Nothing Lasts Forever - No Secret Can Stay Buried

by Vish Dhamija

The girls were still out on the deck and Paul went in to get drinks for the newly arrived guests. As they made conversation, Serena heard someone being introduced to the three guests inside. It must be him. Her heart skipped a beat. When they stepped inside, they saw the new guy, standing with his back towards them, talking to Rob and Mike.

  'Serena, Lisa… meet Nikos,' Paul said, once the girls came closer.

  'Hi.' Nikos turned around.

  The English dictionary might describe coincidence and miracle as separate words but for Serena, at this point, the boundaries undoubtedly got distorted as she struggled to articulate. Standing in front of her, in a black shirt and jeans, was the guy with the deepest pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. And, she had seen those eyes before. In Dubai. The ground beneath her shook for a moment when she saw the sheriff.

  'Hello,' he said to both of them, kissing their cheeks.

  'Hi, Nikos.'

  'Hello.'

  Both Serena and Nikos, without any discussion, decided to avoid mentioning the Dubai incident, and their ad hoc tryst. They understood there would be other opportunities when they would be alone, during the course of the evening or maybe later. The look in both their eyes, their expressions, reassured one another that they certainly hadn't forgotten about that hot August night, even though they weren't acknowledging it publicly.

  Paul was an excellent host. He saw to it that the glasses were refilled at all times. He relentlessly ran between the living room and the oven in the kitchen to keep his guests' plates full of hot finger food.

  'Paul told me that you have a vintage car, Nikos.' Lisa started the conversation.

  'It's only a 60's Jaguar 'E' Type.' He attempted to be modest.

  'Is that a collectible, or do you use it to drive to work daily?' It was Rob this time.

  'It's the only car I have here, but I don't drive it to work daily.'

  'He doesn't go to work daily,' Paul enlightened his guests as they sat chatting across the living room. 'Nikos is an antique dealer and only spends the summers in the UK.'

  'Where do you live for the rest of the year?'

  'Greece. My mother was Greek, so I have both family and business there.'

  'So, when you are away, why don't you leave the car with me?' Mike joked.

  'It's not a bad idea if you have a covered garage. I could get you insured as an additional driver rather than paying for the garage I use and also save me some money on its commissioning every time I come back.' Nikos sounded serious.

  'That's really nice of you. Do you live somewhere around here?'

  'Right on top of this apartment,' Nikos said, pointing towards the ceiling. 'That's how I met Paul.'

  Serena and Lisa stepped out for a smoke again. Paul kept refilling the glasses and the discussions continued. It was apparent that Lisa was staying the night with Paul, Mike and Gina weren't driving back and with Nikos and Serena living close by, Rob was the only one who had to go far, so he made everyone else aware of the time by declaring that he should be leaving soon. It was past eleven and the tube did not run all night.

  'I think I, too, should be leaving soon,' Serena said, finishing her wine.

  'Where do you live?' Nikos asked.

  'She's lives only a few buildings away.' Paul pointed east.

  'Don't worry, I'll walk you back… you can have another glass.' Nikos assured Serena.

  'May I?' Paul carried the carafe around to her.

  'Thanks.' She took some more wine. Nikos had taken care of her before; she could trust him.

  Rob left. The rest carried on for some time till everyone slowed down, refusing refills. Serena said goodbye to all and got up. As promised, Nikos was ready to walk her home. They hadn't spoken about their Dubai episode, all evening.

  'Care to join me for a drink at my apartment?' he asked, the moment they stepped out and approached the lift.

  'I don't see why not…'

  'Great.'

  He turned the key to open the door and gestured for her to step into the penthouse.

  'I need a smoke,' she said, and headed straight to the terrace.

  'I'll bring your drink there.' He switched on the terrace lights.

  A few minutes later, he came to the deck holding two champagne flutes with a bottle of Moët and put them on the table. She threw away the cigarette and came into his arms. The kiss lasted forever. As they parted, Nikos moved back a step to have a good, long look at her…

  'You've got very beautiful feet, sweetheart,' he said.

  'Are you saying that's the only beautiful thing about me?' How could she have missed this opportunity?

  'You're gorgeous, my precious.'

  She came into his arms again. 'I've missed you so much, Raaj.'

  'I have missed you too, sweetheart.'

  'I love you.'

  'I love you too,' he responded and they kissed again.

  Serena had tears in her eyes reminiscing on the last five years she had spent waiting for this moment. It had been long enough for the ordinary and vulnerable to give up hope, but they were different — their plan had been invincible. Nikos popped open the bottle of champagne, poured it for both of them and handed a glass to Serena.

  'We did it!' He raised the toast.

  'You are a genius, my love.'

  'Only half a genius without you… it was our plan, remember?'

  'Yes, Raaj.'

  'Just remember one more thing sweetheart.'

  'What's that?' Serena asked.

  'Raaj is dead; long live Raaj.'

  'Make love to me, Nikos. Now,' Serena demanded. She unzipped and took off her dress in one motion, standing in her lacy lingerie which did not take long to join the dress, lying in a heap, on the ground. Raaj pulled a sheet from the bedroom, put it on the terrace floor and switched off the lights. They made love on the open terrace with the summer wind cooling their bodies.

  'Now that we have met and started dating, where do we go from here?' Serena asked.

  'Six months of dating should be enough to get married, then you quit your job and we move to a beachside villa in Spain.' He took her in his arms again and kissed her. The two lay undressed on the terrace against the backdrop of lights from the Canary Wharf offices.

  'I thought you said Greece.'

  'That was for everybody else's ears.'

  'You don't smoke anymore?' Serena asked, as she lit up.

  'I had a very nasty accident in my past life sweetheart. I almost burnt down the whole apartment and just about managed to escape… so I quit.' He smiled. 'It's time you quit smoking too.'

  They couldn't contain their laughter.

  Part Two

  'You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong'

  — Warren Buffett

  21

  Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi

  July 1985

  Admission into FMS Delhi was anything but easy. With ninety seats contested by over thirty thousand applicants from all over the country, it was a vain hope to assume that anyone without serious merit could slip through the meticulous selection process. On the first day at the business school young women and men sat in the auditorium listening to the dean's address. Raaj, sitting at the back of the class, perused his classmates and mentally counted the number of girls in the batch. His count was not far from the guesstimate of thirty that he had before the start of the session. Twenty-eight. He was on a second round of perusing to look for pretty ones when he heard the dean summarising the address…

  '…the only limitation is your imagination.'

  Powerful words but, so apt, he thought. Raaj came from a humble working class family; it was not even a full family, since his parents were divorced and he had never even seen his father, only heard about him from his mother who had worked painstakingly to provide him with the best education she possibly could. He remembered his mother telling him once:

  'Even if I need to sell everything I have, I will do so gladly to fund y
our studies in the best schools, Raaj.'

  'You don't have to do that, Mum. Once I pass my bachelor's I can easily find a good job,' Raaj had tried arguing.

  'Nothing in later life can compensate for the lack of a good education. Do not be in a hurry and repent for the rest of your life.'

  'But, why do we need to strive for anything more… we have everything now.'

  'There is a big difference between living your dreams and existing in denial,' she had said, mindful of the financial humiliation she had endured after the bitter separation from her husband.

  He did not have any argument to counter that and he never dared to open the debate again.

  Raaj's father was born in the frontier region of Afghanistan, and the family had moved to India before the partition in 1947. Raaj had inherited a finely chiselled face, a frame that was a hair shorter than six feet and a pale skin colour that meant he was often mistaken for someone Arabic or Mediterranean. He represented college in the tennis tournaments and there was little excess weight to detract from his good looks. Like most of the youths in the class, he dressed casually, wearing a knitted white T-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans with comfortable trainers.

  The dean finished his address and invited everyone for a luncheon that was organised by one of the companies that regularly recruited from the business school. One of the reasons for this inaugural lunch was to give everybody a chance to meet the faculty and classmates. The moment the dean left the room everyone collected their papers and bags and started walking towards the cafeteria; all ninety of them. As the young men and women present came from a wide geographical spectrum, only a few of them knew each other. Raaj waited till a large part of the class was out of the room before he got up to leave. Everyone in the dining hall was introducing themselves to others. The women appeared to be doing a better job of blending with each other than the men; maybe it was the smaller numbers working for them or just that the women knew how to bond better, and faster. And, as was perhaps inevitable, whenever there is a mixed group of this nature, the men congregated around the women. The dean, professors and some of the administrative staff joined them soon, and the buffet lunch was served. For the next hour or so, the students networked with the professors and the rest of the staff to get a true understanding of the course and placement avenues. All of the new students understood that the learning experience at the business school would be way beyond whatever they had so far and they were willing to put in two laborious years into the course for the final reward — the high paying assignment in their chosen field and industry. The faculty members retreated to their offices leaving the new entrants to mingle. Raaj circulated calmly, patted arms, introduced himself, and murmured pleasantries till his eyes spotted a head-turner. She was standing with four other women, mesmerising them with her conversation.

  It is futile to approach her with all of them around, a voice in his mind warned.

  Standing in one corner, with a glass of water in his hand and unbeknown to Raaj, another young man was eyeing the same subject. The girl in both the young men's sight was simply the most startling girl in the class, unless some were still to join later. But that hadn't been mentioned in any communication or the dean's address, making it clear that everyone who was on this course was present. The girl was absolutely gorgeous. Marginally shorter than five and a half feet with a petite frame, she had long straight coffee-brown hair, ending just below her shoulders, which allowed a few strands, every so often, to stray across her flawless face. Her thin and perfectly shaped lips had a slight pout, nurtured to look natural, that made her look even more attractive. She had thick, arched eyebrows over unusual deep black eyes. She was dressed in blue jeans with a black top with extremely striking sequin buttons and gathering on the V-neck, which enhanced her bust without looking provocative. She didn't have much make-up on and it didn't look like she needed any.

  The two young men did not have to wait long before they saw her walking away from the small group towards the table that had glasses of water on. Raaj moved forward under the guise of picking up a glass for himself.

  'Hi. I am Raaj,' he introduced himself, handing a glass of water to the pretty girl like a well-mannered gentleman.

  'Thanks. I am Serena,' she responded.

  'Hello, both of you, I am Kabir.' The other guy just walked up to the table to put down the tumbler from which he had been sipping.

  'Hi.'

  'Hello.'

  Kabir Singh was a touch taller than Raaj and equally well built. His father was a colonel in the army, which had given Kabir an all-round education in various schools across the country, since the family moved every time the colonel had a new posting. He was obviously from a more privileged background than Raaj, but was nowhere near as fortunate as Serena, whose father had a thriving garment export business. Her family even owned an expensive South Delhi farmhouse, which was more luxury than Raaj, or even Kabir, could possibly dream of.

  The three were joined by a few more students after a while and the threesome split before any bond was established. They met again the next day, during the second lecture of the morning. Raaj and Kabir saw Serena sitting alone. Not wanting to lose a chance, they each sat down next to her...

  The trio, eventually, became friends.

  Raaj fell in love with Serena; there wasn't any question about that. Kabir enjoyed her company, but could not decide if it was love or simply attraction. He was cautious and did not want to jump into a long-term relationship since he was still nursing a hurt from the past. Serena was attracted to both the guys and she loved the attention she got from two of the most attractive boys in the class. The three of them started hanging out together on the campus during the day till Serena left the premises in the evenings. Sometimes on their own, at other times with a few classmates, they organised regular outings, and due to their mutual desire for Serena's company, the two guys, too, became inseparable friends.

  Raaj proposed to Serena in October. It was another regular day and she was looking as gorgeous as ever, sipping tea at the nearby stall outside the campus, with some girlfriends. He walked right up to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down amongst them.

  'Serena, I think I have fallen in love with you,' he announced in the most outrageously unromantic tone of voice she could have imagined.

  'Are you proposing to me?' she asked, looking at him, aware of all the girls sitting around. And if that was not enough of an audience, Kabir walked in as well.

  'No. At this moment, I am only declaring my love for you,' Raaj clarified.

  No red roses, no kisses, not even a commitment, just a declaration? Weird, Serena thought.

  Not many around were taken by surprise at Raaj's declaration. A lot of the other students suspected that Serena was dating either Raaj or Kabir; this helped them put the right picture in the frame. The mood at the tea stall turned jubilant with one couple in the class declaring their love, well — only one half, but still. As some of the students cheered and ordered another round of teas, Kabir's face turned red with regret. He had taken far too long to make any such declaration or proposal to Serena and it was, now, stupid to pursue his interest as it would lead to a pointless rivalry between him and Raaj. Hence he joined the crowd in cheering and kept his latent intentions to himself rather than fuel any complication or controversy. He stepped forward and gave Raaj a big friendly hug. Encouraged by the crowd and reassured by his friend Kabir, Raaj went down on one knee to propose to Serena. She accepted gladly. The tea stall owner, who had seen endless students every year in the college, had witnessed all this before, and as his token of being part of the fraternity, announced free teas for everyone present.

  'Congratulations.' Kabir was the first to applaud.

  'Thanks.'

  'If it wasn't for him, I would have proposed,' he said humourously as they sat with tea in their hands. Everyone laughed it off.

  Too late.

  The trio of Serena, Raaj and Kabir was now reduced to a pair. Kabir fou
nd it wrong to tag along with the lovebirds, therefore declined a lot of outings to let the two carry on with their plans. He used to be around with them at the campus in the beginning, but by the end of the year he withdrew himself totally from them. Raaj and Serena were engrossed in dating and did not realise that Kabir was pulling out from most of their plans, perhaps, because he always seemed to have a practical reason rather than a pathetic excuse.

  Kabir found respite in January when his father retired and moved to Delhi. He left the hostel and moved in with his parents, giving him a reason to completely disassociate himself from the couple. The initial comradeship, which had been on the decline since Serena and Raaj started dating, was now almost over. The three were hardly ever seen together for the rest of the term unless it was in a larger group or college event. There wasn't any apparent incident or confrontation, it wasn't even planned, but Kabir decided to stay away as he thought any closeness with Serena might trouble him more than anyone else. The lovebirds, eventually, realised that Kabir had purposely distanced himself from them, though they never figured out why. They had initially thought he wanted to give them time together but, in time, became aware that he avoided them at every given opportunity.

  Raaj and Serena went for their internship to Bombay, in the summer, while Kabir stayed on in Delhi. The second year began, a fresh batch of students joined, and if one had asked them, they would have never believed that Kabir was once a close friend of Raaj and Serena. Whenever he was asked about Raaj or Serena, he was careful with his words and complimented the pair; the favour was also duly returned.

  The final term was rigorous, with no time for friends and socialising although some people studied in pairs or groups. The corporations had started coming to campus for recruitments and, as in past years, most of the final year students who were looking for work had been snapped up. Raaj, being a numerical genius, got pulled into investment banking and wealth management while Serena kept to the retail side of the banking business.

  It was the last day at FMS and everyone was in formal attire for the group picture. As the group got rearranged, based on their heights, Raaj and Kabir were relegated to the back row, standing next to each other. Serena wasn't short, but she was in the second row. Once the picture had been taken, the classmates stood there for some time reflecting on the past two years and the memories they would carry for the rest of their lives. Three couples were, now, dating in the class, which was a good statistic compared to last year's two.