A Reckless Night

by Van,P. G.

  *****

  Kris woke up to the light streaming through the blinds. He reached out to find the woman that rocked his world the previous night only to find himself all alone in bed.

  “Lisa!!” he called out even though he knew that wasn’t her real name and was greeted by an eerie silence.

  Kris felt a dull ache grip his body when he realized that the one woman who knew what he wanted had slipped away, and he didn’t even know her real name.

  He looked for his phone and called Sam and got his friend’s voicemail. He cursed under his breath still smelling her in the room. His chest clenched as he smashed his phone on the bed. He growled raking his fingers through his hair frustrated with himself for letting her get into his head.

  Chapter Two

  “Coming, Myra,” Varsha said to the most important person in her life, her eighteen-month-old daughter. Her daughter has been pretty demanding lately and has been waking up earlier than usual.

  Varsha checked the time as it was a bit too dark on a late summer morning. It was a few minutes before five thirty, and her alarm was set to go off at half past five. Myra has been beating the alarm consistently for the past week or so. Varsha wondered if her daughter’s sleep cycle was changing as she walked towards the nursery.

  “Good morning, baby,” she said cheerfully to the bouncy little girl picking her out of the crib. She had her crib in the smaller bedroom right next to her bedroom. Myra continued to babble with a few ‘mama’ words amidst her serious conversation with her mother. Varsha carried her back to her bathroom so they could brush their teeth together.

  Myra’s nanny arrived at six thirty daily, and Varsha enjoyed being with her little darling every morning. She took her to the lower floor of the three-bedroom townhouse that was her home for almost a decade.

  Varsha could very clearly remember the day she entered the beautiful townhome with dreams and high expectations from life with her ex-husband. She had graduated from engineering school and fell for the arranged marriage fairy-tale that gave her some rude awakenings later on. She shook away memories of her tough times and looked at her precious baby who was staring at her wondering why her mom wasn’t warming up her milk.

  She smiled kissing her baby on the forehead as she sat in her high chair chatting away with the butterfly on the tray. She made coffee for herself and sat next to her baby and chatted away as they sipped their morning drinks.

  The nanny arrived as Myra and Varsha finished up their daily dose of games and play. Myra spread her arms out as soon as she saw their lovely nanny who had been watching her since the day she was born. Varsha handed her baby to her trustworthy nanny and hit the shower.

  Twenty-five minutes later, she was ready to go. She had put on a black and ivory crepe shirtdress with a flattering blouson waist and headed downstairs to find Myra playing with her kitchen set.

  “Bye, Pammi. I will see you around six thirty,” Varsha said to her limited English-speaking nanny who smiled and said, “Okay, Varsha.”

  She gave her darling a bunch of hugs and kisses before she hit the door. She pulled out of her garage in her red Audi she had purchased for her ex for his birthday two years ago in hopes of saving her marriage.

  The little coupe had been her commute car for almost a year and had served her well. She had to ditch her little red car for an SUV when she got bigger and bigger with Myra and came back to the fire-bred car right after her daughter was born. The SUV served as her princess’s carriage while the coupe helped her keep up with the lingering racecar driver DNA in her. She scrunched her nose and smiled to herself thinking about how she could have been a racecar driver if she weren’t so tall.

  She worked in San Francisco, and her drive along the beautiful I-280 was her time of Zen and peace. She did everything but get stressed about the traffic. There were days she would blast her ears with Bollywood dance music and days where she would listen to a thought-provoking audio book.

  On that day, she chose to listen to heart-warming love songs as the fog made the morning gloomy yet romantic. She drove within her personal speed limit while keeping an eye out for speed checks.

  A few hours later, Varsha sprinted towards the conference room where the monthly town hall meeting was in progress. She snuck in quietly and leaned against the wall following through the presentation.

  At the end of the presentation, the chief information officer stood up to make an announcement.

  “I am thrilled to introduce Krishna Vaasireddy. He has the most impressive resume I have seen in my career,” he said and that perked Varsha’s interest; she looked around to see who the new guy was that joined the company.

  “I would call him a startup mogul, and I am excited that he has decided to join us as our Chief Security Officer,” the polite CIO continued and finally looked at the dark-haired man that was sitting in the front row.

  Varsha watched as the so-called ‘startup mogul’ shook hands with the man at the top of the corporate food chain and turned to face the group who applauded his welcome.

  “Thank you all for the warm welcome,” the guy said, and something deep ignited inside her. Her palms started to sweat as her heart raced deafening her as soon as she heard the guy say, “I know I was introduced as Krishna, I prefer to be called Kris.”

  Varsha’s heart sank when she took in the familiar eyes. The last time she had seen him, he had a full beard and she had initially failed to recognize him without the facial hair. She gripped her laptop worried about dropping it, and all she could think about was to run away.

  She heard his voice cut through the blood pounding in her ears as she stood looking down at the floor unable to handle the numerous ‘what-if’s’ that ran through her mind. The last thing she had expected was to see him at her workplace. She had agreed to go on that date only because she knew their paths would never cross, but he stood in front of her addressing the four hundred odd people with ease.

  She took a deep breath and looked up refusing to let anything or anyone intimidate her. She had one reckless night three months ago, and that night was standing in front of her threatening to shatter everything she had worked for, but she refused to give in and be threatened by it.

  *****

  “Mommy is home.” Varsha picked up Myra as she put her arms out kicking her legs impatiently. She took in the sweet smell of her baby and the day of what seemed like a never-ending mess melted away.

  “Do you want to go see Aunt Meena and the boys?” Varsha asked putting Myra into the stroller and placed her diaper bag in the compartment below.

  “Hey there stranger,” Varsha’s neighbor called out as she stepped out of her garage pushing the stroller.

  “Hey Jen, is this the last batch of stuff?” Varsha asked looking at the minivan loaded to the brim.

  “I know, I still can’t believe we moved in just under three weeks,” her neighbor of almost ten years shrugged.

  “I can’t either, and you are moving because you just needed a neighbor that interacts with you,” Varsha teased.

  “Stop it, Varsha. You know that’s not true,” she smiled and added, “Jake could not turn down the offer he got.”

  “I know. Good luck with everything, and we are still within ten miles so you should come by,” Varsha cheered.

  “Will do, for the little princess!!” Jen blew a kiss to Myra and drove off.

  Varsha’s older sister, Meena, lived a mile away and was her regular crash pad on the weekdays. She planned to be back home for dinner to the freshly cooked meal her nanny made for them. The nanny arrangement worked out very well for her, but she knew it was only a matter of time before Myra would want to hang out with other kids, which meant she needed to start looking for a daycare.

  She took a deep breath and built in the confidence that she could take on anything after what she went through the past few years and started to run pushing the stroller towards her sister’s house. She had a million questions for her sister about the night she set her up.

&nbs
p; Her sister was five years older than her and was an easygoing mom of five-year-old twin boys and a wife to a caring and loving man.

  “Our princess is here!!” her brother-in-law, Varun, said as she walked in through the open garage door. She immediately heard her sister squeal with excitement and heard the boys run downstairs to see Myra while Varsha struggled to contain Myra’s excitement as she tried to jump into Varun’s arms.

  “She is all yours for the next hour, Varun,” Varsha teased.

  “My pleasure. I love hanging out with the most reasonable girl I know,” he said winking at her as he took the boys and Myra into the backyard to play on the swing set.

  “I am starving,” she said hugging her sister. Meena laughed and said, “I have something that I tried out today, and the boys refused to eat it.”

  “Sis, you know I will eat anything. Hit me with what you got,” Varsha challenged her. Her sister had quit her job right before the twins were born and was getting back into food blogging and warming up to the idea of going back to work as a chef. She had spent many years as a test kitchen chef, and every meal she made was innovative and nutritious.

  “I love it, whatever this is,” Varsha said chewing on the crunchy bits of granola that were doused in a thick layer of yummy goodness.

  “Oh good. I think I have the taste down, and I need to work on the presentation,” Meena said sounding excited about her new innovation.

  “How was your day, Varsha?” her sister asked as Varsha looked out of the kitchen window to see Myra laughing as she played with her cousins.

  “About that,” she said scrunching her nose and added, “You are in big trouble.”

  “What—What did I do?” Her sister was startled.

  “That guy you set me up with, your friend’s coworker? What is he up to?” Varsha whispered.

  “Now you want to know about him and why are you asking me about him when you refused to talk about your date?” she grumbled.

  “I asked you a question, Meena, answer that first,” she sneered at her sister.

  “He is some kind of scientist that goes undercover for government operations. Varun and I met him at our friend’s place, and we both agreed he would be good for you.” Meena’s voice was casual.

  “Seriously? That’s all you found out about him, and you set me up on a blind date? What if he was some kind of psychopath or worse, a serial killer?” Varsha growled.

  “No—Varun talked to him and thought he was a nice guy, and I talked to him, too. He was smart and was recently divorced, and we were sure you would like him.” Her sister sounded defensive.

  “Meena, I am sorry. I know you set him up for my sake but—but, never mind.” Varsha sighed.

  “Varsha, what’s going on?” Her sister was concerned her little sister was close to hating every man.

  “Your scientist buddy showed up at work today.” Varsha rolled her eyes trying real hard to keep her voice steady. The slightest memory of Kris took her back to the night she could never forget for the rest of her life.

  “Sam works for your company?” her sister asked puzzled.

  “Sam?” Varsha knew instantly something was wrong and didn’t want to react and alarm her sister.

  “You seriously don’t remember the guy’s name? Was your date that bad or that good?” Her sister winked.

  “You have no idea,“ Varsha managed to say in a steady voice with a million things going through her head. She wondered if Kris had used a fake name on their date, but remembered that he was introduced with his name at the all-hands meeting earlier that day.

  She leaned against the kitchen counter wondering why their paths crossed when she was sure to never see him again.

  “What was Sam doing in your company? I don’t think it’s his field of work.” Her sister observed cutting through her thoughts.

  Varsha decided not to discuss the situation with her sister further and figured it was best to leave her out of it. “Now that I think about it, I’m not even sure if it was him.” There was no doubt in her mind about the man she saw after three months.

  “I don’t think Sam is back in the country so I doubt if it’s him,” her sister declared.

  “Ohh…” Varsha hoped for a change in subject.

  When are you working at night this week?” her sister asked relieving her.

  “It’s on Wednesday night. I will drop Myra off around eight in her jammies so I can be at work by nine,” Varsha said smiling at her and added, “I will come by in the morning and take her home.”

  “No you won’t. I want to keep her home with me.” Her sister smiled at her and added, “I don’t know why you spend all the money on your nanny when I am dying to take care of Myra.”

  Varsha laughed shaking her head. “You have paid your dues with the twins, sis, and you are just getting out of being a round-the-clock mom. How can I dump Myra on you?”

  Meena laughed and said, “Myra is not like the boys. She is the best behaved baby.”

  “I keep wondering how much longer she is going to be that way,” Varsha said looking out of the window at the activity in the backyard.

  “She needs a father figure in her life, Varsha,” her sister said softly. Varsha knew her sister was using Myra to get her to consider being with someone again.

  “She has you and Varun, and I don’t need another messy relationship in my life. I am happy being Myra’s mom instead of someone’s someone,” Varsha said in a flat voice.

  “You need a partner to share everything,” her sister said making her feel the punch in her stomach and added cheerfully, “I don’t know why you didn’t find anyone interesting in San Francisco.”

  Varsha almost choked on the sip of water when her sister made that comment as she was reminded of Kris.

  “They are out there. I just don’t have the time or energy to deal with it all.”

  “I wish mom and dad were normal parents. They would have convinced you to be with someone by now,” her sister declared confidently.

  “Right!! Someone they thought was right, not necessarily right for me. How do you not know that already?” she taunted.

  “Well, I knew the guy they set me up with was not right for me, but you were okay with your ex.”

  “I should have eloped like you did. Too bad I fell for the dreamy hopes of love after marriage.” Varsha shook her head in an attempt to shake off the painful memories.

  “You make me look bad when you say elope,” her sister pouted.

  “Running away from that match was the best decision you made, Meena. Varun is a great guy.”

  “I’m glad I did. I knew I couldn’t stand up to our high- society parents’ expectations. I trusted him to love me and care for me more than mom and dad.”

  “You did good, Meena. I should have told them I wanted to wait.”

  “You were twenty-one and barely out of college, Varsha.”

  “I know, but you know what I had to deal with after you ran away from home. Bodyguards watching my every move, and I needed to get away from them.”

  “That was brutal. They were nuts to think you wouldn’t run if you had wanted to,” her sister teased winking at her.

  “Right!! One other qualification my ex had was that he was in the same city as you were so I pretty much married him for you,” she retorted.

  “Awww…It’s too bad he turned out to be an ass.” Her sister scrunched her nose.

  “Yeah, well…nothing I can do about it now. Can I?”

  “Yes, you can. You need a dude in your life.”

  Varsha smiled but did not respond. If any guy came close to being considered, it was Kris but she knew it wasn’t going to work. He was not the kind of guy who took care of kids; he was nowhere close to being domesticated. She wondered what was in store for her since they worked in the same building.

  Chapter Three

  On Tuesday morning, Varsha had a rough start with all kinds of system data issues and her inbox was flooded with emails. She took a deep breath and st
arted reading through the updates on all the issues that were outstanding when she felt someone approach her desk.

  “Good morning.” She heard a deep male voice that seemed to be addressing her, and she looked up, her brown eyes meeting deep dark eyes that were smiling at her. Varsha’s heart froze at the sight in front of her as she sat glued to her seat.

  “Hi, I am Kris and you must be Varsha,” he said, his eyes continuing to bore a hole through her with the intensity. She fought back the initial surprise that he was introducing himself to her like he had never seen or met her. She took in the intimidation he brought on with his stupendous look and style and managed to smile back with ease looking at his charming face that was all too familiar. “Hi, Kris. How are you doing?”

  Kris smiled. “I survived the first week and today is day two of my second week.” Varsha could not tell if he was playing with her or if he had not recognized her for real. Based on her initial assessment, she knew he was a womanizer, and he didn’t need to remember every woman he slept with. She felt like kicking herself in the rear that she ended up on the list of women he had bedded.

  “I am glad to hear you survived, and we are excited that you are part of our team,” she managed in a professional tone.

  “You two found each other!!” A male voice interjected cheerfully.

  “Good morning, Jack!!” Kris greeted in a flat tone and Varsha smiled at the best boss she had in her entire career. He was in his late fifties, and she saw the father in him that was no longer in her life.

  “Good morning you two. Varsha, is Kris bothering you?” Her boss teased making her wince internally.

  “Jack, you know I wouldn’t.” He winked.

  “Kris, you need to know Varsha is my superstar. I have been asking for special funding to clone her,“ he teased smiling at her.