going to cry. "Are you going to love somebody else after me?"
Aaron glanced at her tear-filled eyes. "Stop. "
"I can't," Alka sniffed. "I want to stay; God knows I do. But I am the stupid dutiful daughter and longsuffering wife. Would you still want me knowing that I left my ailing husband behind in Mumbai?
"Would you still want me knowing that I am heartless and irresponsible? Would you still want me knowing that I am tied to another guy legally? Could you live with that? If I stay, I will ruin your life. "
Aaron stopped the car and pulled over on the soft shoulder on the highway.
"Alka, come here." He pulled her seat belt and his and hugged her to him. "Listen to me," he said in her ear, "I will always want you." He held her face away from his and gazed into her deep brown eyes in the half-light. "I love you. I loved you ten years ago. I should have told you then."
A tear escaped Alka's eyes. Aaron used his thumb and wiped it away. "I have realized something." He put his lips on hers softly, like a breath. When he raised his head he sighed.
"I can't put my life on pause when you leave this time around and neither should you."
Alka gasped. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Aaron said, "that when you go we sever ties completely. I don't want to have to prolong the pain."
"No, Aaron, no!" Alka pulled herself from him.
"Yes," Aaron sighed. "I am determined to make a clean break. When you leave here on Monday morning we will pretend as if you never had this holiday. If you don't it will just complicate things for the two of us and make it harder for us to move on."
Alka swallowed. "But Aaron..."
"Complete break," Aaron said, as a sliver of pain gripped his chest. "A new slate."
Chapter Fourteen
Tuesday morning Rajiv sat in his spacious production office. His secretary Nandan was looking at him, alarmed. He had just thrown a pile of movie scripts on the floor in anger, an anger so deep he felt dizzy with it. Alka was back. She had left him for that guy in Jamaica whom she must have been pining about for years and just now she had casually walked back into their house on Pali Hill as if she had never left and thrown his life off kilter with her disappearance.
Two weeks and not a word from her. He had been tormented about where she was and what she was up to and just now she had stepped into the house as if she had just taken a casual walk down to one of the cafes that was close to the house. He gritted his teeth in pain.
He growled at Nandan in Hindi, "Get the car; I am going home."
Nandi nodded. "Yes sir."
A few minutes later he was sitting in his chauffeur-driven town car. His cell phone rang and he answered it with irritation apparent in his voice. It was his best friend and co-conspirator, Ajmal.
"Any word yet?" Ajmal asked him.
"Yes," Rajiv said sourly. "She is back."
Ajmal sighed. "Aren't you happy you didn't have to go to Jamaica for her?"
Rajiv growled. "Happiness doesn't come into this, Ajmal. I had no idea she still had feelings for that guy. It has been ten years. I have shown her all the love and affection and kindness that it is possible to show to a woman but she still loves him."
"Maybe she doesn't love him," Ajmal said. "After all, she's back."
"Because she thinks I am dying of cancer. Maybe she feels as if I will soon die or something," Rajiv said, running his hands through his hair. "That was a good plan, by the way, coming up with a sickness to get her to stay. I hope I never have cancer after this in some weird karma effect."
Ajmal chuckled. "We could always make her sick like we did a couple of years ago with the castor seeds."
"No," Rajiv whispered. "That was too risky. I don't want to hurt her. That year I was extremely nervous that she would die or something. She got so sick at the end."
"You shouldn't have entered that little verbal contract with her," Ajmal said. "You know she is expecting you to set her free every four years."
"I didn't know that I would grow to love her so much," Rajiv said in despair. "I thought that not being able to make love to her would have made me inca
pable of loving her. I was so wrong about that. And the thing is, Ajmal, I am never going to give her up. She's mine."
When he hung up the phone he looked through the car window as they headed through the streets of Bandra West. There were several restaurants, shops and houses of worship along the way. In the not so far distance was the sea. It was a perfect place for a young couple to live, especially a couple who loved music and art like he and Alka did.
The gated townhouse complex where they lived was overrun by the Bollywood crowd and a few expatriates. It should have been perfect for the them. There was no pressure on them to produce children or to live traditionally like in Punjab where they were from. Bandra was a lovely melting pot of cultures and religions.
He inhaled deeply. He had thought that Alka would have settled down here and that maybe in the future they could adopt a child or two. He had really underestimated the power of a teenage love for a guy who was halfway around the world. He had honestly thought that she had forgotten him. When Alka was with him she acted happy, content even. She seemed as if she was just fine without sex. When he brought up the topic she would usually brush him off.
He was not averse to pleasuring his wife, even if he himself did not get any pleasure from it, but she hadn't wanted that. He sighed; he regretted telling her in the beginning that she could have lovers. The thought made him slightly nauseous. He didn't want anyone putting their hands on his precious wife and up until now she had given him no cause for concern, but today he was not so sure.
By the time the car passed through the thick wrought iron gates, he had made up his mind that he was going to be calm. He wouldn't confront her. He would welcome her back home. He wouldn't blow his top.
When he walked into their spacious living area and saw her sprawled among the cushions, her inky black hair a nice contrast to the gold cushions he almost changed his mind.
She looked different, less innocent somehow. That guy had defiled her.
He clenched his fists and sat down across from her; he wouldn't think about that now. She didn't look at him. She stared at one spot defiantly. She looked gutted and miserable.
"Alka," he said harshly. He couldn't help it. In the face of her listlessness, he felt truly impotent.
She slowly looked at him, a blank expression on her face. "Yes, Rajiv."
"What's his name?" He tensed his body to hear.
"It doesn't matter anymore," Alka said. "It's over." Tears streamed down her face unchecked. She made a whimpering sound like a wounded animal.
He got up from his seat and sat beside her, holding her close to him while she sobbed about another man. His heart melted for her. He wished that he were selfless enough to offer to let her go.
*****
It had been two months since Alka left, and Aaron was still struggling to get his bearings. Most days he felt like a ship without a rudder. There was no safe harbor in his mind where he could dock and forget about her.
He had told her that he wanted a clean break but instead he found himself obsessing about where she was and what she was doing. The added dimension of sex complicated his thoughts. He knew how she felt, how she tasted, and it was slowly driving him insane.
He was so obsessed that his work was slipping. He had Corvette, his secretary, making important decisions for him that only the vice president of the company should be making.
He had it bad and it was getting worse. He was stewing feverishly in one thought after another about Alka. His head was throbbing.
He looked up with bloodshot eyes when Corvette stood at his door. "You are invited to a meeting in the boardroom. It looks serious."
"When?" Aaron asked listlessly.
"Now." Corvette raised her brows. "Right now. I cleared your schedule; apparently it's urgent."
Aaron got up. "Thanks, Corvette."
"Don't mention it," Corvette said snappily.
He walked toward the boardroom with his mind racing. He couldn't remember scheduling a meeting.
"Where are you going?" Boris swung out of his office and stood in his path.
"Boardroom," Aaron said.
Boris frowned. "I saw Mom heading there as well. How come there is a family meeting and I am not invited?"
Aaron shrugged. "Maybe it's a meeting about how we are going to get rid of you for good."
"Not funny." Boris scratched his chin.
Aaron walked around him and went toward the boardroom door, even more intrigued now about the whole thing.
When he opened the broad doors he could see his grandfather, Boris P., at the head of the table. He had on his golf clothes. His grandmother, Valeria, was in an orange hat and orange gloves. His mother and father were there as well. It was indeed a family meeting.
"What did I do?" he asked the quartet, who were looking at him with varying degrees of concern.
"Son," Garnett said. "We don't want to mince words here, but we realize that you have not been yourself."
"Oh." Aaron almost got up again. "It's one of those meetings."
Boris P. grunted and started speaking in his slow, deliberate way. "Aaron, you are heir apparent to this company. A board decision is in eight short weeks. Are you up for the job or what?"
Aaron shook his head. "I am up for the job. I am. Right now I have some issues working out. Give me time."
"The last time you went into a funk like this," his mother said, concern lacing her tones, "you were involved with that girl and she left you."
Aaron almost laughed. In a sick, twisted way history was repeating itself and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make his head go back to how it was before. He was at the stage where he was willing to let the board choose Boris for president. His ambition, his zest for life, his drive for everything was gone. He felt hollow and empty inside.
He looked at his parents and grandparents one at a time and then found himself admitting, "She came back for two weeks."
"And now she's gone again?" his mother asked.
"Yup," Aaron rubbed his face. "I can't seem to find the enthusiasm for anything anymore."
"Well, if she can get you into this state she wasn't good for you," Valeria said frankly. "Snap out of it. Dawn is single; have you thought about her?"
Aaron groaned. "Grammy. I have nothing here." He clutched his chest. "Alka took it to India with her. Dawn would not even get the dregs of my affection."
"You would learn to feel again," his grandmother insisted. "I think you should engage Dawn. You will grow to love her."
"Hold up," Boris P. interjected. "Business. Let's discuss business. I was not dragged from my golf game for this heart and flowers nonsense."
"This is business," Valeria said. Her wizened old eyes were bright. "I think if Aaron sorts out his personal life, his professional life will benefit."
Aaron slumped in his chair and watched as his grandfather and grandmother started an argument about the pros and cons of fixing him personally versus professionally.
He was roused out of his inertia when his mother curled her fingers through his and squeezed.
"Take all the time you need to grieve, my son." She patted his hand. "The Lee men tend to put all their heart into loving that special someone. It will take time to stop."
*****
Aaron stepped out of the family meeting alone and looking a little ruffled. Boris watched him speculatively. What had they been planning behind his back?
He marched to the boardroom as soon as Aaron disappeared down the hallway and swung the door open.
"What were you guys doing meeting Aaron alone?"
His grandmother looked at him lovingly. "You are such a dear boy. Why have you always been so insecure?"
Boris sighed. "This is my immediate family; someone was missing from the family get together. Me! Don't you think I should be suspicious?"
"Don't worry about it, Boris," his father said grumpily. "The meeting was a bid to find out what was going on with Aaron. I have a feeling that you would know."
"
Oh that," Boris said, grinning. "Concerned about him, huh? He was having an affair with a married Hindu woman. She was living at his house for a while."
"She's married?" his grandfather asked, disapproval stamped on his features.
"She's Hindu?" his grandmother asked incredulously.
His mother looked as if she was sucker punched.
"This is bad," his grandmother said, a look of horror on her features.
Boris was let down by the lack of denouncement toward Aaron.
He kissed his teeth. "I hope you all know that I have been living up to your stupid moral clause and Aaron hasn't."
His grandfather steepled his fingers. "Now Boris, calling the moral clause stupid is not winning you any friends."
Boris scowled. "Why are you guys so hung up on Aaron being president? I can do as good a job."
His father and grandfather looked at each other. "Boris, we discussed this already when you were running for vice president. You and Aaron have different skill sets. You are both assets to this company in your own ways. The managers at our hotels get along much better with Aaron than with you. You have a tendency to alienate people with your, er..."
"Enthusiasm," his mother said swiftly.
"I was going to say arrogance." His grandmother looked at him with a sweet smile on her face.
"Bull," Boris said, pouting. "And you'll be eating your words in a few months because Aaron is not up to being a president, and you know it."
He stormed out of the boardroom and headed toward his office. He felt steamed and ready to throw something.
Maybe he should have pursued Dawn as he had originally planned. He sat around his desk in a huff. Now he had to argue his virtues to the board while showing up Aaron's faults. He logged on to the Internet; he had amassed bits and pieces of investigative work on Aaron while he was in Turks and Caicos with Alka.
He brought it up on his screen and almost laughed aloud. He would present this for all the board members to see—their precious Aaron carrying on with a married woman.
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