Destined – A Marriage of Convenience Love Story: Chapter 8

This is part 9 of 9 in the book Destined: A Marriage of Convenience

Destined: A Marriage of Convenience

Destined – A Marriage of Convenience Love Story: Getting to Know Mehek Bagchi

5,070 words, 27 minutes read time.

A Marriage of Convenience Love Story Set in Kolkata

Destined: A Marriage of Convenience Love Story – Chapter 8
Getting to Know Mehek Bagchi

Don’t forget to read Chapter 7 of Destined: A Marriage of Convenience.

Destined – A Marriage of Convenience Love Story: Chapter 7

Destined – A Marriage of Convenience Love Story

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Abhoy

The ride from the airport was silent, and Mehek’s head remained glued to the window.

I sighed, shaking my head in mild exasperation. She had already got on my nerves within the one day I had spent alone with her. And it wasn’t even a full day, just a few hours, and she had managed to penetrate inside my head, shaking my calm.

It was six PM by the time we reached my Mumbai apartment. It was in Juhu, close to the airport, but we had hit the evening traffic.

Mehek was out in seconds just as the car stopped outside a high-rise tower. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her chin lifted stubbornly as she waited, still not looking at me.

She was sulking, and I let her. Some battles weren’t worth picking.

I walked to the back of the car just as the driver opened the trunk. Taking the bags out, I walked with mine towards the gate. I wanted to carry hers as well, but she wanted to be independent, and I wanted to let her be.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her. She was wrestling with the suitcase, trying to drag it over the uneven pavement without asking for help. She had a two-wheeler suitcase, and it was difficult to drag against my four-wheeler one.

The sight tugged at the corner of my mouth. She was petite. Not one of those girls obsessed with becoming painfully thin, nor overweight either. Just small enough that the oversized suitcase looked determined to win the fight.

“Want me to carry it?” I asked her, unable to stop myself.

She shook her head, refusing to waste words on me.

I didn’t insist. I had a presentation waiting for me, and I couldn’t afford to spend the evening arguing with a stubborn twenty-one-year-old who seemed determined to prove a point every five minutes.

My meeting was scheduled for tomorrow evening, but if I were going to Panchgani tomorrow, I wasn’t sure what time I would be back. So I wanted to get the presentation done today itself. I was addressing the Mumbai office, and I didn’t want to look like a fool.

Mehek could easily give me a migraine, and I intended to save myself from one.

We got in the elevator, and I pressed for the last floor. Our company owned the penthouse in this building. Whenever clients from outside India visited, they stayed here instead of booking a hotel. It gave them a homely feeling.

We had a caretaker here, and I had already asked my assistant to get the place cleaned, though she said the maid wouldn’t be available right now. She had something else and requested if it was okay for me if she came in the morning.

I had stayed here only once before, and even then, only for a few hours. Long enough to shower, change into a fresh suit, attend a meeting, and leave again. I barely remembered what the apartment looked like.

The elevator chimed softly, and the doors slid open.

We stepped out, and I saw Mehek once again struggling with her bag. I walked to the door and entered the security code into the digital lock.

The door clicked, and the apartment opened into a wide living space washed in the warm glow of the evening sun. It was beautiful. I could see the faint orange in the sky through the floor-to-ceiling windows, which were not hidden by the curtains.

I stepped inside instinctively, surveying the place, putting my bag in a corner. I walked towards the window and opened the curtains. The view was mesmerizing. I turned, checking the house. Everything looked spotless. The floors gleamed, the furniture was dust-free, and the faint scent of roses lingered in the air. I saw a vase on the table.

I walked further in and began opening doors. The first room was a study. The next was a bedroom. The third door was a dump kind of thing, also the broom cupboard. I also saw a single bed in the corner, maybe used when the maid stayed the night.

I frowned. There had to be more bedrooms somewhere. I climbed the staircase leading to the upper level. There was another bedroom upstairs, and beyond that, one more door.

When I opened it, I understood why the layout had felt unusual. Instead of adding more rooms, they had left space for a large terrace.

I stepped outside, the evening air feeling pleasant. I could smell the ocean and hear the faint sound of waves, but I couldn’t see the beach from here.

The city stretched endlessly before me, buildings glowing under the fading evening light while the horizon melted into soft shades of gold and blue. Even after years of travelling, Mumbai always managed to impress from above.

I had thought of shifting here, even spoke to Yagini about it. But she was attached to Kolkata and refused to relocate. I agreed. Home was where she was until she went to a place I couldn’t go.

Memories… they hit hard. With Mehek here with me, I knew I shouldn’t think about Yagini, but I couldn’t stop myself.

I wish I could tell Mehek everything. But I couldn’t. I had promised Maa, and I couldn’t break that. I had caused her enough pain already.

Maybe I should think of shifting now, get out of that house that had Yagini everywhere. She wasn’t there to convince me otherwise. A small voice spoke inside me… that I had to ask Mehek now. But I didn’t want to. She had to agree to stay where I wanted to stay. I will anyway have my family to resist and argue, and didn’t need her added to the list as well.

But she wasn’t really compliant either. She could argue as if her life depended on it, like if she argued more, she could somehow get ahead of me.

I heard footsteps and turned to see her standing by the door. Her lips had parted ever so slightly, and her eyes were wide with wonder as she slowly took everything in. She walked towards the edge and looked down, excitement dancing in her eyes.

She liked Mumbai… maybe that was my hint.

I stared at her, frowning. Something was bothering me. When I was twenty-one, I had been wild. Really wild. And so had Yagini, in her own reckless way.

Mehek was different. She seemed far more subdued than we were. Maybe because of her family… but I had seen her controlling herself rather than break free. But that didn’t mean the restlessness wasn’t there. She wanted more than the life that was waiting for her in Kolkata.

She wanted to travel, explore, make mistakes, discover herself. She wanted to test her wings before I clipped them completely.

“I have work to do,” I said. “But if you want, we can go downstairs for dinner first.”

She turned to look at me.

“This place is close to the beach,” I continued. “We can go there. I can work late tonight. I don’t mind.”

“Can I go alone?” She asked, not meeting my eyes.

It suddenly felt strange inside. Like… a pinch of hurt that hit me, like I didn’t expect this. It shouldn’t affect me if she wanted to go alone. Yes, it should make me feel irritated, but not hurt.

Yet a small part of me felt… betrayed, and that was absurd.

She finally looked at me, waiting. And I nodded. That rendered her speechless. She raised an eyebrow, not believing it.

Did she think I was trying to be territorial here? No, I wasn’t.

When her mother called me this morning, I heard the fear in her voice. She hadn’t demanded anything. She had pleaded. She had asked me to drop Mehek safely, to ignore her resistance, to make sure she reached Panchgani without any trouble.

My flight was for the following morning, but I had cancelled it without a second thought and booked myself onto hers instead.

I had asked them for Mehek’s responsibility, and I meant it. I wasn’t going to shy away from it. But she wanted to try her wings, and I wanted her to.

I walked towards her and held out my hand. “Your phone.”

She frowned, suspicion flashing briefly across her face, but handed it over anyway.

“Unlock it,” I asked her.

She did the same quietly. I opened the Maps application, dropped a pin on the apartment, then handed the phone back to her.

“This is the twelfth floor. P-101. Don’t go too far,” I said. “Return to this location. Do you know how to use Maps?”

“Of course, I know. I’m not dumb.”

I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t burst on her. Instead, I just nodded and walked away, leaving her alone.

Mehek could easily make me crazy, and the moment she had gotten comfortable with me, she had started insulting me freely. Somewhere between Kolkata and Mumbai, she had stopped choosing her words carefully and started throwing them at me without hesitation.

I went downstairs and checked the fridge. Prathmesh had told me that the refrigerator would be stocked. There were fruits and milk. I grabbed an apple and then checked the cupboards and found ready-to-eat packets. Great, I found my dinner.

I selected biryani and dal makhani, checking the ingredients when I again heard footsteps.

“I will come in an hour,” I heard Mehek say.

I nodded, not bothering to look up. I felt angry, but I didn’t know why. She wanted to go alone, and it wasn’t a big deal. We weren’t a couple. This arrangement wasn’t built on affection or expectations. It was convenience. For both of us.

Before I could stop myself, I set the packets aside and walked her out. Calling the elevator for her, I looked at her. But she avoided my eyes, staring at the wall instead as though it was suddenly fascinating.

“Mehek, you are my responsibility. I…”

“You don’t need to take my responsibility.” She cut me off before I could finish. “I can take care of myself.”

Something inside me snapped. Before either of us could think, my hand came up to cup her jaw as I slammed her against the wall beside the elevator.

Her eyes flew wide. She froze beneath my hand.

“Do I have your attention now?” I asked, my voice low, steady.

She just stared at me.

I didn’t move.

This wasn’t a game. Ever since we had left for the airport, she had acted as though I had forced my way into her life, as though I had volunteered for this just to make things difficult for her.

I hadn’t called her mother. I hadn’t asked for this. Her mother had called me. She had trusted me enough to ask me to look after her daughter and make sure she reached Panchgani safely.

None of this had been my doing. Yet somehow, I was the one paying for everyone else’s decisions. Her Kaka had fixed her marriage, not me.

She blamed me just because I didn’t say no. Like her, I was forced, I was coerced, I was silent under the weight of my promise to my Maa.

If we had to stay happy, if not with each other, at least with ourselves in each other’s company, we had to learn to live with each other. But Mehek wasn’t trying at all.

She was repelling, and I was done with her shit.

“Do I?” I repeated when she remained silent.

Her lips trembled. Then, without taking her eyes off mine, she gave the smallest nod.

“I need you to be vigilant. I need you to understand that this is a new city, and you are not safe. Don’t talk to strangers. And use the map; just don’t walk anywhere. Understood?”

She nodded.

“Call me if anything goes wrong. Don’t let your false pride stop you. Is that clear?”

She again nodded.

God, this girl was getting on my nerves.

“Don’t go far. Don’t sit in any stranger’s car.”

“Fine. I know to take care of myself.”

I finally let go of her face.

The moment I did, my eyes caught the faint flush on her skin. The imprint of where I had held her stood out against her fair skin, turning pink, then red.

Guilt pricked unexpectedly. I had held her harder than I intended.

An apology rose to my lips, but before I could speak, the elevator came. The doors opened, and she stepped inside.

The doors slid shut between us before I could get out a word, leaving me staring at my reflection in the polished metal.

I let out a slow breath and walked back into the apartment.

Two hours passed, and I stifled a yawn. I rubbed my face and stood up. I was finally done with the presentation I wanted for tomorrow. I carried my empty plate to the sink, rinsed it, and washed it absentmindedly.

I really wanted a drink, but I didn’t want to have it while Mehek was with me.

Mehek. Where was she?

She had told me she would be back in an hour. I left the plate to dry and dried my hands before walking towards the table and checking my phone. No calls or messages from her.

I didn’t want to call her, but I tapped on her name and waited. It started ringing.

Just then the bell rang. I walked towards the door and opened it to find her on the other side. I canceled the call.

She was grinning, a smile I had never seen before. She was happy.

“The beach is amazing. I had so much fun. I ate sev puri, bhel, and not like the one we get. This was different. It was spicy and tangy at the same time. Then I had pav bhaji… it was full of butter and so damn tasty. Then I had ice gola with cream and chocolate. Everything was amazing. I even…”

She stopped suddenly. I was staring at her, speechless. I had never seen this side of her. I saw her gulp, suddenly realizing she was talking to me like I was her friend.

Maybe that’s what we could be. Friends.

Though I had to have her under control, I could be a good listener.

“Mehek…”

“Where do I sleep tonight? I’m tired and need to have a shower so I don’t waste time tomorrow morning. We are leaving tomorrow by four AM, right?”

I nodded, letting it go. I pointed to the room at the far end. I saw Mehek drag her bag and close the door, leaving me alone. I raked my hand in my hair, feeling lost.

I never felt lost before, but right now I did.

Four days later, I was driving back. I ditched the driver this time. I wanted to do this. And because it was early morning, the roads were pretty empty. I was heading back to Panchgani to pick Mehek.

I had messaged her a few times in the last four days. She had replied with a clipped, one-word response. But at least I knew she was okay.

When we reached Panchgani, I took her to the hotel I had already booked a room for her. She tried to argue, but one stare from me, and she let it go. I wasn’t going to let her search for her hotel on her own.

The music blared, and I let the car fly as I sped down the highway. It had been a good four days. I needed this. To visit my Mumbai and Pune offices, to spend a day with the team, and to exactly know how things were going.

Four hours later, I stopped at Mapro Garden. Mom had given me a list of things she wanted. Somehow, in the time I was here, she had researched and came to know about the fresh fruit sharbat pulp available here that everyone raved about. Also, the chocolates and fresh strawberries. We were headed back through the jet so I could carry whatever I wanted.

I had got Mehek’s return ticket from her dad and got it canceled. I knew I had done it behind her back, but I didn’t want another argument. And I didn’t want another commercial flight.

I picked everything Maa wanted, and then some random things that I knew my sisters would love, and some more things for Mehek’s family, though I knew Mom’s list already had items for them.

Putting the four heavy bags in the trunk, I then went to a shop that looked good enough. I wanted to get chikki and other sweets, whatever was famous here.

Finally, with everything done, I was at the address Mehek had given me. She had checked out of the hotel and was here, in the lady’s house who was teaching her thread work.

I looked around the small house. It was really small, and Mehek wasn’t waiting for me outside. Sighing, I knocked once, but no one opened the door.

Pulling out my phone, I called her.

“Hi,” she said breathlessly.

I frowned. Was she running or stressing herself out?

“Where are you?”

“At the address I gave you.”

“I’m outside.”

“Oh. You came too soon. I told you to come by twelve.”

“Mehek, it’s eleven-thirty. I just came half an hour early.”

“Um… you will have to wait.”

“Where are you?” I was shouting now.

“In the back. The family has a strawberry garden, and I’m in that plucking strawberries.”

I ended the call and walked around the back. I saw the narrow walkway and started walking. It was downhill and steep, so I kept my pace slow.

Then I heard laughter and looked towards the right. Mehek. She was wearing a kurta kind of top and had a basket in her hand as she bent and plucked strawberries. I pulled out my phone and clicked her photo, sending it to Mom.

Rather than replying, she called me.

“Looks like she’s having fun.”

“Yeah, she is. We might get late.”

“No problem. Do you want me to call her mother and inform her?”

“No, I will ask Mehek to do that. I have got everything you asked me to.”

“Get strawberries as well. Try to get from the place Mehek is at. That way, we can pay back for the kindness they have shown her.”

“Maa, you think of everything.”

“I do, right? I’m the best.”

I chuckled and ended the call. I turned back and waited by the car. Fifteen minutes later, I heard voices and chatter.

“Thank you, Amma. I loved every minute with you. Thank you for teaching me all your tricks,” I heard Mehek say to the lady who was following her.

She was old, and I saw the creases on her face as she smiled.

“No beta, I enjoyed your company more. Come back again.”

Mehek’s face fell at her words. She turned to look at me once before quickly looking away. “I don’t know when I can come again, but you need to tell me your fees now. I need to leave.”

“No fees. No… no… you came and gave me company. That’s enough for me. You also bought some of my items. I’m not going to charge for anything else.”

“But…”

“No, don’t argue, Mehek.”

Mehek smiled and nodded. I walked over and bent to touch the old lady’s feet.

“I’m her fiancé,” I told her.

Mehek stiffened beside me, but I ignored that.

“Oh, you are Abhoy. She talked about you nonstop.”

“Amma… don’t…” Mehek spoke before I could get out another word.

“Can you show me the items you have for sale? I have two sisters. I can’t get enough for them. They always want more.”

The old lady smiled. “Parvati,” she introduced herself and walked towards her house.

I followed her.

“I don’t think you would find anything to your taste.”

“So you know my taste?”

“Just saying… I don’t want you to check all her things and not buy anything. That will hurt her.”

I ignored Mehek and ducked my head to enter the house. I looked around. The place was modest and had only one sitting. A single bed cum sofa. I sat. Just then, Parvati brought a large box with her. I stood and took the box from her.

It had lots of things. Wall hangings, then keychains, door hangings, bracelets, and even earrings. I absently picked things, without counting. When I put the box down, I had a lot of stuff.

“Pack these for me.”

“You want all of this?” Mehek asked, eyes wide.

I smirked. I didn’t want any of this, but if the lady wasn’t accepted money from Mehek, this was another way to make sure she got her worth. I was sure Ma could use all of this during the wedding, one way or another.

The lady beamed as she accepted the money and gave me the paper bag. I turned and saw Mehek struggle with her bag. Without asking her, I walked over and grabbed her suitcase and started walking towards the car.

I opened the trunk, and she exclaimed.

“You did shopping?”

“Yeah, Mom researched a lot about Panchgani. She had a long list.”

“Oh.”

I turned, frowning. “Do you need anything? We can stop anywhere you want.”

“No. We don’t want to get late for our return flight.”

“I canceled your ticket,” I said as I opened her door. She glared at me, not sitting.

“What?”

“Sit.”

She did. I walked around and sat in the driver’s seat.

“Why no driver?” she asked. “I’m not staying in your apartment another night.”

I smiled. “I didn’t ask you to. We are going by my plane.”

“Your plane?” she scoffed.

“A private flight.”

“Your company’s jet.”

I raised an eyebrow. “My company.”

She rolled her eyes and huffed, looking out of the window.

“Last time. Do you want anything?”

“No, I already got it. I was just surprised you did too.”

“My mother wants everything.”

That made her smile, but she quickly cleared it off. She turned back to her safe place, and we drove in silence. I wanted to know how her trip was, the trip she begged me for.

But Mehek Bagchi gave me nothing.

Mom had called me last night, so I was sure her mother had called her too. But Mehek didn’t once look back.

I could never love her, but I didn’t understand her sudden aloofness from me.

We were getting married this Sunday, and I didn’t know if she knew that. It was just five days from today.

In fact, there was some traditional ceremony tomorrow.

“Mehek, we can be friends,” I said.

She turned, frowning. “No, we cannot. You are too old for me for us to become friends.”

“At least, talk to me like I’m a person and not just your driver.”

“I didn’t ask you to come to pick me up.”

“Right. Sorry.”

I didn’t know where to go from here. Maybe this was it. Maybe we would never have anything of our own. And that hurt, even if it shouldn’t.

“We are going to get married soon, Mehek. We need to build something of our own.”

“And that can’t be love. I know that.”

“Do you want to love me?”

“Never.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t want to love a guy who uses his strength against me and pins me against the wall. I never want to love a guy like that. I thought… I thought you are like Mahadev, you know… sturdy but mature and soft from inside. But you are not.”

I got speechless. Mahadev. Lord Shiva. She thought I was like him, and it didn’t take me a second to shatter that image. God… I had to control my temper in front of her.

I didn’t get angry easily, but she had to listen to me, which she didn’t.

“Sometimes people do things they don’t want to, and things they shouldn’t. But giving people chances is necessary.”

“You want another chance?”

I nodded. “Let’s start again. I promise I won’t react like this again.”

She lifted her chin defiantly. “If you let me eat pizza for lunch, I can. My life back home is very different. I want to make the most of it before I return to it.”

I smiled, nodding. We stopped at a place called Cheese Factory. I let Mehek order food. She did that quite generously.

She grinned when two large pizzas came along with garlic bread and two mocktails. I sat there, stupefied, as I watched her devour food.

Before this, I had never been attracted to her. Today, I felt something. I stood abruptly.

She frowned. “What happened?”

“I will be back.”

“The pizza will get cold.”

“No problem. I like cold pizza.”

I left before she could stop me. I stood outside, watching the traffic. I couldn’t betray Yagini. It didn’t matter if she was alive or not; my love for her was forever, and no one could change that.

Even I couldn’t.

I was responsible for her death, and so I would forever stay loyal to her.

I went back, and Mehek looked up, frowning.

“I don’t want to eat. You have your lunch and come. I will be in the car.”

“What happened suddenly?”

“Nothing.”

I walked away and sat in the car. I was and would always stay loyal to Yagini. Nothing could change that.

Forty minutes later, Mehek came. She had a box with her.

“Your pizza.”

I nodded but didn’t take the box. She sighed but placed it on her lap as I started the car.

“Will you ever accept me in your life?” Her voice was calm, but there was an ache beneath it that I hadn’t heard before. “You’re asking me to give you a second chance, whereas you haven’t given me even a single chance.”

“I will always take care of you.”

“But never sit with me at a restaurant and have lunch like a normal person?”

My hands tightened around the steering wheel.

“It’s not that,” I began.

But the words dissolved before they became an explanation.

Because that was exactly what it was.

“I don’t know why you want to marry me,” she continued, looking out of the window instead of at me. “It’s clear that you can’t even bear my company for a few minutes.” She paused before speaking again, quieter this time. “Do us both a favor, Abhoy. Say no. Because I can’t.”

I had no idea how we could live together when I couldn’t even spend a day with her. She was right.

This marriage was going to take a lot from me, and I didn’t know how to stop it. Yagini was my first and last love, and nothing could change that.

I couldn’t refuse this marriage. I simply couldn’t.

If only Mehek understood that parents didn’t force only daughters into compromises. Sons carried their own burdens too. Sometimes saying no wasn’t a choice for us either.

Abhoy.

I didn’t remember the last time when she had taken my name… but from her lips… her sweet voice… it had been so long since someone had used that tone to say my name.

It was confusing… what I was feeling right now. But I didn’t know how to stop it.

“We’re getting married this Sunday,” I said finally, my voice cutting through the silence.

She turned so quickly that I felt her movement beside me.

“What?”

“Yes.” I kept my eyes on the road. “I thought your mother would have told you. The wedding festivities begin tomorrow. There’s no going back now.”

I waited for her to speak, but she didn’t. I turned to look at her once before my eyes went back to the road, stunned and speechless.

Tears rolled silently down her cheeks. She wasn’t wiping them away. She wasn’t arguing. She was crying.

The sight rooted something cold inside my chest.

I had done this.

I was the reason those tears existed.

She spoke about love as though it were sacred, something pure enough to build a lifetime upon.

She didn’t know. Love wasn’t beautiful. Love destroyed. It left people alive long after everything worth living for had died.

She deserved the truth. She deserved to know about Yagini, to know why I wasn’t capable of loving anyone else. But I couldn’t tell her.

“Mehek…”

“How will I live?”

I didn’t know what to say. This time… she wasn’t showing me her anger… she was showing me her pain.

And yet my hands remained tied. I couldn’t let her go.

And even if I did… what would happen next?

I was sure her Kaka would find someone else for her. He was adamant about getting her married, and if not me, there would be someone else. And at least I knew what she wanted; I knew how she reacted to certain things.

Just two days with her and it felt as if Mehek was an open book, so easy to read.

I could take care of her… even if I couldn’t ever love her.

“You’ll live to love life with me. You’ll live to grow with me. I’ll give you what you need.”

“You have no idea what I need. Absolutely zero idea.”

“Mehek… you are not as mysterious as you think you are.”

“But you are. You are a closed book for me. I don’t want to be mysterious. I don’t get any kick from it. I’m forced, and you know how little I have control over my own situation. And so you’re taking advantage of it.”

“Life is a lot more than what you think.”

“Right. Like my mother… I can also survive.” I frowned, not knowing where she was going. But I didn’t say anything else. I put on music and turned up the volume, letting us both drone along.