Even being baffled,
I held on and battled.
To get back my life's pride,
Wiped my tears and smiled.
The stories I hear,
Everything is fair.
Be it a ghastly war,
Or, a mere love affair.
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In the middle of the flight, Kiara woke up to go to the washroom. When she returned, she was too lazy to wriggle her way into the middle seat. And with Rishaan readily offering to exchange seats, the seating arrangement changed. With 20 minutes still remaining for landing, a sleep starved Kiara took another power nap, this time holding Rishaan's right hand firmly. Rishaan's other hand, though, nervously moved to touch Diya's. Her heart skipped a beat. Diya pulled her hand away. But a defiant Rishaan held her wrist again, this time firmly and more reassuringly. The changing dynamics between the three perhaps gave out a foreboding of what was to come in Goa.
When the flight landed at the Dabolim Airport, Rishaan felt uncanny. His excitement seemed replaced by an unknown fear that he found very difficult to decipher.
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The meeting with the contractor was scheduled at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Goa. Kiara, Divya and Rishaan were executives of Centura Labs, a Manesar based pharmaceutical company. They were nominated to attend the meeting with their contractors at Goa. It was an automation project review meeting for revamping their production unit at Manesar.
While Rishaan and Diya were obvious choices, it was apparently difficult to understand why Kiara, the HR head was selected to fly down too. Colleagues dared not discuss on this matter, but it was understood by all that Kiara's high clout in the office might have something to do with her participation in the meeting.
Kiara, the queen bee, was in no mood to leave Rishaan, her fiancé, the most handsome guy in the office, alone with another unmarried female colleague.
Diya was his colleague in their Manesar factory at Delhi. Rishaan was the production manager and Diya was his counterpart. Rishaan knew if he fell foul with Kiara, his career was doomed. This would even jeopardize his family life as well. He was the only earning member in the family, having retired parents to look after under the same roof.
While Rishaan had the dream of marrying a simple girl who would love him, understand him and would be sensitive to his feelings, eventually assimilating in his family.
But Kiara was not of that type. She came from a well to do family where it did not matter if she earned for her keep. It was another matter that she had an IIM degree with four years of experience in a multinational FMCG company that would get her an HR leadership position in any company of repute, any time.
It was Rishaan's compulsion to lean towards Kiara to survive in a hostile corporate environment. It was Kiara's infatuation and idea to be Rishaan's fiancé, Rishaan's opinion did not matter. So long he had the job in Centura Labs, he had to abide by the un-spelt out directive from the management to give his shoulder for physical and emotional company to Kiara as much as possible.
Of course Rishaan had an outside choice. He could leave the company and build a career in another company. But practically he was deterred by the fact that he had toiled a couple of years to build the reputation that he attracted now and it would get washed away if he left the company.
But as the days progressed into months, unbeknown to him, he progressively felt suffocated. Her bare presence proximity made him feel stifled and day in day out he prayed for a way out of this relationship.
He longed to be somewhere else, but had to endure the presence of Kiara in his life. He was lifeless in presence of Kiara with no emotion or feeling towards her, only play acting continued, with him searching for an escape but nothing changed ever.
If Kiara understood Rishaan's emotional turmoil, she preferred to ignore it and continued to embrace him more and more as the days went on. She was the woman who never understood the true pain of rejection in her life; everything was served to her in a platter at her whim.
She did not know if she really loved him or not, but she was used to having the best thing. So, even if it is a husband, let so be it. Rishaan's opinion did never amount to anything to her.
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The airport route from home was different for all the three executives from Centura, so all reached the meeting point at a different time. Rishaan reached there first, as he had planned for it and prayed Divya would reach before Kiara. He desperately needed some time to discuss a serious matter. His prayer was answered when he found Divya coming to him.
Rishaan was hell bent on taking the chance, he could not miss it. He could never discuss in the office least anyone eavesdropped, could not call her telephonically. After all she was also in contention for an up move. He had to feel the pulse, to understand what would be Divya's reaction before he divulged his thoughts to her.
But as time went on, his urgency increased and he decided that this was the most opportune time. If he had to face the consequence of his wrong step, he would not mind to suffer, but he had to take the chance now.
Rishaan was now prepared to discuss the matter with Divya. Over a cup of coffee haltingly with a lot of apprehension he asked Divya, "I think you are aware of my relationship with Kiara?"
Divya smiled and replied, "Of course everyone in the office knows that you are fiancé of the HR Manager. Yes I know it."
-I will be direct in what I have to tell. Do you have a boyfriend?
-I do have a boyfriend, but why you need to know? I don't think you can afford to have a soft corner for me. Kiara would kill you. For your information, however, my boyfriend of ten years is probably two timing.
And why he would not? Men are by nature polygamous and she is fairer, smarter girl with high social status and more family income. Everybody moves towards greener pasture.
Of this, I am yet to make him confess, but I know. We women somehow can feel when our men are straying. I have not yet encountered with him, but from my side, the relationship is over.
