Chapter 10
DAKSH
The early morning breeze blew over his face as Daksh took his morning cup of coffee out on to the tiny balcony adjoining his hotel room.
There was nothing he loved more than these quiet moments in the morning, just him and his thoughts.
The salty tang of the sea breeze brought with it the peace and calm that nature always afforded him.
He took a small sip of his coffee and looked out at the ocean, the horizon stretching endlessly ahead of him. This was what life was all about.
Peace. Quiet. Calm.
And then he heard her.
“What do you mean the paperwork isn’t there?” Her voice was sharp, anxiety or stress giving it an edge.
His mind mentally ran through the hotel layout, mapping her room location. Dammit. She was diagonally to his right, a floor below, and clearly also on her balcony. Unlike him though, she wasn’t enjoying the calming effect of nature.
A bird screeched suddenly, startling him as it flew overhead. The woman was stressing nature out too. He wouldn’t be surprised if a coconut fell on his head next. Or a tsunami came rushing towards him.
“That cannot be possible!” Vedika’s angry voice cut through the air.
Daksh shut his eyes, mentally groaning. Would it be asking for too much for her to shut up? Just this once?
And then, miraculously, she did. He heard the phone clatter on to a table and blessed silence filled the air. A second later though, he heard her angry voice again, lower this time but still distinctly abrasive.
“Ashish?”
Daksh glanced down at his watch, his eyebrows raised. It was six thirty in the morning. He couldn’t remember the last time his brother was awake at this time.
“Could you please wake up properly and focus?” Vedika snapped, somewhere below him.
Daksh grinned. Maybe this morning wouldn’t be such a loss, after all. If she ruined his brother’s morning along with his, Daksh still considered it a win. Why should Daksh be the only one losing peace over her? She was Ashish’s fiancée after all…
“How can the form not be filed?” Her voice rose with her agitation. “This makes no sense. Ashish, the -”
A moment of silence again, and then, “Don’t tell me to calm down. I AM CALM!”
Daksh jammed his fist against his mouth to hold in his laughter. A vivid image of his brother’s grumpy, sleepy face filling his head and making his heart sing with glee. His younger brother still had lousy game if he thought telling an angry woman to calm down would make her actually calm down.
“I need to be in Mumbai for this,” the woman who was supposed to calm down seethed. “I can’t handle this mess virtually.”
His moronic brother said something again and she shrieked, “It’s not just one project. This is Banlay. You know what it means to me, Ash!”
Ash? Ash?? Oh, this was gold. Daksh was going to enjoy taking Ash’s trip the next time they met.
“I know there are no flights out of Goa right now! I’m the one stuck here!”
His brother was just continuing to jam his foot deeper and deeper down his throat, Daksh mused.
“I’ll take a train!” she hissed now, sounding like the viper she was. “Or a bus.”
Aakash Thakkar’s daughter on a bus. A grin tugged at Daksh’s lips as he wondered if Thakkar’s head would explode at the thought.
“Forget it,” she said now. “I’ll figure it out.”
And then, there really was blessed silence. All other early risers of the hotel also seemed to be playing mute like Daksh and listening in on Vedika’s melodrama.
Daksh’s phone vibrated on the table and he glanced at it. His brother’s name flashed on the screen. He cut the call and stretched out in his chair, leaning back and closing his eyes.
The phone vibrated impatiently again, his brother’s impotent fury coming through even without his presence or voice.
Daksh took another sip of his coffee and contemplated life.
“I know you’re up there.”
He froze, his two second contemplation of life disappearing at the sound of her death promising voice.
He got up and stepped over to the railing, looking down.
She stood at her railing, looking up. Her hair was pulled back from her small face in a tight, severe braid that looked painful even from this distance.
She wore loose trackpants and a tight, sleeveless black vest. An outfit that screamed comfort and for some reason was still quietly sexy.
Square, black frames sat on her nose, framing those big, accusing eyes of hers.
Her arms were crossed over her chest, every inch of her body radiating anger and disapproval.
“Good morning, Mouse,” Daksh said cheerfully, toasting her with his cup.
Her lips tightened as she glared at him.
“Problems?” he asked, forcing himself to sound like he cared when really he didn’t give a rat’s arse or was it mouse’s arse in this case.
In response, she turned on her heel and stalked off to her room. Daksh grinned and took another sip of his coffee. It was a good day, after all.
His phone vibrated again.
Daksh answered this time, feeling unreasonably happy. “Hey Ash,” he said, adding as much dickish cheer into the greeting as he could.
“Fuck you,” his brother muttered. “Fuck you very much.”
Daksh laughed, the sound freeing the tension in his body.
“I need a favour,” Ashish snapped.
“Another one?” Daksh drained his coffee and went in to refill his cup of coffee. He carried the steaming cup back on to the balcony.
“Yes. Vedika’s having a slight crisis at work.”
That hadn’t sounded like a slight crisis. The woman was unravelling in real time.
“Can you please check on her and see that she’s doing okay?”
Daksh stared out at the ocean. It was calm and peaceful today. A complete contrast to the confusion raging inside him,
“What is this really about?” he asked abruptly. “If you want my help, you’re going to have to level with me.”
“Vedika,” Ashish began, taking a deep breath, “is delicate and fragile.”
Daksh pulled the phone back from his ear and stared at it. “Have you ever actually met your fiancée?” he asked his brother finally. “She’s a feral, rabid rodent.”
“She’s going to be your sister in law,” Ashish replied crisply. “If you don’t want Dad to crucify you, I suggest you do as I say.”
Daksh ground his teeth, ignoring the clenching in his stomach at the mention of his father.
“And what do you say, Evil Overlord,” Daksh asked, still staring out at the sea and, himself feeling very much out at sea.
“Calm her the fuck down!” Ashish snarled.
“How?” Daksh was genuinely baffled. He didn’t know the Mouse at all to be tasked with calming her down.
“Figure it out,” Ashish hissed. “And keep her mind off work. I’ll fix this mess in the meantime.”
And with that, Ashish was gone, leaving Daksh to his complicated thoughts and even more complicated life.