TEMPEST LOVE

Chapter One

Chaaya was mixing the paints for the landscape she was going to colour, when the door to her studio was burst open. She looked up with a start and froze in shock. The moment stilled for both of them. They stared at each other; no they were drinking in the sight of each other. A tension filled the air and silence descended. Three long years and nothing was the same anymore.

Chaaya noticed that he had lost weight and he looked slightly older and sexier. It had been three years since they met and their last meeting was so bitter and furious, that all the beautiful memories of their togetherness were erased because of their last showdown.

Now, as Vikram stood staring at her, Chaaya felt weak and hot. He was wearing a dark suit and his windswept hair added to his appeal. He gave her a look that turned her bones to water. He seemed angry, but he was also so damn handsome. Chaaya sighed.

“How did you find me?” she asked as that was the first thought that came to her.

He gave a scathing smile and replied in mock earnestness, “I always knew where you were even if you did rat on me.”

She ignored his accusation and turned away. She placed the brushes back carefully in the holder. He advanced into the room and closed the door. She hoped that her editor and publisher were not in the office. She did not want to create a scene at her work place.

“What are you doing here?” she changed her question and confronted him.

He shrugged his shoulders and looked around the room. There were canvasses and rolls stacked up in one corner of the room. Sketches of her works were strewn around the huge table and paints and brushes occupied the rest of the room. The huge window near the work corner gave an uninterrupted view of the sea.

His dark eyes found her back and he slid them slowly over her. His hot gaze travelled from her messed up hair to her pert nose where a dot of colour stained the nose tip. Her apron had stains of paints and her feet peeped out from the simple slippers she wore. He narrowed his eyes when she returned his stare boldly.

She flushed at his appraisal. The heat of his gaze invaded her body. She had always wanted to look her best to him, but she knew that her paint stained apron and messed-up hair gave her a shabby appearance. Anyway what did it matter? He was committed to someone else.

“I wanted to see if you are as successful as you claimed to become when you ran out on me…”

'I did not run out on you. Don't make me the villain of your life,” she retorted back.

“Oh right. I will rephrase that: The angel of my life who walked out on me when I needed her the most. So no not villain, but the most hated person in my life. ” he said with a coldness that broke her heart.

He looked so embittered. Did she do this to him?

“What do you want Vikram? And no, I am not as successful as I claimed to become. But I am standing on my own feet and regained self-respect. Happy?”

She did not realize that he was standing so close to her. She noticed the two day stubble on his jaw and his eyes, which were pools of emotions, stared back at her with a hostility that staggered her. She wanted to hold his face and soothe his bitterness away, but she held herself back rigidly from the familiar weakness. She did not want to be sucked into the well of despair once again.

He stood staring at her and very slowly he raised his hands and stroked her cheek. She stopped breathing.

“You were present at the stadium, were you not?” he asked very softly, brushing his thumb over her bottom lip.

She shivered and nodded.

“Why did you go away then?” he asked

She shrugged her shoulder and stepped back. His nearness and touch were muddling her thought process. This always happened. Her brain stopped working whenever he was so close to her.

“I was in a rush, so I had to leave the venue.”

“So you did not see my winning shot?” he pursued the topic unwavering.

“No. ” she lied.

“You could not bear to see me so successful, could you?” he asked angrily and laughed aloud spitefully.

“After the lecture you gave me three years ago, I thought you would be jet-setting the world. But no, you are nowhere now, and there I am, right on top,” he raised his right hand and pointed his forefinger at the ceiling.

He continued his verbal attack, “What was it you said? That you don't want to put up with a loser like me! Were they not your exact words, Chaaya?” he asked her savagely, the memories clouding his thoughts with anguish.

He kept advancing towards her and she kept stepping backward. She did not deny any of his accusations because they were true.

She stumbled back on the wall and he imprisoned her by planting both his arms on either side of her on the wall. His hot breath touched her face and she observed his eyes as his fury spilled out with force. He hated her so much.

“So Chaaya Sharma, I have moved on, I am out of your reach now. You won't get me, even if you begged. ” He laughed derisively and locked his eyes on hers. They stood like that, inches apart breathing, unevenly. After what seemed like hours, she placed her palm on his chest and pushed him away. He straightened and turned around to walk away.

“Good bye Chaaya! And don't come after me. ” he said with apparent contempt and strode towards the door.

“How is your wife Vikram Singh Shekhawat? Hope she knows that you came to see an old friend,” Chaaya asked, provoking him deliberately.

“Hope you both are happy,” she added softly.

If looks could kill, his would have. His eyes turned into bottomless pits of anguish and torment.

He did not answer, but stormed out banging the door shut.

Vikram rushed out and strode towards his car desperately. His heart was beating fast and there was an excitement in his blood stream that refused to calm down. He was always like this when she was around. He was aware of nothing but her presence when they were together. If he had not walked out of the room, he would have taken her in his arms forcefully. Hence he had to escape from the temptation.

He got into his car and drove out of the building gate. The sun was shining warmly and the streets of Galle were quiet and serene. But Vikram was not serene. He was in turmoil after meeting Chaaya. Even after three years, she made him go weak at the knees and his blood still pounded from the rush of feelings that she caused in him.

“The witch….still so beautiful she was,” he thought with a sigh.

His cell phone rang and it was his wife.

The evening Ganga Aarti at the ancient city of Varanasi, in praise of the river Goddess attracted thousands of pilgrims and tourists. Visitors assembled at the Dashashwamedh Ghat to view the spectacle. It was a sight to behold. Pilgrims, photographers and tourists rented boats and occupied every inch of the ghat to cherish the experience. The collective chants by the priests and pilgrims and the sight of oil lamps floating in the river transported one to another world. People jostled with one another to drink in and feel the sight and smell.

Phoolmati and her husband were among the spectators. They had been visiting the ghat every evening for the past forty years, since the time they settled down in the city. Though they were old and bereaved, their zeal for life never wavered. Their granddaughter Chaaya was the apple of their eyes and a spitting image of their dead son. They missed her these days as she was in Sri Lanka, but also felt very proud of her achievements. As they enjoyed and swayed to the tune of the melodious Aartis and bhajans, their daughter- in-law Bhavana was busy teaching music to children at their traditional house in the old residential colony of the city.

Bhavana's fourteen year old son was strapped on to the wheel chair. He enjoyed watching the young children sing and have fun. Unfortunately he was denied all of it by fate. Right since his birth, he was not able to walk or sit straight. He had a congenital problem in the spine. The doctors told his mother that he would never be able to walk or sit straight due to his genetic disorder in spine.

He was a source of entertainment for the children as they kept wheeling him around the room and would talk to him when they got their break. Bhavana watched him with sadness in her eyes. There were huge medical expenses every month for his treatment and medicines. Since she lost her husband ten years ago, her daughter Chaaya and she managed to meet the expenses through varied jobs and tuitions. Chaaya successfully finished her art course and got a respectable job in a publishing house in Sri Lanka. Now she managed to send adequate money to her every month. Bhavana often worried about her daughter because such a huge responsibility fell on her young shoulders after her husband's demise.

Now Chaaya was the sole breadwinner of the family. Bhavana taught music during weekends so that she too could contribute to the family income. But it was difficult with Navin in a wheel chair. Her in-laws with whom they were staying took care of Navin so that she could teach music.

She sighed and cleared the room of the mess that the children had left behind. She was putting the newspaper back on the rack when her eyes fell on the photo. Vikram's face was splashed across the paper and the headlines screamed about his winning shot that won the trophy for the country. But what caught her eyes was the name of the city Galle. Was Vikram in Galle?

A disturbing frown marred her smooth face.

Vikram stood at the French window of his suite in the International Hotel sipping his coffee. The sea was visible from his window. It was calm today, but years ago, the same sea had destroyed many parts of Galle when it struck in the form of that fateful Tsunami. Though the city was rebuilt, one could still see some roofless houses on the way from Colombo to Galle. He sighed. No one understood the cause for the fury of Nature.

There was a knock on the door and Vikram frowned. Who could be at this hour of afternoon?

The team manager stood smiling when he opened it.

“Hi Vicky, The team is leaving this evening for Mumbai. What about you? How long are you going to stay here? You do know, right, that we have a practice session for the upcoming series in UK next month?”

Vikram nodded and offered him coffee.

“I am here for two days Kartik. The shoot is for a day and I will leave on Wednesday,” he replied.

The sponsors for the Tri Series wanted him to endorse their product and make him their brand ambassador. So they were flying down to Galle to shoot with him for the advertisement. And his legal counsellors too were flying down from Mumbai to approve the contract.

“Why Galle Vicky? The sponsors could have easily come down to Mumbai to meet you. Why did you insist on Galle?” Kartik asked him in confusion.

Vikram shrugged his shoulders, “I like Galle Kartik. I wanted to stay here for a couple of days more.”

Kartik nodded and got up from the couch to leave, but hesitated at the door. He turned around, looked straight into Vikram's eyes and asked, “Or is there any other reason for you to stay back?”

Vikram glanced at Kartik and shot back sharply, “What other reason could there be Kartik?”

Kartik watched his face trying to gauge Vikram's expression and left the room without replying.

Vikram hoped that his face did not reveal his torment.