Page 9 of The Escape

2. Just Us

Maldives – One Month Later

The escape they had spent weeks planning had finally become a reality. Getting there, however, had not been nearly as easy as booking four luxurious villas in the Maldives.

The first challenge had been the children.

Vishnu and Simran, Ayaan and Meher, and Krish and Trisha had first travelled from Mumbai to RK Estate in Shivtara Valley with their children, where they would all be staying under the watchful care of their grandparents. Kailash, Pratap, Ratan, and Rukmini had taken charge of the children, who, surprisingly, had been far more excited about the arrangement than their parents.

For them, having all their cousins together under one roof at RK Estate sounded less like being left behind and more like the beginning of their own holiday. They barely seemed bothered by the fact that their parents would be away for a few days.

The mothers, however, had not been nearly as relaxed. There had been repeated calls, last-minute instructions and reminders about meals, medicines, bedtimes and a dozen other things only mothers seemed capable of worrying about. Even after leaving the children in capable hands, Siya, Meher, Trisha and Simran had struggled to convince themselves that everything would be fine. It had taken the grandparents themselves to finally put an end to their worries, assuring them that the children were happy together and that their parents deserved a few days of quiet to themselves.

With that reassurance, the four couples had finally managed to leave RK Estate behind and make their way to the Maldives.

By late afternoon, they had reached one of the most exclusive luxury resorts in the islands, where four private water villas awaited them over the crystal-clear turquoise ocean. For the first time in weeks, there were no responsibilities demanding their attention.

Just the ocean.

The villas.

And each other.

They had decided not to spend the evening together as a group. After the long journey, each couple wanted the rest of the day to themselves to settle into their villa, unwind and finally enjoy the reason they had come all this way.

Tomorrow morning, they would meet again for breakfast. Tonight, the Maldives belonged to them separately. And for once, they had nothing else to do except be with the person they had chosen to escape with.

Vishnu and Simran

The private beach was almost completely deserted at this hour. The sound of the waves was the only thing breaking the silence as they sat close to each other on the soft sand. Before them, the ocean stretched endlessly into the darkness, while the warm glow of the resort lights behind them barely reached this far.

Simran held a bottle of wine in one hand, taking slow sips as she leaned on Vishnu’s shoulder. He sat beside her, his legs stretched out in front of him, his gaze fixed on his beautiful wife. She had worn a dark blue, sleeveless maxi dress with a long slit along her left thigh.

As the wife of a politician and the state CM’s daughter-in-law, Simran rarely wore anything quite so revealing. He still remembered her excitement as she packed for this trip, pulling out her entire collection of swimsuits and beach dresses. And he couldn’t wait to see her in them… to see the bold avatar of the woman he had fallen in love with from the moment he was introduced to her by Meher.

He grinned at the thought, looking down at his wife again. She was looking at him too with a dreamy smile.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

That finally made him turn towards her fully.

“You’ve been looking at me for the last thirty seconds, Simran. And I know that look. Something’s cooking in that mind of yours.”

“Not cooking,” she frowned. “I was just wondering about something.”

“Means the same,” he replied, pushing a strand of hair away from her face.

Simran took another sip of her wine before saying casually, “Do you think we should have another baby?”

“Another baby?” Vishnu stared at her, wondering if he had heard her correctly. “Are you serious?”

Simran nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

His lips slowly curved into a grin.

“Because the way you’re asking me this while holding a bottle of wine makes me question whether this is a carefully thought-out decision or something you just decided five minutes ago.”