Hello everyone,
Apologies for being late in posting this update. It has been more than a month. I tried to post timely, but I couldn’t. Sometimes, I try to bite more than I can chew. Too many things on my plate and I was trying to juggle them all.
But the silver lining was that I was able to finish everything I had in my hand, including hosting the guests, writing German exam, and finishing 2nd edit of More Spark Extra Spice (that is the Part 2 of the story of Spark and Spice). Any book needs almost 10-15 edits/proof-reads before it goes in publishing. I will write more about it as I make a separate page about it in the coming week.
And I will also post extra chapters of Books 1 and 2 which did not make it to the final edit (The books are too long and I am an over-writer 😀 )
Hope you all are doing good in your individual fields. Lots of good wishes and love 💓
After returning from Samir’s office, Virat and Niyati didn’t go directly to the place where they had parked their car in the morning. Instead, they stopped a few blocks before Pont Louise-Phillipe and strolled along the cobblestone banks of the river Seine.
It was Saturday and they were in no hurry to rush back to either home or to the office. The rain had stopped but the sky was still studded with thick, grey clouds playing hide and seek with the sun behind them. The soft, fine drizzle carried by the gentle breeze brushed through them as they walked silently watching the passersby on the quay and over the ancient bridges arched gracefully over the river. For a long time, they spoke nothing, each lost in the ripple of varied thoughts rummaging the spaces in their minds. Virat couldn’t help but steal glances at Niyati. He had always been enamored by her silky hair flowing with the wind, caressing her face in a mannerless disobedience as she failed to tame them with her three fingers, trying to tuck them behind her earlobes. Her gorgeous eyes, the honest, almost meditative part of her existence enticed him, as if weaving a spell from the mysteries inside her. He couldn’t decide what made her appear so charismatic to him that every time he looked at her, or thought about her, he found himself falling more deeply in love with her. Every single time it happened and left him spell bound. Virat lowered his pace further. Niyati followed him, almost instinctively, and walked slower. On an impulse, he let his hand slide by his side between them and clutched her hand in his own. She turned to look at him but was not surprised even for a second. It was their usual thing. Walking in silence, and one of them holding the other’s hand, just out of nowhere. She grinned and he responded with his own dazzling smile.
The invigorating scent of the wet earth mingled with the aroma of coffee along the entire stretch of the walk, while a faint melody of someone playing music at one of the nearby cafés infused the air. It was a regular thing in Paris, yet it felt like another moment suspended in time for Virat and Niyati, like so many of those, they had witnessed, savored and cherished for the past four years. For them, the past and the present coalesced at these moments they spent with each other without being lost in the uncertain mist of the future. The ebb and flow of Seine had followed the rollercoaster of their journey and the ponts stood as a witness to their undying love for each other.
Virat tightened the grip around her hand, with his eyes fixed on her with his undivided attention. She raised her brows without speaking anything, without any attempt to disturb the tranquility and magic of the moment, or the soft music in the surroundings. His eyes, deep and contemplative, refused to share the secrets he hoarded in them. She wasn’t complaining either. She didn’t need the key to those secrets. She was a part of them. Memories of numerous precious moments from the past four years swooped through their minds as they looked at each other. As the world ceased to exist beyond this threshold, they were reminded of countless moments of joy and sorrow, triumphs and troubles, losses and gains as life had continued to constantly move and regularly change around them. They had changed too, in the process, bringing forth unchartered aspects of their personalities they never knew existed, especially their fears, strengths, deeply seated pain and courage to rise beyond the setbacks, but most of all their tenacity to stay together despite every hardship they endured and every bliss they enjoyed.
Four years ago, they had no clue they’d be here, years later, as much in love as they were when they first sat here chatting for hours on this side of the river bank. Through all trials, tribulations and pleasures, one thing had remained a constant and that was their unwavering bond. They had always kept it above everything else. They knew this was the place they could return to even when harsh storms shook their existence in the outside world.
Without taking his eyes away from her, he drew her closer and she swayed towards him unopposed. He curled his arms around her before leaning towards her face and claiming her lips in a consuming kiss. She closed her eyes, surrendering every sense of hers under the overwhelming softness of his lips and the enchanting smell of his musk aftershave.
…………………………..
On the way back, he asked, “Should I reserve a table for dinner tonight?”
She cocked a single brow, giving it a fleeting thought, and replied, “I have a better idea.”
He grinned, raising his hand to ask her to continue. “Go ahead!”
“Why don’t we sleep early today and spend the Sunday cycling across the countryside?” She flashed a distinct twinkle in her eyes when she said that.
“Err…what?” His jaw dropped and he grinned, amazed at how she had seamlessly adapted to his likes and dislikes, especially regarding sports and athletic events. In the same way, he had begun admiring the intricacies art because of her. He might have considered himself creative before he met her, but it was more for the business aspect of it and not because of any keen appreciation for colours or shades. She taught him more about the world of designs than his business or work could ever do. She had subtly woven her lifestyle into his and his world into hers. She had never been a bicycling enthusiast before she came to France. But he was a pro at it. And now, she was planning it as an activity to spend time with him because she knew how he loved it. He twisted his lips in appreciation. “I’m impressed!”
She nodded her head and bowed slightly, “I’m glad.”
“So, tomorrow morning, 7 am?”
“Won’t 7 be still dark? It’s peak winters.” She asked, imagining the chilly rain and the snow in the end of the December month.
“Hmm! Let’s see the timing of sunrise in the Weather-app,” he suggested casually, but another glance at her rolled eyes made him laugh loudly, throwing his head back and nodding with it. She had always made fun of how he was quick to turn to different applications on his phone for all answers and relied on them too. She was more of a hands-on person and she took pride in it.
“Come on! It is sensible to check the weather on the app.”
“I didn’t say anything!” she shrugged.
“Yeah, sure! Given a choice, you would have woken up early in the morning to see the sky and decide if the weather was good or not.”
“I don’t do that!” she winced and frowned at the tease.
“Oh no, no! You won’t get up, actually. You need to be dragged out of the bed.” He laughed again.
She squeezed her eyes and glared at him for laughing on her and he continued to laugh more, teasing her.
…………………………………..
The opposite happened!
In the morning, he lingered closer to her and snuggled in her hair. “Forget cycling. Let’s spend the day at home.”
She giggled, and spoke in a heavy accent, imitating his tone whenever he dragged her for any outdoor adventure. “I promise, it will be fun!”
He sniggered too, tackling her between his arms. “Stop! You are not allowed to make fun of your boss.”
“Sorry, boss!” She giggled more, doing exactly the opposite, while trying to squeeze out of his hold. He didn’t release his grip, instead tightened it around her.
“We need to plan about the Christmas party at the office,” he tried to convince her, tucking her under him and snuggling his face in the crevice of her neck, making her ticklish.
She twisted her hand in a question, opening her mouth in a big surprise, “Hello! Since when have you started planning for parties?”
“I always do!” he exaggerated his words, trying to sound genuine.
“No! It is always Dadu or myself. And sometimes, Maya Chachi. Did you forget, Virat Malhotra doesn’t do anything? He delegates it to others.” She teased him.
Sheepishly, he nodded, “Even delegating work is an art. You won’t understand. Niyati Malhotra always runs to do the work herself, even if she has a hundred people lined up to do the job.”
“That’s an art too!” She rolled her eyes, “By the way, it’s the next week, if you remember. And we have already planned everything.”
“Tell me you need my help.” He asked in a softer voice, cajoling her to indulge him in his silly antics. She giggled and nodded her head to refuse him. Finally, after a long time, she convinced him to get ready for the half-day bicycling trip towards the country side.
It was cold outside and she wore two layers of warmers under her rain-proof jacket. He adoringly walked towards her and zipped up the jacket until it was closed under her chin. He knew it was going to feel very cold as his weather app had informed him of the strong winds outside. As they picked up their helmets to go outside, his phone rang.
“Dadu? Why is he calling me?” Virat answered the phone, wondering loudly. Niyati looked at him keenly as if reading his expressions. It was almost 7.30 am and Dadu usually went for morning walk at this time. Worried about Dadu, she hoped everything was fine with him.
Virat looked upset when he talked to Dadu. “On Friday, I had a bit of a doubt. I knew something like this was going to happen and I had it in my agenda to talk to the team on Monday. But they were faster.”
“Is it possible for you to go to there and see for yourself?” Dadu asked him.
“Oh, yes! Definitely. I’ll leave at the earliest.” Virat assured Dadu and disconnected the phone, turning to Niyati. She had been looking at his face in apprehension. She didn’t ask anything, waiting for him to divulge the details like he always did.
“Our management team at Japan has resigned.” Virat huffed, resting his hands on his waist.
“Team? Means? All of them?” She spread her hands in the air.
“Yes,” he walked away, unzipping his jacket and tossing it on the bed, before he took out his clothes from the almirah, explaining her simultaneously, “The entire senior team has been behaving weird in the past one month and I had an inkling they are upto something nasty. Now, I’m not sure if it was something done by the competitors or the team decided to move out and join somewhere else, at a more lucrative opportunity.”
“Maybe they siphoned the finances somewhere else and now they want to run away?” she suggested.
He shrugged, frowning at it, “Maybe! We can’t be sure unless we meet the rest of the staff and see what’s going on here. They can’t do this all of a sudden and we can’t leave the company like that. So, I need to go and check myself.”
“Japan?” Her eyes were flared.
He nodded, with a distinct shrug, “Obviously! And no, we can’t send someone else.”
“No, I didn’t mean to say that… just that, it happened so suddenly.” She clarified her impulsive question as she walked ahead and started folding the clothes he had been dumping on the bed.
He murmured to himself, “We have already been through a row of losses in the past quarter. And now this? I’m so angry.”
Niyati observed him patiently and acutely. She had always seen him as a seasoned businessman who knew how to rise above obstacles and roadblocks. He would never flinch even when his world was falling apart. He knew how to set things right. She had always seen him so calm and composed that he sometimes scared her. Previously too, he became very angry when things didn’t go his way but he knew how to use that energy and anger to channelise things in the right direction. He was in control of situations and would find a way out. He never showed frustration or helplessness over anything. But today, it felt different. She could read it in his words, his expressions, his gestures and mannerisms that he was unable to handle the turn of events, as if things were slipping out of his hand. Once, he was fiercely in control of everything at office and home, but today he sounded disturbed.
She kept observing him while he booked an afternoon ticket for Japan, so that he could reach the office before Monday. And she observed him keenly as he packed, grumbling at how he knew something was going wrong, yet he became a day late, how he hated these last moment trips, and how he was responsible for some of the losses their company had faced in the last financial quarter.
She didn’t speak anything. She only kept observing him. When he was done, he went inside the washroom to shower and freshen up. She rechecked his wallet, his laptop bag and his luggage for the travel essentials, his passport, his chargers, phone and extra batteries.
“I’m coming with you to the airport,” she murmured as he dragged his luggage down and called the driver. He didn’t reply to her. He knew she would come even if he asked her not to.
On their way towards the airport, he looked into his tablet for the details of the mass resignations. He read his mail and said, “It was sent late at night and I didn’t check the emails in the morning. That is why I was thinking how come Dadu knew it before me. I hate it, man!”
“Twenty-fifth time,” she said.
He looked at her, flabbergasted, and raised his brows signifying he didn’t understand her point. She explained, “This is the twenty-fifth time you’ve said it since morning. I’ve never heard you complain about things before. But for the last few days you have been grumbling about issues as if they are getting out of your hand.”
Narrowing his deep, dark eyes into transverse slits, he looked at her intensely for a moment. “Do you have any idea about the stress I have right now?”
“This is not new to us. We have been through worse, Virat.”
He shut his tablet and stuffed it in its bag, “What do you mean to say? I’m overreacting?”
“I didn’t say that. I only meant that maybe you need to reconsider your judgements and actions in these past few months and maybe analyse what’s going wrong.”
He had had enough of it. For a moment, he lost his cool. “Stop it, Ni! Don’t you have any other work to do? Since almost a month, I’ve been only seeing you trying to prove that something is wrong, either with me or in our relationship. Things do go wrong in business. Such things happen. Why are you pushing it farther than it deserves?”
She was taken aback at the way he snapped at her. He hardly ever did that because he knew she didn’t like it. But he was already in a fragile state of mind with tons of things rushing through his mind, including the meetings he had to cancel because of this trip. All he needed at this time was her support and unconditional love but she chose this time to tell him something he had refused to accept in the past few days. He had no clue how to respond to this, now. She was deeply saddened, so she kept quiet after this.
He also hated fighting with her before leaving her. It was a bad day, after all. He got down at the Charles De Gaulle Airport and gave her a quick, brief hug. “I’ll call you once I touch down.”
“Hmm!” She shook her head, and hugged him back, “Take care.”
They didn’t speak much as it always happened for some time after a fight. But it had never happened right before a trip abroad. It pained both of them. Virat was already late. He rushed past the crowd at the huge airport taking fast steps and disappeared in the swarm of people. Niyati sighed deeply and shut her eyes tightly.
Maybe she should have kept quiet, she felt.
……………………………
PS. Next Update – Friday 29th March 2024
PPS. Can anyone tell me which season of KYY is going on, or in pipeline. I have been completely off-track. And where to watch them as I’m unable to access Zee Cinema or Voot in Germany. The last I watched was season 4.
Have a great weekend ❣️
M.
Finally the wait is over. I was hoping I would get an insight on this doing what you love and loving what you do topic. Understanding it through Niyati’s POV or rather Manita’s POV would have been an interesting topic to read on.
It was interesting to read Virat and Niyati adapting to each other’s hobbies and habits.
Season 5 was the last season. You can watch on JioCinema. Latest there was an additional leaked chats of Manan on Jio only,but there weren’t any episodes per se.
Thank you for the info, Madhuri 🤗 I’m not able to access Jio here so let’s see how I get them.
The POV about ‘doing what you love and loving what you do’ is to come in further chapters. Wait for it 😀♥️