Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
VIREN
I wasn’t planning to stay up waiting for my wife to drag her delectable ass home after her work dinner. No way! That would give her the wrong message. And yet…I found myself wide awake and reading in bed when she slunk into our bedroom.
She peered around the door, and her eyes widened when she found me awake. Was she disappointed, I wondered. There had been a flash of something in her eyes when she saw me.
Before I could speak, my phone rang. I wondered who was calling me so late in the night. To my surprise, it was Sarang.
“Hey, is everything all right?” I asked worriedly.
“You fucking bastard! What the hell were you trying to prove?” he raged, and I looked at the screen in surprise.
“Sarang, you’ve called Viren,” I said sharply, wondering if he’d called the wrong person.
“I know that,” he snarled. “Who else would I call?”
“You’re not making any sense, man. Calm down and tell me why you’re upset,” I said, taking a deep breath to stay calm during this ridiculous conversation.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out? You’re one of my oldest friends, Viren. I didn’t think you would ever stab me in the back like this.”
“Sarang, you have exactly one minute to start making sense before I come there and beat the shit out of you,” I snapped.
“Ask your wife,” he said before he hung up.
I turned to Sunaina in confusion and was surprised to see her standing by the door as if turned to stone.
“What’s Sarang going on about?” I asked.
She licked her dry lips and exhaled slowly.
“Viren, I need to tell you something,” she began just as my phone pinged.
“Hold on. He just sent me a reel,” I said, absently noting her flinch at my words.
I played the reel, and I felt icy fingers of dread creeping up my spine. It was Tarana…and Tanvir. Performing together. And it was exactly what Tanvir had described to me in today’s meeting - a mix of classical and rock. It was a flawless piece, and I had no idea Tarana was such a powerful singer. But one little fact stood out starkly. Sunaina was listed as one of the collaborators in the video.
Which could only mean one thing - my wife was behind this unholy collab!
“Is this your doing?” I asked hoarsely.
She nodded slowly, and that nod hit me like a body blow of betrayal.
“I told you to stay out of it, and yet, you went behind my back to do this…why?” I asked, my voice as sharp as a whip.
“Why not?” she demanded.
I could not believe the audacity of this woman!
I strode over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. She winced as my fingers dug into her skin, but she still glared at me defiantly.
“I told you Tanvir and his band had nothing to do with you.”
“And this collab between Tanvir and Tarana has nothing to do with you,” she countered.
“He’s my artist,” I yelled.
“You don’t own him,” she scoffed. “His band is contracted to you per album. That doesn’t mean they can’t make any other music.”
“Did it ever occur to you or Tarana to check if Sarang and I were okay with you doing this?”
“Are you serious, Viren?” she asked furiously. “Do you really believe we need your permission to do our jobs?”
“What jobs? Tarana is playing at being a content creator, and you used confidential information that you overheard to enable her,” I said scathingly.
“Are you fucking deaf?” she shrieked in response, and for a minute, I was worried she’d wake the whole house. “Did you not hear her sing?”
“I agree she sings well, but this isn’t the way to go about it, Sunaina. You broke my trust,” I said, setting her away firmly.
“Oh, really? So you have never seized an opportunity that fell into your lap, I suppose?” she asked sarcastically. “And may I remind you that I offered you this option first? You didn’t even have the decency to hear me out.”
“Why should I have heard you out?” I growled. “Hundreds of people reach out to me every single day! I don’t have the time to hear everybody’s grand idea.”
“But I’m not everybody, Viren. I am your wife,” she replied angrily, and I shook my head in disgust.
There it was! And it was exactly what I was afraid of. Sunaina seemed to think that sleeping with me gave her a say in my company.
“Fake wife,” I corrected cruelly.
She flinched at that but recovered immediately and turned a deliberately blank face to me as I went on.
“And that does not give you a say in what happens in my company,” I added.
“I don’t give a fuck about your company,” she replied.
“Then what’s this all about?”
“This is about my work,” she said loudly. “Mine, not yours! Tarana is my client.”
“And Tanvir is mine.”
She shook her head in response.
“You’re not his manager. You merely own the publishing rights to his next album. If you get your head out of your ass, you will see that this collab between Tanvir and Tarana does not hurt your company in any way. It has nothing to do with Silver Records.”
“But why did you do this at all? All Tarana had to do was tell her husband she wanted to sing, and we could have arranged something.”
“So it’s okay for Tarana’s husband to help set up her career, but mine acts like I’m trying a hostile takeover if I even make one small suggestion.”
“Because their marriage is real,” I pointed out.
Sunaina’s eyes widened in shock, and her body bucked a little as if I’d struck her.
“Wow! Thank you for showing me my place, Mr C. But I don’t give a fuck about what you think. I don’t need your permission to do what’s right for my client, and as for her needing Sarang’s help to advance her career, you just sit back and watch that girl go places without his help,” I said coldly.
I sighed heavily and ran a hand over my face wondering how we’d managed to muck things up on such a grand scale.
“Sarang is one of my best friends, Sunaina. How do you think he felt when he saw that my wife had helped his wife to make a public statement at his expense?”
“ Ohmigod! Do you men think the world revolves entirely around you? Tarana was a goddamn amazing singer even before she married Sarang. This talent didn’t just sprout inside her as a result of the wedding pheras. She has every right to showcase her talent however she likes. I know you’re too old to understand the power of social media, but it is one of the fastest ways for a creator to get visible. Maybe that pisses you and Sarang off because you men don’t get to gatekeep the music industry anymore, but that’s your problem, not ours.”
It pissed me off no end that she’d just called me old and out of touch with the world. With her world. But she wasn’t done.
“And FYI, please get it through your thick head that I wasn’t trying to interfere in your business when I said I have the perfect lead singer for Tanvir’s band. I was pitching my client to you. When you bigshots pitch ideas to each other at parties and over a game of tennis, it’s called networking. But if a small fry like me does it, you get on your high horse and call it unprofessional. Double standards, much?” she said, before she grabbed a change of clothes from the walk-in closet and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” I asked in surprise.
“I’m sleeping in Daya Bua’s suite tonight,” she replied coldly.
“Like hell you are,” I snarled. “I won’t let you mess with Aisha’s future just because you’re pissed with me.”
“Oh, please! I don’t think Tahira or Laxmi Aunty will think of spying on me there.”
“Is your ego more important to you than Aisha?” I asked.
Because that’s what it came down to - were we capable of putting our egos aside for her sake?
“Fine! Then I’ll sleep on the floor, but I’m not sharing a bed with you,” she snapped.
“Don’t be a child, Sunaina,” I said, rolling my eyes.
If looks could kill, I’d be lying on the floor with my head blown off, but Sunaina merely stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door as hard as she could.