Chapter 3: chapter 3

Chapter ThreeThe vineyards were beautiful. We drove past lines and lines of plants laden with grapes before turning into a lovely, curved driveway that led up to a beautiful hacienda style bungalow at the end. Maya got out of the car and leaned against it as Ved talked to the valet who’d come running up to meet them. She’d forgotten this about Vikram, the fact that he came from serious money. Not that it mattered to any of his friends, but it had set him apart from the rest of them, the student loan crippled strugglers. A light breeze ruffled her stringy, greasy hair as she pulled it back into the messy braid she’d sported for their ride from Mumbai. She couldn’t wait to have a shower and pass out. Her leg hurt like crazy from being stuffed in the poky car for so long. “Maya. Ved.” Aayushi’s bright voice reached them as she hurried down the front steps of the bungalow’s verandah. The place had a honest-to-God wraparound verandah. Aayushi was wearing a pretty, pink cotton salwar kameez which probably cost more than Maya’s entire monthly income. And still, it was the genuine warmth in her sweet face that was the true treasure.“I am so glad you both could come.” She wrapped her arms around Maya and pulled her close in a swaying hug. Maya sincerely hoped she didn’t make the pretty princess faint with the smell of her travel weary body.After releasing her, Aayushi turned to Ved, her smile faltering. “Welcome to Il Cuore.” Ved nodded, looking grim. “Please come in. I have rooms ready for both of you.” “Aayushi,” Maya interrupted gently. “Ved and I would be more comfortable staying at a hotel. We’ve already made reservations.” “Oh.” Her smile faltered. “But you should stay here. There is enough space if everybody doubles up. I’ve put Kanak in your room and Karam in yours, Ved.” “They’re coming?” Maya asked, surprised. She hadn’t seen or heard from Karam since the accident and Kanak had told her flat out she wouldn’t be coming.“Yes.” Aayushi twisted her fingers together. “Please stay. It’s only family attending.” “Then why are we here?” Ved asked, roughly. “You were his family. We are here to honour him.” She looked back towards the house. “And there is no honouring him without honouring his bonds in life.” “Are you sure your family shares your sentiments?” Ved asked, something close to a sneer in his voice.Maya glanced at him in surprise. Ved didn’t sneer. He was the nice one. Now, Karam on the other hand…he was the King of the Sneer. “Aakash has a problem with it, but he will just have to deal.” Aayushi shrugged. “This is not about him. It’s about Vikram.” As they stood there talking to each other, a black BMW drove up and stopped behind Ved’s dusty Swift. Maya turned back to their car to pull her old duffle bag out of the trunk just as the driver stepped out of the BMW.Yash Malhotra, in designer jeans and a tight black t-shirt, sunglasses in place turned to look at her. She saw his jaw tighten as he turned in her direction but that was all the reaction she got. It wasn’t that which had her paling though. It was the sight of the passenger who got off from the other side of the car. Mrs. Kamini Malhotra, doyenne of high society now, pain in Maya’s ass for a very long time stared down her thin, aristocratic nose at her. “You,” she said. Maya was wrong.  It wasn’t Karam who ruled the Sneer. This woman had him beat. And as always, she had Maya’s inner devil rising to the fore.“Yes. Me!” Maya smirked. Nothing brought her inner bitch to play quite like someone who decided she wasn’t worth the dirt they wiped off their slipper. “Aayushi, darling,” Kamini BB aka Big Bitch, swept forward and air kissed Aayushi who reached up to hug her but ended up smothered in her bosom. “What are you doing out here with this riff raff?” BB asked in an extra loud whisper that was probably heard in the vineyard a hundred acres away. “The riff raff,” Maya answered with an extra-large smile. “Are going to be bedding down with you in the hacienda. Welcome to Il Cuore.” She tagged on Ayushi’s greeting, mangling the pronunciation of the Italian words.“Maya?” Ved started beside her. “We have hote-“ “Come on, roomie.” Maya beamed at his startled face. “Let’s go get comfortable. Aayushi,” Maya turned to the girl who looked both startled and amused. “Would you tell Kanak and Karam to come join us in our room whenever they get here?” “Of course,” she smiled. “I’m sure the four of you will have a lot to catch up on.” Yes, they would. Starting with Ved who was glaring daggers at her. “Why don’t I show you both to your room?” Aayushi asked. “The valet can park the car for you.”“I can do it.” With one last glare for Maya, Ved slid into the driver’s seat and drove off in the direction the valet indicated.Which left Maya with a blissfully unaware Aayushi, a hateful and antagonistic BB and a large six-foot-tall statue that seemed to have grown roots next to his fancy schmancy car. The statue just kept staring at her or in her direction. Maya couldn’t really tell. The reflective Gucci glares made it impossible to see anything beyond her own scraggly reflection. She made it a point to check herself out in his sunglasses and pretend to adjust her hair. The statue didn’t move. And then, Ved was back. Good, old Ved. Good, old, angry Ved.“Shall we?” he asked, still grim faced and angry-young-man’ed. Very Amitabh Bachchan in his heyday.“Sure,” Maya said and was about to take a step before she realized something. A cold sweat beaded her upper lip as she considered what this moment would reveal about her to the man who’d left her at her weakest. And then, she heard BB mutter something rabidly elitist and she forced steel down her spine as she straightened, her bag over her shoulder. And then with her friend on one side and the sister of a dead but beloved friend on the other, Maya limped away from the people who’d hurt her. Away from them and towards the lion’s den where more of their ilk roamed.Â