One Indian Girl(85)

‘Indian clothes suit you. You look like a little fairy.’

I don’t know why he talks like this. Worse, I don’t know why it still feels so good when he talks like this.

‘You came here for this? To comment on my salwar-kameez?’

‘No, no. That is just a side observation.’

‘Talk about what you came for.’

‘One, Radhika, I am really, really sorry. For how things ended between us. I am just an idiot. A total idiot.’

‘Well, we parted ways, I moved to London. End of story,’ I said and let out a deep breath.

‘Yeah, I never considered that the story could end differently. There were other options.’

‘It’s history. Leave it, Neel.’

‘Well, I can’t leave it. Since you left, I have missed you every single day. I can’t even bear to pass your cubicle. Every bit of Hong Kong, every business trip reminds me of you. I am filled with pain every time the taxi passes Old Peak Road.’

‘There are other routes to your house, I am sure,’ I said.

He looked at me. I stared back.

‘I am sorry, Radhika. I loved you. So much. You were the best thing to ever happen to me. Or ever will. Smart, young, beautiful, compatible and successful. I had you. You loved me. And what did I do with it? Nothing.’

I didn’t respond.

‘I made the biggest mistake of my life. I really did,’ he said.

Now, where else had I heard that line recently?

He placed the brown envelope on the table. He clasped his hands and lifted them in front of me.

‘I know you don’t believe me. But only I know the hell I went through after you left. That is why I am here.’

‘I believe you, Neel. I missed you too. However, we couldn’t do anything about it, right? So yeah, what’s the point of you being here?’

‘For the second thing I am going to tell you.’

He picked up the brown envelope. He pulled out a set of A4-sized sheets. The first page had a stamp paper.

‘I am leaving Kusum. These are the documents,’ he said.

I felt dizzy. The suite spun around me. He gave me the papers in my hand. He and Kusum had filed for a mutual consent divorce at the Hong Kong Family Court. My hand began to tremble.

I put the divorce documents on the table.

‘Why?’ I said.

‘You are asking me why?’ he said. ‘You, of all people?’

‘You had a perfect family.’

‘If I did, why did we have what we had?’

I kept silent. His eyes became wet.

‘What about the kids?’

‘We plan to co-parent. Share custody.’

‘What did Kusum say?’

‘Not happy, of course. However, she gets it. She knew something was amiss in our marriage. We had grown too far apart.’

‘What will she do?’ I said. I don’t know why I had such concern for his ex-wife.

‘She will figure it out. Financially, she is more than okay. I gave her half of whatever I had. No questions asked. In return, she agreed to co-parenting and mutual consent.’

I couldn’t believe I was discussing a divorce at my wedding venue.

Neel continued, ‘I am sorry, I will skip the details. The point is,’ he said and exhaled, ‘my marriage is over.’

‘I am sorry, Neel,’ I said.

‘It’s okay,’ he said and massaged his temples. ‘It had to happen. Should have happened long ago.’

I checked my phone. I had missed calls from two of my cousins.

‘I hope you are okay. I need to go now. You had something else to say? The third thing?’ I said.

‘Yes. There’s a small plane waiting at the Dabolim airport.’

‘Your chartered flight?’

‘Yeah, Radhika,’ he said and leaned forward to hold my hand. ‘Our flight.’

‘What?’ I said. I didn’t withdraw my hand. I just gave a quick glance to confirm the door was shut.

‘I know this will be a huge mess for you. Your entire family is here. There are huge expenses. But hear me out.’

‘What?’

‘I will cut a cheque right now, at the hotel lobby. I will pay for everything your family or the groom’s side spent for this wedding. So financially, it’s a non-issue. You just come with me, and we fly away on the plane. To Hong Kong. To wherever, actually.’

‘Neel, are you kidding me?’

‘No. I mean it. I have wasted too much time. I have over-analysed, treated our love like it was a financial deal. It doesn’t work like that. You have to do these things from here.’

He touched his chest to indicate his heart.

‘You want me to elope with you?’ I said, still absorbing his proposal-cum-plan.

‘You can talk to your family. I can meet them as well. When we reach Hong Kong we can get married.’

‘What if I don’t want to be in Hong Kong?’

Neel became quiet for a few seconds.

‘It would be nice if we can be there for a while,’ he finally said. ‘My kids are there. But if it bothers you we can move to another city. I will commute. See them from time to time.’

I looked at him searchingly. I knew him well enough to tell he wasn’t lying. Neel Gupta, partner at Goldman Sachs, never uttered a word if he didn’t mean it. I kept my gaze on him for a minute.