Jane did the countdown mentally.
Five, four, three, two, one. Get a grip on yourself, Jane! She chided herself.
It worked. She walked ahead, determined to forget about kisses, naughty fingers, and cuddles. When she entered the lobby, she was calm once again.
The concierge greeted her after the guest she had attended to left the reception desk.
“I'm Jane, Jane Worthington. Is there a courier for me?”
Leaning to her left, the girl opened a drawer and after rifling through its contents, picked up a blue envelope.
“Here you go, ma’am.” She flashed her best professional smile and handed over the bulky envelope to Jane.
Holding it close to her chest, a bright smile dancing on her face, Jane turned and dashed towards her apartment. She didn’t notice the man walking towards the reception desk, engrossed in typing on his phone, and ran straight into him. Upon colliding, the envelope slipped from her hands and fell. She wanted to wring the man’s neck.
“I'm so sorry. Are you okay?” A deep and low voice asked. Goose-pimples erupted on her arms and neck as she recognised the voice that had haunted all her dreams for years now. A voice she had yearned to hear for years. Stunned, she looked up and met Vijay’s chocolate-brown eyes. The floor seemed to shift beneath her feet. Jane held onto the nearest pillar and regained her footing.
Vijay appeared mildly irritated by the mishap but his face crinkled into a surprised smile when their gazes met.
“Janet....” he whispered.
Hearing that single word, his own private name for her, the panic swirling inside her stilled. The tight knot within her chest unfurled. Her blood zinged with the acute pleasure of simply being able to see him again and warmth surged through her body. Jane searched his face, drinking in his familiar features. She looked for signs that indicated he missed her. His face shone, not a hair was out of place and his clothes, a dark grey business suit, fitted him like a second skin. He looked perfect, content and whole. Not shattered, like her.
She pasted a smile on her face and addressed him.
“Vijay! What a surprise! How are you?”
Some unfathomable emotion tightened his features but it was gone the very next moment. Perhaps some of the memories had returned, Jane guessed. He addressed her with a smile that appeared artificial in every way. It was not even remotely like the warm smile that pumped love to every cell of her being, the one which touched her very soul.
“Fine, as you can see for yourself. To what do I owe the honour of your presence here?”
Her legs started to tremble from the coldness she perceived in his voice. She wiped her clammy hands on her skirt and tucked a lock of hair that had freed itself from her bun behind her ear.
“I… I am on an assignment here. I work for a London based entertainment channel,” she managed.
“Great. How long are you here?” His tone was sharp. Again, the same coldness wafted towards her. It was as if he couldn’t wait to end the conversation with her and be gone.
Her heart hammered against her ribs. She didn't want to face this cold and indifferent Vijay. She willed herself to calm down and face him. But words refused to come; her mouth ran dry.
“Not long. I plan to check out in a week,” she mumbled, focussing hard to keep the sentence proper and correct.
She wrapped her arms around her belly, attempting to soothe the fluttery feeling inside her stomach. An awkward silence settled around them. She looked down and her eyes wandered to admire the sheen on his shoe, the motif on the carpet and finally rested on the envelope that had slipped out of her hands. She quickly bent down to pick it up. Apparently, Vijay had noticed it at the same time as her for he too did the same thing and their heads bumped.
“Ouch, are you planning to kill me?”
Jane rubbed her forehead, irritation slowly replacing the nervousness that had seized her. Yes, she had all the reasons in the world to kill him. But she couldn’t and wouldn’t. Ignoring him, she bent down again and picked up the envelope. Soon, another realization dawned. The envelope was strangely wet. With a panicked cry, she ripped it open. Everything inside was wet. One of them, she was not sure who, had overturned a decorative water bowl with lotus flowers during their collision. Water had pooled on the floor and seeped into her envelope.
Her quest had failed before it even began.
Chapter 5
Jane frantically fanned the papers to avoid further damage. It was useless though. All the permission slips were now a drenched mess.
“Are they work-related papers? I will help to restore them,” Vijay said. Jane glared at him and then realized he was not at fault. He hadn’t grabbed the parcel from her hands and dipped it in water. She had dropped it in her clumsiness.
“You can’t. Everything is lost.” She blanched. Vijay’s attitude had undergone a sea-change. Concern flashed in his eyes, as the Vijay she loved emerged from beneath his mask of indifference.
“Jane, ask for more time. I will help retrieve all the lost data. I promise.”
“Time is the one thing I don’t have. This is not work-related. Something personal.”
“May I ask what?”
“I'm doing this for Grandpa Bill.” Her voice cracked at the thought of losing her Grandpa as his mischievous blue eyes danced into her mind’s eye.
“What is it about?”
“I made a promise to him. These papers might have helped,” she said, holding up the wet papers. Her legs trembled again. She clutched at the pillar.
Vijay led her to a secluded corner in the lobby and made her sit.
“Tell me about it. Maybe I can help. After all, this is my country.” It seemed sensible and the only way out for her. Jane sighed in relief. She couldn’t believe Vijay was offering to help despite their sordid past connection. But he seemed to be her best hope as of now.
Jane quickly explained to him how Grandpa Bill had come to know of Daniel through Clara.
“The possibility of Daniel being alive, though a happy news, proved to be too much to handle for Grandpa Bill. He suffered a heart attack.”
“Oh God …”
“Now, he wants me to use my time in India to find the truth. He believes the man Clara had seen was indeed Daniel. He says he wants to see his dear brother one last time before he dies. His brother was with the Southern Command of the British Indian Army the last time he heard from him. He was posted in Bangalore. Those papers were permission slips to access the British Archives here.”
“Don’t worry, I can help you access the archives. The British Indian Army kept elaborate records. The Southern Command had its headquarters right here in Bangalore. I'm sure we can find out what happened to him. Trust me, I wish to help Grandpa Bill.”
He squeezed her palms lightly to reassure her and she squeezed back. His calm and dignified presence was bringing back memories. Even during their university days, he could be trusted to handle any situation.
Vijay was always the most helpful guy around. He had worked on her family farms in Weybridge, Surrey once when they had run short of hands during the pumpkin harvest season. They had cleaned toilets and hotel rooms together to earn pocket money during their summer breaks. They had celebrated their small victories by camping on the bank of river Wey, talking endlessly whilst gazing at the moon, listening to the lullaby of the river while swigging wine directly from the bottle.
The decision to break up with him had been hard. She had cut off all ties with him, deleting his emails without even reading them.
Vijay’s voice addressing her ended her musing.
“You said Daniel was your Grandpa’s twin. Maybe they still look alike? We could use his pictures to trace him. What do you think?”
“Yes, they were identical twins. Clara said he still resembles Grandpa Bill.”
“Do you have any recent photo of him that we can use?”
“I have a few on my laptop. Let me get it.”
“Shall I come with you?” he asked. Jan
e hesitated for a second before inviting him. It felt childish to refuse.
When he entered her room, Vijay looked around. From his face, it was obvious that he didn’t like what he saw. He pulled out his phone, calling someone.
“Vijay here. Upgrade Miss. Jane Worthington to the Victorian suite. Yeah, immediately.”
“What are you doing? I love this room. And I can’t afford a suite.”
“This is my hotel. I don’t want you to stay in the hotel apartment. You are my friend, my special guest.”
Friend. Yes, that was all she was to him now. And it was not good to misuse your friendship to fleece your friend. The Victorian suite would cost a bomb. She didn’t want it.
“Your hotel? I didn’t know that. I don’t want an upgrade. Please. First things first, Vijay. Let us focus on Daniel.” For a moment, he looked like he would disagree. But then he just shrugged.
While he called the front desk again and cancelled the upgrade, she switched on her laptop and opened the folder containing family photos. At the sight of the smiling faces of her family members, happiness flooded her heart.
“Here he is,” she said, clicking open a photo of Grandpa Bill.
Vijay leaned closer to get a better look. The three-seater couch suddenly felt crammed. His scent, a potent mixture of expensive cologne, ironed clothes and sandalwood taunted her. Butterflies came alive inside her stomach proclaiming how much his presence was affecting her. Maybe this was a mistake. She shouldn’t have invited him in. Memories came calling and her pulse raced. With difficulty, she steered herself away from the onslaught of memories and concentrated on what he was saying.
“Email this photo to me. We use a private detective agency to do the background check on our employees. I will put them on it. I think it will be easy to track a foreigner in India.”
“I will.”
Jane continued browsing through the photos in other folders too until she found what she had been looking for. A collection of black and white photos.
“Check these photos too. These are the scanned copies of the photos Daniel had sent to us before he disappeared. This is a picture of Daniel with his friend. That cavalier soldier is Daniel.”
Daniel had always been the hero in the family, the sort who featured in bedtime stories and was a dear topic of discussion when families got together during Christmas and Thanksgiving. She had often wished she could meet him and hear his story from him. Perhaps she would if all went well.
“Send these to me as well. I think—” The ring of his phone interrupted him. He scowled at the phone screen.
“Excuse me, I have to take this,” Vijay said and walked away to attend the call. Jane emailed him the photos and then sat back, watching him talk.
He had filled out his six-foot frame and looked more handsome and fitter in his well-tailored business suit than she remembered. Probably he spent hours in the gym or perhaps it was his aristocratic genes.
Could anyone forget his chiselled face and that cute dimple? He pulled at his nose as he concentrated on what the person at the other end of the line was saying and then pressed his knuckles over his lips. His gestures and emotions were imprinted like tattoos in her brain, making her dreams about him always vivid. They were the reason she had often woken up searching for the loving face that had starred in her dreams all night.
She looked for a ring on his fingers and released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding when she found none.
“I'm afraid, I have to go now. But leave all the worrying to me, okay?” said Vijay walking towards her after ending the call.
There wasn’t even a hint of anger in his eyes or voice anymore. Had he forgiven her? She wanted to know. But did it really matter anymore? Perhaps it did because she craved for his forgiveness.
With a slight bow of his head, Vijay bid her goodbye. Her heart squeezed, sensing a loss. She stood up and silently accompanied him to the door.
When he reached the door, he turned to look at her. A smile crept quietly onto his face. A genuine one, the kind she had worshipped in the depths of her heart all these years. She melted, her heart rejoiced. Too late, she knew. Yet, she couldn’t help smiling back.
After closing the door, Jane leaned against it and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the remnants of his presence. Overwhelmed by her feelings, she hugged herself and sank to the floor. The event she had dreaded had, at last, come to pass. She had seen him. Heard his voice. Felt the warmth of his presence. And it had not been like any of the horrific visuals she had dreamt of.
He hadn’t ignored her and walked away.
He hadn’t screamed and insulted her.
He hadn’t hugged her in relief and claimed her lips.
He hadn’t strutted in front of her with his arms wound around his pretty wife.
He hadn’t… nothing about today had resembled her wild imaginations.
But time had wedged a distance between them. They had been together for more than an hour, yet it hadn’t felt like old times. Their interaction had seemed forced initially, and then it had turned professional, like that between two colleagues. It had lacked the warmth and togetherness that marked their conversations.
Her thoughts began to run in loops, revolving around one topic, one person. To distract herself, she sat in front of the laptop and waded into work-related files and videos.
Chapter 6
Bangalore, April 10, 2009
Vijay spent the rest of the day making calls to his contacts in government offices and diplomats to procure the permits for Jane. He pulled many strings to cut across the many red tapes. He hadn’t done anything with so much enthusiasm in so many years now. As a result, at the end of the day, he had the papers ready on his table.
He had always thought that if fate made him meet Jane again, he would rage at her, demanding answers to the many questions that had haunted him over the years. She had left him without giving him a chance to explain. Even criminals got an opportunity to defend themselves. Anger, frustration, and sadness had been his companions for months.
However, relief and joy had flooded his treacherous heart the second he had laid eyes on her. If they had crumpled together in staggering passion, sharing rib-crushing hugs and burning kisses, it would have rejoiced.
Every second of the day, she ruled his thoughts.
Later that night, Vijay tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He lay awake, his head resting on his linked hands, staring at the ceiling. He could hardly believe that Jane was sleeping just a few rooms away. And that he would definitely see her again. Within hours. He had messaged her that he would accompany her to the various archives.
Every time Vijay closed his eyes, he saw two cornflower blue eyes. His heart raced and he wished to have the beautiful owner of those eyes near him. On his bed, their legs tangled, her breath warming his chest and his fingers roaming over her body.
He groaned when his thoughts and desires began to spin out of control. Pushing away from the bed, he moved to the open windows streaming moonlight into his room. Hands akimbo, he stared outside, seeing nothing.
He had no business thinking about her. Yet, he was doing just that. Every moment in her presence again had felt intense, almost surreal. His past and present feelings, love and anger, had warred for dominance. But love had won. Her tears had aided it further. He couldn’t see her in anguish. Ever.
Even in that prim business suit, Jane had looked breath-taking. The tips of his fingers had tingled, remembering every line and contour that lay hidden beneath those clothes. His lips had celebrated the softness of the features on her sweet face a thousand times. His ears still cherished the sounds of laughter and rapture from their times together. He missed watching sunlight turning her coppery-golden curls into pure gold.
Vijay had resigned himself to a future without her. Hadn’t he? After trying in every way for months to win her back and failing, he had learned to kill the love that pulsed through his blood, screaming her name. He had thrown himself into nu
rturing their hotel business and made work his muse. His dedication had been such that he had built a name for himself in the world of tourism and hospitality management.
Each extra second near her today had strengthened the yearning to have it all back. His name, uttered in her lilting voice, had also awakened other desires.
His hands had itched to free her hair from the tight bun imprisoning them. She had painted her lips red, unlike before when she left them bare. He had fought the urge to claim those lips. During those moments alone with her in her room, the thirst to drown himself in her had become too strong. But it was wrong. He shouldn’t even think along those lines anymore.
There were a thousand invisible barriers already between them.
He was no more a carefree student. Multiple chains and responsibilities bound him now, each pulling him in a different direction. Away from her.
Someone was now a part of his life, though not entirely by his choice. He would soon step into a marriage that would be one of convenience.
He had once dreamed of waking up next to the woman he loved and feeling truly happy. Those dreams did not matter anymore. Because his love had forsaken him.
Men in his family didn’t do love. They were born to lead and command. He couldn’t remember a tender moment between his own parents. Not a single sidelong glance or holding hands. The air of propriety and duty had always hung around them. They were like two strangers, living within the same walls. At times, it had suffocated him.
Maybe it had been the unconditional love that he found in Jane’s family that brought him closer to her. Days spent at her family farm were the happiest times he had known. They were one large, warm and loving entity. Unaffectedly friendly and caring. Love was their language. Grandpa Bill and his two sons had welcomed him with open arms. Not only Vijay, any friend of Jane was welcome there. They were ordinary farmers, moderately rich, who toiled on their farms to win their bread. Jane was the only one in their family who had wandered off onto a different path.
A Royal Affair: The Sravanapura Royals Page 3
