Page 16 of 12 Years: My Messed-up Love Story

‘Learn to let go, bro,’

he said.

‘And don’t just stand—dance, bro,’ he said.

Six years later …

‘Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?’

Wajid, the lead singer of the Dubai-based band The Seen, spoke into the mic. His drummer and bassist kept a soft beat going in the background.

The guests at my forty-fifth birthday party paused their conversations and turned towards the stage.

‘What a fantastic evening. What a setting, isn’t it guys?’

Mohsin said. The guests all cheered in response.

We were at Cloud 22, an exclusive poolside club on the twenty-second floor of Atlantis The Royal, the top hotel in Dubai. Mudit had organized the entire evening, from booking the space to managing the hundred-plus guest list. He’d invited the whole SecurityNet team, along with our investors, vendors and friends.

‘How much did this whole thing cost again?’

I said to Mudit, standing next to him as he refilled our glasses with Dom Pérignon champagne.

‘I’m afraid if I tell you, you might faint. We don’t want that to happen to the birthday boy, do we?’

‘How much, Mudit?’

I said, concerned.

‘Too much, but it’s my personal money. Not company funds. Don’t worry, our investors won’t think we’re partying at their expense.’

‘Bro, why did you have to do all this?’

‘Two reasons. One, it’s you, my best friend.’

‘Thank you. And two?’

‘Two is that you’re the one who helped me make all this money anyway.’

Mudit and I laughed.

‘Look around, bro. Look how far we’ve come,’

Mudit said, pointing at the club space and at the setting sun. The sky was a surreal pink and gold.

‘We must celebrate ourselves now and then.’

‘True. Where’s Tania though?’

I said, referring to my girlfriend.

‘She’s sorting out the cake. She wanted to roll it in for you,’

Mudit said.

‘Roll it in?’

‘Well, it’s huge. Five feet. Needs to be brought out on a trolley.’

‘Mudit, dude. Why?’

‘It’s okay, bro. It’s your birthday. Anyway, how are things with you and Tania?’

‘Hot. Exciting. Fun.’

‘But?’

‘But what?’

‘I know you too well. There is a “but” somewhere in there.’

I laughed.

‘Yes, well … but I think I may be ready for a change in a few months.’

‘Bro, you’re brutal. How times change though,’

Mudit said.

‘Remember how reluctantly you agreed to meet Amelia five or six years ago? And look at you go now.’

‘You’re the one who taught me all this. Only keep the fun. None of the emotional load. So, I change them frequently to avoid all that load.’

‘Yeah, but Tania seems nice.’

‘She is. But you know, every now and then, it’s best to refresh the cache.’

‘Savage,’

Mudit said.

‘Sir,’

bass guitarist Mohsin’s voice boomed from the speakers.

‘Where are you, Saket sir? We need you on stage to cut the cake. Mudit sir, you too.’

Mudit and I walked up to the stage.

Tania emerged from the wings, pushing a trolley with a massive five-tier cake on it. The cake, dressed in an off-white and blue fondant, had an elaborate floral design running all across it. It looked so beautiful that it seemed sinful to even consider cutting it. The only thing more beautiful than the cake was Tania. Did I tell you about her?

Tania and I had started dating six months ago. It began when Sophia, the girl I was dating before Tania, had to go back to Romania. Before Sophia, there was Juliette, and I may be getting the order wrong, but before her, I was with Ruby, Katherine, Krisha and a couple of other girls whose names I forget. It all started with Amelia, of course, who Mudit introduced me to six years ago. A deal, an arrangement or simply two people meeting each other’s needs—call it what you want, but the system worked for me. All the fun, and none of the drama.

‘Cut the cake, sweetie,’

Tania said in her thick Ukrainian accent.

See, she even calls m.

‘sweetie’. Who said this was only about sex? There’s love and caring involved as well, even if it’s part of an understanding.

I took the knife from Tania and cut the gorgeous cake, slicing across one of the tiers. The entire crowd applauded and san.

‘Happy Birthday’

in unison. Many of the men, particularly the married ones, were busy checking out Tania, while their wives cast disapproving looks in her direction. I could sense they were all burning with envy. Tania was their worst nightmare.

My beautiful twenty-four-year-old Tania had a perfect hourglass figure. And she knew what to wear to highlight it. For instance, the silver-grey Prada dress that she’d worn for the party ended at her upper thighs and clung to her like second skin. I know it was from Prada because I’d bought it for her. Her eyes matched the dress. Her golden hair reached all the way down to her hips.

‘Happy birthday, my darling,’

she whispered in my ear as she fed me a slice of cake and hugged me.

‘We celebrate our way later.’

Wow, I still couldn’t believe that I’d been against this system until a few years ago. Mudit had found me heaven on earth, and idiot me had resisted it.

This, however, wasn’t the only major change in my life. The last year had been an eventful one. In Mudit’s words, we finally went from being paper rich to real-bank-account rich. The company moved to a large new office in a modern building in Downtown Dubai. We did a secondary placement, which meant the founders got a chance to sell some of their own shares for cash. Mudit used some of the money he received to buy a boat and a fancy racing car, confirming my suspicions about his massive midlife crisis. I kept most of my money in the bank, but I did splurge on a new villa on the Palm. I liked the water view, and the beach was right outside my house.

I got off the stage and mingled with the guests as the waiters went around serving the cake to everyone.

‘Happy birthday, Saket. What an amazing party,’

Richard Morris, the managing director at one of the private equity firms that had invested in us, came up to me.

‘Thank you, Richard,’ I said.

‘I should thank you. SecurityNet has been our most successful investment,’ he said.

‘Glad to hear that, man.’

‘I’m here in Dubai for a few days. Let’s discuss the IPO strategy? Next year, right?’

‘As they say here, inshallah,’ I said.

‘Five,’

Richard said, holding up his hand, with his fingers all open.

‘What?’

I said, smiling.

‘You know exactly what five means,’

Richard said, laughing as we clinked our glasses.

I did actually: A five-billion-dollar IPO valuation was already being discussed amongst our investor group.

‘The only thing that personally matters to me is that our customers love SecurityNet. Valuations and money shall follow,’ I said.

‘That’s why I love doing business with you. It’s never just about the money or the deal. It’s always something personal,’

Richard said.

‘Yeah, I’m learning though. To separate the personal from the deal,’ I said.

Riyaz, my driver, pulled into the driveway of my villa. I gently shook Tania to wake her up. She’d nodded off in the backseat, with her head on my shoulder.

‘We’re home,’

I said softly.

‘Hmm? Oh,’

Tania said sleepily, lifting her head.

‘Too much champagne, baby.’

‘I know. You even drooled on me,’

I said, pulling her cheek lightly.

‘I’m sorry, sweetie,’

she said, giving me a peck on my cheek.

Riyaz stopped the car at the porch, right near the koi pond, and opened the door for us. Tania and I got out and walked into the house. The high ceiling inside made my foyer feel like the lobby of a chic contemporary hotel. I still found it hard to believe that this was my house. That I owned it. That’s the thing about suddenly coming into a lot of money. In reality, you’re wealthy. Psychologically, however, you’re poor. Sometimes, I feared that the people I’d hired to take care of things around the house would come and ask me what I was doing here.

My ten-thousand-square-feet villa with its five bedrooms had come at a price of fifteen million dollars, that’s around a hundred and five crore rupees. It was a huge amount. However, the secondary share sale had netted me fifty million dollars. The house was less than a third of that. And my current SecurityNet stake, if the IPO-valuation rumours came true, would be close to a billion dollars. Yes, I could afford this, I reminded myself.

I stood in the middle of the living room, in awe of the art and the lights and everything else in my own house.

‘Sir, you’re back,’

Shanti didi, my housekeeper, said, walking into the foyer from the kitchen.

‘Is there anything I can get for you or madam?’

‘No,’

I said.

‘We’ve already eaten, thank you. You can leave for the day.’

As she left, Tania leaned in and said.

‘Let’s go up. The celebrations aren’t over yet.’

‘Baby, I’m genuinely tired,’ I said.

But Tania paid no attention to my protests as she pulled me up the steps. She pushed me into the bedroom and shut the door behind us.

‘Tired, is it?’

she said, running a finger down my nose and lips.

I took a deep breath as her touch sent a shiver down my spine.

‘Yeah, we did drink a lot. You even dozed off on the drive back,’ I said.

Tania went up to the bay windows and drew the sheer curtains. We could still see the twinkling lights of the other Palm villas and the beach outside.

‘I’m fresh after my nap now.’

She came back to me and kissed me.

‘How about you? You want to nap now?’

she whispered in my ear.

‘Baby, if you do all this, which man will not wake up?’ I said.

‘Good. Because even if it’s your forty-fifth birthday, you’re not that old,’ she said.

‘I am old, babe. Forty and then five more.’

Shaking her head, she unbuttoned my shirt and slid her hands inside.

‘Tell me, how many forty-five-year-olds have a chest like this?’

she said, running her hands over my pecs.

‘Thank you,’

I said, and kissed her cheek.

‘I realize I haven’t given you a birthday present yet,’

Tania said.

‘It’s all right, baby. You don’t have to. I have everything.’

‘No, it’s not all right. I’ll get you one soon. Meanwhile, can I be your present for tonight?’

‘You always are.’

‘Would you like to unwrap your present?’

she said, making a cute, kiddish expression.

Before I could respond, she pushed me back into the bed and climbed on top of me.

‘Happy birthday, baby.’

Half an hour later, our hot-and-heavy session ended, leaving us both exhausted and sweaty.

Tania lay down next to me, scrolling through the Louis Vuitton website on her phone.

I wanted her to leave, as I always did when the sex was over.

I had rented an apartment for her in the Marina.

I checked the time. We’d finished some seven minutes ago. Would it be rude of me to suggest she leave?

‘Riyaz will drop you home, baby? He has to finish duty and go home,’ I said.

‘Oh,’

Tania looked up at me, somewhat surprised.

‘Of course. I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to stay over tonight.’

She picked up her dress from the floor. Her naked body glistened in the dim light as she slid into the dress.

‘When have I ever?’ I said.

‘It’s your birthday today … in case you didn’t want to sleep alone.’

‘That’s okay, sweetie. I’m used to it.’

I walked back into the house after saying bye to Tania on the porch.

The villa felt larger than before.

I went to the entertainment area adjacent to the living room, where there was a hundred-inch flat-screen TV.

I switched it on and scrolled through all the entertainment options in the world—Netflix, Prime, YouTube … and a bunch of other platforms.

But I didn’t feel like watching anything.

I switched on my PS5 game console to play Elden Ring.

Five minutes, and I got bored.

I turned off the TV and thought about going to the games room on the first floor.

I had fitted it with a snooker table, foosball, darts, a pinball table and a retro video-games console, similar to the ones we had in childhood, where one had to put in a coin to play a game.

I didn’t feel like playing anything.

That’s the thing about having nice things.

They’re fun only when you have someone to enjoy them with.

I made my way up to the master bedroom, where Tania and I had just made love or, to be accurate, had sex.

I made the bed, which had become messy after our session, changed into my nightclothes and sat down with a book—The Courage to be Disliked.

I’d barely read two pages when my phone rang.

‘What a party, bro,’

Mudit said.

‘Well done.’

‘What well done?’

I said.

‘You’re the one who organized it.’

‘Yeah, that’s true. I was praising myself,’

Mudit said, laughing.

‘Your best friend is pretty cool, isn’t he?’

‘He’s the best.’

‘What are you doing?’

‘Reading, in my bedroom.’

‘On your birthday?’

‘We already had a party. I drank too much anyway.’

‘Where is Tania?’

‘Must be reaching home.’

‘You sent her back? Really?’

‘Yeah. I need to sleep.’

‘You guys still did it, right? Don’t tell me you didn’t get laid on your birthday.’

‘Mudit?’

‘What?’

‘Do you and I have any semblance of privacy between us?’

‘No. So, does that mean yes? You did it, didn’t you?’

‘Bye, Mudit.’

‘Oh, wait, no. I called for a reason.’

‘What?’

‘There are murmurs. Strong murmurs.’

‘About what?’

‘A buyout offer. Someone out there wants to buy SecurityNet.’

‘Like a stake?’

‘No. The whole thing. An acquisition.’

‘What?’

‘Yeah. Someone from Goldman Sachs called me.’

‘The investment bank?’

‘Yeah, bro. A senior guy from their Mergers and Acquisitions division.’

‘What did he say?’

‘He said he has a client who owns a company that wants to acquire SecurityNet.’

‘What about the IPO? Don’t we have plans to do that?’

‘We do. But if this buyer gives us a good offer, then who knows? We should talk to them.’

‘Okay, find out more. Who’s this client?’

‘He won’t say. He wants to have a meeting with us first. He said if we show real interest, he’ll bring the client in at the next meeting.’

‘All this is in Dubai?’

‘Yes. Don’t worry, you won’t have to go anywhere. I’ll call him in next week then?’

‘Sure, whenever,’ I said.

‘Cool. Good night, bro. And happy birthday. Glad you got laid.’

‘Stop it, Mudit.’

Mudit burst into laughter before ending the call.

‘Give us one minute, Max,’

Mudit said.

‘Let me talk to Saket in private.’

‘Sure,’

said Max Glenfell, the managing director of Goldman Sachs’s Mergers and Acquisitions division, getting up from his chair. Alan Smith, his junior associate, followed suit. Max and Alan were British and had flown in from the Goldman Sachs London office. Their formal suits and crisp British accents reminded me of the BBC news presenters.

‘No, no, you guys stay here,’

Mudit said, gesturing for Max and Alan to remain seated.

‘Saket and I will go to his office for a minute.’

We were all sitting in the swanky twenty-seater conference room, in the new SecurityNet office in Downtown Dubai. Max and Alan had just finished giving us a short presentation on the proposed buyout.

Mudit and I left the room and hurried to my office.

‘Bro, it’s real,’

Mudit said, closing the office door behind him.

‘Someone wants to buy the whole company. In cash. The cleanest exit ever.’

‘We exit? Like completely?’

‘Yes. Can you believe it? None of the IPO hassle. No need for roadshows, compliance, regulations and investor relations. No risk of being at the mercy of market conditions.’

‘True,’

I said.

‘But it also means we’re out. What will we do? What will I do? I’ll have no job.’

‘Bro, you won’t need a job. You’ll have close to a billion dollars in the bank. Not just paper wealth either.’

I looked out of my window. In the distance, the Burj Khalifa soared into the clear blue sky, much like how SecurityNet had soared over the years.

‘I already have everything I want. What will I do with so much money? And all the free time?’

‘Come on, bro. We’ll find something productive to do. Maybe build another start-up. Or do fun stuff. Go back to running a comedy club, only this time, we go to work in a Rolls-Royce.’

I smiled, still unconvinced.

‘Okay, listen. I can talk to them. We’ll sell the company to them, but not the whole thing. Say, ninety per cent? We keep the remaining ten per cent. And you stay on as the CEO, if that’s what you want.’

‘I don’t know what I want,’ I said.

‘Take your time to figure it out. Point is, we should stay engaged with them. Discuss whatever terms we want. I’m sure they’ll be happy to let you run it anyway. For now, let’s meet the mystery client.’

‘Okay. We can do that. I’m curious about who the client is anyway.’

‘We have to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Once we do, Max will get his client in.’

‘Fine, let’s do it,’ I said.

We went back to the conference room. Max and Alan looked up at us questioningly.

‘Guys,’

I said.

‘we’re interested. But we have some conditions.’

‘Sure,’

Max said.

‘What conditions?’

‘I’ll discuss them with the buyer. When can I see them?’

‘There’s an NDA that needs to be signed first …’ Max said.

‘Send it to me. I’ll e-sign it,’

Mudit said.

‘I’ll fix the meeting for next week,’

Max said, grinning from ear to ear.

I hadn’t met Tania in a week because work had been insane. Finally, on a Saturday evening, we decided to meet for drinks at Li’Brasil, a stunning sea-facing Lebanese-Brazilian fusion restaurant at the Address Beach Resort.

‘You don’t have time for me,’

Tania said, pouting.

‘Don’t you like to see me now?’

‘That’s not true, baby,’

I said.

‘There’s just too much going on at work. Now, what would you like to drink?’

‘Aperol spritz,’

she said. I decided to have the same drink.

‘I wanted to talk to you about something,’

Tania said after we’d placed our order.

‘Oh? What happened?’

‘I have a cousin, Paulina. She’s just finished her graduation in Kyiv.’

‘Okay … What about her?’

‘She wants to move to Dubai.’

‘To work here?’

‘Yes, maybe. I thought I’ll ask you, for help …’

‘To help her get a job?’

‘No. To make her your girlfriend.’

‘What?’

I sat up, startled.

‘For a little while, baby. Until she figures out what she wants to do.’

‘Tania, what are you even talking about?’

‘You know, like you gave me an apartment and an allowance because I’m your girlfriend? Like that. It’s out of love only, right?’

‘Well, yeah …’

I said, trailing off mid-sentence.

‘If you can do that for Paulina too …’

‘But I already have you.’

‘You can have both of us.’

I looked at Tania, absolutely gobsmacked. Even as my brain scrambled to find something to say, the waiter arrived with our order, two beautiful orange-coloured cocktails.

‘What do you think?’

Tania said, picking up her glass and taking a sip.

‘You want me to be in a relationship with you and your cousin?’

‘Okay, she’s not really my cousin. We grew up in the same village. That’s what we call each other there. Don’t worry, we’re not actually related.’

‘That’s not the point. You’re okay with me having two girlfriends?’

‘One of them is me, right? Plus, I’m older and I was here before her. So, I’ll be the main girl.’

‘Main girl?’

‘You haven’t heard of this concept? Main girl, side girl?’

‘No.’

What was even going on in this world?

‘Anyway, doesn’t matter. You don’t have to give her an apartment. She can live with me. Just give her an allowance. A bit of shopping now and then, like you do for me. It would mean a lot.’

Nothing in life had prepared me for this situation. I remained silent, confused about what to say next.

‘Would you like to see her picture?’

Tania said.

‘Well, it’s not about that …’

I said. Before I could finish my sentence, Tania turned her phone screen towards me. A beautiful young brunette sat on a beach, wearing a red bikini.

‘Trust me, you’ll love her,’

Tania said.

Is it wrong to have two girlfriends? What if it’s the first girlfriend who encourages you to get a second girlfriend? Or wait, were they even my girlfriends?

I took a sip of my drink.

‘I don’t know what to say, Tania. I’ve never done this before. Date two people at the same time.’

‘It won’t be the two of us together. Some days you see me, other days you see her. That’s it.’

‘It’s not about the scheduling.’

‘Or if you want, on some days, we can both come over and the three of us can have fun together.’

‘What?’

‘I don’t mind it, baby. Paulina won’t either. Would you like that? The three of us together?’

I burst out laughing.

‘What?’

Tania said.

‘I’m serious.’

‘Tania, babe, I’m extremely busy at work right now. Lots of things need my attention. I have some big investors visiting us next week. I really can’t decide if I want another girlfriend, apart from the gorgeous one I already have.’

‘Every man enjoys multiple girls.’

‘Is it?’

‘Threesome is every man’s fantasy.’

‘Yeah, but it’s a fantasy. I never thought I’ll ever have the option to make it real.’

‘You do now. Think about it.’

‘Yes, I will.’

‘If you want, I can have Paulina visit. You try her for a few days.’

‘Tania, no!’

‘Really, I don’t mind. Don’t give her anything for those days.’

Okay, was she my old girlfriend or my new pimp? I couldn’t tell.

‘Give me some time. Right now, I’m happy with you. You’re amazing. Okay?’

‘Fine. Thank you,’

Tania said and smiled, though with a somewhat disappointed look.

‘Now, do you want to have the next drink here or back at my place?’ I said.

‘Why the hell are they being so secretive? We signed the NDA, and they still haven’t told us who the buyer is,’

I said to Mudit as we walked towards the office conference room.

Max and Alan had already arrived, along with two of the buyer’s representatives. On entering the conference room, I noted that one of them was Caucasian and the other of Indian origin. Both were dressed in crisp formal suits and looked like they were in their forties.

‘Hello, everyone,’

Max said as we all sat down.

‘I’m happy to finally introduce our client today. This is Philip Stevens and Neeraj Gupta from Blackwater. Philip, Neeraj, meet Saket and Mudit, co-founders of SecurityNet. Philip handles all of Blackwater’s Asian and European business while Neeraj heads their India operations.’

‘Blackwater?’

I blurted out. Mudit and I looked at each other, shocked.

‘Yes, is that surprising?’

Philip said, smiling and extending his hand towards us.

‘Yeah,’

I said, shaking his hand.

‘We weren’t expecting a private equity firm.’

‘Why?’

Neeraj said.

‘We thought we were talking about a full buyout. Not a stake sale.’

‘We do want to fully buy out SecurityNet, on behalf of one of our portfolio companies. If this deal goes through, we’ll merge SecurityNet with the company in question.’

‘Which portfolio company?’ I said.

Neeraj leaned forward.

‘This cannot leave the room. It’s a listed company. Any merger discussions are sensitive news. This must be kept private,’ he said.

‘We signed a ten-page non-disclosure agreement. What else can we do? Write down another promise in blood?’ I said.

‘No,’

Max stepped in quickly.

‘Our client trusts you. They’re just re-emphasizing the need for discretion.’

‘Okay,’

I said.