Ex Factor Read online

  Chapter 6

  Walking back inside the house, Gina blinked her eyes rapidly. I’m just happy to be free of him and the sham of this marriage. Why these tears? Gina brushed her eyes carelessly. Being around the Wallflowers, back in my country, I’m becoming weak. I need to be strong for just another week, just one more week. Her fingers curled at her side. Please give me strength for a week. Please, just a week!

  Gina went back to the dining table. Ritesh seemed to be enjoying his meal as a maid poured tea from a silver pot and then added sugar and cream as per his instructions. She stirred it with a delicate silver spoon and then handed the cup to him. Ritesh took it with ill-concealed arrogance and did not bother thanking the maid.

  Gina turned to see Kyra watching him with thinly camouflaged anger. Even the more tolerant Meher was watching Ritesh, her eyes narrowed.

  “You forgot to thank her,” Doyal said to Ritesh.

  Ritesh sat back, sipping his tea. “She is paid to do that.”

  “Not by you.” Doyal shot back.

  “Ritesh?” Gina walked to table, ending what she hoped was the last fight between her friends and her fiancé. “So, it’s settled. I’m staying in Pune for another week and then I’ll sign the divorce papers. They should be re-done by then.” Gina kept touching the anti-anxiety bracelets on her wrist.

  “Awesome!” Meher said. “Will he be staying too?” Meher lost some of her enthusiasm as she looked at Ritesh.

  “Was something wrong with the papers?” Ritesh asked.

  “Twenty crores worth of mistakes.” Ojas, who had followed Gina, positioned himself behind Gina so he had a full and complete view of everyone on the table. “Gina does not want a dime of the settlement money I offered. So, I’m having the papers re—”

  Ritesh put his cup down noisily on the table and gawked at Gina. “No! no! Mr. Purohit, there has been some mistake.” He got to his feet, his eyes wide and his gestures flustered. Pushing his glasses back on his nose, Ritesh turned to Gina, his voice raised. “You should have asked me first! How can you be the one to decide?” Ritesh took a step toward Gina, his face belligerent.

  “You should stop right there.” Behind Gina, Ojas took a step closer to her. His muscles quivered and his fingers tightened around the head of his walking stick.

  Ritesh paused, his laugh forced. “I was just saying, Mr. Purohit.”

  Gina glanced at Ojas over her shoulder. She had her mouth open to rebuke him but stopped. Ojas was closer than she had anticipated. She had to tip her head back to meet his eyes. His spicy clean smell assailed her. She felt the side of his arm brush her back. The touch was slight, yet it unnerved Gina enough to make her pause.

  Ojas drew his eyes away from Ritesh and glanced down at Gina. “What?”

  “Nothing!” Gina shook her head and looked away. She turned to Ritesh. “We don’t need his money. I will not take it.”

  “No! No!” Ritesh’s put his hands out, his voice loud. “Listen to me. Let’s discuss this. That’s a lot of money.”

  Gina touched Ritesh’s arm. “Please, Ritesh, we don’t need anyone else’s money. You and I will earn our own money. We will have enough—”

  Ritesh shrugged Gina’s hand off. His thick brows met in the middle of his forehead. He was sweating and his eyes behind his glasses were fidgety. Ritesh was in a full panic mode. “That is a lot of money. You can’t say no without consulting me. You aren’t allowed to.” He was speaking fast and some spit pooled at his side of his mouth.

  Gina jerked her head back. “What?” Her voice was mild.

  “Excuse me!” Kyra rose to her feet too. “Gina is not allowed to make decisions? Really, jacka—”

  “Ky, sit down!” Gina shot back. “Ritesh, let’s talk in private.” She motioned with her head.

  Staying in his place, Ritesh shook his head like a petulant child. “No, tell him. Tell Mr. Purohit that you have made a mistake and you will sign the papers as they are.” Agitated, Ritesh took Gina’s elbow forcefully.

  “You have a second to take your hand off her elbow or I will smash your face.” Ojas’ clipped tone surprised everyone in the room. It felt good to talk to Ritesh like he deserved.

  Gina turned around; surprise written all over her face. “Don’t talk to him like that.”

  Ojas’s face softened as he gazed down at Gina. She had spoken to him with such familiarity that it took a huge effort not to flash a smile.

  “If I didn’t hate you, I would clap for you.” Kyra said to Ojas.

  “So dramatic!” Meher muttered.

  “Shut up, fatty!” Kyra retorted.

  “Don’t call her that!” Gina and Doyal said simultaneously.

  “Are you listening to me, Gina?” Ritesh said, loudly. “Why aren’t you focusing on what I am saying?” Ritesh whined, though he dropped Gina’s elbow.

  Gina sighed, her look resigned. “Were you married to Ojas or was I?”

  Ritesh made some odd gurgling sounds. “What are you saying, Gina?”

  Gina put her hand up her palm facing out. “My marriage, my divorce, my rules. And there will be no discussion on this, Ritesh. Please understand my point of view. Don’t get me wrong, please,” she appealed, reducing the sting of her earlier words.

  Kyra thumped the table. “Nice!”

  Gina bit the inner side of her cheek. She turned to Kyra. “Seriously, Ky?”

  “Ignore her!” Meher said.

  “Try it!” Kyra retorted.

  “Morons!” Doyal added.

  “Guys, please!” Gina pleaded.

  Ojas watched them indulgently, liking the sounds Gina and her friends were making in his usually quiet house.

  “These women have brainwashed you,” Ritesh jabbed his finger at Doyal, Kyra, and Meher. “You never talk like this, Gina. You are practical. We can do so much with that money. It could be very useful for us.”

  Gina winced. Ritesh had no idea how awful his words sounded. “But that is not our money, Ritesh. It is his, not ours, and I’m not taking it.”

  Doyal tapped her glass with a spoon like she was about to raise a toast. “So, Ky, technically who was married to Ojas?”

  Kyra sat back and drawled. “Gina!”

  Doyal turned to Meher. “So, who is getting the divorce?”

  Meher sat up smiling like an eager student. “Gina and Ojas!”

  “Then why the eff is that pudgy man trying to set Gina’s terms of divorce?”

  Ritesh made chortling sounds. Bug eyed, he stared at Doyal.

  Ojas wanted to reach over and hug the Wallflowers. Since Ritesh had stepped in his house, he had given him a headache of a lifetime with his constant garrulous chatter, dismissiveness of Gina, sycophant manner, and now an obvious love for someone else’s hard-earned money. Ojas had been unable to say anything to Ritesh because he needed to stay on the latter’s good side. He was still trying to figure out a way to make Gina realize how useless Ritesh was for her. But the Wallflowers had no such hidden agenda. They were taking Ritesh apart like he was a puzzle on a table.

  Gina reached out and took Ritesh’s hand as she gave him her most beguiling smile. “Let’s talk somewhere where we aren’t constantly interrupted,” she said, glaring at her friends. She turned to Ojas. “Can we use your office?”

  Ojas gave a brisk nod. “Hmmm!” He abhorred the sight of Gina holding Ritesh’s hand or that there wasn’t at least two feet of distance between them.

  Gina marched to the office door, tugging Ritesh behind her. She gave quick hard glances at her friends and then at Ojas.

  Ojas cocked his head to the side. “What did I do? I have been nothing but hospitable to him since he showed up uninvited to my house.”

  Gina’s mouth grew pinched. “Twenty crores worth of mistakes. Gina does not want a dime of my money.” She repeated Ojas’s earlier words in a deeper voice, trying to impersonate Ojas.

  How adorable is she? Ojas averted eyes, tamping down on his smile. “I sound nothing like that.”

  Gina s
norted, still leading Ritesh. “I know what you are doing. I know what you all are doing.” She included everyone in the room. “I will marry Ritesh.” Gina shut door with some force.

  The Wallflowers did not wait for a second. They threw their napkins on their table, pushed their chairs back, and rushed to the door, including Doyal. She did have to tug her pencil skirt down to catch up with Meher and Kyra who were running wildly ahead of her.

  Ojas did not understand what they were doing until the three women put their ears to the closed door of his office.

  Meher glanced over her shoulder and gestured at him. “You don’t want to listen?” she whispered.

  Ojas hesitated. He glanced at his PA Vinay who had just entered the room a few minutes ago. Giving Ojas a bland stare, Vinay left the room soundlessly.

  In for a penny, in for a pound! Ojas joined the three women and put his ear to the door, listening in with as much dignity as he could.

  Chapter 7

  The eavesdroppers caught a few words and some shouted sentences, mostly from Ritesh. Whatever Gina spoke went unheard for she was speaking in a soft voice.

  “You just had to use real teak!” Kyra hissed at Ojas. “Can’t hear a darn thing.”

  “I like to use genuine things.” Ojas defended himself.

  “Ssshh! Keep it down, you both!” Meher whispered fiercely.

  A few more minutes of listening and then they heard swift footsteps coming their way.

  The company outside the door flew in all directions. Ojas simply moved to the side and watched the ladies who were tripping over each other, trying to take their original positions at the dining table.

  They have their seats all wrong! Ojas shook his head. Doyal and Meher were now seated together and Kyra was seated in his chair. The door opened and Ritesh stepped out. Ojas was the first person he spotted. He stopped, puffed his chest in a rather ridiculous manner, and then gave Ojas a stiff bow. “I have to leave your kind hospitality. I hope you will forgive my abrupt departure.”

  Ojas tried to nod as formally. “You are leaving?”

  “Yes, I am. If I could know where my suitcase is…”

  “Of course! Let’s go and find it.” Ojas looked over Ritesh’s head, into his office. Gina was sitting in a chair, her face in profile. She was staring at the carpet.

  Gina isn’t crying, seems to be okay! Let me get this buffoon out of my house first. Then I will come and talk to Gina. “Come with me!” Ojas said curtly.

  ***

  Kyra and Meher waited for Ritesh and Ojas to leave the room and then they dashed into the office. Doyal followed them, her gait slower.

  Gina swung her head to look up at her friends.

  “So, you guys broke up?” Kyra asked.

  Gina collapsed back in her chair, her smile unpleasant. “What? No! We did not break up. Ritesh is just a smidgen upset that he is not getting his way. Men!” she sighed. “He will come around. I will talk to his mom and convince her. And then Ritesh is as good as onboard.”

  Kyra did not mince her words. “Ginny, Ritesh is really archaic and chauvinistic. Don’t you see that? Talking to him felt like I was talking to my great-grandfather. Are you sure you want to marry Ritesh? He is obsessed with money, among other things.”

  Her lips pressed together. Gina adjusted in her chair. “He’s just old fashioned and lacks tact. He just blurts things.” She avoided looking at her friends. They aren’t completely wrong.

  Meher touched her throat as she took a seat next to Gina. “Ritesh sounds like my dad. I would not wish any woman to marry that kind of a man.”

  Gina patted Meher’s knee. “Don’t worry, Mahi! He’s just a Mama’s boy. So essentially, the person he listens to the most is his mother, a woman. Ironic, right?”

  “G-spot, he is not right for you. Seriously, your life will be shit if you marry him,” Kyra scoffed.

  Gina got to her feet, frowning as she rubbed the side of her thigh. “Ky, what do you know of my life before Ritesh? You don’t know what kind of shit it has been? Please—”

  “Yeah! We don’t know. How would we? You ran away, remember?” Pinching the tip of her nose, Doyal stared at Gina, her eyes unforgiving. “From your problems, from us!”

  Gina flinched. “What is wrong with you, Doyal? Since I have come back you have treated me like I was some criminal.”

  Doyal did not back down. “So how was I supposed to treat you, princess Gina? Aren’t we doing just that? Each of us is catering to your needs. Kyra drops her work and flies back and forth, you are shacked up with Meher and she is driving you around like some bloody personal chauffeur—”

  “Which I don’t mind!” Meher interjected.

  Doyal ignored Meher and kept attacking Gina. “I have taken time off to be here. Do you know how much time I have taken off since I started working five years ago? Three days! Two days for my younger sister’s wedding and one day when my mother fell and fractured her hip. That’s it. Three days, that’s it! But these two,” Doyal gestured at Kyra and Meher, “forced me to take time off for you. As if you are that important.” Doyal jeered as she looked at Gina over her nose. “I’m leaving this bloody circus. You married one jerk and as if that wasn’t enough, you now want to get married to another douchebag. How did I never see that you are so brainless? I’m wasting my time here. I hate weak women like you, Gina.”

  Gina gasped.

  Kyra opened her mouth to rebuke Doyal but Meher gave Kyra a warning look and mouthed. “Don’t!”

  “I’m not brainless but you definitely are heartless!” Gina took a step forward, her breathing labored. “I don’t expect you to understand, Doy, because you are only about you. Your high standards and expectations, your judgments and opinions, and your bloody myopic view of things.”

  Doyal’s back went ramrod straight as she raised her eyebrow slowly and tilted her head to the side. “Excuse me! My high standards? My high expectation that you make the most basic decisions like normal human beings? Finish your college in a regular way, if you must marry then marry someone sensible, stay close to your family and friends?” Doyal snorted. “Wow, those are really high standards!”

  Gina waved her hand dismissively. “Ever been in love, Doyal? Ever let someone make you so happy that everything else pales in significance? And yes, it is a chimera and yes, I was a sucker. But I did no wrong by any of you or specifically you that you be so harsh with me. I screwed up my life, not yours.” Gina paused, her chest heaving because of the strong emotion swirling in her. Her eyes grew moist. “I was betrayed, I was trashed before my family, I was robbed of everything and every person who made me happy. What did my tragedy cost you? Nothing! You got what you wanted—a great career, tones of money and power. And good for you.” Gina’s voice rose and her hands fisted at her sides. “But seriously, what the hell did I do to you that you hate me so much?”

  Doyal took a step closer to Gina, her nostrils slightly flaring, her breathing erratic as color sat high on her cheeks. “Yes, I achieved everything I wanted, and you know why? Because I worked damn hard! I decided my path long ago and I followed it every bit of the way. As for you, Gina, newsflash, you are not the first woman to be dumped or jilted. But instead of facing your problems, you ran away. Ran right to another country. We four were supposed to be best friends for life. But that man and what he did became more important to you. You just forgot about us and went off without ever bothering to check on any of us. For five fucking years. But when you needed us you came right back, expecting our loyalty? What did you do for any of us Gina?” Doyal paused, her eyes flinty and unforgiving as she glared at Gina.

  Gina moved her mouth as her lips trembled. Her nails dug in her palm as her eyes overflowed. “I did not run away from any of you. I was fucking asked to leave. By my mother.” Her voice choked. Gina’s lips trembled as she fought for self-control.

  The room fell silent. Kyra, Meher, and Doyal stared at Gina, their faces reflecting similar expressions of shock.

  “What are yo
u saying, Ginny?” Meher’s voice was hushed.

  Gina sat down in her chair with a thump. She was shivering. “My mother asked me to leave. She asked me to go away from all of them so they could recoup from the shame I had brought to them. She said this to me while I lay in the hospital bed having…having miscarried.” Gina’s voice broke down. She hid her face in her hands.

  “Oh my God Gina!” Meher fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Gina.

  Kyra quickly moved to the other side of Gina’s chair and wrapped her arms around her sobbing friend. Kyra rested her head against Gina’s head. “Sorry, Ginny!”

  After a few minutes, Gina raised her tear-stained face and sniffed. Kyra and Meher pulled away to give her room. Gina looked around for something to wipe her face with.

  A packet of tissues was thrust in front of her. Gina looked up. It was Doyal. “Take it!” Doyal said holding a box of tissues. Her voice was hoarse. Doyal dropped to her knees in front of Gina and grabbed Gina’s hand. “I’m so sorry Gina.” She swallowed heavily. Her mouth contorted as she tried to stem her tears that were already crowding her eyes. “I did not know!”

  With the other hand, Gina patted Doyal’s cheek. “It’s okay.” Gina pulled out some tissues and wiped her face. The tears kept coming. “I’m sorry!” she fumbled.

  Meher squeezed Gina’s hand, Kyra kept stroking her back and Doyal held Gina’s knee.

  “We thought you went to meet Ojas for…” Doyal trailed off.

  Gina sat back in her chair. The Wallflowers continued to hover near. “That I went to meet him as some impulsive romantic gesture?” Gina exhaled as tears continued to run down her cheeks. “I went because I was pregnant. We used protection but it still happened. I was terrified. My parents were refusing to our marriage; Ojas would not return before months. By that time, I would have started showing. There was no way to contact him. I couldn’t call him or email him. All I knew was the place he was posted, so I went there. I was so scared.” Gina had to pause for her voice shook badly. She tried to acquire some control over her emotions. “And when I met Ojas, before I could tell him why I was there, so much happened. When Ojas woke up in the hospital, it wasn’t the Ojas I knew. It was some awful, cruel man.” Gina became quiet as she stared at her hands, her eyes dull and distant. “He betrayed me in front of our families and revealed our secret marriage to my parents in the most horrible way. He was a complete asshole. And in all that stress and horror…my body caved. I lost my baby,” Gina whimpered, pressing a tissue against her mouth.