Forget-Me-Not : Bound by Secrets

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Dia looked at her watch and frowned. It was half past one, and he was still not here. They'd decided to meet for lunch at a restaurant, but of course, it was just like Varun to be late for a Friday lunch with his wife. She couldn't even begin to say how exasperated she felt. First, they'd had to cancel their trip to North India because of his increasing office work. And now he was standing her up for lunch. Perfect, she thought. Just perfect. This was what she got after she worked her ass off, and sacrificed a Thursday dinner for a Friday lunch.

She cast an eye around the place, out of sheer boredom, for the hundredth time. And noticed the same people having the same expressions on their faces as before and eating the same food they'd been eating ten minutes earlier. She suddenly felt as if she wanted to leave this place. Everything was too matching. Everything was too perfect. Everyone was too happy. But life didn't work that way, she thought. Life wasn't perfect. And she was tired of being perfect.

She looked at the white table cloth with distaste. She hated white. She hated the straight-backed wooden chair she was sitting on. She hated the tiles on the floor. She wished she were somewhere else, anywhere else rather than here, in this too good to be true place. She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes, and let out a deep sigh. She wanted to be at the beach, looking at the waves. Or better still, in the waves. She wanted to be free, not chained like she was now. Waiting for someone whom she was sure was not going to turn up.

"Sorry, I'm late," Varun said, pulling out his chair and sitting across from her on the table, "The meeting ran later than expected. Have you been waiting for long?"

Dia looked at her husband, and then at her watch. "Oh, just about an hour or two," she said coolly, and Varun rolled his eyes. Whenever he did that, she wanted to kill him. Because rolling his eyes meant he was not taking her seriously.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"It's alright. Perhaps next time you could take your employees to lunch and spare me."

"Now look, it's been a busy week for me, okay? I'm not sitting idle here. I don't make you wait on purpose, Dia."

"Of course you don't. If you did, you know I'd leave your ass cold."

He narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Okay, what is this about? I'm sure I don't deserve the honour of annoying Dia Mehta to the edge of madness, even though I might be part of the reason. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, okay?" she said, now really annoyed. "Just nothing. Give the order so that I can leave from here. Fast."

She picked up her fork and doodled miserably on the table cloth. At the same time, she could feel Varun's eyes on her, and she wanted to be angry with him. Surprisingly, though, she couldn't stay mad at him whenever he was present before her. Maybe it was the easy charm that he exuded, or his total devotion when it came to her. She wanted to be rude to him, because he'd made her wait, because he'd canceled their trip and their dinner, and because he kept her happy.

There, she thought. That's the problem. He was too good. She didn't deserve him. He was hardworking, he was honest, sometimes he annoyed her to death, but in the end it all came to the one thing she hated. He was perfect. And she was just too imperfect. They didn't fit, but he made it so easy for her. She was so confused, she didn't even know what she was thinking anymore.

"Dia," he said finally, "What's the matter?"

"It's the damn wedding," she muttered and put one hand on her forehead. "I'm sick of it, I swear."