Chapter 18 #2
The professional event planner in him was taking notes. He had read the brochures, obviously, but they didn’t do the real thing justice. When his cousin Hemantha came back with his beer, Sampath had his phone out and was jotting things down.
‘Tell me you’re not working,’ Hemantha said.
Guiltily, Sampath put his phone in his back pocket. Although he kept in touch with his cousin via WhatsApp, he hadn’t actually seen him in a few years. He should be more present. ‘Sorry.’ He clinked his bottle against his cousin’s and then used it to gesture vaguely at the street. ‘This is great.’
‘I told you it would be.’
‘I know, but this is better than I thought. I tried to take some photos, but I’m not sure I did the place justice. My phone camera isn’t the best for night shots.’ He took a swig of his beer and carried on people-watching.
‘So, how’s it going – the big wedding venue hunt? Did you find something that your incredibly fussy groom was looking for?’ Hemantha paused, frowned and added, ‘Not your groom. I meant, client.’
Sampath tried to grin and failed. It was hard to keep the client line clear in this case. The main reason he was here, rather than in his room doing some work, was because he couldn’t stop thinking about Kalpana. Who was his client. The bride. Not his bride. The bride.
Hemantha looked concerned. ‘Is everything okay? You look worried. Is the groomzilla being a pain again?’
No. Sampath had done the unthinkable. He had fallen for the bride. He’d had to get out of there because the last thing he should do was act on his feelings. He had to remain professional in front of Kalpana, no matter how much he wanted to hold her.
‘It’s not that,’ he said.
‘Want to talk about it?’
He shouldn’t. He couldn’t even tell Ashley about this. Still, he wished he’d called her before he hared off to meet Hemantha for a drink. It would have been nice to tell her about the groom swanning off again, just to get her reaction.
‘I can’t talk about it, really,’ he said to his cousin.
He took another swig. ‘My job is to organise things so that they have the wedding they really want – even if they don’t know what that looks like when they start talking about it – and to get them to the altar without mayhem.
’ He shook his head. He couldn’t dwell on this.
If he did, that ache which had lodged itself under his ribs would flare up again and he would have to fight himself from heading straight back to the coast so that he could at least be near Kalpana, even if she didn’t want him.
He twirled his bottle against the table.
‘So, tell me all the news from the last time I was over.’
After a quick run-through of the family news highlights, Hemantha said, ‘And how about you … and everyone at home?’
He didn’t say ‘after Lihini died’, but he may as well have.
‘We’re okay,’ said Sampath. ‘Keeping going. Sometimes, it hits you.’ He thought of how grief had ambushed him that night at the villa, crumpling up his composure like a tissue.
‘But mostly, we’re okay.’ He played with his drink.
‘I find it’s useful to keep busy and work is right there, keeping me busy. ’ He smiled.
Hemantha laughed. ‘From what I’ve heard, you work all the time. I mean, you’ve been here for two weeks and you’ve been too busy to meet me!’
‘I’m not here on holiday,’ Sampath protested. ‘I’m working!’
‘Well then I’m honoured you found the time tonight.’
‘Although, you might have a point about working too hard.’ He shook his head. He was starting to see his clients everywhere. Like, right now, he had seen a guy that looked just like Marcus duck into the pub. That was impossible, because Marcus would be back at the hotel on the south coast by now.
‘So where are your clients this evening, then?’
‘They’re having some quality time, just the two of them, for a few days. So I’m back in Colombo talking to more suppliers and—’
The man who looked like Marcus came back out of the pub.
He did look uncannily like Marcus. Sampath stared.
It couldn’t be. The woman with him wasn’t Kalpana …
but she looked vaguely familiar. The man shook his head, obviously there were no seats in the pub.
They started walking farther down the road. They were holding hands.
They would walk past where he was sitting. Sampath looked down and tried not to stare. Thankfully, the couple were too busy looking at each other to notice he was there.
‘What’s the matter?’ Hemantha asked quietly.
‘Shh.’ Sampath put his phone to his ear and turned around, so that he could keep the couple in view. Nirmala! That was who the woman was. She was Marcus’s PR friend. It was too much of a coincidence that she knew two men who looked exactly like Marcus.
The couple stopped and seemed to be having a discussion. The man tugged the woman closer and kissed her. This wasn’t a peck between friends. They really knew each other. The kiss deepened. She put her arms around his neck.
‘Huh,’ said Sampath. He lowered his phone, found Kalpana’s number and called her.
‘Sampath?’ she said when she answered. She sounded sleepy. The sound of her voice did things to his chest.
‘Hi, Kalpana. Sorry to bother you. Is Marcus back yet? I just wanted to check something with him.’ It was pretty loud out here. He had to put his hand over his other ear to hear clearly.
Thankfully, she didn’t ask why he hadn’t simply called Marcus directly. ‘Oh. No. His meeting overran and he’s staying down in Colombo tonight. He’ll be back tomorrow. I can pass on a message, if you’d like.’
‘No, it’s okay. It’s not urgent. I just didn’t realise how late it was. I’m sorry to have disturbed you.’
‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘Goodnight, Sampath.’
‘Goodnight, Kalpana.’
He hung up, his heart heavy. Best to double check this. He called Marcus’s number. Across the way, the kissing couple pulled apart. The man pulled out his phone, scowled at it and swiped at the screen.
Sampath’s call went to answerphone. He hung up without leaving a message. Poor, poor Kalpana. He turned back to his cousin. ‘Shit.’
‘What?’ Hemantha whispered, leaning in. ‘What?’
‘I think,’ Sampath said. ‘I’ve just seen the groom – my client – with another woman.’
Hemantha’s eyes went huge and he started craning his neck to search the crowd.
‘Sit back down, you fool,’ Sampath snapped. He turned his head and risked the glance. They were gone. When he turned properly and looked, he could see them some distance away, walking hand in hand. ‘They’ve gone now anyway.’
‘So what does that mean?’ said Hemantha, eyes shining. ‘Is the wedding off?’
‘I don’t know. I don’t think so. I just spoke to Kalpana. That’s the bride. She doesn’t seem to think anything’s wrong.’
‘Kalpana? Is the bride Sri Lankan?’
He nodded. ‘Sri Lankan descent, but British.’
‘So, what are you going to do? Are you going to tell her?’
Was he? How could he? But he should, shouldn’t he?
‘I don’t know,’ he said. The enormity of what he had just seen hit him. ‘I don’t know what to do.’
‘Wow,’ said Hemantha. ‘I thought your job was fun before. Now you have to tell some woman that the guy she’s marrying is cheating on her.’ He picked up his drink. ‘I think I’ll stick to accountancy.’