Accidentally Ever After

by Mariyam Hasnain

  Before Esha could grab the Android phone from the side table, the talking device buzzed loudly with an incoming call.

  Sara.

  Why is she calling in the middle of the night?

  Esha’s heart raced with anxiety. Her mother was on bed rest since her coronary artery bypass grafting last month and since then Mrs. Diwan was under strict observation.

  But as adamant as she was, declined any hospital care. Mrs. Diwan didn’t even agree on a nurse. It was only a housemaid and Esha’s elder sister, Priya, who was with her, taking care of their ailing mother.

  “Hope everything is well back home,” Esha murmured to herself as she put the phone close to her ear.

  “Yeah, Sara. Is everything all right?” Her voice wobbled as she spoke.

  “No. Nothing is all right, Esh.”

  Sara sounded worried and anxious.

  “What’s wrong? Is Mom all right? Where’s Di? She must be with her.” Esha threw a series of questions on her best friend, Sara.

  “Are you watching the news?”

  “Of course not.”

  Why the hell did Sara ask this question? Couldn’t she know how it felt like after continuously sucking the dry circulated air of the cabin, serving passengers, and keeping that tired smile alive all the time.

  “I was sleeping and now I’m talking to you. Where did the news come from into all this? And who’ll watch news at this hour of the night? It’s two-thirty in the morning.” By now, Esha knew Sara’s call had nothing to do with her ailing mother’s health condition. So, she felt relaxed but at the same time irritated by Sara’s childish behaviour. She could have waited till morning. What was so urgent?

  “Switch on the television.”

  Strange, wasn’t it? Esha could have asked more questions but Sara sounded worried, so she simply grabbed the remote from the side table. “Which channel?” Esha asked.

  “News, I said. Any news channels. They are showing it everywhere.”

  What the heck! What were they showing and why was Sara so adamant to make her watch the news when half of the world was asleep?

  Anxiety whirled around Esha’s head. Curious to know what had happened or in fact happening she instantly pushed the power-on button on the thin black remote.

  The sleek LED panel mounted on the lilac wall-papered wall lit up. Esha toggled between the channels until she found one that was broadcasting the news live.

  Her capillaries shrank. Eyes grew wide. Mouth fell open. She slapped a cold hand over her open mouth as the shock of seeing Arjun Raghuvanshi on screen began to sink in her brain.

  As soon as Esha’s eyes regained their normal size, her ears pounded with the voice of a female newsreader. “Indeed, it was a miracle as the founding member and co-owner of the R & R Consultancy Services has been found.”

  “Esha are you there?”

  Esha heard Sara calling her from other side. But before she could say anything the phone slipped from her hand and fell softly on the fur blanket that covered her legs.

  Esha’s eyes went pinpoint. Head throbbed with the most traumatic kind of pain. A sudden aching sensation hurled from the pit of her stomach and travelled to her heart.

  Yes, her heart. How could she forget that Arjun Raghuvanshi was the same man who once inhabited her heart and ruled her soul?

  “I need to talk to someone,” Esha mumbled as she regained her composure. Wiping her sweaty forehead, forking her fingers in her wayward fringes and pushing them back on her head, she looked for her cell phone.

  She groped for the phone. Sara was gone from the other side. Esha punched in few numbers and put the phone close to her ear. Her head still ached.

  Full caller tune and nobody picked up the phone. “Shit,” Esha muttered a curse before dialling once again, her teeth gritted as she spoke to herself. “Pick up the damn phone, Di.”

  The caller tune of Back to You by Selena Gomez seemed deafening to Esha’s ears as she waited for Priya to receive the call.

  “Hello.” A sleepy voice entered Esha’s ears and pulled her out of her thought spiral.

  “Di?” Esha’s voice shook.

  “Esh. What’s wrong?”

  “Di, did you see the news.”

  “What news?” Esha could sense the irritation lacing through Priya’s voice. “So, you’ve called me in the middle of the night asking if I have watched the news.”

  “It’s not just any news, Di. It’s…” Esha’s words trailed off. How could she tell Priya that the man who almost crushed their hearts one and half years ago was back in their lives again.

  “Then, what it is?”

  “Switch on the TV, Di.”

  “Okay, so you won’t relent. Fine. Wait for a sec, I can’t find the remote.” Esha heard things being shifted, papers rustling.

  Her sister was not a very good organizer. There was a fair possibility that Priya might have forgotten the remote inside the oven in the kitchen.

  Anyhow, Esha had to wait. She couldn’t muster the courage to tell Priya about Arjun Raghuvanshi’s sudden shocking appearance. She couldn’t announce the arrival of the man that had left no stone unturned in transforming her sister’s life into a mess of sorrow and despair. And not only her sister’s but hers as well.

  Two

  Arjun pushed the wrought iron gate and entered the house. His steps faltered on the walkway as old memories cluttered his head. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he glanced at the healthy green garden blooming on either side of the walkway.

  Familiar fragrance of curry leaves wafted into his nose as he reached the porch. He looked at the familiar teakwood door, the same lion-shaped metal door knocker and the same brass bell hanging from the porch ceiling.

  How much he missed this house, the people of this house. How much he missed Priya. That one and a half year that he had spent on a deserted island after his boat was hit by an unexpected sea storm deleted all the predicaments. Dilemmas and apprehensions related to wedlock and marital responsibilities had dissolved away as Arjun had struggled with the loneliness while stranded on the island.

  In fact, that one and half year when he was away from civilisation, the only thing that had kept him going was love. Never in the wildest of his dreams had he imagined that life would play such a cruel game with him.

  He was marooned on an isolated patch of land in the middle of the vast Indian ocean, begging, looking, seeking a single straw of hope. And then Priya’s love had come to his rescue. How much they were in love, ready to be engaged. How happy Priya and Mrs. Diwan were when he had consented for the marriage.

  No matter how apprehensive Arjun was about commitment and responsibilities, the sheen of Priya’s eyes had made him believe that he had done the right thing. Not for so long but at least for a few days after he had nodded his consent, he had felt that he had made the best decision of his life.

  But then he had made one more decision. He had decided to go on a cruise on his yacht. He had wanted some time alone to think, to ponder, to feel confident about his decision of marrying his long-time girlfriend, Priya.

  No matter how much nightmarish it was, the months, weeks, and days, he had spent on that lonely island made him learn a lot. About life. About love. About relationships.

  Now, he desperately wanted to amend the damage his missing state had caused on the Diwan family. He wanted to propose to Priya, do the damn thing the right way.

  He wanted to bend on his knee with a velvet box in his hand. He wanted to snug the solitaire on Priya’s thin long finger and make her forever his. He desperately wanted to get his life back on track. He wanted to marry Priya.

  A weak smile flashed on Arjun’s parched lips. His heart rumbled with the mere thought of seeing Priya after so many months.

  It was just a year and half, but it felt as if it had been centuries since he had been away from this house. The same house that once used to be his celestial escape from all the insecurities, loneliness, and obscurities of his late childhood.

  With
out waiting for another second, Arjun pulled the door knocker and tapped the door. Anxiety whirled around him as he waited and stared at the intricately carved teakwood door.

  Arjun would have knocked a second time, had he not heard the familiar voice of Muniamma, the housemaid that served the Diwan family for years. He couldn’t remember a single day when he hadn’t seen Muniamma in the house.

  Muniamma was an old lady with a head full of salt-and-pepper hair. With lean body and the agility of a deer, she had always kept herself busy with the household chores. What a quiet house servant she was.

  Arjun reminisced the olden days. Days when he used to sneak into the neighbourhood to play with the two sisters and to grab the goodies that Muniamma had cooked in the Diwan’s kitchen.

  Arjun waited at the door as he heard the light tread of Muniamma’s Kohlapuri chappals. The lady used to wear the handcrafted leather sleepers that Mrs. Diwan especially ordered every year from Kohlapur, a small city in Maharashtra.

  How much loved a house servant she was.

  The door clanked and slowly opened. Arjun was right. The woman who welcomed Arjun at the door with a wide smile was none other than Muniamma.

  “Arjun Baba.” Her gap-toothed smile was warm enough to let Arjun open his arms wide. She stepped closer and Arjun wrapped her old and fragile body in his arms.

  The scent of curry leaves and tobacco grew strong as they hugged each other like a distanced mother and son.

  Muniamma’s presence in the life of the Diwan sisters was no less than the presence of a mother. While Mrs. Diwan had kept on stepping the stones of success, expanding her business empire of concrete and construction, it was Muniamma who took care of the kids. Not only the Diwan sisters but Muniamma had a very special place in Arjun’s heart too.

  “Who’s that, Muniamma.”

  Arjun heard the voice which he had been longing to hear for such a long time. Footsteps thumped and thwacked on the spiral wooden case as a silvery figure made an appearance in the foyer.

  “Hey, it’s you.” Priya smiled, tying the knot of her silvery sleeping gown. Her light brown hair fluttered as cold breeze blew past the open windows and filled the foyer.

  Priya rubbed her eyes off sleep and marched ahead.

  “Please, come in, Arjun Baba. I’ll get something for you to eat.” Stepping away, Muniamma wiped her eyes at the corners. Next moment, she disappeared in the adjacent lobby.

  “Get me a coffee, please,” Priya uttered, sleep lacing her voice.

  Arjun didn’t know if the old lady heard Priya or not because right now his senses were so suffused, he couldn’t care about any other thing except staring at the sleepy woman in front of him.

  Arjun felt overwhelmed seeing his girlfriend after a good long time. Feelings choked his throat as he stepped closer to Priya.

  “Hey. How are you.” Arjun held Priya’s well-groomed smooth hands and pressed a kiss on her long thin fingers.

  “I’m good. And you?”

  Priya smiled but this wasn’t her usual smile. There was a dash of hesitation.

  Why was she reacting like this? Arjun could sense Priya’s uneasiness.

  “What’s wrong, baby? Aren’t you happy seeing me back?”

  “Let’s sit and talk, Arjun.”

  Shock hit Arjun like a thunderbolt. When he was expecting a passionate wet kiss and a tight hard hug, Priya’s unfriendly attitude shunned his senses.

  Priya pulled him by his hand to the brown leather couch.

  As they sat on the plush fluffy sofa, next to each other, Arjun tried to assess Priya’s mental state. His eyes never left her face as she forked the tangled mess of her hair and rubbed her eyes some more. It felt as if she was avoiding the sleep.

  Did she have a sleepless night? Did she see him on the TV last night, in the news? If yes, why didn’t she try to reach out to him.

  He got his cell phone reactivated the moment he was back to civilisation. His cell number was still the same as it was one and half years ago. Then why she didn’t bother calling him.

  What had gone wrong?

  Three

  Esha was tired after a sleepless night but not to the point that her ears could ignore the slow mumbles floating into her room. Muffled voices rang her in head as she pushed herself out of the bed.

  She squinted at the wall clock, eyes pinched, avoiding the glare of the beaming sun straining in through the jute curtains. “Shit. I slept too late.”

  After spending a restless night at Hilton Mumbai, she had flown back to Bangalore this morning. She was tired and sleepy. And as soon as her fatigued body hit the bed, she had gone into deep slumber.

  Staggering to her feet, Esha walked out of her room. The moment she stepped down onto the first stair, her heart rumbled. Arjun Raghuvanshi’s husky voice entered her ears.

  “It’s good to see you move on, Priya. By the way who’s the lucky man.”

  “You don’t know him. He’s the son of one of Mom’s close friend and business associate, Mr. Gandhi.”

  “How serious is this relationship?”

  “Serious? Huh. As if you know the meaning of this word.”

  Esha could feel the ugly tang of anger in her sister’s voice. With that came the haunting memories of that unfortunate day. The day when Arjun Raghuvanshi went missing.

  Arjun had decided to go on a sea trip in his own yacht just a few weeks before his wedding with Priya. It was a short cruise in the India ocean, but then the yacht had vanished. Several weeks later, the boat was discovered. The body of the boat’s caption had been found. The bodies of the two stewards had also been found. All three deaths were due to drowning, and when Arjun’s body hadn’t been found, everyone including Priya believed that he had drowned too.

  “Did you know what has gone wrong here?”

  Esha heard Arjun speak.

  “I didn’t tell you to go on a cruise just weeks before the wedding, did I?” Esha heard her sister sob. “But you wanted some time alone. Why the hell you wanted to back off, Arjun when all your growing up years you ran after me like…. Shit… I don’t want to talk about all this.”

  Priya’s whisper-shouts were loud enough to thrum Esha’s ears. Esha felt compelled to be with her sister but she somehow resisted herself from going down. She didn’t want to give Arjun Raghuvanshi any impression that his presence and his sudden appearance affected her in any way. Because she knew the moment her eyes met his black ones, she would become jelly.

  All through her growing up years, she had crushed on Arjun. There was a time when she had dreamed about Arjun becoming her boyfriend, perhaps during her high school years. Little did she know that her crush had already been dating her sister.

  Arjun and Priya were in the first year of college at that time. How ignorant Esha was back then about the depths of growing affection between her crush and her sister.

  She still remembered the day when she had seen Priya and Arjun kissing each other in the backyard of the house. He was all over her, kissing and fondling.

  Her sister’s pleasure moans still pierced her ears. How could she forget that Arjun Raghuvanshi had not only ruined her sister’s life but hers too.

  Esha could feel the same anger lancing through her. The same anger that a moment ago was there in Priya’s voice was now making Esha lightheaded and dizzy.

  With slow and heavy steps, Esha trudged back to her room. Her eyes turned watery as the reality of having Arjun Raghuvanshi back in their lives slowly settled in.

  Esha knew her sister had moved on.

  Did Esha move on too?

  No.

  She still felt herself standing at the same point where she was a year and a half ago. Nothing had changed. Then she was a stupid crazy girl who hadn’t wanted to miss a single glimpse of Arjun Raghuvanshi. Today also she couldn’t let him go without stealing a glance or two. So what if he was her sister’s ex. So what if Arjun Raghuvanshi and Diwan family were like two opposite ends of a magnet now. So what if he didn’t even remember th
e existence of a pimply teenager on earth, the one who had crushed on him since attaining puberty.

  Esha couldn’t let Arjun go without seeing him. How could she when she had spent the entire night browsing through the Internet, gobbling on all the live and recorded footage of Arjun coming home like Ecstasy pills.

  Not in a very good shape but he looked healthy on screen except for some under-eye dark circles. His skin appeared pale and he looked a little thinner than before. Gone was the muscular toughness, now he was more athletic and leaner. Perhaps because of the hardships he had gone through during the past one and a half years. How difficult it would have been for him to survive on an island where there wouldn’t be any signs of civilisation or human existence. He was all alone on that isolated patch of land in the middle of the enormous ocean for one complete year and few months.

  The mere thought of Arjun being stranded on an island brought fresh tears in Esha’s eyes. She wanted to see him, meet him, talk to him. But how and would it be right? Yes, it’s true, Priya had moved on and was happy with Ashish. But wouldn’t it be wrong to have feelings for her sister’s ex.

  Dilemmas, confusion, and apprehensions crawled inside Esha’s head as she pondered over the situation and the dynamics of her relationship with Arjun.

  Arjun had never seen her more than Priya’s little sister—the one with twin braids and a face full of teenage acne. Would he find her any different now? Had anything changed in her physical appearance in the past one and a half years?

  Unbidden, Esha walked to the giant mirror mounted on the top of a classic Mahogany dresser. And even though she hadn’t slept properly last night, even though she was tired, the mirror showed a beautiful young girl.

  Esha smiled as she drew open the curtains. Sun rays flickered past the swaying palm trees and entered the room. She looked even prettier in sunlight. Her bronze skin gleamed under the late morning sun. Her heart filled with warmth and happiness. She felt relieved. She felt happy. She wanted to see Arjun.