Flaming Sun Collection 1: Happily Ever Afters from India Box Set (The Malhotra Bride; Meghna; The Runaway Bridegroom)

by Sundari Venkatraman

  “Mmm……heaven,” smiled Rahul.

  “And so, old man, what’ve you been doing with yourself, besides trying to impress your old cronies?” this was Sanjay.

  “Just having fun. I’ve made a lot of friends. We go pub hopping, at least a couple of nights in a week. I travel most of the long weekends. I’ve visited Paris, Berne and Oslo. Simply superb! You must be travelling a lot too, working for an international airline and all that. How come you never come to London?”

  “I get to fly regular routes to some countries only. I’m hoping to travel to London from next year,” said Sanjay.

  “That’s great. Please do bring Bhabhi and the kids along. Too bad if Meghna can’t make it—”

  Meghna threw a cloth napkin directly on Rahul’s face. “Ouch,” he yelled covering one eye and jumping to his feet.

  “What happened, Rahul? Are you badly hurt? Meghna, how could you?” Reema was shocked.

  Sanjay sat back calmly to watch the fun. He was transported to their student days when the three of them argued, fought and quarrelled over anything and everything under the sun.

  Meghna felt contrite. She put a hand on Rahul’s arm. “Rahul, I’m sorry. Does it pain too much?”

  Rahul removed the hand covering his right eye. It was obvious that he wasn’t hurt one little bit.

  “You pig, I should’ve known,” grinned Meghna.

  Rahul winked at her. He felt he was home after all these years. He had missed the easy camaraderie that existed between the three of them.

  “Where are the kids?” asked Rahul, looking around.

  “Still asleep and thank God for that. They don’t wake up before nine,” said Reema.

  “So, Meghna, tell me, what’ve you been doing with yourself these past six years, besides growing up?” asked Rahul.

  “Well, I’ve completed my BA. After that, I learnt various forms of western dance for a couple of years and now take dance classes for kids thrice a week. I also hold a job as copywriter at a website; the office is not far from here. I read a lot.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve been on a few trips to Rajasthan, Himachal and Kerala. Nothing as hep as Europe,” she grinned. She was happy for him. “I envy your overseas jaunts though,” she smiled at him without a trace of jealousy in her voice. Her large grey eyes were intently studying the changes time had wrought on Rahul, her scrutiny quite bold.

  He had been extremely tall and lanky before. Now he was broad and muscular. His biceps stood out prominently under the short sleeves of his t-shirt which stretched taut over the expanse of his mile-wide chest.

  Meghna extended a hand and touched his arm in wonder. “Rahul, what’ve you been doing to get this?” she asked.

  “I went to a gym for a couple of years since I moved to England. I wanted to build some muscle into my lanky frame.” His honey brown eyes twinkled with mirth. “Nowadays, I jog and swim alternately to keep fit. But that’s enough about me. You seem to be doing a number of things. I can understand that you dance. But teaching it? The poor tiny tots!” Rahul sighed dramatically. “The parents must be blind. If I remember right,” he screwed up his face in concentration, “you’d two left feet the only time we took you dancing. What a fiasco, eh, Sanjay!” He turned and looked at his friend, putting a hand out in high-five. Sanjay hit Rahul’s palm with his and the two laughed long and loud till tears spilled from their eyes.

  Meghna thought it was anything but amusing. She recalled the incident with all the anger and humiliation of a fifteen-year-old. Reema had no clue to what they were talking and laughing about. She looked from one to the other, her expression puzzled.

  Rahul looked at her and said, “Let me explain, Reema Bhabhi. There was this party at a friend’s—”

  “Just shut up, Rahul. I’m sure Bhabhi will be bored.” Meghna’s grey eyes spat venom.

  “But—”

  “Rahul, how could you? It’s barely two hours since you came and you’re already playing mischief,” accused Meghna, her voice shaking with temper.

  “Come on, Meghna, be a sport. It was too comical. You should be able to laugh it off after all these years, surely?” Sanjay interrupted in a calm voice, trying to pacify his sister.

  Meghna refused to be calmed. She shuddered as the past unfolded in her mind’s eye. She had been a very young fifteen and absolutely fascinated by the people swinging away to the pulsating music. Sanjay and Rahul dragged her into the small space set aside for dancers. It was crowded to the hilt. Meghna panicked as strange bodies jostled against hers. The scene turned into a nightmare as she jumped first one way and then another, trying to dodge the sea of bodies. She stepped on many-a-toe in the process. Curses and epithets followed her bungling progress. She finally hid herself in the bathroom until it was time to leave.

  “It was anything but funny,” insisted Meghna curtly before walking away. She could hear Reema scolding her husband in a hushed voice as she stepped into her bedroom.

  A tear slowly found its way down her golden face as Meghna stood at the window. She dashed an angry hand against her cheek, only to have another one coming right after the first. The shock of meeting Rahul after so many years had taken its toll.

  Life had never been the same after Rahul kissed her. Meghna unconsciously touched her lips. All these years she had waited for him to contact her. And suddenly he was here, larger than life and, she clenched her fists, teasing her mercilessly. It appeared as if the years in between ceased to exist. The tears flowed faster.

  Rahul placed a gentle hand on Meghna’s shoulder. “Meghna.” She tried to push his hand away in vain.

  “Meghna, look at me.” Rahul right hand came out to take hold of her chin and turn her head to face him.

  There was no reply as Meghna kept her gaze down, refusing to meet his teasing brown eyes.

  “It’s lovely. Your choice, I suppose,” said Rahul.

  Her head came up at that and she looked at him as if he had taken leave of his senses.

  “The floor - the pattern’s beautiful.” Rahul explained patiently.

  Meghna glared at him, confused.

  “Where are your wits, my darling? Weren’t you trying to draw my attention to the floor? I’m impressed. It looks great,” his expression was serious.

  “Rahul,” said Meghna, “You’re impossible, incorrigible and, and—”

  “And?” prompted Rahul, his eyes alight with mischief.

  Meghna just managed to stop herself from saying, ‘adorable’. The devil didn’t need her to feed his already swollen ego.

  “And nothing.”

  “Nothing?” Rahul looked at the self-confident woman in front of him. He thought of the young girl - short and plump with no confidence at all - he had left behind. His lips parted in a slow smile. “Why the tears?” He asked in a sudden change of subject.

  Meghna had been watching the morning sun’s rays playing on Rahul’s handsome face, totally absorbed in the dashing figure he cut. She didn’t hear his question.

  “Meghna,” Rahul’s voice came from near her ear, curious at her wandering attention.

  She raised startled grey eyes to his face that was too close for comfort.

  “What?”

  “Why the tears?” he repeated.

  “Forget it. It’s nothing important,” said Meghna.

  “How can I? As you mentioned earlier, it’s barely a few hours since—”

  “Please Rahul. I’m perfectly fine.” Meghna answered quickly, worried that he might leave.

  “Would you rather I stayed elsewhere?” continued Rahul, “I don’t want to upset you.”

  “Don’t be silly, Rahul. Sanjay and Bhabhi will be very upset if you stayed elsewhere.” Meghna refused to look above his shoulder.

  “And you?” A dark eyebrow rose up in query.

  Meghna didn’t reply. She was afraid of saying the wrong thing. He had seemed like the Rahul from her childhood days in the dining room. Now he appeared to be a sophisticated stranger making demands on her that she didn
’t even begin to fathom. He was like a new person. She didn’t realise that the change was more in the way she perceived things, then as a teenager and now as a young woman.

  Rahul snapped his fingers in front of Meghna’s startled face, “Earth calling Meghna,” he said, his face breaking into a wide grin.

  Meghna brought her rambling thoughts under control and looked at him questioningly.

  Rahul sighed extravagantly. “Meghna,” he said, “Do you want me to leave?”

  “Well,” answered Meghna softly, “if you stay elsewhere, how will you find time to bug me?” She tried hard to look sad. But her twinkling eyes gave her away.

  “That’s my Meghna.” Rahul put an arm around her shoulder. Thank God! For a minute there he thought he was going to be thrown out.

  Meghna was just the perfect name for her. Her grey eyes reminded him of dark, rain-bearing clouds. The lightning temper in her eyes and the thunder in her expression added to his conviction. Just now the grey eyes were smiling guilelessly up at him.

  The door suddenly opened and a pint-sized tornado hurled itself towards Meghna, “Aunty,” squealed a childish voice.

  Meghna slipped from under the muscular arm holding her and went on her knees to greet her small niece, Sasha.

  “Good morning, Sweetie pie,” said Meghna as she gathered the bouncing body into her arms.

  “Good Mornin’, Aunty Me’na,” the baby lisped before giving Meghna a loud, wet kiss on her cheek. Rahul watched enviously as Meghna turned her other cheek to the child.

  Meghna got up with her niece in her arms and turned around to introduce Rahul.

  But Sasha had already recognised him. She thrust out her chubby arms to him, “Unca Ra’ul, Unca Ra’ul,” she chanted.

  Rahul grinned at the baby as he took the excited bundle in his arms. He let out a sigh of pure joy as Sasha hugged him close, her plump arms wound tightly around his neck. Rahul laughed merrily as he pulled her closer and buried his face against the small shoulder, inhaling the sweet baby smell.

  It was a mind riveting experience and quite new to him.

  Meghna turned as she heard the more sober, two-year-old Rehaan walk in. “Hi, sweetheart,” she greeted her tiny nephew, bending down to kiss him. He replied seriously, “Hi, Aunty.” He didn’t bother with her name as he couldn’t pronounce it. He was an extremely cautious young man.

  He stared solemnly at the tall stranger holding Sasha. “’Sha,” he called out to his sister.

  “Rehaan,” shrieked Sasha from her high perch, “Unca Ra’ul,” she introduced.

  Rahul went down on his knees, gently letting go of Sasha. The little boy studied the stranger unblinkingly for a few minutes before giving him a wide grin. Meghna was astonished as Rehaan was not a friendly child, especially with strangers.

  Rahul grinned back at Rehaan as the young man commanded in his baby voice, “Unca, lift Re’aan.” Rahul pulled him close and lifted him off the floor as Rehaan continued to tell him something. Though fascinated with the baby talk, Rahul looked at Meghna helplessly as he couldn’t understand any of it.

  “He wants you to sit with him at breakfast. Do feel honoured,” interpreted Meghna.

  “Oh!” Rahul turned to the little guy in his arms. “Sure, my friend, let’s go.”

  Meghna watched Rahul leave her room with Rehaan in his arms and Sasha skipping along beside him, clinging to his hand trustingly.

  A small sigh escaped her as Meghna turned around to have a shower and get ready for the day.

  Rahul placed Rehaan on his high baby chair and turned to lift Sasha on to hers. He was fascinated by the little girl who looked like a miniature of her aunt.

  The serious Rehaan ate meticulously. The naughty Sasha dropped food all around and some of it landed on her nose. Rahul lifted a napkin and gently wiped the tiny, button nose while the child gurgled with pleasure.

  Sanjay came out of his bedroom, dressed for work and the kids screamed for his attention. Dad was special as he was away so often. Sanjay grabbed the apron his wife was wearing and hurriedly tied it around his suit to save it from grubby hands. Rahul watched enviously as the kids bonded with their father.

  “You need a suit of armour rather than that apron.” Rahul smiled at his friend.

  “I know,” grimaced Sanjay as he gently untangled his tie from the death grip Rehaan had on it. He ruffled his son’s hair affectionately.

  “Daddy has to go to office,” he explained patiently to the two-year-old. “We’ll go swimming in the evening.”

  “Simming, simming,” chorused the children as Sasha banged the spoon rhythmically against her empty milk mug.

  Sanjay spoke to Rahul, “I’ll see you in the evening, yaar. I need to fly today but will take a few days off from tomorrow.”

  “Just chill Sanjay, I’m okay. I’ll take the kids down to the garden I saw on my way up, if it’s alright with you Bhabhi,” he said, looking at Reema.

  The children’s heads cocked up as they realised that Rahul was talking about them and made the right connection with the word ‘garden’.

  “Unca Ra’ul, garden,” they went on and on.

  Reema looked at their guest in mock amazement and said, “Are you sure? Neither my kids nor I’ll let you go without holding you to that promise,” she grinned.

  Meghna walked in all dressed up and ready for her dance classes. She wore a leotard that fit her like a second skin and a sleeveless, hip-length leather jacket.

  She took a cloth napkin, wet it under the sink and walked purposely to her niece and nephew. Rehaan submitted quietly as she wiped his mouth and hands.

  Sasha protested long and loud as if she was being slaughtered. Rahul took the napkin from Meghna’s hand.

  “Sasha,” the child looked up, rebellion in the large grey eyes that so reminded him of her aunt. He handed the napkin to her. Reema had already removed the plate, mug and spoon out of harm’s way. “Come on darling, let’s show everyone how well you can wipe your hands and face.” Sasha rose to the challenge beautifully and wiped her face and hands carefully and neatly.

  “Good girl,” the compliment brought a smile of delight to the cherub’s face.

  Meghna turned around to say ‘Bye’ to everyone. Rahul caught her eye and grinned broadly.

  “How do you commute to work, Meghna?” asked Rahul.

  “On my motorbike,” answered Meghna.

  “What?” Rahul was startled to say the least. He turned to look at Sanjay for confirmation. His friend stood grinning as he nodded. “Is that safe?”

  “Why not?” Meghna was quick to the defence, her voice angry.

  “Well, you know how the traffic is, and—”

  “You mean you’d ne’er ride a bike on the Mumbai roads?” Meghna asked sarcastically.

  “I’m different, Meghna. You—”

  Meghna didn’t let him finish what he was going to say. Her eyes blazed like thunder as she walked up to Rahul and stood in front of him, her hands on her hips. She suddenly poked a finger at his chest and said, “You male chauvinist! In what way is it different?”

  “Well,” Rahul pretended to consider her question seriously. “A bike’s quite heavy for a lady, Meghna.” He turned to Sanjay for support.

  Sanjay saw the genuine concern on his friend’s face and said, “Rahul, I don’t think you should worry. Meghna’s an expert. Do you think I’d let her ride a bike otherwise?”

  Rahul was convinced by Sanjay’s words. He turned to Meghna with mischief dancing in his eyes, “This I must see.”

  “Get lost,” Meghna flounced away in anger and catching hold of Sanjay’s arm, dragged him to the doorway. “Let’s go, Sanjay.”

  Sanjay lifted his hand in farewell to his family and Rahul before walking to the lift with his little sister.

  On their way down, Sanjay put his arm around Meghna and asked her, “Happy?” He knew Meghna was deeply attracted to Rahul.

  Meghna raised sparkling eyes to her brother’s face. “Yep,” she said in a chee
rful voice.

  “Why don’t you also take a few days off, Meghna?” asked Sanjay.

  “Let’s see, the office should be fine, but the dance classes,” she shrugged, “I’ll check.”

  “You do that.” They had reached the basement where Sanjay moved to his Toyota Fortuner and Meghna to her Hero Honda.

  Six

  Meghna tried her best to control herself from grinning ear-to-ear on her way to the dance classes near Five Gardens at Dadar. She was glad that no one could see her expression thanks to her helmet.

  What a wonderful surprise to be woken up by Rahul. Cheeky Devil! He hadn’t changed one little bit - always one for pranks and practical jokes, mischief gleaming out of his eyes at all waking hours. He had dragged the sober Sanjay into many-a-scrape in those days. Sushma had never had the heart to scold him despite all the complaints she received. People never spoke to his mother, Rajni, about him. Shyam Sinha was always busy travelling on business and had felt relieved at Rahul finding a surrogate mother in Sushma.

  Meghna sighed with pleasure. Rahul was back. All the years of waiting were at an end. She couldn’t really remember when she fell in love with him. It had been gradual as she became an adult.

  She reached the Parsi Club with ten minutes to spare before the class. Prashant was waiting for her inside the compound as usual. Meghna removed her helmet to give him an extra wide smile.

  “Good Morning, Prashant.”

  “Morning, Meghna!” Prashant taught at the dance classes along with her. They had met during a dance show on TV they had taken part in. While both were above average, neither had won an award. They had hit it off from the first round and had decided to open their own dance classes. The Parsi Club at Dadar was ideal as she lived in Sion and he stayed at Wadala.

  Meghna saw the curiosity in his eyes and realised that she was grinning way too much. Without saying anything, she tucked her arm in his and walked towards the class.

  They went to the main hall where the sessions were held. Their students ranged from age three to ten. There were twenty in all for the class from ten to eleven in the morning - thrice a week. The other three days there was another batch of twenty. The class number stood at twenty only because Prashant and Meghna refused to take more.