“Ramesh?”

“Hi Karishma. Why am I not surprised?”

“Thank God! This is still your number. I did not ask for your number last time we met.”

“Not your fault. You were not planning on calling me. Anyway, you can meet him right away.”

“How do you know…”

“I know everything he does Karishma, even if I don’t understand him. Don’t ask me what is going on.”

“I will come to the hotel right away.”

—

Karishma silently followed Ramesh to Siddharth’s suite. This meeting was not going to happen in the lobby.

Ramesh left them alone after ushering her in. The suite, as expected, was lavishness personified. Although it had a separate room to receive visitors, the meeting was happening in his bedroom.

“Karishma Gupta! What do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here?” his sarcasm was back.

“What do you want?”

“Oh! I want a lot of things. I’m not sure you can satisfy all my needs.” Karishma cringed at the obvious sexual allusion in the way he said “all my needs”.

“I have no interest in satisfying any of your needs. But what was the meaning of the charade in my office today?”

“What? Oh! That was business as usual. I am sure you know. Making movies based on the books is not a new thing.”

“And you didn’t tell them anything like I recommended the book or that I am writing the screenplay?”

“You have to get a foot in the door.”

Foot in the door indeed! Siddharth Sen would have difficulty getting a foot in the door of a struggling publishing house and would need her name to gain acceptance! But she wasn’t there to fight with him. She came back to her business. “So, you are indeed going to acquire the right for the book at the price you promised?”

“I should if all goes well.”

“And it has nothing to do with me writing the screenplay?”

“It has everything to do with you writing the screenplay?”

“What?”

“I had to tell them you were writing the screenplay. Your MD agreed that you were the best person to write the screenplay as you have edited the book.”

MD would agree to anything he thought Siddharth Sen would like to hear to sell those right.

“Why are you playing these games?”

“You know what Karishma. This publishing house desk seems to be killing the writer in you. Your vocabulary has become very limited. How many times have you uttered the same words ‘playing games’ since we have met? Anyway, I do business. I don’t play games. If a proposed deal doesn’t work out, I move on.”

“After giving high hopes to the owner of a struggling publishing house and then quashing those hopes?”

“Don’t blame me for that. If it happens, it will be your doing. And in fact, now that you are here, let’s end the suspense. Tell me if the deal is on or not.”

He had trapped her again. Of course, he won’t give her time. And once again, she did not have only herself to think of. She could not forget the elated faces of her boss – the chief editor and the MD. And how many times had they thanked her already.

“Can I work from here?”

“No. You work with me. From your old office.”

She hated that smirk.

“My mother is alone. She will shift with me. I won’t stay in your house.”

“You father…”

“..is dead.” Her voice was stony.

Siddharth just nodded; his face was expressionless.

“I will coordinate with Ramesh for the formalities and shifting,” she said curtly and walked out of the room.

There was no smirk on Siddharth Sen’s face. But Karishma assumed that it was there.

—

“What are you wearing for the press event tonight?” Siddharth asked Karishma. They were going to announce the movie she had been working on in a grand party thrown for press, cast and crew.

“Why should I be discussing that with you?” Karishma felt awkward, but tried to speak confidently, “I am not on the cast.”

“You are in the crew.”

“I see. Are you going around discussing the dresses of over hundred crew members for the party? No. I guess its only me who you need to boss around all the time.”

“I have asked a straight forward question,” he was annoyed.

“And I am not answering it.”

“Like hell you are.”

“Why should I?”

“Because you are going to the party with me and all the cameras will capture you too.”

“What?”

“I want to see your dress.”

“I am not going with you.”

“That is not for you to decide.”

Karishma got so annoyed that she threw away the bounded copy of script she was carrying on the ground and cried, “I am not going with you. What will you do?”

She felt his animalistic grip again as he pulled her and pinned her against the nearest wall, “You are going with me. And you do not want to know what I will do if you don’t. Now pick up the script, place it where it should be, call Natasha and ask her to deliver the dress I have selected for you.”

His grip left a mark on her wrists. It was so strong that the blood circulation had almost stopped beyond it. And there was something so dangerous in his eyes and Karishma got scared. What will he do, she tried to reason with herself. But her heart refused to be strong. He could do anything. He could rape her and still get away with it. He could even harm her mother and get away with it. That thought gave her goosebumps. She picked up the phone and called Natasha – the costume designer of the production house. Natasha came with a white saree, ready with the accessories, even shoes in couple of sizes as she wasn’t sure which one would fit her. A tailor had accompanied Natasha to adjust the blouse for Karishma.

—

“Smile, if you do not want nasty headlines in tomorrow’s tabloids,” Siddharth had told her before getting out of his car. She remembered grudgingly walking around by his side trying to smile and being offered a drink. And then… Everything was hazy. Where was she now? She looked around and was flabbergasted to find herself in that outhouse room she so hated. Why wasn’t she at home? She looked around and found that it was already twelve noon. She ran out of the room to find Siddharth walking towards her.

“Someone had spiked your drink,” he explained matter-of-factly, “Doesn’t look like you can hold much.”

“Why am I here? My mother will be worried…”

“She has been informed. Why don’t you go back to the room, freshen up and then we will talk.”

Karishma was feeling very angry, she did not like that he seemed to be control, but her mind was still very foggy, she had a headache and she was unable to think clearly. She went back and decided to freshen up.

“Let me drop you home,” Siddharth was still in the corridor when she came out.

Karishma was surprised. Since when did he become this chivalrous? That too for her.

“Not needed,” she replied curtly.

“I am dropping you home,” he replied. “And it is needed.”

Karishma sighed. She was tired and she spoke out her mind aloud, “I am tired… of you… of fighting you. It doesn’t make sense to me and still I am stuck in it. Why?”

He did not reply. She hadn’t expected him to reply. She followed him silently to his car. He asked her to tell driver the address. Bodyguards followed in a car behind them.

—

“Thank you,” she said when the car stopped in front of her apartment building and got out of the car. She was surprised when Siddharth also got out.

“Where are you doing?”

“To your home.”

“What? Why?”

“You need to learn to be a more polite host,” he replied and walked on with the air of a man who knew where he was going. Did he even know which flat she stayed in? She let him walk ahead and it turned out that he did indeed know. He walked up the stairs, instead of taking the elevator, and rang the bell of her flat. Karishma was looking around sheepishly as the few people who were around at that time did recognize who she was accompanying. Karishma did not meet their eyes to avoid answering any questions and the body guards made sure that the curious onlookers did not come in the way of the super-star.

Her mother’s eyes shone when she saw them at the door.

“Oh. Please, come in, come in. Karishma. Darling, are you all right? Siddharth told me that you had fallen sick after eating something. What did you eat?”

Karishma felt like her head was spinning. Her mother was so cool as if Siddharth coming to their home was not a big deal at all.

“What’s going on? When have the two of you met earlier?” she asked.

Her mother closed the door behind them and hugged her. “You are crazy dear,” she said, “Why were you scared of sharing it with me? Who can object to someone like him?”

“Scared of sharing what? Object to whom?”

“Come on, now. Siddharth told me everything this morning.”

“What? What have you told her?” she directed her question to Siddharth.

“I’m sorry Karishma. I know you wanted to give it time. But newspapers picked it up after yesterday’s party. And I thought it would upset Mrs. Gupta. So, it was better to come clean before her. So, I spoke to her the first thing in the morning.”

“Spoke about what?” she asked as she picked up the newspaper lying on the table nearby.

“About us getting married!”

Karishma slumped into the chair. She wasn’t sure what had shocked her more. What Siddharth said or what she saw in the newspaper. They had printed a complete love story there. Her working in the TV division, Siddharth having a crush on her, transferring her to work under him, their love story blossoming during that period, them having a lover’s tiff, her fleeing to Delhi, him following her and getting her back… And the photos of them in the previous evening’s party – her in a white saree and him in a black suit – was splashed all over the paper. One of them was of the time when she had fallen sick due to spiked drink and he was carrying her away with the help of his body guards.

“This is not true Ma. It’s rubbish,” she pleaded with her mother.

“I told you, I am not angry. You don’t need to be defensive. I would have preferred, if it wasn’t so public with all the spice media adds. But that is the part and parcel of the industry, right?”

Were those her own words or had Siddharth Sen hypnotized her mother?

“Look Karishma,” Siddharth spoke as if they had been discussing it since ever, “I know you didn’t want this and I had promised to you that things will not get out till you are ready. But someone leaked the stuff. If we try to deny it, more stories will crop up. Unnecessary scandal. It’s best that we just announce our engagement and wedding right away.”

Karishma looked from him to her mother unable to say anything. The more she wanted to get away from this man, the more he tightened his net around her. She felt like shouting at him and asking him to leave her alone. She was about to do that, when a different thought occurred to her. He was a shrewd man. If he wanted to make her life miserable, he would do it one way or the other. The thing about more scandal in media was not a statement, but a threat. If he wasn’t going to leave her alone, she could at least exact a revenge on him. And what better position to do it in than to be his wife. As an outsider, she would always be weak.

She smiled surprising Siddharth, who was getting ready with more ammunition to render her defenses or oppositions ineffective.

“Great! I never thought it would be so easy. As usual, I will let you figure out what to do and when. Right now I need to sleep. I still have a headache.”

She hugged her mother and walked to her room.

Siddharth looked after her. He wasn’t satisfied. Where did that sudden acceptance come from? She was supposed to fight and then get defeated.

—

To be continued