Chapter 32

Merlyn didn't know why she was doing this. If she had stopped to think for a moment, she would have realized it was totally unlike her. Yet, here she was, seated in the rear of a plush limousine, en route to a lunch rendezvous with a man she had met less than 24 hours earlier. A man so far above her social status that she felt nervous about what she was wearing, about whether there would be any other high-flying guests at the lunch, about a dozen little things.

I'm out of my depth, she thought. This man is a multi-millionaire NRI. A major celeb. In the last week alone, AP Singh had been featured on Spotlight (Star News), The Great Style Show (BBC), The Anmol India Show (Star Plus), Shakers and Makers (Sony), One-On-One (DD Metro), and a dozen other hot "flavour-of-the-week" television shows. He probably earned more money in a day than she earned in a year. He owned the hottest new entertainment plaza in the city, correction: in the country. Even though Sin City had opened just the night before, it was already being touted as the greatest entertainment event of the millennium. Typical media over-hype, but for once it wasn't completely misplaced.

The place was so hot, you had to wear gloves to hold a membership card. Golden gloves.

When she had walked out of the foyer of the decent but modest housing society where she rented a 1BH self-contained, in Khar, she had expected to see the Volvo in which she had been driven home last night. Instead, there was this stunning purple-sheened Lotus standing before the lobby, the six-foot-plus Serd in his gleaming white uniform looking as smart as an admiral as he held the door open for her.

A mother and two teenage daughters coming home from vegetable shopping -- Mrs Sharma from the fourth floor -- had stared until their eyes popped out as Merlyn got into the car. She knew that the whole building would be buzzing with gossip about her today. It gave her a little thrill.

Now, as she sped along the Sunday-bereaved roads, bright afternoon sunshine gleaming off the bay on her right as they sped around Marine Drive, she wondered why AP Singh really wanted her for lunch. Was he attracted to her? Could a man like him, a man who had access to the richest, most beautiful, most desirable single women -- or even the married ones for that matter -- possibly be interested in a mid-level bank executive like her? Was it just a typical, male, one-night itch or a genuine interest in her as a person?

As the Lotus approached the five star hotel which was her destination, she came to the depressing conclusion that she was getting way too carried away.

AP was probably just feeling bad about the incident that had happened last night. About the fact that those three guys had assaulted her right there in his club.

And he probably just wanted to make sure she didn't sue or go to the press. That was all he wanted from her, she thought as they came to a halt before the foyer of the hotel. Nothing else.

By the time Bobby Singh came around and whisked open the door for her, she had convinced herself that it was better to go into this lunch meet without any expectations at all. It was an old habit she had developed over the years, like the tough second skin she had grown as a single woman in Bombay city: Expect nothing, settle for anything.