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

by Sundari Venkatraman

  She threw herself heart and soul into the class while she realised that Prashant appeared thoroughly distracted. She first felt irritated with him and later sorry.

  When the kids left, she went up to him to apologise for her earlier rudeness. She called out, “Prashant.”

  He turned around to glare at her, his eyes spitting venom. Meghna was shocked to see this and turned away, her shoulders sagging in defeat. She walked away, dejected, as she guessed that their friendship had turned sour.

  She had half an hour to wait for the next batch. Usually, she and Prashant spent the break chatting amicably over a cup of coffee. But today—Meghna shook her head to clear it. ‘Just forget the immature fool,’ she admonished herself as she took her mobile out. She dialled Rahul’s cell. He lifted it on the second ring.

  “Hello, Rahul.”

  “Hi, Honey Miss me already?” came the soft, tormenting voice, right in her ear.

  “Yeah,” was the astonishing reply, her voice slightly wobbly with emotion.

  This disturbed Rahul. “What’s it, Sweetheart? Something’s upset you.” That was a statement, not a question.

  “When’ll you be back?” Meghna sounded forlorn.

  “Give me five minutes, okay?”

  Meghna looked at her watch to verify the time. Twenty five minutes were left of her break. “Okay.”

  “See you Honey.” Rahul disconnected the phone. He was standing near some shops at Dadar Circle when Meghna’s call came. He had gone around to Don Bosco High School where he had studied as a kid. He had walked around aimlessly for a while, trying to recapture the feeling of nostalgia, basically killing time. He had been looking for an excuse to get back to Meghna. Her call had come as a surprise.

  He turned to look at the flower shop. He had not bought flowers for anybody before. But he remembered reading somewhere that women loved receiving flowers. He thought hard, trying to recall which one. Roses He snapped his fingers, startling a passer-by. Yeah, roses. That’s what he would buy for Meghna to cheer her up. Pleased with himself on reaching this decision he parked the bike and walked closer to the shop.

  Only to frown in confusion. He had felt pleased too soon. He hadn’t bargained for so many colours and variety in roses. What should he do now? He stared hard at the bouquets, scowling ferociously. The formal arrangements didn’t appeal to him one bit. They appeared too artificial. He looked at the roses kept in buckets of water, segregated by colour and size. He looked at the creamy roses with the baby pink centres. They looked so fresh and beautiful and guileless, reminding him of Meghna. He decided to take the risk and asked the shopkeeper to tie twenty of them into a bunch, “No plastic, please,” he stated very firmly. After paying for them, Rahul took the cluster of roses and got on the bike, hoping he had made the right choice.

  It took him barely three minutes to reach the club. Meghna was waiting near the entrance to the hall. Was she glad to see Rahul He got off the bike and she noticed the roses in his hand in amazement.She hoped they were for her. Actually, she was sure. But Rahul and flowers Shewould never have associated him with such an extravagant gesture But then, did she know him at all?

  “Rahul,” Meghna stretched out her arms to him in greeting, her face pale and strained.

  Rahul walked up to her and seeing that they had no audience, bent down to give her a brief but firm kiss on her lips.

  “For you, Honey,” he thrust the roses at her, a trifle embarrassed.

  “Oh, RahulThank you so much. This is a real surprise.” Meghna buried her face in the soft, fragrant blooms, finding solace from the pain Prashant had inflicted on her that morning. “A lovely one”

  “Believe me, I’m amazed at myself,” came the muttered reply from the not-so-cool Rahul. Meghna’s face broke into a smile as she saw dark red creeping up his neck and further on to his cheeks.

  “Oh, Rahul You’re a romantic. I don’t believe this,” her voice exploded with glee.

  “Romantic, my foot. I’m no sissy.” But colour continued to ride high on the embarrassed Rahul’s face.

  “Sissy you’re not, you Macho But I do think you’re a romantic at heart.” Meghna leaned forward to plant a noisy kiss on his lean hard cheek and continued, “Thank you so much for the roses, Rahul. You’ll never know how much they’ve cheered me up. They look so lovely too.” She touched a gentle hand to the creamy pink centre of a rose, enjoying the feel of the soft petals against her fingers.

  “They reminded me of you,” came the soft voice, close to her ears, his confidence regained in no time at all.

  “What?” Meghna turned to look at him, startled. It was one thing teasing him, calling him a romantic and quite another, his coming up with a comment packed with passion.

  “The roses,” said Rahul. “They looked so innocent and beautiful, just like you.” His seductive voice continued to coo in her ears, cheering her up immensely.

  “Would you mind awfully, sitting through the second session?” Her eyes begged him to not mind.

  “Not at all, Sweetheart. I’d love to watch you dance with your two left feet,” said Rahul, tongue-in-cheek.

  Meghna stared at him. Yeah, it was the same romantic-turned-devil, in a matter of seconds. She realised that she liked it. Very much, in fact, being romanticised a minute, teased the next. She grinned at him before dragging him into the hall with her.

  Prashant was sulking in the opposite corner.

  “What gives?” asked Rahul.

  “He’d somehow got the impression that he and I were a couple.” Meghna’s voice turned angry as she recalled their conversation of the morning.

  Rahul’s hackles rose, his stance possessive, “And what did you tell him?”

  “To get lost. What else?”

  “But why did he get that impression in the first place? I’m sure there must have been some kind of signal on your part for him to think that.” Rahul had never thought of himself as a sucker for punishment. But then he hadn’t realised that he was a romantic at heart, either. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from asking questions about Prashant’s relationship with Meghna.

  “Rahul, how can you think that of me? Of course I’ve not encouraged him in any way. We are friends, that’s all.” Meghna felt tearful.

  “Then why did he think it was more than that, Meghna?”

  Meghna glared at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “How would I know, you big brute? How should I know in what way the diabolical mind of a man works? I’m an ordinary, simple-minded woman,” she bit out at him.

  Rahul threw back his head and laughed, “Meghna, you and ordinary! You ought to be joking. Have you looked in the mirror recently?” It was obvious that he didn’t mean that as a compliment. He sounded resentful actually.

  Yeah, Rahul was jealous of Prashant. From the moment he had met him in the morning, he had been feeling irritated. It was obvious that Meghna spent a few hours with him every day and her camaraderie with him was apparent. That was more due to her ingenuous approach to people didn’t strike Rahul. He found her extremely attractive and hence presumed that the whole male population barring her brother must find her charming too. And now it seemed that his suspicions were very much true. Prashant was attracted to her.

  “Rahul,” Meghna’s voice was pleading. “Not you too, Rahul. I’ve never encouraged him, I swear. He has asked me out on a date, umpteen times. I’ve never gone out with him, even once.”

  “Then it must have struck you that he’s attracted. Otherwise, he’ll not want to date you,” pointed out Rahul logically.

  “Fair enough. But in what way does that conclude that I gave him reason to think that we had something going?” Meghna countered.

  “Well, evidently you didn’t think of breaking off your partnership,” said Rahul.

  Meghna was stunned. “But why, Rahul? Our profession’s in no way connected to our personal lives. Why should I break off from working with Prashant when we get along so well during classes?”
r />   “Meghna, you don’t apparently know how the masculine mind works. He didn’t need any other motivation.”

  “You’re right, Rahul,” said Meghna, bitterness tingeing her voice, “I definitely don’t understand the male mind. What’d you do if a female assistant fell for you but was excellent at her job, throw her out of her job or leave yours to join elsewhere?” she asked.

  “That’s different, Meghna.”

  “How? What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, or haven’t you heard?” Meghna’s voice rose with her temper. She had been spoiling for a fight since the shabby treatment meted out by Prashant. Who better to argue with than dear old Rahul?

  “Sweetheart,” Rahul’s voice softened as hers rose, “I didn’t mean it quite that way. I—”

  “Then what did you mean?” Meghna’s incensed voice interrupted him.

  “If you’ll let me finish.” Rahul waited for her to say something and when she didn’t, continued, “In a large office, there are too many employees. So the chances of my interacting with this imaginary female assistant are very low. But here, it’s only you and Prashant. You surely spend a lot of time together.” He could not quite control the envy from creeping into his voice. “So there it is, the present situation.”

  Meghna calmed down a bit to think with a clearer head and understood his sound reasoning. “But this is such great fun,” she said wistfully.

  “I know, my darling Meghna. But if the talent’s there with you, I’m sure you can manage to find students anywhere you go.”

  “I don’t believe this, Rahul. Is it really you? I was sure that you didn’t have great faith in my talent. What with my two left feet?” she asked, her eyes gleaming with challenge.

  Rahul grinned down at her. “But I can see that you’re extremely graceful, Meghna. And your classes are packed to the hilt.” Rahul was sincere in his praise.

  Now, that was a compliment indeed! Meghna’s eyes lit up in delight. First the roses, now this. What was happening to Rahul? She didn’t care. Whatever it was, it was awesome. She gave him a grin before hugging him tightly. He made her feel so much better. The argument they had over Prashant helped her see things in a better perspective.

  Rahul sat back to watch in fascination as Meghna taught her class the intricate steps of the jazzercise. They swayed to the music, their feet tapping rhythmically. It was all he could do not to join the group. But he didn’t get up from his chair as he was sure that he had annoyed Prashant enough for one day.

  The one hour went by on wings and Meghna couldn’t wait to leave. She avoided Prashant as he moved towards her. She tucked the strands of hair that had come loose and holding on to Rahul’s arm, moved towards the entrance once the students left.

  Rahul stopped her outside the doorway and asked, “Are you sure, Honey? Don’t you think you should make your peace with Prashant? You’ve a class tomorrow.”

  Meghna stared straight ahead, her expression mutinous. Damn Prashant Why did he have to be such a pain? She turned around to listen to Rahul’s advice and caught Prashant staring at the two of them.

  She walked over to him and putting out her hand, said, “Friends?”

  Prashant turned away for a few seconds. It was obvious he was having a tough time accepting Rahul in Meghna’s life. He swallowed the lump that rose in his throat, took the hand she offered and replied in a gruff voice, “Friends.” He looked up at Rahul and gave him yet another killing look before walking towards his scooter.

  Rahul raised an eyebrow in enquiry, offering the bike keys to her. She shook her head and waited for him to start the engine, climbing behind him to hold on to him tightly, ensuring that the roses were not crushed in the process.

  Nine

  Sanjay and Reema opted to take a nap in the afternoon along with the kids. Meghna was in her room setting her hair for the evening. Rahul was trying to get through to his father in London. A gentle smile touched his lips as he thought of his father. Shyam Sinha must be at his computer. He worked tirelessly, sometimes overdoing it. But Rahul understood and shared his passion for hard work.

  Shyam Sinha lifted his cell phone as it rang for the sixth time. He had been too deeply engrossed in the excel sheet he’d been studying and it took him a minute to come down to the present.

  “Hello,” he said into the phone, without checking the caller ID.

  “Hi Dad. How are you?”

  “Rahul, what a pleasant surprise I’m fine, my son. How are you? How about Sanjay and his family? And how is his sister, I forget her name?”

  “Meghna, Dad.” Rahul tuned into his father’s last question, the matter closest to his heart. “All of us are just great, Dad. So, how’re you doing? Working hard as usual, I suppose. What news on Mom? Has she been bothering you?”

  “Not her, Rahul. She’s fine. But that girl Aisha, she’s been here a couple of times, enquiring about you.” His father chuckled as he recalled her visits. “She always comes in, bossing around the place as though she’s already the youngest director’s wife,” he teased. It was obvious where Rahul’s mischievous tendencies came from.

  “Dad,” Rahul’s voice was alarmed. “I hope she’s not stepped on anyone’s toes.” He had told his secretary, Caroline Sanders, to send Aisha away in case she turned up again. His mind went back to the day she had come into his office to meet him. Rahul shuddered.

  “Not to worry, son.” Shyam’s voice brought him back to the present. “Caroline’s quite capable of handling her. So, you tell me. How are you enjoying yourself?”

  “Just fantastic, Dad.” Rahul’s enthusiasm came across the phone line, widening the smile on his father’s face. “Sanjay’s kids are too cute. They are best friends of mine now and Reema Bhabhi’s one wonderful hostess. I do envy Sanjay, Dad.” There was a wistful note in his voice.

  “So, I can expect to become a Grandpa pretty soon,” declared Shyam.

  “Aw, Dad, don’t be ridiculous. You’ll need to become a father-in-law first.”

  “As long as you realise that, my dear son. Did I hear a wistful note in your voice just now when you were talking about Sanjay’s family?”

  “Well, Dad,” Rahul sounded sheepish, “I feel a mite envious. Holding Sasha and Rehaan is such a wonderful experience, you know. And—” Rahul hesitated.

  “And,” prompted Shyam, “there’s someone. So tell me about her. Is it Meghna, Sanjay’s sister?” Rahul’s father was not only intelligent, but meticulously logical as well. He had honed in on the change in Rahul’s voice as he spoke her name and also the way he had jumped to answer Shyam’s question about Sanjay’s sister first.

  Rahul couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice as he replied, “Yeah, Dad. I’m attracted to her immensely. In fact, I think I’m in love. But—”

  “Congratulations, Rahul. I’m so glad for you. So tell me, how can I help you? Do you want me to talk to Sanjay, asking for his sister’s hand? Or—”

  “Don’t rush me Dad. I’m not sure I’m ready for the commitment of marriage. Please Dad. Try to understand. Being tied to someone for life terrifies me.”

  Shyam could understand his son’s sentiments. His broken marriage to Rajni was the reason for this. He sighed. “Listen to me, Rahul. Marriages like mine aren’t quite the norm, where the partners are totally unsuited. You can blame neither your mother nor me completely. It’s a combination of circumstances. Maybe she’d have led a happier life with another man.”

  Rahul wondered at his father’s big heart. He knew his mother and what value she had for people. “Then how come neither of you sought divorce? Why stick to such a farce of a marriage?” Rahul’s voice was acrid as he wondered which would have been worse, a broken family or the estranged one they had become.

  “Rahul,” Shyam’s voice was soft, “Neither of us found the need for divorce. I for one, am very satisfied with my life the way it is. I adore you, my son and my career means a lot to me. I’m extremely contented. As for your mother—”

  “She’
s financially more than secure,” interrupted Rahul fiercely. “And she has her friends. I get the picture, Dad.”

  “Good. You should understand that this is not necessarily the case in every home. Ours was not a love match, son. Our parents arranged our wedding. Whereas, you and Meghna should definitely have a better understanding of each other if you’re both in love.”

  “I get you, Dad. I’ll work on it. And, Dad, thanks for the advice. Love you.”

  “Any time, Rahul. I love you too, my son and miss you. I hope you come home soon with a bride to warm my heart.”

  “And Dad, please keep Aisha away from our office. She’s getting to be a menace.”

  “Not to worry, son. Take care and bye.”

  “Bye, Dad.” Rahul disconnected his cell phone, his thoughts on Aisha. She had come to his office the day before he left for Mumbai.

  Rahul was stepping out of his cabin for a luncheon appointment with a client when Aisha threw herself against him, her arms clinging to his neck.

  “Rahul,” she purred, “Darling Rahul, where’ve you been hiding? I’ve missed you so,” she pouted.

  Rahul wrestled hard with himself, trying his level best to keep the disgust from his face. He put his hands on her forearms, striving to extract himself from her clinging hold. “Hi, Aisha, this is indeed a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you.”

  “And what if you’d been? Do you think I’d have met you?”

  Not in a hundred years, thought Rahul. He admitted that she was very shrewd. But subtle, she wasn’t.

  “Tell me, what brings you here?” Rahul moved out of her tenacious hold, turning towards his office, breathing deeply to get rid of the smell of her cloying perfume.

  “Come on, Rahul. Do you want me to spell it out to you?” Aisha followed him into his office, closing the door firmly behind her. “You must talk to that woman who calls herself your secretary. She doesn’t know who I am. Rude woman She tried to stop me from meeting you, my darling Rahul. Please tell her that we’re engaged to be married. She—”