CHAPTER 12
RAGHAV
Returning to the villa, I make sure Baba rests for some time. But by evening, just like always, he takes over the kitchen to prepare dinner for the two of us. He loves cooking, and back in Mumbai, it has become a ritual for him to occasionally cook for Ayaan and Meher.
I’m usually very particular about what I eat. Measured portions. Clean food. Minimal oil. High protein. But when it comes to Baba, all my rules seem to go out the window. Tonight, he’s made simple dal and chawal.
We sit across from each other, talking about everything that matters. Work, family, and random little updates here and there, including Meher’s baby shower. The conversation flows effortlessly between us, like it always has. Thankfully, Baba doesn’t bring up the topic of Siya even once.
I know Ayaan and Meher must have told him about the call Siya interrupted, which is probably why Baba came here to see things for himself.
But now that he has met Siya, he still doesn’t question me.
I feel relieved because the truth is I’m not ready to talk about Siya with anyone yet, especially not with Baba, to whom I never want to lie.
By the time dinner ends, Baba informs me that he has to leave for Mumbai tomorrow morning.
Earlier in the evening, Bhaskar Uncle, his personal assistant, had called about an emergency at one of the rehabilitation homes they support for girls.
A legal issue has suddenly cropped up, and a few minors there need immediate intervention and protection before they’re forced back into unsafe conditions.
Baba’s presence is needed there by evening, and there’s no way he can postpone the trip.
Under normal circumstances, I would have argued with him and insisted he stay longer. But this time, with Siya at RK Estate, I simply nod and make the arrangements for his return flight.
****************
Day 6 @ RK Estate (Morning)
Baba and I step down from the buggy near the helipad, where the helicopter is already waiting for him. From here, it will take him straight to the airport for his flight back to Mumbai.
Ever since I took over RK Estate, I had a private helipad built on the property.
Not as an extra luxury feature for guests, but for my family and me.
Access to it is strictly restricted. Guests aren’t allowed anywhere near it, and most people staying here have no idea it even exists.
The only time it is ever used beyond us is during emergencies connected to the resort.
We walk the remaining stretch towards the helipad together, the sound of the wind picking up slightly as the open cliff comes into view. The helicopter is already stationed ahead, its blades still against the pale morning sky, waiting.
“I wish you could’ve stayed a little longer,” I tell him quietly.
Baba looks at me with a faint smile. “Trust me, I wished that too,” he replies easily. “Next time, I promise I will. And anyway, you are coming to Mumbai soon for Meher’s baby shower.”
I nod, already aware of that commitment. We take a few more steps towards the helicopter when Baba suddenly stops.
“You’re still not going to talk to me about Siya, are you?” he asks.
F*ck! I had hoped he wouldn’t bring her up.
I hold his gaze, carefully measuring my response before I finally speak.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I say. “She’s a guest at RK Estate. That’s all.”
“Stop fooling me, Raghav,” he says calmly. “And more importantly, stop trying to fool yourself.”
I don’t respond immediately. Not because I don’t have an answer, but because I choose not to react to that statement.
Baba studies me for a moment before asking, “Siya is the same woman whose sandal Meher saw you carrying nine months ago in Mumbai, isn’t she?”
How did he figure that out?
When I remain silent, Baba simply shakes his head and exhales lightly. “Okay, look,” he continues. “If you don’t want to talk about her right now, I won’t force you. But don’t ignore what is right in front of you either.”
I hold his gaze silently.
“In the little time I spent with her,” he goes on, “I saw enough to understand the kind of woman Siya is. She is grounded, respectful…”
And a mafia princess.
I swallow as he goes on. “But more than that, I saw the way you look at her,” Baba says, watching me carefully.
My jaw tightens instantly. How do I look at Siya?
“You think I wouldn’t notice?” he asks, almost amused now. “During the entire vineyard tour, your eyes barely left her. You told yourself you were there for me, and I know a part of you was. But your attention was clearly somewhere else.”
I let out a slow breath. “You are reading too much into it,” I say, flattening my tone just enough to draw a line.
“No,” he replies. “I’m telling you exactly what I saw.”
He pauses before continuing, “I’ve watched you around people for a couple of years now, Raghav.
At family gatherings, with friends, at events.
You’re always present. You respond and do what is expected of you.
But your focus has always been… selective.
” A small smile touches his lips. “The rest of the world exists around you, but it doesn’t reach you.
Ever.” His gaze holds mine. “This time, it did.”
I neither interrupt nor agree. I just stand there in silence, letting him say what he has clearly been wanting to say from the moment he arrived here.
“If Siya were just another guest, you wouldn’t even spare her a second glance. Forget noticing her, you wouldn’t have reacted the way you did when she nearly lost her balance in that wooden vat.”
He steps closer and places a hand on my shoulder.
“I have lived long enough to recognise where something is headed, even when the people involved can’t see it yet,” he says.
“You will understand it in your own time. I won’t rush you.
But when that moment comes, don’t let it slip away simply because you were too busy convincing yourself it meant nothing. ”
That lands deeper than anything else he has said so far, and I don’t like it. Because this isn’t about just any woman. He’s talking about Siya. A mafia princess. A woman from the very dark world I left behind for good.
“Someone like her,” he continues, “someone who fits into your life so naturally without even trying. You don’t find that twice, Raghav.”
His hand squeezes my shoulder once before dropping it.
“Think about it,” he says finally.
For a moment, I say nothing. Mainly because I don’t want to think about it. So instead, I shift slightly, grounding myself back into what I know.
“I think you’re misreading the situation,” I respond at last. “There’s nothing between Siya and me. There will never be.”
Baba doesn’t argue. He just smiles and pats my back lightly. “We’ll see,” he says.
Just then, another buggy pulls up near the helipad.
It stops a short distance away, and Siya quickly steps out, almost rushing as if someone had urgently called her here.
There’s nothing particularly striking about the way she looks today except for her stylish footwear.
They’re unmistakably from that same brand she seems to favour.
She is dressed simply otherwise. A loose knitted sweatshirt paired with blue denims, and a light scarf wrapped casually around her neck. Her hair is left open, falling freely around her shoulders, the wind at this height leaving a few strands slightly tousled.
And yet, for a brief second, I find myself staring at her angelic face.
What? Angelic?
F*ck! Where the hell did that thought come from?
I look away almost immediately, acutely aware of where I’m standing, and more importantly, who is standing beside me, observing every minute expression on my face. Baba!
Siya reaches us and stops right next to me, slightly out of breath as she tries to steady herself. She glances at Baba and frowns.
“You are leaving already?” she asks, but doesn’t give Baba a chance to respond as she continues hurriedly, “I just met Esha at the breakfast lounge. I was asking about you, and she told me you were leaving for Mumbai right now. I came as fast as I could.”
And before I can anticipate it, before I can even react, Siya turns to me and lightly swats my arm.
“Even you didn’t tell me,” she complains. “I would’ve come earlier.”
The soft swat again comes so naturally from her, as though touching me like this is the most natural thing in the world for her.
For a second, I go completely still. This isn’t something I allow.
Not from anyone. Not even from those who’ve known me for years.
There has always been a boundary around me, an invisible line no one crosses unless I let them.
And Siya… she doesn’t even see that line.
What the f*ck!
I glance at her for a fraction of a second before looking away again, forcing my expression back into place. But it’s already too late, because Baba’s eyes are gleaming with a knowing look, reflecting everything he had been trying to tell me just moments ago.
This… this is exactly what he meant when he said whatever exists between Siya and me comes naturally.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks again, this time looking directly at Baba. “I thought you were staying today.”
Baba smiles at her warmly. “I was, beta. But something urgent came up in Mumbai. I need to be there by evening,” he explains.
“Oh…” she replies, a little disappointed.
“But I’m glad you came before I left,” he adds. “I wouldn’t have liked to leave without meeting you either.”
That brings a smile back to her face. Then suddenly, as if remembering something, she quickly lifts the small paper bag she has been carrying.
“I brought something for you,” she says, holding it out to him.
Baba looks at it, genuinely surprised. “For me?”
She nods eagerly, her excitement slipping back into her voice. “Open it.”
He takes the bag from her and pulls out what’s inside.
A woollen Irish cap.
The kind that would fit perfectly with the cold weather here. Baba turns it over in his hands before looking back at her. “You didn’t have to do this,” he says softly.