However, that afternoon Max received an urgent call from his father with bad news. Eva’s mother was serious ill and in the hospital. It was as though providence had changed his destiny once more. He took the late evening flight to Bangalore, leaving a short message for Giana that he had to leave for a family emergency.
*
Nothing...absolutely nothing, could take away the pain. Giana knew that everything had changed since the night at the hotel with Max. His message had sent her into a pall of gloom that she feared would be permanent. She couldn’t hide from the guilt that tore through her. It was her fault. She had avoided him all these weeks and Max had got tired of waiting. Maybe it was for the best. Now she wouldn’t have to hide. She should have felt relieved. But it was pure agony to think that he may never come back.
It was becoming difficult to dissuade Annabel from asking persistent questions about the trip to Kalpakkam. Giana had refused to divulge anything to her. She hid her pain well, blending it in the pattern of daily routine. Toby was more expressive though, rushing to the back gate every evening and calling to Mutt who was being taken care of by Venkaiyya. Toby would eagerly wait for ‘Mak’ with his button nose stuck between the grills of the gate every evening only to be disappointed. On her hesitant enquiry about Max’s return, Venkaiyya told her that there was no definite news. She was tempted to send him a message. But it would hardly serve the purpose. He hadn’t contacted her since he left a week ago. The message was clear. He didn’t want her anymore.
Maybe she should have allowed herself that little reprieve at the hotel in Kalpakkam, thought Giana. Allowed Max to make love to her. That night was etched on her memory forever. His dear face, his loving hands, his soothing voice. His strength and vulnerability. Max was the kind of man no woman could afford to lose. But she had lost him. Regret had mauled her ever since. She would have had something to remember him by if she had not stopped him that night. Something that told her that she was human and lovable. Not the automaton who woke with the rays of the sun, day after day, and went to work without a moment’s respite.
Business was brisk with the season change and she worked hard even on Sundays these days, leaving Toby with a permanent maid that she had hired. Toby was her only solace and sunshine now. Her only hope from falling apart...Especially when her past seemed to be turning up like a bad penny at every corner!
Ricky paid her a visit after the hurricane had passed.
He apologized profusely for his churlish behaviour and claimed to have been jealous to see another man with her. He presented his business proposition again with utmost sincerity.
Giana promptly threw him out.
He began to visit the cafe regularly, familiarizing with the staff and generally being a nuisance. Even Carol’s cold indifference did not deter him from his continuous appearances. He apologized to Carol, expressing regret for everything that had gone wrong between the two families and showing great interest in Toby as though he were a showpiece to be examined. Ricky would often pinch the child’s cheeks and thump his back leaving him whining in irritation. He declared grandly that he would work untiringly towards uniting the families. Annabel’s extreme distaste was reflected in her declaration that she would clout him with the frying wok, whenever she saw Ricky’s breezy entrance at the cafe.
It was a week after Max’s departure that Ricky strolled in with a proprietary swagger and plonked himself on the couch in the cafe lounge around ten in the evening. He ordered a cream latte and crisp chicken rolls and sat back adjusting his Santa cap at a jaunty angle on his head before calling out to Carol, “You have a great place going here aunty! How much is the monthly turnover?”
The cold glare from Carol should have silenced him but Ricky was made of rhino skin and resilient shamelessness.
“Do you think we should empty the trashcan on him?” whispered Annabel from behind the kitchen partition.
“Or call pest control!” chortled Sandeep with a smirk. “Do you want me to stay the night? Selvam was complaining that Ricky didn’t pay for the coffee yesterday either. He also resented being called thatha by the customer. Selvam is only forty years old and very proud of his natural black hair!”
Behind them Bhanu spat a rude word in Tamil, brandishing her broom.
Giana couldn’t prevent the smile that wreathed her face. “That would be against the Christmas spirit, guys.” She urged Bhanu back into the kitchen, still muttering rustic expletives.
“Yeah, Rick the bloodsucking tick is practically oozing Christmas spirit through all his orifices,” snorted Annabel. “Go on, Sandy. We can handle this without your help.”
Maybe she should poison his coffee, thought Giana, in grim appraisal of the situation forgetting all her good intentions not to be vengeful. She saw Sandy exiting without acknowledging Ricky’s arrogant salute. Her annoyance magnified at the sight of Ricky tickling Toby who had fallen asleep on one of the couches in the cafe. The little one had wailed incessantly and refused to sit with the maid all evening and Giana had reluctantly brought him to the cafe. Since then he had been merrily playing with tinsels under the Christmas tree. Giana had fed him and put him to sleep on the couch before Ricky had sauntered in.
The final customer left and Giana’s consternation grew, when Ricky refused to vacate his seat. He struck up a conversation with Carol expressing his desire to take her daughter out for dinner, emphasizing that this time he was taking permission from the family elders. It was then that Giana lost her cool and marched out of the kitchen to confront him.
“What are you playing at, Ricky?” she asked, her voice ominously soft.
Ricky chased a crumb on his plate and popped it into his mouth. “I already told you why I am here.”
“Does it not occur to you that we don’t want you here?”
“Why not? Now that everything has been sorted out? I am like a son to Carol aunty.”
It was the last straw. “You are not her son! And nothing has been sorted out!” she hissed angrily. She stepped closer to him so that Carol couldn’t hear her. “This will be your last visit. There will be no polite requests the next time. Please leave!”
Ricky stood up, his congeniality giving way to surliness. “Is this because you are having an affair with that man?”
“What man?” Carol was standing behind them.
Giana stiffened, hearing her mother’s voice.
“The man who accompanied her to the wedding in Kalpakkam.”
“You were with a man in Kalpakkam?” Carol whipped Giana around by the arm to face her.
For a cowardly moment she thought of lying to her mother. To say that it was someone from her catering team. But she couldn’t lie. It was time to face her fear. “It was Max. He gave me a lift...”
“Did you stay with him at the hotel?” her mother snapped, without mincing words.
Giana closed her eyes. She could hear Ricky snort derisively.
“Did you?” Carol repeated the question.
“Yes. There was no choice...”
“In the same room?”
“Yes...Mamma, but it wasn’t...”
“How could you?” snarled Carol.
Ricky butted in, adding nuggets of his limited wisdom, “Now I know why you refuse to give up your free lifestyle. You don’t want anything to do with me, your husband...”
“Ex-husband, Ricky!” Giana whirled around angrily. She wished she had poisoned his coffee! “You are my ugly past! It is none of your business who I go out with. You can rest assured that it will never be you.”
“I saw you leave with him that night. It was all planned ahead, wasn’t it?”
Giana stood mute, horrified at the way Ricky was presenting it, helpless, as her mother listened to the rubbish that Ricky had spilled into her prejudiced ears.
“Is this true, Giana?” Her mother turned to her in disgust. “Answer me!” her voice rose, echoing around the empty cafe.
Giana grappled with the feeling of revulsion inside her.
“What do you w
ant to hear, Mamma? Why? When you won’t believe me.”
“Are you having an affair with that Martineau chap?”
What could she say? Was it an affair? A cheap dalliance? No, it wasn’t. It was this immeasurable attraction, a deep bond that could not be named. She loved Max deeply. But she was never going to admit it in front of an insensitive audience.
“Georgie, I can still take you home with me.”
It was Ricky who broke the deadly lethargy, that sense of hopeless inaction in her. Giana faced him slowly, composed now.
“And of course, you love our son the same way?”
“Of course!” Ricky grinned charmingly as though it was only a minor problem that could be solved amicably. Things were back on track for him. “We will take him with us!”
“I don’t want to work anymore. I am tired of having to work when I have to neglect Toby at times. You are wealthy enough to support us aren’t you?” Giana smiled, colder than an iceberg.
Ricky hesitated, his plan in danger of being derailed. “You know that my father doesn’t support me anymore. We can start our own business, now that you have a steady income coming in. You have a great clientele and a stable experience.”
“Fine. But what about Toby?”
“Er...We can put...your...I mean our son in a good boarding school as I mentioned before. Then you can help with the event management business I want to start. You can get your share or property from this cafe and your house and...”
“Enough! You slimy twit!” Her gentle voice was transformed into an enraged snarl.
The sound of the hard slap on Ricky’s face echoed around the room. His head jerked back with the impact. Giana looked at her own trembling hand and the red imprint on Ricky’s cheek.
“I have wanted to do that since you ran away on our wedding night and were found in another woman’s bed. You betrayed my trust in every possible way.”
In the silence that followed, her mother and sister gaped at her with their mouths open. A stunned Ricky fell back a few steps.
Giana turned to face her mother with a fierce light in her eyes. “Is this what you want, Mamma. You believe this man who doesn’t have a decent job, who is ready to grab what he can from his ex-wife, and conveniently shove his little son out of the way so that he doesn’t have to take responsibility of him? This man who caused Michael’s death?”
“It wasn’t like that!” Ricky sputtered, trying to find a foothold.
Her mother remained silent. Guilt and grief stamped on her lined face.
Giana straightened up to face everyone. “Yes, I went out with Max! So what?” The last question was a furious challenge to all.
Ricky began to say something but she cut him short ruthlessly with only a piercing glare.
“Get out!” her voice rang out in warning.
“You are insulting me. I will not be treated like this.”
“You heard the lady, Bartholomew!”
The masculine voice from the doorway startled everyone. They stared at the newcomer at the scene.
“You better listen to her or I’d be forced to step in to sort this out personally!” Max stood, filling the doorway, thumbs tucked in his pockets, his tall frame dressed in casual jeans and a black tee. His nonchalant stance didn’t mask the menacing battle light in his eyes.
Ricky took a step back in fear now. “Your boyfriend is here?” he flung at Giana, accusingly.
Max was back! Her whole being was consumed with ecstasy, aching to hurl herself across the room into his arms.
“Not her boyfriend, Bartholomew. Her future husband!” Max drawled, grimacing inward at the gasp that he heard around the room.
Giana was sure that he was a figment of her imagination and all that she had fervently wished for. She groped for the nearest chair and sat down with a thump, staring at Max with haunted eyes.
“You are lying!” Ricky squeaked.
Max strolled towards the younger man with all the grace of a panther about to pounce.
“I don’t lie. This will be your last warning. I don’t want to see you anywhere near my fiancé ever again.”
“You want to be saddled with another man’s child?” sneered Ricky.
“Would you like to keep Toby?”
“No way!” sputtered Ricky, backtracking.
“Why not? He is your son.”
“What rubbish! I cannot be tied down to a clingy toddler!”
Max stepped right in front of Ricky. His voice dropped to a deadly growl. “In that case, listen to this carefully, Bartholomew. Giana is going to be my wife and I am adopting Toby as my son. They will live with me under my roof. And if I find you anywhere near my family, I will break your neck first and hand you over to the police without a second thought. And then the can of worms would tumble out. I am sure you wouldn’t want that, would you?”
There was utter silence in the room for loaded minutes.
“Now...Get out! Or...” Max’s hand whipped out to catch the younger man around his throat. But before he could act, Ricky had turned tail and stumbled out of the cafe.
The Christmas tree lights winked in the pin drop silence that followed his exit.
Annabel was the first to rouse herself from the shock. “I love the Christmas season. It is full of surprises.”
But Max had his eyes hooked on Giana who sat with a look of utter devastation. He watched her stand up, her stance wobbly, the courageous façade fallen away. She could not take it anymore. With a whimper that cut Max to the core, she walked out of the door before he could intervene.
“You didn’t ask her, right?” Annabel cleared her throat.
“No,” Max shook his head. He turned to Carol who stood with an ashen face, still clutching at the table. “I am sorry, Carol. I had to protect Giana from that mercenary.”
“So you don’t intent to marry her, after all,” whispered Carol, looking older than her age.
“I have every intention of marrying her.”
“Do you love her?”
“With all my heart and soul!”
“Then go after her. She must have reached home.” Carol smiled through the sudden tears of relief.
Max was astounded by the unexpected reaction.
A tinkling sound broke the spell. They turned to look at Annabel who stood gaping at her mother. It took a few seconds for her to pick up her hanging jaw from the floor and check her beeping phone. “Uh...Giana’s saying that I should bring Toby home.”
Max lifted Toby who squirmed in his grasp, still asleep. Carol was overwhelmed by the look of tenderness on his face as he cuddled the little body.
“I’ll keep him here, Mr. Martineau. Why don’t you go and talk to Giana?” Carol offered with more warmth than she had felt in years.
“Call me Max!” He looked at her, his face creased into a smile of happiness. “Toby is my responsibility from now on. I will take him to Giana.” He cradled Toby’s head into the crook of his shoulder and wrapped an arm around him safely.
Annabel stopped him and pumped his free hand with a huge, sunny grin. “I am so glad she found you.”
“I am more than glad that I found her!”
*
When Max reached the lit up house, he knew instinctively where to find Giana. He rang the bell at the door.
“The backdoor’s open, Bel!”
He smiled, following the tremulous voice into the kitchen through the backdoor, and laid Toby on the comfortable, low divan in the drawing room. He placed cushions on both the sides to make him cozy. The huge, ten feet tall Christmas tree near the French windows was covered in red and silver bows and shiny little balls. Golden bells hung in fragile chains with enchanting, gauzy handmade angels. Here and there, Toby’s handiwork was visible; a wobbly one-eyed Santa bobbed gleefully when Max touched the green boughs.
The warmth that he felt was incredible. His lonely heart swelled with longing, love and hope. It seemed like a long time that he had celebrated or anticipated Christmas. The love that he felt fo
r Giana erased every bit of pain from his heart making it whole again. He removed the little gift box he had bought for her from his pocket and placed it under the Christmas tree with the other gifts. He needed to buy one for Toby. But that would have to wait until tomorrow. The entire periphery and the veranda were glimmering with fairy lights as he stepped out where Giana sat hunched on the steps to the garden. On hearing him behind her, she turned abruptly and stood up.
“I brought Toby with me. He is fast asleep.” Max stepped closer.
Giana hesitated, looking at him with huge shimmering eyes. “Thanks for the support and solidarity that you showed in front of Ricky.” She hadn’t stopped shivering since she had seen him. It had been the biggest shock of the evening to hear Max declare that she was going to be his wife.
“It was more than just support and solidarity.” Max moved in front of her, lifting her chin, cupping her face.
Her breath caught in her throat and she pulled away from him to stalk back into the drawing room. “If it was more, why did you go away?” she whispered, on the verge of breaking down. She heard him follow her in two swift strides.
“You were avoiding me. Have you forgotten that?” It was a gentle reprimand, devoid of true censure or judgement.
“I...uh...just couldn’t face you after...” she stammered, caught off guard. “I needed some space. I wanted us to get back to the platonic friendship level.”
“There was nothing platonic about our friendship from the beginning. It was too intense and personal from the moment I set my eyes on you. I wanted you with an absoluteness that defied logic. I had never wanted anyone like that...Not even Eva. It was painful to acknowledge that. Even shameful! I felt like I was cheating on her. I didn’t think I deserved a second chance. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I couldn’t stop the questions I hadn’t asked myself in a long while. The questions I had been avoiding. I was aware that you were running away. I don’t blame you for avoiding me. We were both trying to keep it platonic.”
“Friendship was the only thing I could afford to give you or take from you, Max.”
“Yes, it was true friendship and much more!” Max said, fervently. “We recognized each other from the beginning even without formal introduction.”
FLAWLESS Page 19