SS: An Affair to remember/epilogue pg5

An Affair to remember

The restaurant was large, lights were dim to give it the extra romantic effect, the rose in the small vase and the soft violins in the background made the night all the more special.

"Thank you Raj for today" said a soft high pitch voice.

"It's ok, Bani." He said holding her hand to his face to give it a light peck.

Bani and Raj have been married for over four years, in the four years this was the first time Raj has ever bought Bani out for a meal.

"We should be getting back its getting late" Bani said taking her hand back. She got up and carefully gathered her light yeallow sari, it made her look like an angel, hair flowing freely by her side.

Raj got up and helped is lady love out. It was a quiet ride home, both lost in their own world. Bani put on the radio to hear a Himesh Reshamiya track, immediately she switched channels.

"Hey I liked that song!" Raj said teasingly

"Well I hated it; no way is that song ever going to be played when I'm around" Bani said back, almost as if she was saying something else.

= = = =

Bani got up early in the morning, today she had to get to work extra early, projects she said she should've got done two weeks ago loomed on her small shoulders, she put her head back and let her hair fall, she gathered them up and put it in a pony tail, she wrote a little note as she brushed her teeth and quickly showered into her clothes.

She ran up the flight of stairs and smiled at the guard, "thank you" she shouted as she skated across the floor to a smooth halt. "oh yeh!" she said as she was slowing down.

"I see you made it Bani" said a voice behind her. She looked back slowly cursing him.

"Jai Sir" she said with a sugary smile. "how nice to see you this morning, is that a new suit, looks amazing on you" she started her usual compliments in the hope her boss wouldn't shout at her.

"It is a new suit, thank you, finally repeating the same sentence every morning came useful" he looked at her up and down, tired eyes, hair a little mess, trainers with a business suit. "Planning on starting a fashion statement?" he asked laughing at her trainers

"No, I had to run here this morning, yesterday slept a little late that's why" quietly she responded.

"Running? Ah let me guess, you haven't done the reports for the past two weeks" he stepped closer to her and they walked to her office slowly.

"I did start it, but fell asleep listening to Mr Khanna's health problems. You know I think he has the worst health in the world, he takes tablets for everything," she dumped her coat on Jai and freed a hand to do an imitation "oh its 3pm, I have to take the stress tablets, I can feel the stress creeping up" she took her coat back from a laughing jai and continued to walk "uff, change my cabin will you, if this continues I'll be taking those tablets!"

"no can do, that's the only free one I'm afraid" Jai answered laughing. He saw Mr Khanna taking a tablet to his mouth in the distance "hmm.. what does he take at eight in the morning?" he asked Bani laughing. She glared at him back. She took a right turn and Jai took a left and went to their respective cabins.

= = = =

"so as you can see we can profit from this," Bani said pointing to a graph on the over head projector. "any questions?" she waited patiently at the full room.

"No questions Ms Dixit, you may sit down" Jai said. He started clapping and all followed, he winked at Bani who was happy with her performance. The guests left the room leaving Jai and Bani to clear up the mess.

"You did well, how long did you spend on making the presentation?"

"Er, about 3 weeks," Bani said not looking up.

"Hmm, 3 weeks ago I gave you this assignment yes, but how long did you spend on making the presentation?" he asked again suppressing his grin

"ok ok, I did it this morning, lucky you dropped the file with the meetings list, I would've been screwed" Bani went to stretch for a purple file on the other side of the table "how did you know?" she looked up at Jai and then tried pulled the file with her fingernails slowly "stupid file" she cursed.

"well, for starters, that dropping file incident wasn't a co-incidence, I knew you wouldn't have got it done, looking at your past record of files that you haven't reported," he pointed over to Bani's bag. "And I just know these things" he reached over effortlessly to help Bani get the folder. "After all this is a company we all have one goal" his face square to hers, Bani was jolted back to reality when her stomach touched the cold glass table, she pulled her top down and walked out.

= = = =

Bani slowly paced to the dinner table and placed a bowl of rice "Raj, dinner is served"

She peeped through the hole that could see into the study. Raj sat on the computer concentrating on a computer game "Raj" she cooed. Still nothing. Getting slightly frustrated at his antics she charged in and pulled the wire out the back. "Raj I've been calling you, dinner is served, but you're acting like a child."

"Well if you couldn't give me a child I have to act like one!!" Raj shouted in frustration,"Why did you pull out the wire? I was relaxing by playing a game!!" he yelled louder.

Bani stood numb "Well if you couldn't give me a child I have to act like one" the words swam in her head.

"So this is what its over me not being able to give you a child?" she stopped him halfway through his anger-spitting speech, her voice shook slightly.

Raj looked at Bani and realised what he had said.

"Babe, just pass me the wire, no ok, come on we'll go and eat" he tried to escort Bani out, he held on her to elbow gently pulling her.

"don't you DARE touch me" she yanked her arm out his hold, she threw the plug in a water jug and closed the door behind her.

= = = =

Today was Richa's last day, she was Bani's best friend, had the best cabin in the office, an office that overlooked the city.

"You coming to the party tonight aren't you?" Richa asked as she took her present from Bani.

"course I am, this is just something I bought for you, I'll be there tonight" she quickly gave her a hug. "ok let me go, I have reports to type up, your lucky your leaving, you don't have to fear that guy anymore" she giggled pointing at Jai's back.

"oh he's not that bad, he's the best boss" richa said with a huge smile playing on her lips. Bani looked at her with raising eyebrows "oh jee, can't compliment a man anymore, Bani you know I'm married, I'm not one to have an affair" she hugged Bani again "ok I'll let you go, I have to do the final touches to the files"

= = = =

The party was in full swing when Bani entered, the DJ pumped the remix to mauja muaja through the speakers. She silently Thanked God it was not Himesh. She saw her usual group of friends and waved at them.

"Wow Bani looking really nice," richa said playing with Bani's curls, "the dress really suits you,"

Everyone started dancing to the rhythm, "come on Bani!" a few shouted. For an unknown reason Bani felt uncomfortable. A pair of hands snaked her waist and twirled her into the floor.

"Jai sir?" she said surprised.

"The one and only" he let go of her and let her dance to the music herself. "Why were you standing alone?"

"Didn't feel like dancing" Bani stopped moving and went over to the bar. Jai followed.

"water please" Bani asked politely

"make that a coke and gin and tonic" Jai said placing himself on the seat.

"Following me?" Bani flirted a little.

"I always follow beautiful women" Bani blushed at the compliment and looked over to Richa dancing with her husband. Richa had a perfect family, her husband that loved her unconditionally, and her daughter who loved both her parents dearly. A tear fell from Bani's eyes slowly leaving a trail of hurt and jealousy evident on her face.

Jai looked at Bani confused, he looked at Richas family and then back at Bani "you ok?" he asked lovingly.

"sir your drinks" said the bartender, Jai gave Bani her coke, but instead she gulped his gin and tonic.

"Bani?" Jai asked worried as she started to cough uncontrollably. He put down the coke and tried to get Bani to talk, he rubbed her back quickly. After a while he took Bani to a quiet area. He could tell the alcohol was starting to take effect.

He placed her on a sofa in the entrance and tried to see eye to eye. "Bani what happen just then?"

"you t..tt..talk to much" she slurred, she pulled his face to her capturing his lips, he could taste the gin and tonic, it was strong, Bani continued to kiss him, at first she started slow then the kiss deepened.

Jai pulled away at once. "ok you are definitely drunk" he carried her to his car and tried to remember where she lived.

"Damn it!" he slammed the steering wheel. Bani in the backseat imitated Jai and hit the drivers seat. "Bani, do you remember where you live?" he looked in the rear mirror adjusting it to se her face.

"course" she hiccupped "in Raj's heart" she smiled.

"Raj?" Jai felt slightly jealous at the idea "whats Raj's heart address" he asked hoping she would give a real address

"Dil-Bur street, door number dhak dhak" she laughed. Jai laughed at her too.

"thank you," he said, he got out a file and punched an address into his little helper. His TomTom.

The ride home had Bani copying the instructions of the gadget in a childish voice, sometimes slurred and slow.

= = = =

"Bani stay in the car, I'll be back" he closed the door and left Bani in the backseat.

Jai walked up the driveway and took in the atmosphere, the lights were dim around the house, the front door was at the side of the house making the house more private. After several minutes waiting, someone opened the door.

"Yes how may I help"

"Hi, Sorry for disturbing you, but Bani…" he pointed to his car to see Bani standing outside dancing to a tune she was humming. "she yours?" Jai asked.

"Bani?" Raj said astonished at the sight before him, he quickly ran towards her to give her assistance, she refused at first and then finally gave in.

"Bani stop acting childish" raj shouted

"Well if you couldn't give me a child I have to act like one" she said perfectly, she got off her husband and staggered towards the house slowly.

"er, I think I'll leave you to it" Said Jai leaving the couple.

= = = =

That night Jai couldn't sleep, he looked over to his alarm clock, 03:50. He got up and started to walk around his house, thinking of Bani. He splashed his face with water but the thoughts were still there.

= = = =

Jai walked over to his usual spot in the morning expecting to see Bani slide in like every morning. But instead he was greeted by his other collegues.

"Er, Mr Khanna" Jai tapped on the shoulder "Have you seen Bani this morning?"

After taking a shot of his asthma pump "no sir sorry, I think she called in sick" he walked off shuffling for a bottle of his other tablets.

"Sick?" Jai knew Bani well enough to know she would never call in sick, no matter what happen.

He grabbed a file with Bani's details and called her house repeatedly to get a busy tone. He didn't know what it was but he felt as though what he felt for Bani was right, his mind kept telling him that she was married and someone elses, but his heart wouldn't agree. The kiss came flooding back to his mind, what if she was sober… would I have kissed her back?

= = = =

After a few days everything became normal again, office gossip about Bani died down, the fight for Richa's cabin was also decided, but everyone in the office was waiting for the announcement.

"Don't worry, in good time" Jai said to his staff. He whistled a tune that naturally came to him, as he was whistling he could hear the same harmony being hummed. He looked behind him to see Bani walking in. Black business suit, hair tied up, a small fringe framing her face, shoes on her feet, walking confidently.

"Bani?" he looked at her up and down "a new suit? Looks amazing on you" Bani shrugged her shoulders and smiled. He went by her side and walked with her.

Bani's collegues came up to her to ask about her health and welcome her back after her little break. "Jai sir, I need to talk to you" she whispered through a gritted smile

"We can talk later, let me show you your office" he whispered back to her ear. He snaked his arms around her waist unconsciously and showed Bani her new room.

"Ladies and gentlemen" Jai raised his voice for a little slience "The room Richa used to be in is now going to be Bani's room" there was a thunderous applause from the workers, Jai pulled back the curtain to reveal the new changes to the room.

"There are a few changes to the room, as you can see the colour is now light purple, the furniture is made out of glass," Bani couldn't help but think of the file incident after her presentation. Everyone ooo and ahh-ed at everything.

= = = =

Bani never wasted any time and got down to doing her work, however she always felt a pair of eyes on her, following her every step, every move. She looked over to the window several times but saw nothing except her reflection.

A call from the boss jolted her "Yes sir, coming"

Bani gathered all the files and stepped into Jai's office next door.

"Come in Bani" Jai said not looking from his file. Bani placed all the documents in a neat pile and quickly cleaned Jai's table, she turned her face to recive the biggest shock of her life.

"Jai whats that?" she pointed to a clear window that saw everything in her room.

"Oh, I forgot to say, another major adjustment I made was this glass wall, to you on the other side it may seem like a wall, but to me it's a clear as day window"

"So you mean.. everything?" Bani asked slowly scared of the outcome

"oh yeh.. everything.." he got up and did the moonwalk to his coffee machine "Seem familiar?"

Bani hid her face in her file "oh God! You saw that?"

"Course I saw a lot more too, never knew you liked to play basketball with the mouse ball" he clicked the machine "you tap your feet when you're bored, you use tea towels to cover the sun that's glaring down at you rather then the blinds I bought, don't you like them?"

"no they are lovely, just a hassle." Bani sat down after receiving her mug of coffee "Hmm.. nice," she licked her lips "so do you get any work done here?"

"I do," he sighed "but before I gave my work load to Richa, now I have to do them myself, don't think my new neighbour would do the work for me"

"Damn right, I don't get paid well enough to do your work as well my own" Bani said tongue in cheek. "right" she put her mug on a coaster and started to talk business gibberish.

After a while Jai and Bani somehow found themselves sitting on the corner sofa in Jai's room.

"So tell me about your wedding" Jai pushed

"I got married, er that's about it" Bani said blowing into her mug.

"oh come on, its me. You can tell me"

"really? Why is that?"

"well, I am a friend you kissed really well" Jai said laughing, Bani turned scarlet and tried to rush out the room. Jai pulled her back to himself and whispered sorry into her ear

They stared into eachothers eyes searching the opposites soul, Jai put Bani back on the sofa and tried to clear his mind of thoughts he had.

"Raj's parents raised me after my mother and father died on a plane to the United Kingdom" Bani looked to the floor her foot played with a string on the floor; Jai looked up at her, listening to her carefully. "Before Raj's parents passed away they got us married, since then I've been married to Raj"

"you happy?" Jai asked lowly, secretly scared of the outcome. Silence enveloped them. Jai got his answer. "Children?"

"Can't have any…"

"Why don't you leave him to find happiness?"

"who would marry a woman who has been in a marriage before, cant have children and has no parents?" Bani asked sarcastically she got up to leave

"I would"

Bani turned back, something inside told her that he wasn't lying. "er, thanks for the coffee."

= = = =

It turned into a routine for Bani to go home and be abused for not being able to produce an heir and every night she would think of Jai's words.

= = = =

Jai turned to turn the light on, he stretched and picked up the call that had rung endlessly, "Hello?" he rubbed his eyes

"Jai?"

"Bani!" he shot up as if someone threw cold water on him

"course, didn't you check your screen?"

"no its 2am in the morning, ofcourse it had to be you, who else could it possible be?" Bani giggled childishly down the phone "you ok?" Jai asked seriously

"hmm…"

"had an argument?"

"Hmm…"

"You in the living room?"

"Hmm…"

"Will you marry me?"

"Hmm…" after a spilt second Bani realised what Jai asked "What?"

"Will you marry me?"

"Jai I'm married"

"And you're not happy, I'm willing to change that around"

"Don't give up do you?"

"nope never, persistence always pays off" he said laughing, he threw his head back on his bed "how come you remembered me this late at night, or would you prefer me to say this early in the morning?"

"Don't know, just felt like calling you, listening to your voice"

"That's how love starts…" Jai tried to make her see his love

"What were you doing before I called?" Bani tried to change the subject

"oh I was swimming, playing squash doing everything that you could imagine but sleep"

"ha ha ha very funny"

"ouch! Sarcasm" Jai acted as if he was hurt

Bani gasped "THE business tycoon Jai Walia hurt, unbelievable"

The conversation between the two went on for a few hours, neither wanting to put the phone down. But like all good things, everything must come to an end.

"Jai will see you later, Raj…"

"hmm.. ok" both of them sighed down the phone, waiting for the other to put the phone down "it doesn't have to be like this Bani, you could be here with me…" before he could finish his sentence he heard the dial tone.

= = = =

As soon as Jai walked into his office he looked around to see his place still in a messy state, he looked over the large window and twisted the metal rod to show Bani's cabin. She wasn't there.

He asked the staff about Bani but got no answer, feeling uneasy yet confident he decided to visit Bani at her house.

= = = =

When Jai walked onto the driveway to Bani's house, he could see many smashed objects, glass ornaments on the floor. He went to knock on the door but it was slightly ajar, he stammered in over the ripped curtains.

"Bani?!" he shouted loudly, his voice bounced off the walls

"GO, your lover boy is here" Raj shouted, he pushed Bani down the staircase. Jai ran to the bottom in time to catch Bani.

Bani looked up at Jai and pleaded for him to leave. Raj came down the stairs, anger pouring from his body language. He grabbed Bani by the hair and dragged her from Jai's grip. Bani screamed in pain.

Jai released Bani from Raj's grip and gave him a punch to the face with all his force, he spun Bani to his side and quickly checked if she was ok. He saw a little cut on her lip, the blood oozed from the spot. Jai used his thumb to smear it away and filled her parting on her forehead.

Bani looked at him shocked, "J..J…Jai" she put her hand to her head.

Raj attacked Jai from behind, hitting him on the head with a lamp, the bulb smashed into pieces, Jai clutched his head in pain. "this freaking bas***d doesn't give up does he?" he said smiling to Bani.

"its like someone else I know" Bani muttered

Bani grabbed a curtain rail and hit Raj with all her might. She held on to Jai as much as she could, she ushered Jai to the sofa and made him sit down.

"Raj, its not as it seems" she started, Raj stood and listened to Bani.

"you're having an affair, of course it's the way it seems"

"It's not an affair" Jai said through the pain "we didn't do anything, I was more like a friend who would listen to her, I'm not saying I don't love her, cuz God I do."

"You son of a…" Raj said charging towards Jai

"What if I said I love him too" Bani said protectively jumping in. Raj stared at them both, "Raj," she sighed "let's be honest, you want a family, children, children of children. I cant give you that and you know it. All I ever wanted was you to be there, listen to me and my small stories know something about me."

"I do listen, I do know things about you" Raj pleaded, he knew he had lost the battle.

"Whats my favourite colour then?" Bani asked meaningfully.

"That's easy its green" Raj said confidently

"No its not, its purple" Jai said from the sofa, he got up to stand next to Bani.

"See, I've been married to you for four years and you never knew, I've known Jai for four month and he knows more about me then you ever will" Bani stepped over the rubbish to be close the Raj. "please let me go" she beseeched

"I promise I'll keep her happy" Jai said adding an extra spice to the argument

"If he doesn't I'll let you hit him with that lamp again" Bani said trying to kill the tension.

After a long silence, Raj made it evident that he let Bani go, he turned his face and whispered a silent goodbye.

= = = =

A few weeks had passed; Jai and Bani seemed to be inseparable, Bani and Raj had got a lawful divorce and the new couple on the block Jai and Bani were to marry within the next year.

Raj had found another woman whom he actually loved and finally understood why Jai went to great lengths for Bani.

The end.. or was it the beginning?