Third Time's the Charm

"Sa...Sadie..?"

Sadie and the waiter froze. A split second later, she jumped off of him and quickly buttoned up her blouse and turned to see Hayes at the door to the hotel room.

"Hayes! You're early!" she squeaked in horror.

Hayes was in his Liberta Airlines uniform, having landed in dangerous weather just half an hour ago. It was a landing no one enjoyed, but one that everyone was thankful for nonetheless. All Hayes wanted that night was to be with his wife. Until he came face to face with her.

Sadie had her hips locked provocatively on the room service waiter when Hayes entered. It horrified him to see what Sadie was doing. Definitely not what a wife should be doing. The shock was replaced by conflicted rage and then by pure terror. He stared, dumbfounded and hurt.

"Wait! I... I can explain!!" Sadie cried.

Hayes felt his heart shatter and hurt his entire chest. He slammed the door shut and stumbled back, knocking his travel case down.

Sadie's footsteps neared the door, sending Hayes into fight or flight. And he chose to grab his travel case and run. Sadie was halfway down the hall when Hayes stepped into the elevator.

"Hayes, honnney wait!!"

She just missed the doors. Hayes quickly punched the ground floor button instinctively. He then pressed the 9th, 4th and 2nd floor buttons too. Sadie would definitely use the other elevator to try and follow him, and he did not want that at all.

He got off at the 2nd floor and ducked into the emergency exit stairs. Finally safe, he dropped onto the steps, head spinning.

'No...' he whispered to himself.

Hayes felt his throat dry and contract. This shock was beyond unexpected. His eyes stung. Not again. Tears flowed down his face.

Captain Hayes Rhine, 33, a perfect man. A tall, athletic and chocolate skinned man of Indian origin, Hayes had a gorgeous smooth face with jet black cropped hair that extended to subtle sideburns and wonderful deep set brown eyes. He was a person who took love seriously and was what many of his peers thought was an ideal lover. Yet he somehow went very wrong with Sadie.

They were right...

He thought back to the day before his second wedding. Daisuke, Kairavi, Vinesh, Ranu and all his friends were there, drinking to his happy marriage. All of them except Ranhita and Osei.

That night, the two of them didn't raise their glasses to Hayes' and Sadie's union. Vinesh threw a questioning glance.

"Aren't you going to drink to it?"

"No, I can't drink to bullsh*t," Osei said in his calm South African accent. Ranhita said nothing, she stared blankly into Hayes' eyes, her head tilted slightly.

What Osei said led to a moment of heavy silence. Daisuke, the Japanese robotics specialist from Edo, clinked his glass to make a new toast.

"Let us then drink to the unconditional happiness of our wonderful friend Hayes then!"

Osei and Ranhita raised their champagne with small smiles.

"To Hayes' happiness!" they all cheered.

The whole memory of that night came back in perfect sequence. Everyone had thought that Ranhita and Osei were trying to play a sick joke. Hayes now understood what they meant. They knew Sadie was going to do this.

Not knowing what else to do, he called the only one he could trust in Kolkata.

"Hey, Ranu?"

After having successfully avoided Sadie, Hayes left the hotel and went to meet his friend. Ranu was the most adorable Bengali man Hayes had ever known. He was of a medium build, had the accent, a traditional moustache and dark tropical skin.

"Hayes da! Good to see you again! Come, come we'll go to my house. You seem tired," he said warmly. Ranu quickly loaded Hayes' travel case into the car before he could do anything. A peaceful drive later, Hayes finally felt safe in Ranu's welcoming bachelor's bungalow.

"Thank you Ranu," Hayes said in Bengali, Ranu's mother tongue and his own preferred second language.

Ranu playfully slapped his back and cheerfully grinned, "Anything for my buddy Chhotu."

Hayes had to laugh. Chhotu was his nickname when he was just a tiny runt in eight standard. Now, he stood at 6'3, a whole head taller than Ranu. Despite his friend's massive build, Ranu still had the guts to call him tiny. Cheeky Elephant, Hayes smiled to himself.

Ranu scuttled around his bungalow, bringing his favourite tea blends and delicious malpua. Hayes relaxed, melting in the comfort of a welcoming home. Sadie was the last thing on his mind at that moment. Hayes and Ranu conversed in fluent Bengali, giving Hayes more reason to loosen himself.

"How have you been, da? You don't look very happy," Ranu asked.

Nothing got past Ranu. That was just the way things were. He was a forensic scientist after all. The man could read every muscle of a smiling face and still logically find that the person had been grieving. Hayes knew it was pointless to try and cover it up. Besides, he knew he could trust Ranu with his life.

"It's Sadie. She..." he fought back a lump forming in his throat.

"Cheated?" Ranu asked softly.

Hayes nodded, trying not to let the tears spill over. Ranu pulled him in for a light embrace. Hayes broke down again. He told Ranu everything. Ranu was hurt to see Hayes like this. But everything about Sadie was nothing new to him. Hayes noticed this and stopped crying for a second to breathe.

"Hayes, listen. I know you're hurt, but this was due. It's just how Sadie is. Don't cry for her, da, she's not worth it."

"But we've been married for a year!"

"Tch, Hayes, even Maya was like that, no? And if she's willing to cheat with a lowly waiter, then I don't think this is the first time," Ranu reasoned.

"You're not wrong, da, but... It's just..."

"I understand Hayes, but take some time to think about it."

Hayes sighed and leaned back, feeling defeated. Ranu's words made perfect sense. Sadie was always hiding things. He thought back to how she had refused to share her phone password, accusing him of not trusting her. On the other hand, she'd go through his phone, safe, bank records and even through his flight records. Now he realised that it was to track him, to keep him away.

"I'm just protecting you, honey," she had said.

How had he not seen through it before?

Hayes shook his head to get the thoughts out. He tried to forget about Sadie. She cheated. Just like Maya. But this time, with shameful precision. Ranu gently interrupted his thoughts.

"Hayes, forget about it. You're in Kolkata! You're home! Or at least close enough.. you know what I mean. Chalo, how about dinner and some rum?"

Hayes grinned wholeheartedly. Ranu really was the best. They had a traditional dinner of fish, spice and rice. Something Hayes had often missed during his travels. Before long, they had glasses of priceless Appleton Estate rum and a bowl of bhujia sev to go with it.

"Thank you so much, Ranu. I needed this," Hayes said in slightly slurred Bengali.

Ranu threw his head back and laughed heartily, clearly unaffected by the expensive 43% Jamaican alcohol. He knew very well that rum was the one and only thing that could do this to Hayes. And for that night, it was okay. In fact, in another 45 ml, Hayes was disoriented and started feeling gay.

Ranu restrained himself from drinking too much to make sure that there was at least one capable person around.

"Raanuu baby... Muk biya koriba?"

"Na baba, I can not marry you," Ranu sighed dramatically in very theatrical Bengali. Only a second later they both laughed their heads off.

Hayes was so off that Ranu had to listen to him babble senselessly in his own mother tongue before half-carrying him to the guest bedroom and settling him into the bed.

"Good night, Chhotu."