“Hang on! Let’s rewind a bit,” Kabier held up his hand. “Earlier when I asked you to talk to Raashi and negotiate a deal, you said you weren’t sure about that. Why?”
Sameer took a deep breath before saying, “She’s won’t sell to me.”
“And why is that?” Rishi narrowed his eyes.
Sameer gave his brother a stern look and before he could say something in response, he heard Kabier say, “Sameer, why don’t you tell us what’s really going on?”
Sameer looked at his brother and cousin, two of his closest confidantes. The three of them practically knew everything about each other’s lives. This was probably one of the rare situations he hadn’t told them about. How was he to explain to them the messy situation between Raashi and him? That he was the cause of this mess. And because of that, he might not be able to construct his dream project.
Closing his eyes for a second, he confessed, “I slept with her.”
“What?” Kabier and Rishi said together, exchanging a quick surprised glance.
Sameer observed their scandalized expressions, and remained silent.
Rishi pulled up a chair and sat on it folding his arms together, “Out with it then. Are you going to share the details or not?”
Sameer stood up and walked up to the full wall length windows of his office. Staring at the view below, he started to explain.
“I think I was attracted to Raashi the first time I saw her. I couldn’t get my eyes off her. She made my blood sing every time she came close to me. I knew I just had to have her. But she treated me like she did any of you, like a friend. The firsttime I knew she felt something for me was during that damned game we played on board Rajiv’s yacht. Remember when I was paired with her and I licked the salt off her neck?” Sameer asked, turning to look at the two of them.
Both Rishi and Kabier nodded, remembering the incident.
“She melted to my touch then. I could see that finally I had stormed her walls and caused havoc with her feelings. I started openly pursuing her. I made it abundantly clear to her that I wanted her. Then on the night of your wedding reception, Kabier, she looked so stunning that I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. That was the night I seduced her into my arms and into my bed.”
Sameer shut his eyes for a moment recollecting the explosive night he had spent with Raashi. How could he ever forget the utter bliss he had found in her arms? He had never felt like that with any other woman. She had been absolutely perfect in every way.
Kabier and Rishi looked at each other stumped, baffled by what they were hearing.
“What happened next?” Kabier’s question jerked him back to reality.
“The next morning, I left before she woke up.”
“You left?” Kabier repeated, his eyes wide.
“Well, I hadn’t promised her the happily ever after...”
“Hang on, one second,” Kabier said, raising his voice, “You had sex with her and then you left? Was she okay with that?”
“I don’t think so. She had asked me to stay the night with her and I didn’t. So I doubt she was OK with it, Kabier.”
“I can’t believe this is you we’re talking about. How could you do that to her? Sameer, this was not a random woman you met somewhere. This was Raashi. Sheena and Keya’s best friend,” Kabier said.
“I know that. But I never spend the night with any of the women I sleep with. Being there in the morning with them means I am interested in taking the relationship further, which I never am and so I always leave,” Sameer said, trying to defend himself and knew he was failing miserably.
“Exactly the point, Sameer. Raashi isn’t like your other women who probably know and understand this. She’s different. She slept with you because she must have felt strongly for you. She asked you specifically to stay with her the whole night just to ensure that you felt something for her in return as well. That she was important enough for you to stay and to figure out how to take things going forward. She wanted more,” Kabier yelled. “It's not like you don’t know how to stay away from women who want that little more from you than you are prepared to give. So I just fail to understand why you did this.”
Sameer sorted Kabier’s words in his mind. He had absolutely no response to give. Kabier was right. Thankfully, he didn’t need to respond because Rishi asked, “But then what happened? Didn’t you meet her again, like bump into her somewhere?”
“No, for three months I avoided being in any place I knew she was going to be and I was traveling a lot as well, so I didn’t meet her. But two weeks back I had taken Natasha out for dinner to AquaNox and Raashi was there. I thought she worked at that restaurant. I had always wondered how she would react when we met again. I expected her to be cold and formal, which she was. But I wasn’t prepared for how mad she was at me. She dumped an entire bowl of piping hot pasta on my lap and then threw us out. Little did I know at that time that she owned the restaurant. And the next time I met her was last week when...”
He stopped mid-sentence and regarded both Rishi and Kabier. The two of them exchanged a strange look before they burst out laughing.
He gave them a moment and then said, “Guys. Can you cut it out? It wasn’t so funny.”
But they wouldn’t stop. They continued to laugh and make fun of him.
“Enough, OK you guys,” Sameer repeated.
