it was perfect! the pristine white sand beach, the cool waves of the sea... and solitude. that was one of the reasons why i had chosen to wade the waves at this early hour. clad in my favourite white bikini, as i swum, i saw the outline of a man and a dog in the distance, jogging towards me. suddenly, a giant wave tossed me deep into the bosom of the sea. i went under, my arms flailing above the turquoise water. it seemed like eternity to me, but actually it must have been only a few seconds before strong arms were lifting me out of the chaotic sea and laying me down gently on the sand. warm lips descended on my icy ones and breathed life into me. my eyes fluttered open as i heard an anxious voice, “are you all right?”i stammered breathlessly, “i guess so.” that was the beginning of a whirlwind romance — i let myself be wooed and pampered by my doting beau; i was ready to follow the path of destiny, wherever it led me. when rahul proposed to me, i accepted even before the words were barely out of his mouth. our honeymoon was the perfect holiday dream: spent at rahul’s family villa in the swiss alps. once we were back in our penthouse apartment on juhu beach, mumbai, i fell into a smooth routine. come summers, and rahul acquainted me with his annual ritual of spending a month in his farmhouse in khandala. a designer home, it had vast entertaining spaces and cavern sized fireplaces that were more suited to roasting suckling pigs than marshmallows. the first weekend of our stay there brought with it a guest of rahul’s who was to change our lives forever.

as i shook hands with saagar, my husband’s personal trainer since a couple of years, i could not help but notice the striking contrast between the two of them. impeccably groomed, rahul’s gentle smile put most people at ease, whereas saagar’s dark eyes blazed with such intensity that it unnerved me. i was soon accustomed to the new daily routine: the two men were inseparable; starting the day with their 8-km jog and then a rigorous session of weight lifting in the hi-tech gym, followed by a beer and lunch on the terrace, and another gruelling routine of exercises and push-ups in the evening. it made me wonder if they were planning to compete for the mr universe title. “don’t you think rahul’s putting unnecessary strain on his heart by over-exercising?” i commented to one of our friends at a party that we had thrown at the farmhouse. whenever the opportunity arose, i looked for support from others to endorse my view that rahul shouldn’t be wearing himself to the bone. but no one seemed able to dissuade him from his extremely strenuous workout. next morning, broaching the subject gingerly, i asked rahul, “by the way, when is saagar leaving?” “why should he leave? he’s here to stay the entire summer as my trainer,” replied rahul. losing my temper, i practically screamed, “he has to go now.” just then, saagar walked in, all dressed up for their morning workout. without another word, i stomped out of the room, but not without a scathing glare at saagar. breakfast was an extremely tense affair. popping his vitamin capsules (recommended by none other than the health expert!), rahul rose from the table without eating anything else. i sulked too and marvelled at saagar’s huge appetite under the circumstances.

it was in high spirits that i woke up on monday. today was the day. it was going to mark the beginning of a glorious chapter in my life with a new person to share it with. i had an appointment at nine with a gynaecologist in the city. barely able to conceal my excitement, i drove away. as i sat in the doctor’s waiting room, the suspense was killing me — i jumped out of my skin when my cellphone rang. it was shyam, our chef — rahul had had a sudden seizure and had been rushed to the hospital. ‘‘sorry, mrs oberoi, it was a massive heart attack, we could not save him,” the doctor’s voice reverberated in my head like a record playing with a needle stuck in a groove.

in spite of the frenzied activity, the next week seemed to pass like a crippled turtle. the endless meetings with lawyers, family members, business partners, i told them all to leave me alone, but legal matters could not possibly wait indefinitely till the devastated widow pulled herself together! shoulders drooping, bleary-eyed, i let myself into my empty penthouse (having dismissed the staff for a few days), unable to withhold my bottled up emotions, even for a second longer.

once inside, i let out a whoop of delight as saagar picked me up and danced with ecstasy. this was the glorious chapter in my life that i had been looking forward to on that beautiful monday morning. when he could free his lips from his feverish kisses, he muttered, “honey, it was quick for him — no sooner had you left, that he took his arsenic loaded vitamins. you are a genius, sweetheart! such a neat job of seducing the chemist in order to procure an untraceable poison. it seems ironic that we had to use some of it on him.” gazing into saagar’s eyes, i felt blessed to have met such a fabulous guy, that fateful day six years ago, at the gym where he worked. his rippling muscles, dark sensuous looks had me swooning at first sight. it was our mutual taste for the good things in life that lead us to bring saagar’s employer rahul into the picture — and that was the other reason why i had gone swimming at that hour, on that day and on that particular beach.