Chapter 4

Vidya Oberoi found Vikram sitting alone in the private lounge shortly after nine. He had loosened his tie and removed his spectacles. A glass of water stood untouched on the table beside him.

For a moment, she watched him from the doorway.

She had known Vikram for more than fifteen years. He had been a proud, affectionate father when Naina married Neil, and their families had grown close during the four years of that marriage.

After Naina's death, Vidya had watched him struggle through a grief no parent should have to endure. She had never forgotten the way he had held Neil at the funeral, two men devastated by the loss of the same woman.

Now Vikram looked as though those years of recovery had been swept away in a single evening.

"Vikram."

He looked up. "Vidya ji."

She crossed the room and sat beside him. For a while, neither spoke.

Then she asked, "How is Tara?"

He shook his head. "She won't stop crying."

Vidya reached for his hand. "I'm so sorry."

Vikram looked away. "I never wanted this marriage." She waited. "I had reservations about Samar from the beginning. Something about him never felt right."

"Did you tell Tara?"

"Of course."

"And?"

"She loved him." His voice broke on the final word. "She was so certain, Vidya ji. She kept telling me I didn't know him the way she did."

Vidya tightened her hold on his hand. "I thought perhaps I was being unreasonable. Perhaps I was becoming too protective after Naina." He removed his spectacles again, although he was no longer wearing them, and seemed momentarily confused when his fingers found nothing.

Vidya watched him with growing concern.

"I agreed because I wanted her to be happy."

"You did what any loving father would have done."

He shook his head. "Look at her now.” His eyes filled. "I couldn't save Naina." Vidya went still. "And now I couldn't protect Tara."

"Vikram."

He covered his face. "I have only one daughter left."

Vidya moved closer. For a long time, she sat beside him, listening to the sounds of a wedding that had ceased to exist. And somewhere in the hotel, her grandson was dealing with the situation as though it were another unfortunate business complication.

A thought came to her, at first, she dismissed it. Then she looked at Vikram again. At his trembling hands, at the exhaustion in his face. At the grief that had returned to him with such merciless familiarity.

Vidya straightened. "Vikram." He looked at her. "Go and sit with Kavita."

"Why?"

"Because Tara needs both of you.”

"And what are you going to do?"

Vidya rose. "Speak to my grandson."

__________

Neil was in his office on the hotel's executive floor when his grandmother entered. He had removed his jacket and rolled his sleeves to his forearms. His telephone lay on the desk beside an open laptop.

He looked up. "Dadi."

Vidya closed the door. "We need to talk."

Neil glanced at his watch. "Is Vikram all right?"

"No."

Neil's expression hardened. He had spent the last half-hour making discreet enquiries through people who knew Samar's family. Nothing useful had emerged, except confirmation that the young man had left Kolkata earlier that evening.

Neil had no intention of pursuing someone who had already made his position clear. But the manner of Samar's departure disgusted him.

Vidya approached the desk. "There will be a wedding tonight."

Neil looked at her. "What?"

"Tara will be married."

He regarded his grandmother for a moment. "Dadi, the groom has disappeared."

"I know."

"Then how do you propose—"

"You will marry her."

Silence.

Neil stared at her.

Vidya held his gaze. For several seconds, neither moved, then Neil placed his pen on the desk. "No."

"Neil—"

"No, Dadi."

"You haven't even heard me."

"I heard you perfectly."

Vidya drew a chair towards the desk and sat down. "Then sit properly and listen."

Neil looked at her with undisguised disbelief. "You're asking me to marry Tara Sen?"

"Yes."

"Naina's sister?"

"Yes."

He rose. "This conversation is over."

Vidya remained seated. "Is it?"

Neil walked towards the window, for a moment, he said nothing. Then he turned. "Have you considered what you're suggesting?"

"Very carefully."

"You cannot arrange my marriage because a young man has behaved disgracefully."

"I'm not arranging anything. I'm asking you to consider it."

"You've already decided."

Vidya didn't deny it. Neil gave a short, incredulous exhale.

"Tara is twenty-six."

"I'm aware."

"She's sixteen years younger than I am."

"I can count, Neil."

"She was a child the last time I saw her."

"And now she's a grown woman."

"That doesn't make this reasonable."

Vidya watched him.

"Reasonable things don't always happen on reasonable days."

Neil looked away, he could feel his patience thinning. His grandmother was accustomed to interfering in family matters, but this was beyond anything he had expected from her.

"I was married to her sister. So, you should understand why this is impossible."

Vidya was quiet for a moment. "Impossible because of Naina?"

Neil's expression changed. "Don't."

"Neil—"

"Don't bring her into this.”

Vidya looked at him steadily. "I loved Naina too."

He said nothing. "She was my granddaughter in every way that mattered. Do you think I've forgotten her?"

Neil turned towards the window again. Below them, the lights of Kolkata stretched into the distance.

Vidya continued more gently. "I know what you lost. I watched you lose it."

"Then you should know better than to ask this of me."

"Perhaps."

The unexpected answer made him turn.

Vidya folded her hands in her lap. "Perhaps I am asking too much. But I've just sat with a father who believes he has failed both his daughters. I've watched Kavita struggle to keep herself together, and I've seen Tara's wedding collapse before her eyes."

Neil's jaw tightened. "That isn't my responsibility."

"No," Vidya agreed. "It isn't." She rose slowly. "But they are Naina's family, Neil. They were yours once too."

He remained silent.

"Vikram never stopped treating you like a son. Not when you stopped visiting. Not even when you made it clear that you preferred to keep your distance."

Neil looked at her. "That has nothing to do with marriage."

"Maybe not."

Vidya moved towards the door, then stopped. "But tell me something. If Naina is love of your life then his family respect is nothing for you ? What kind of love is this where you can't even make a sacrifice?"

Neil went very still.

For the first time that evening, genuine anger crossed his face. "That's unfair."

Vidya's eyes softened. "I know."

He stared at her. She had never been a woman who apologised merely to end an argument. Her admission made the question more difficult to dismiss.

"You're using Naina to convince me."

"I'm reminding you of the people she loved."

"By asking me to marry her sister?"

"By asking you to consider whether you can give Tara a life with a man who will never abandon her."

Neil looked at his grandmother for a long time.

"And what about Tara?"

Vidya hesitated. "What about her?"

"Has anyone asked what she wants?"

"I intend to."

"Then perhaps you should do that before deciding her future."

Vidya accepted the rebuke without argument. Neil walked back towards the desk. "This isn't a hotel problem, Dadi. You can't solve it by changing a name on the booking."

"I know that."

"Do you?"

She stood.

For a moment, the authority she had carried throughout the conversation seemed to soften into something more vulnerable. "I want you to be happy, Neil."

His expression closed. "Don't."

"You've spent ten years living as though your life ended with Naina's."

"My life is perfectly satisfactory."

"Yes. Your hotels are thriving. You have everything exactly where you want it." Neil said nothing, Vidya looked at him sadly. "Except someone to share it with."

He turned away.

She approached him. "I'm not asking you to love Tara. I'm asking you to think about what this marriage might mean to a family that has already lost too much."

Neil's gaze remained fixed on the city beyond the window.

______