Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage

The marriage talks had stalled and then broken down completely. His parents thought he was rebelling. Shreya had thought they both needed one last fling before they settled down. But he had found something with Tina that he hadn’t thought existed. He had found love that didn’t hinge on his box office success. He had a private life. A world that wasn’t designed by publicity or the film industry.

He had allowed the fantasy of a family life to slip through his fingers. Now he had a chance to get it back and he was going to hold on tighter. Somehow he was going to get Tina to love him again. Only this time, the love would be stronger and wouldn’t shatter at the first sign of trouble.

“Sahib?” Sandeep said. “Would you like for me to get Miss Sen on the phone?”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” Dev raked his fingers through his hair. “From now on, if Shreya calls, I’m not here.”

Sandeep smiled with approval and bobbed his head side to side. “Yes, Sahib.”

Dev strode up the stairs and went straight to the bedroom. He was going to convince Tina once and for all that he hadn’t slept with Shreya.

He paused when he looked around the bedroom. She wasn’t there. He heard the scrape of the clothes hangers and immediately went to her walk-in closet. He followed the trail of her sandals that looked like they had been kicked off violently. Her dupatta was balled up in the corner.

He stood at the threshold, his heart stopping for one aching moment, when he saw Tina scooping up her clothes and throwing them into a suitcase. She was leaving. Again. She didn’t believe him. Didn’t trust him. Why did he think he could regain that trust?

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Dev drawled as he held back the rising panic.

Tina didn’t look at him. She didn’t answer. She acted as if he wasn’t there.

“I will not accept the silent treatment, jaan,” he warned. He’d had enough of being shut out. “I’d rather have you shout at me and tell me what’s on your mind than ignore me.”

“Fine,” she said. “When I got married to you, I was seen as the obstacle that kept you and Shreya apart. I was the villainess in the story. The seductress that stole you from everyone’s favorite heroine,” Tina said as she tossed a shoe in the suitcase. “While I was gone, you take the role of a man who goes mad because he can’t have the woman he loves. That woman being Shreya.” She threw the other shoe with more force. “You want me to ignore the gossip, but it’s a little hard when everyone knows you handpicked Shreya to play Laila!”

“Those were creative and marketing decisions. It wasn’t personal.” People thought it was his finest performance as he played a man who was heartbroken and descending into madness because he couldn’t be with the woman he loved. He hadn’t been thinking about Shreya when he played the role. He had been thinking of Tina, who had spurned him and had disappeared from his life.

“Really? It wasn’t personal.” She walked to her makeup table and yanked open a drawer. She pulled out a rolled-up magazine and tossed it at him. He caught it by reflex. “Then how do you explain this?”

He unrolled the magazine. The headline read Dev and Shreya: Together at Last! and promised pictures of their rekindled romance. “Where did you get this?”

“In America. I had found an Indian grocery market and went in there to get snacks. I found that instead.” She picked up the hairbrush from the table and threw it savagely into the suitcase. “Those pictures are not of two colleagues at work. That was in front of our home during the night.”

“I did not have an affair with her. I have never had sex with Shreya and I have no interest in her. I was faithful to you.” But the pictures were damning. He wasn’t sure when they had been taken. Shreya had used one of the guest rooms on one occasion as they worked together on their roles. “You got this in America?”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Yes, why?”

“That’s why you came home.” Would she have returned if she’d thought he had been pining away for her? Would she have felt the need for one final confrontation if she hadn’t seen this tabloid?

He threw the magazine on the floor and approached her. She took a step back and bumped against the wall. Dev grabbed her wrists and held her arms above her head. “Not because I was worried sick about you. Not because your family missed you. It’s because of those lies!”

“I’m just supposed to believe you?” Tina thrust out her chin as her eyes glittered with defiance. “Shreya wants you.”