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will take you back to the hotel, he looked the other way and continued,  which is not far from here. He said smiling down at me, still holding my waist."

I nodded dumbly.

" Bye, babes, he said, and started walking towards his bike, which was parked on the other side of the road."

" Arjun, I called after him stupidly,  thanks. "

And then he was gone. And I didn t know if I would ever see my Great Love again.

Ten

"When I went back to the hotel, I was feeling horrible that I had to leave Greek God. I knew he had given me his number but do people actually end up meeting in Mumbai? With everyone having such busy lives and lazy weekends, it seemed impossible to keep the friends you did have, not to mention, take the effort to add new ones."

And the kiss & I just could not get over that kiss. I was hooked. I wanted more. I didn t know if it was a dream I had or if I really met the love of my life. I had to find out.

"I reached the hotel at around 8.30 in the morning and quickly took a shower and wore my business suit so I could be ready for work by 9, as the Princess had asked. But I waited and waited for her to call me, all the while sipping on cappuccino and day dreaming about Greek God. It soon started raining. The monsoon was here. I wanted to jump in joy and run to Greek God. But I had to run to the Princess s room instead. She finally buzzed me at 10 and I went to her suite on the top floor of the hotel. I waved to the bodyguards on the way and tried to get away from a few photographers who were shooting anything going in and out of her room, looking for a story."

" Good morning, Your Highness, I said upon entering, not sounding like my usual cheerful self. But she didn t seem to notice."

 Darling! You know what has happened? she said effusively.

"I shook my head but she didn t wait for a response as she stood in front of the mirror holding her hair,  I ve got sunburn. She did look a little red but I had just assumed that that was her natural colour. Her make-up artist, sitting on a chair nearby, spoke to me,  It s true. I m trying to find a foundation to cover it up, but I m afraid all I can do is cover her with this fake tan gel for now. It will hardly last till she showers again, which I presume would be by this afternoon and then what will we do? The make-up artist was speaking in a state of panic."

"This was the problem? Lack of fake tan gel. I was going to laugh. Real people had more serious issues. But obviously in the land of the royalty, these were classified as problems."

"I tried to keep a straight face and said,  Do not panic, Your Highness. But Her Highness was already rambling about how she would look to the press and she wasn t so worried about the Indian photojournalists but the international paparazzi that would splash her photos all around in People magazine and call her family poor since she could not afford sun block or fake tan gel. I offered to get her some, but obviously the only one that she used was available only in Europe."

 So the local grocer won t have it? I muttered cheekily under my breath.

"I ordered her some breakfast through room service, but she insisted on only having black coffee once all the food came in."

" There is only one solution, the Princess said. The hairdresser and I looked at her as if the  Oracle would now speak."

" I need to use that last bit of gel and leave Goa immediately to go to Mumbai, where, hopefully, Roberta, my secretary, will be able to find it or have it flown in by tonight for the dinner party I have to attend. "

"The two attendants nodded their heads in solemn agreement and the translator spoke,"

" I think that might be the best, given the circumstances. "

" I think it s a shame though that you didn t get to see the whole of Goa. Such a pretty land, I said."

"And then she said something that made me want to get up and kiss her which would have meant the bodyguard would have slammed me down and made me into mince meat.  Why don t I relieve you of your duties once you see us off at the airport? You can call the embassy for another interpreter to meet us at the airport and take over when we land in Mumbai. You can finish seeing the land of Goa and come back, on your own money, of course. I won t be paying for this. "

"I didn t care if she never paid me for anything but she had just given me my life back, so I gave a little yelp that sounded like her dog Fee Fee. Miss Foo Foo s dog was named Fee Fee! I had to tell Arjun."

" Yes, Your Highness, I ended up saying.  Whatever you say. And I bowed and exited"

the room. I was already running back to my room dialling his number in my head.

Eleven

"I dropped the Princess off through a mad rush of paparazzi, a slew of cars and a host of bodyguards. Then after bowing to the Princess one last time, I kissed the ground of the airport and made my way back to the shack where it had all begun."

"Greek God was sitting there looking amazing in his stubble and a dark green t-shirt over a light blue pair of jeans, sipping a cup of coffee, which he gulped down as soon as he saw me. Suddenly I felt shy as I approached him. What if I had been thinking about this the wrong way? What if he was here to tell me he was busy?"

"But soon my fears were quelled as he got up and pulled me closer to him and gave me a long, hard kiss one that reminded me of the first time and I was tingling all over once again. It had not been a dream after all."

" We don t have time, he said as he took my hand and led me away from Sunny s."

" We ll sit and drink beer later. Now, I have to show you more of Goa! "

"So I let him lead the way for most of the day. And I had a blast. We went straight away to the spice plantation in the town of Savoi Verum, which is ten kilometers north of the city of Ponda and about a half hour taxi ride from Margao. We had lunch and took a tour of the plantation, all the while sneaking away into bushes to steal quick kisses."

"At one point, he just took me in his arms and held me real tight. I knew he wanted me because I saw the way he was looking at me. He brushed his hand against my back, sometimes softly letting his palm linger on my arm. When he wanted to comment on something, he would come real close to my ear and whisper, while taking in the smell of my hair. My heart was racing. I wanted so desperately to take him back to the hotel. But I was too shy to say so."

"We skipped the  Indian Elephant Experience and headed out again by early evening to Anjuna beach. The flee market was on and I shopped and bargained to my heart s content while he stood by holding the many bags and muttering that I was never going to use any of this stuff when I got back to Mumbai. The rain clouds came and went and we had brief showers in between, which made the whole day even more romantic."

"We got wet in the rain and found a secluded spot to dry off. The rain seeped through my light shimmer shirt and I saw him noticing my breasts. He caught my arm and pulled me towards him and kissed me deeply. We had a soul connection. I knew it. He tried to put his hand beneath my shirt and I shied away.  Please, he murmured and I gave in. I was new to this. I wanted his appreciation. I let my hands move across his chest. God he had a perfect body! He kissed me softly. Lightly. On my eyes, my lips, my neck and"

moved down. Clothes were still on but the tingling had started. I could see he was ready

for something more. But I didn t know if I was. Someone somewhere laughed. He became conscious and the moment was lost.

"He smiled and smoothed my hair. Then said,  Devons-nous aller? (Shall we go?) And I said most reluctantly and sadly,  Sure. "

"By dusk we were exhausted since we hadn t slept the previous night as well. But so much adrenaline was pumping through my chest that I felt by sleeping, I would miss out on the most fun day of my life. We finally sat down at Pattiez for some delicious coffee and cake. We saw the sun set from there and I wondered whether this was just a holiday romance or would we have a longer relationship once we got back to Mumbai. So I decided to ask him some pertinent questions."

" Arjun, I started in my  we-need-to-talk voice,  I ve had an amazing time. Of all the places I ve travelled, and all the people I went around with, these two days with you, have been the best vacation ever. "

He smiled and sipped his coffee. I wanted to continue but didn t know how to.

"Maybe I was just jumping the gun. Maybe I should play it cool and not sound clingy and needy like most women. So instead of continuing, I just said,  Thank you. "

" What s with all the thanks Kaveri? I m having a great time too, you know. "

"Well, that was a relief. I didn t want to be the bore in the man s time off in Goa. But suddenly he became quiet.  But there is something I need to tell you, he said seriously. You know when you have this intuition that if everything is so good, something must be wrong? Well as soon as he said that, I could sense something was wrong. And then suddenly, my world was torn apart. Right there, I would know what a broken heart felt"

like for the very first time in my life.

" I m having this great feeling about us. I know we can have something special &  he said and I felt relieved for a moment. But then he continued,  I don t actually live full time in Goa, you know. I live in Mumbai. That s where I m working. As I told you earlier, in a channel? he asked if I remembered and I nodded yes."

" Well, I live in Mumbai with my wife. He paused for a second, while looking at the flower vase in front of us real earnestly as if he was trying to convince it that it was an okay thing to say. I thought I hadn t heard right but he continued really quickly,  I ve been working in Mumbai ever since I finished my studies here because I really wanted to do something better &  "

" Go back to the earlier part &  I cut him off. He sighed and reluctantly started with the details. He looked as if he was defeated. As if he knew that by telling me he was hurting me, while talking he laid his hand on my hand and even moved towards my space.  We met when I had just started working. She had joined the same company as a marketing intern and I was trying to find my footing. Then I got a great offer in Delhi and"

she gave up her job to be with me. We decided to get married then. When I got this

"position, we came back to Mumbai. He paused, since, by now, the expression on my face was of pure confusion. I felt my face dropping and my heart wilting."

"Again he moved closer but I quickly moved away. He had already moved into my heart. I wasn t going to let him move into my side of the sofa. I know I sounded ridiculous but I was determined he sit exactly where he was, opposite me."

" My marriage is on the rocks. It s only a matter of time before it s over. We just need to settle the &  he was mumbling away and all I could think of was what a fool I had been to fall for the basic charms in a man humour, intelligence and an amazing body. I had never done that before! I had scrutinized every man in every way possible. Even in the last two months, I had given up on men on flimsy grounds because I had thought they weren t worthy of my love. And here, in a matter of minutes, I was throwing myself at this man."

" I haven t even seen her for so long. After we came back from Paris &  he was mumbling, but I was already analyzing the situation. You had always been practical about men, so what was it about him, Kaveri, that made you go all wrong, that little voice asked. And a feeble answer came back, maybe it was the exotic location, a vacation after a long time, a departure from the normal, a lot of alcohol and a free day from daily domesticity."

"I looked up and he was waiting for my response. I had blanked out. I had been pretending to listen.  You just committed adultery. With me. That makes me an accomplice in a crime! I completed softly. Instead of being shocked at this statement, he suppressed a smile and said,  A very beautiful accomplice. In a crime of passion! I looked at him wryly."

"There was no more hope in this. I needed this infatuation to die, but all I could do was say,  This is an affair. And it s wrong. And we re hurting an innocent person. "

" No. It s not like that. He tried to reassure me, though I had no idea why.  This is the first time I ve ever felt this way about anybody. I m sorry, but I m a very faithful husband and have been for eleven years. It s just that &  "

" Stop! I didn t want to hear anymore. It felt like all my dreams were collapsing. But my logical side was already taking over and saying, he was just a great fling in Goa. And if I stayed on he would convince me otherwise. So I got up and said,  Thank you for everything, but we need to stop now before we go any further and hurt a lot of people. I must go &  I choked on the last few words. I knew that I wanted something more but I would never forgive myself for getting involved with a married man."

" Kaveri! he held my hand, stopping me.  Please just hear me out and then leave. "

"So I sat back down. I don t know why. Maybe I felt I owed the guy that, after all that he had done for me the last two days. And he wasn t the one who initiated the first kiss. I"

had. So I heard him out sincerely instead of being uncomprehending and vacant.

 I ve learnt the hard way that you shouldn t marry your best friend. Marriage should mean more than that. She started resenting all the sacrifices she made for me and I started resenting how our lives had turned out. We stopped giving each other space to grow. And then we started giving each other too much space not to even bother. It was a dichotomy that loosened all the threads of our marriage. I m sorry. I shouldn t even tell you what the problems are. But all I can tell you is that I swear on my parents that this is the first time I have kissed a woman besides my wife.

"I could only nod. Aditi would have screamed and shouted and slapped him right there. But all I could do was agree with him and feel sad for myself. So I just repeated myself,  Arjun, I think I should go now. And then I kept sitting & "

He looked at me while I was looking down at the table. I blinked back my tears. I didn t want to go. I didn t want him to be married either. I have no idea why I stayed put. But I did.

I guess that was the first of my dumb ideas.

He sighed a long deep breath of relief and motioned for the waiter to fill our glasses with water.

"After taking a sip he continued,  You know, on a funny note, marriage really kills conversation and you re the only person I ve talked to the most in these last few months"

"& on a personal level. He tried to break the ice. I tried not to feel sorry for him.  My wife and I are no longer in a loving marriage. She wanted to try and make the marriage work a few months ago by taking us on a four-day trip to Paris & I spent most of my time in museums and she went shopping & We didn t even connect in the most romantic city. Since then, we ve been living separate lives & I mean, she came back and a few weeks later, left to be with her parents. She needed to tell them we weren t working out. And I could no longer hide it from my parents, so I came here to break it to them & And then I met you & I met you and felt like there was a breath of fresh air in my life. After so long. "

" And how do you think I should fit into this life of yours? I asked with hope and trepidation that he wouldn t brush me off. My parents would be mortified if they came to know that I was having an affair with a married man. I would be mentioned in hushed conversations in the cocktail parties they go to, and their friends would smile at them apologetically, blaming my behaviour on modern day evils and influence of the bad Bollywood culture of Mumbai, which I am not even a part of. Oh, how cruel life was!"

" I don t know & I know that s too much to ask for anyway, he mumbled in the background, but my mind was already trying to plot as to how this could work."

" Hmm. What? So what are you asking for? I said, still praying silently."

 I m asking for your friendship. No strings attached. You can lead your life any way you want & I just want to be part of it somehow & because I can t lose you.

" You can t lose me? I asked tentatively it s crossing my arms and sitting back, keen to look more fierce than I felt.  What does that even mean? We ve known each other just two days. It s okay if we never see each other again, na? I asked trying to sound cool and undemonstrative, but my high-pitched voice, that came out whenever I was nervous, made my words squeaky and shaky. I kept playing his words in my head over and over again, now and for many months to come. I don t want to lose you. Something that a man in love generally says. Or so I believed."

" Kaveri, please. You yourself admitted that you had a great time with me and I can see that we re both very attracted to each other, so why are you hesitating so much? I m just asking to be your friend. I must admit I was a little foxed at this point. I was the one who had fallen for him! He had never shown any signs of reciprocation except for the stolen kisses I had pulled him into. Man, I had been a slut and was paying deeply for it!"

" & So why can t we just continue to have a great time? he was saying,  Look you re leaving tomorrow morning. Let s just enjoy the rest of the evening together and then I leave it completely up to you. If you want to stay in touch great for me! If you don t &  he hesitated and added,  I don t even want to think about it. "

"I began thinking about it. It was true that we d had a great time together. Even in that short span of two days, he d come closer to me than any man ever. In fact, he d been the one and only real date I d ever had. That itself was nice. Who says women can t be friends with married men, I questioned. People don t make friends by asking  are you married , do they? They become friends for so many other qualities and I liked the qualities in Arjun. He was fun to be around. He had a wicked sense of humour, and, for the first time, I had felt comfortable around a man. I wanted to do better, think harder, love deeper around him. I didn t really want to give that up!"

"When I finally came out of my reverie and looked up, he was watching my face intently his eyes hopeful, pleading, even, and full of dread for my decision."

"Maybe we would not have a forever. But I suppose I could have a few more hours with this great man I d found. A thought that would become my biggest blunder later. But for now, I didn t want to give up on this. I wanted someone who understood me as well as he did and make me laugh and live spontaneously as much as he did. Once my decision was made, I didn t for a second think that I should have gone with my earlier"

"logic instead of my heart, a decision that would wrench me in deep sorrow subsequently."

Twelve

I had made up my mind.

I wanted to remain friends with this man and I told him so. But we didn t know what to do with each other any more. After nearly two hours passed we planned to have dinner at a shack close by.

"We exited the hotel on his bike and drove to a beach. As we were walking on the beach he took my hand. That s when I started getting emotional. On hindsight, that was not a good thing to do with a stranger, but I had had a pretty hectic, tiring and heartbreaking day. He took me in his arms and assured me,  Kaveri, please don t cry. I m so emotionally attached to you already. I don t want to lose you. I promise we can work this