by P. G. Van
“Guess who I met at the airport?” Veer’s voice was steady.
“Who?” she wondered why he sounded so ominous.
“Devaraya.”
“Oh…”
“He looked good. He thanked me for stopping by the hospital, and he said he and I should meet for drinks tomorrow.”
She looked at him silently.
“Baby, don’t look at me like that.”
“Veer, I don’t want to hear anything about him. I’m not saying you shouldn’t meet him. I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Okay. I am going to take Stefan and Andy with me to the meeting. I want to get those guys introduced to him.”
Ariya felt guilty about lashing out at him because of what she felt for the man, her father. “Sorry, Veer. I didn’t mean to. That meeting will help Stefan and Andy.”
He smiled but did not say anything.
“I love you, Veer.”
“Love you, too, baby. I’ll see you on Tuesday.”
“I’ll be waiting.” She pasted her lips to the phone screen, laughing.
“I’ll kiss you back when I see you,” he crooned, winking at her before ending the call.
Ariya knew he would be busy the next few days with the various events and interviews. She looked forward to spending time with her sister and mother before they headed to India after being away on the assignment for such a long time.
She spent the following day helping her sister and mom pack in the morning, and they left home to spend the day at the spa. Her mom went from getting overly emotional to extremely happy as she spent time with her daughters.
Mother and daughters returned late evening to the house, relaxed and spent at the same time.
“We will miss you, Siri,” her mom said, rather emotionally.
“Ma, she lives ten minutes away,” Ariya teased.
“She will no longer be my daughter or your sister. She will be part of Rohan’s family.” Her mom sniffled.
“Really, Ma. Don’t get started again. I promise not to move too far from you.” Siri laughed.
“And I am going to retire as soon as you get pregnant,” her mom declared.
“There she goes again.” Siri rolled her eyes.
“Siri, go easy on Ma. You know we talked about this.”
“Yes, yes.” Siri laughed hugging her mother.
“I want you girls to be happy.” Her mom smiled at Ariya.
“Ma, I’m very happy,” Ariya said making her mom fight back the tears of joy.
“She is in love, Ma. Not ready to accept it.”
“Ariya, have you been seeing someone?” Her mom got excited.
“Siri is kidding, Ma.” She snarled at her sister who had promised not to say anything until after the marriage.
“Ma, look at her. Don’t you think she is glowing?” Siri winked.
Her mom smiled at Ariya. “She will tell me when the time is right. I don’t need to worry about her.”
“Thanks, Ma.” Ariya put her arms around her sister and mom. “I’m going to miss you guys.”
“Go with us,” Siri asked, making her feel guilty.
“I can’t. I need to take care of something.”
“Tell Stefan I’m pissed at him,” Siri growled making Ariya laugh.
Veer, not Stefan.
“Girls, go sleep. We have an early morning flight.”
Ariya went up to her room and started packing her bags for the India trip. She didn’t want to spend any time away from Veer when he was back. She was about to go to bed when her phone beeped a message.
She smiled hoping it was Veer, but it was Dominic.
Dominic: Hey, I had no idea you had a celebrity in your family.
She scrunched her nose and clicked on the web link he sent with his message. She almost fell off the bed when she saw the title of the article.
Production Moghul’s Daughter, Internet Celebrity… Matchmaking at its Best!
Her hands started to tremble when she saw the picture of Veer with the man she despised most. They stood shaking hands, smiling at the camera with Stefan and Andy in the background.
“No,” her voice was a whisper.
The article talked about Veer and her regarding what was going to be aired on the TV show and what was going to aired in a few months. Her eyes were getting blurry as she read about a potential venture.
“No…” She threw the phone away like she got stung.
Angry tears started to flow down her eyes and disappointment gripped her heart. She felt betrayed and started crying.
“Ariya, what’s wrong?” Siri came into her room and put her arms around her.
Ariya held her sister and wept without saying anything. She felt the burn in her chest as the image of the man she loved and hated the most flashed in front of her.
“Siri, what happened?” Her mom came into the room, worried.
“Ma, I don’t know what’s wrong,” Siri’s voice wobbled.
“Ariya, are you hurt… sweetie, look at mom.” Her mother pleaded, and Ariya looked at her mom and burst into sobs, hugging her. Even in the most painful moment, she decided not to talk about what really happened.
“Ma… I…”
“Siri, go get water,” her mom said holding her niece closer to her.
“Ma…” Her words were lost in her sobs. Her heart thudded, and she was in so much pain, she thought it would stop beating.
“Siri, call the ambulance,” her mother ordered.
“Ma, no,” Ariya managed to say.
“Ariya, talk to us,” her sister pleaded.
“I’m… I can’t…”
“Ariya, did someone hurt you?” Siri’s question had her wanting to spill the beans and cry on her sister’s shoulder, but she didn’t want to ruin her sister’s memorable time with her sadness.
Ariya shook her head. “I want to go to India with you guys.”
“Oh my God, are you crying because we were going to leave you.” Her mom put words in her mouth, and Ariya nodded, hugging her mom and swallowing the truth.
“Such a silly girl. I’ll talk to the airlines and change her ticket back to tomorrow. Stay with her, Ma.” Siri left the room.
“Ariya, are you okay?”
“I want to be with you, Ma. I don’t want to go anywhere.”
“Silly, girl. Why did you need to cry for this?” Her mom wiped the tears from her cheek.
Ariya held her mom like a little girl remembering the time she spent on her lap soon after the accident. “Ma, sleep in my room.”
Her mom laughed looking at Ariya fondly. “Why don’t you, me, and Siri sleep in the big bed… just like old times.”
Ariya forced a smile and followed her mother out of the bedroom refusing to look at her phone. The people she loved and cared about were right in front of her, everyone else, she had no more room for them, including Veer.
Chapter 25
Four days later, Ariya sat lost in thought on a window sill staring blankly at the infinity pool of the Jaipur Palace Hotel where they were staying. It was also the wedding venue. She absentmindedly played with the ring hidden under her shirt as she sat watching the sunset.
She felt numb on the inside. What made her angry was the fact that she kept thinking of Veer, wondering if he had tried to call her or go to her apartment to see her. She kept her phone switched off to gather herself to be present, not just physically, for her sister.
Ariya had kept her sadness to herself as she tried to figure out why Veer considered the collaboration with the man she hated so much. What angered her was what he did knowing how she felt about that man. There was no denying that the last few days have been nothing but miserable, but she pasted a smile for the two women who she loved to death and focused on the wedding preparations.
“Ariya, there you are… Oh, is there a hot dude in the pool?” Her sister laughed making her look at her and smile.
“No.”
“Why do you look so lost?”
“I’m jetla
gged,” she lied. The travel for her assignments trained her body for flight travel, and she never slowed down because of jetlag.
“This place is beautiful. Did you know the royal family who owns the hotel lives here, too? They have a special entrance and a private wing.”
She nodded, uninterested in anything her sister was talking about. She hated being distant and checked out, and it made her angrier at Veer. Siri was showing her the outfit she was going to wear the following morning for brunch with Rohan’s family when her mom stormed in speaking loudly on the phone.
“I don’t know where she gets the energy from.” Siri rolled her eyes.
Their mother ended the phone call and looked at her daughters. “Rohan’s family is arriving, and Raj is arriving soon. Can you girls get dressed and go with me to receive the family.”
“Ma, who in the world is this Raj?” Siri scrunched her nose as they had heard their mom mention the guy numerous times in the past couple of days.
“Siri, you don’t remember Raj? You used to play with him when we were neighbors. His father and daddy were golf buddies.” Her mom seemed excited.
“And he is showing up for my wedding in India? How many more people did you invite, Ma?” Siri shook her head.
“What’s your point, Siri? It’s not like I invited my brother… my only brother.” Her mother sniffled
“Ma, we talked about this. I don’t want that man at my wedding,” Siri growled.
“Why can’t I not want my only brother at my daughter’s wedding?” Her mother looked outraged.
“Mom, please. Don’t get started now. You know what he did, he doesn’t deserve to be with us.”
“Do you know what he did?” her mother growled.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Siri said glancing at Ariya.
“This is the limit. It is my fault not to let you two know the real truth.”
“Here she goes again.” Siri rolled her eyes at her mother.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me. You better know that the life you had after your father passed away was because of my brother.” Her mom’s voice resonated in Ariya’s ears.
“Ma, what are you talking about?” Siri snorted.
“How did you think I paid for your private school and college?”
Siri looked at her mother blankly for a moment. “Didn’t you tell me daddy’s insurance policy would cover everything.”
“Yeah, a policy claim that was denied because your father had the accident with his blood infused with alcohol. It was my brother who supplemented my salary until I figured things out.”
Ariya and Siri both gasped in unison.
“Yes, your father had a drinking problem, and that took him away from us.” Her mother sobbed, and Siri sat down on the bed in disbelief.
“No…” Ariya let out a gasp.
“And you.” Ariya’s mother took a few steps toward her. “You hate my brother for what he did to your mother? Do you have any idea what your mother put him through?”
“Ma…” Ariya started to say, but her mom didn’t let her finish.
“Sonia was my best friend, and I wanted her in my life, so I got my brother and my best friend together. I believed everything Sonia told me and hated my brother, but I was wrong to have done that because he was not what Sonia thought he was, he never cheated on her, he loved her… loved her for years after she left us.” Her mom sobbed, and Ariya’s stomach twisted into a knot.
“What?”
“Yes, that is the truth, Ariya. I made a huge mistake by keeping this from you for this long, and I regret it.” Her mother sounded guilty.
“Ma, I know what he said to mamma on the phone that day… he caused the accident, and she died… she died with so much sadness in her heart.”
“Ariya, listen to me. Sonia, your mother, had a mental illness that she refused to acknowledge and get treatment. That made her very insecure, and she would hallucinate. One such hallucination was that my brother was cheating on her because she found his colleague’s lip balm in his car.” Her mother’s words shook her insides.
“No, she did not,” Siri muttered as Ariya stared as if in shock.
“Ariya, your mother threw my brother out, and when he told her he would take you from her so she could seek medical help, you know what she did… she caused the car accident. The very accident that took Sonia’s life.” Her mother sobbed, but Ariya was numb on the inside, unable to process the information. Every moment of the time she spent with her mother in the car replayed in front of her eyes.
“She rammed the car into the pillar with you in the car, Ariya. What mother does that? And she did that, so she could, in her mind, get your father to come back to take care of her. Her words when she told you to stay with me, was so she and Jai could sort things out.”
“Ma, the accident… she was fine…”
“She was not, Ariya. Her health was not good, she had a clot in her head that ruptured in the accident, and that took her away from us. She didn’t intend to die in that accident, but she did.”
Ariya collapsed to the floor, her hands in her face. “No, this is not true.”
“Ariya, get off the floor.” Siri rushed to her sister’s side.
“Ma, why did you have to tell us all this now?” Siri barked.
“You need to know. I cannot see you girls hate him so much.” The older woman wiped the tears from her cheek.
“Look at her, Ma. She didn’t need this now,” Siri cried, holding Ariya, who seemed frozen.
The initial tears rolled out at the memory of the accident, but Ariya was playing both sides of the story side by side in front of her eyes. Everything made sense except for why her father didn’t tell her this when it happened.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ariya’s voice was calm.
“You were traumatized, Ariya. You still are. I know you remember the accident every time you are in a car. You were talking in your sleep for months after the accident about crashing into a pillar. How could I tell you your mother was stupid enough to put your life in danger?”
“Ma, don’t you dare call Sonia aunty stupid,” Siri snarled.
“Sonia was my best friend, and I loved her like a sister and…” Her mother lost her words to uncontrollable sobs.
“Why… why did he marry that woman… if he loved mamma?” Ariya’s voice was weak.
“Sonia caused Jai to lose everything he had, including me. Rajee was the only friend he had, and for years he was broken on the inside because of your mother’s death. She healed him and gave him a new life.”
“How did… how could mamma cause the accident?” Ariya sounded like a ten-year-old was asking her dead mother the question.
“She told Jai, she told him when we took her to the hospital.” Her mother wept.
Ariya was drowning in the new information. She didn’t know what to do with the newfound information.
“Ma, you had to tell us everything, now?” Siri sobbed, softly.
“I should have told you and had you talk to Ariya, but just when Ariya was falling into a rhythm, your father had the fatal accident, and there was never a good time to tell you.”
“Ma, I don’t care what happened and what your brother did for you or me, he is not invited to my wedding until Ariya wants him there,” Siri declared.
Ariya looked at her sister looking at her mom with determination.
“Siri, let’s go get ready. We should go meet Rohan’s family,” Ariya said, softly not wanting to process any of the details.
“Siri, Manju aunty will be here in forty-five minutes. You will go with her to meet Rohan’s family, and Ariya, you will go with me to meet Raj.” Ariya and Siri nodded as their mother left the suite they have been sharing.
“Ariya, I’m here if you want to talk.” Siri put her hand around her.
“I’m okay… just too much to handle. Let’s get dressed,” she said almost robotically.
Thirty minutes later, Ariya headed downstairs to the lobby to meet the
family friend’s son. Her mom wouldn’t stop singing praises about the family as they rode in the elevator.
“I need you to make him feel at home, Ariya. His parents were very supportive of me after daddy’s accident.”
“Okay, Ma.” She smiled weakly stepping out of the elevator.
“Oh, there he is… perfect timing.” Ariya watched as she walked toward the lobby. She let out a gasp when she saw part of the lobby entrance and an overly familiar, tall figure walked into the lobby. She watched in horror when he smiled at her mother and put his strong and long arms around her.
“Ariya, come here.” Her mother was excited, but Ariya stood in shock staring at Veer with his arm around her mom. The opulent lobby started to spin, and she closed her eyes pressing her fingers into her temple.
“Ariya, what’s wrong, sweetie?” Her mother cupped her face in her hands.
“Nothing, Ma. I’m okay.”
“Ariya, this is Raj. Raj, this is my younger daughter, Ariya.”
“Hello.” His voice was gravelly, and his glare threatened to incinerate her. She looked at him, worried her knees would give in and make her collapse to the floor.
Ariya’s mother signaled the attendant to take Veer’s bags from him and was leading him toward the elevator when her phone started to ring. She answered the phone and listened for a moment before stopping short, just outside the elevator.
“Raj, I need to go take care of something. Ariya will show you to your room. Sweetie, the one next to Rohan’s, remember?” Her mom smiled and turned to walk away from the elevator.
Ariya held her breath as the elevator door closed, her back pasted to the elevator wall, her eyes cast downward, refusing to look at Veer. She had a million questions to ask him, but all she could think about was to put her arms around him and cry her sorrows out.
Veer struck a conversation with the young man who was helping him carry the luggage on the trolley, but she felt his searing looks on her skin. She followed the two men down the marble floor hallway and stopped right outside the room.
“Ma’am, please go ahead.” The friendly attendant waited for her and Veer to step into the room before pushing the trolley into the room. Veer tipped the young man and followed him to the door. Ariya stood in her spot, not knowing what to do.
