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

by Sundari Venkatraman

  Abhimanyu smiled as he said, “Don’t you worry about that Ranveer. You’ve trained us all too well to hold the fort for a while. You go on. Just one question - do you plan to visit Chanda?” Somehow Abhimanyu wasn’t for the idea.

  Ranveer shook his head as he said, “No, I’m planning to go back home. Let me get my wedding annulled and await Chanda’s return. Don’t you think that’d be a sensible course of action? I’ll go crazy waiting the week out here.”

  Abhimanyu smiled, seeing the determination on Ranveer’s face. At least, he had a goal to look forward to now.

  “In the meanwhile, Abhi, I’d be grateful to you if you can get rid of Shikha. Give her a month’s severance. I don’t think she’s adding any value to RS Software. What do you think?”

  There wasn’t a peep from his Executive Assistant. “Abhi?”

  Abhimanyu looked at Ranveer. “Since it seems to be a day for confessions, I have something to tell you. I’m in love with Shikha.”

  Ranveer was startled, to put it mildly. He was glad that he hadn’t said anything demeaning about his secretary. He definitely didn’t want to hurt or offend Abhimanyu.

  “She has a drinking problem. I’m trying to work out a way to get her treated. Do you mind—?”

  “Take your time, Abhimanyu. I’m sure you know best how to deal with the situation.” He got up, indicating the meeting was over. His mind was already planning his trip back to his hometown. He decided to drive down in his car as it would give him some time to think of his plan of action.

  Thirty

  Ranveer left the office immediately. He just wasn’t in the mood to do any work and couldn’t quite face being there without Chanda’s presence. He was quite amazed at how he had got used to having her around in just a few weeks. Pushing his worry to the back of his mind, he concentrated on the mundane tasks at hand.

  He went to his car service centre and had his BMW completely fine tuned. He later got the petrol tank filled up before going home to his row house. He booted his computer and checked out the route that he would be taking and updated the GPS on his cell phone. He sent some important emails that couldn’t be postponed and set up the ‘vacation responder’ on his email as he wasn’t sure whether he would have internet access at Jaswantpura. Of course, he planned to take his laptop along with him.

  Ranveer meticulously packed a suitcase full of clothes. It would take at least two days of driving before he reached his village which was 700-odd miles from Delhi. He decided to leave Tuesday morning and drive on till he reached Ajmer. It would take him anything between six to seven hours to reach the city. Going online, he booked himself a room at Mansingh Palace, Ajmer. He had been to the five-star group’s hotel in Agra and liked the service. Since he would be driving throughout the day over two days, Ranveer was very particular that he got a good night’s sleep. After receiving confirmation of his room booking, Ranveer got up to get some coffee. His stomach growled in protest as he hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was past seven.

  He went down and was relieved to see his cook at the kitchen counter making dinner. “Maharajji, will that take long?” he asked as he caught the subtle aroma of biryani. The cook turned to look at Ranveer and nodded. “Biryani aur sabzi thaiyaar hain. Garma garam roti abhi ban jaayega do minute mein,” he assured Ranveer before going back to kneading the dough.

  Ranveer gave up the idea of having coffee and walked to the washroom on the ground floor. He came back to the kitchen and was pleased to see that a roti was already ready. He took a plate and served himself some food and went and sat in the hall in front of the TV. When he got up to serve himself a second helping, Ranveer told the Maharaj that he needn’t come for the rest of the week. The older man nodded his head before asking, “Masala chaas banadoon?”

  Ranveer nodded at him before saying, “Aap bhi khaana khaalijiye.” The cook brought a tall glass of buttermilk and placed it on the table in front of Ranveer. He smiled, thanked the young man politely for the offer but refused to eat. He took his leave and left Ranveer’s home, shutting the front door quietly behind him.

  The long evening stretched out in front of Ranveer. He sat in front of the TV switching channels, not able to concentrate on any of the shows. He couldn’t help but be aware that Chanda hadn’t bothered to call him for the third day in a row.

  SHIKHA SPENT THE WHOLE DAY brooding at her desk. She was so angry with Ranveer and the absent Chanda that she wanted to throw something. Keeping Ranveer’s warning well in mind, she controlled her temper and set out to work. She was concentrating so hard that she didn’t realise it was lunch time until she looked up to see that most of the seats in the office were empty.

  Not having any friends in the office, she was still quite cut up that even Abhimanyu hadn’t bothered to call her for lunch. Ranveer hadn’t got back to his cabin and she presumed that he was still sulking in the conference room. On her way from the washroom, Shikha noticed that Abhimanyu was in his cabin on the left side of the office. She pushed the door without knocking and asked him, “Have you had lunch?” She didn’t bother with any kind of a greeting as she didn’t think much of Abhimanyu.

  Abhimanyu looked up from his computer to see Shikha sitting on the corner of his desk. She reminded him of a spoilt brat. Many of her mannerisms suggested a drastic need for attention. And then there was this sadness lurking at the very back of her eyes. Hearing the way she spoke so confidently, it would take a very mature person to note these and Abhimanyu was definitely that.

  He took a sip of water from the bottle near him and took his own time answering her. Shikha tapped her foot impatiently against the side of his table. She so wanted to shake up his calm demeanour. She didn’t bother to make the effort as she was quite aware that it would be a very difficult task. If she had mentioned that to Abhimanyu, he could have easily advised her that she had come the closest to shaking him up in all his thirty-two years.

  “Have you?” he asked, aware that she hadn’t.

  “Why would I ask you if I’ve already had lunch?” she asked him rudely.

  “Oh,” drawled Abhimanyu, getting up from his chair, “you wanted my company. Let’s go.”

  “As if I care,” said Shikha as she stepped out of the cabin ahead of him. She gritted her teeth in anger. Why had she gone to ask him? The answer was obvious. She hadn’t bothered to get friendly with the rest of the staff. She thought that they were all too young and immature for her taste. Her eye was on the big chance and hence she had cultivated a relationship-of-sorts with Ranveer. She told herself that she put up with Abhimanyu only because he was Ranveer’s Executive Assistant and she needed to do a lot of coordination with him.

  Abhimanyu had a mysterious smile on his face as he watched the slender woman walking ahead of him. She could be quite beautiful if she was stripped of the permanent sneer on her face. It would be a challenge but he was very much up to it.

  He walked ahead and held her elbow as she moved fast. She turned to look at Abhimanyu in shock. The man had guts, if nothing else. Not able to shake him off, Shikha walked with him to the elevator, her jaw aching with tension. They got in and went to the canteen. There were only about thirty people in the large canteen. Most of the staff in the building had already had their lunch and left as it was past 2.30 pm.

  Shikha and Abhimanyu got their lunch trays and went to sit at a corner table. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Abhimanyu asked, “Would you like to go out for dinner tonight?”

  “Wouldn’t your wife mind? You can’t spend all your free time with me,” she said sarcastically.

  Abhimanyu caught on immediately that she wanted to know whether he was married. He couldn’t imagine Shikha asking him a direct question. She would rather die than admit to being curious about someone’s personal life. And he was happy that she wanted to verify his single status.

  Shikha’s jaw dropped for the second time that day when he replied, tongue-firmly-in-cheek, “I’ll divorc
e her if she interferes too much.”

  She stared at him wondering whether to take him seriously or otherwise. She had been quite confident that he was a bachelor and just wanted to be objectionable. But his reply shook her up. Then she noticed the twinkle in his eyes and realised that she had been had. If anyone had told Shikha that Abhimanyu had a sense of humour, she would have laughed at them. But to her amazement, Shikha realised that the man in front of her not only had a funny side to him, he also knew how to laugh at himself. That’s when she decided to have dinner with him and find out more. There was also the reason that Ranveer had so obviously slipped out of her fingers, presuming that he had ever been held in them in the first place.

  ON THE SAME DAY, Chanda was in her hotel room in Mount Abu. The facilities were quite basic and she was on her way to a solitary meal. She was a resilient young woman who was also quite optimistic. She pushed away her problems to the back of her mind and decided to make the most of her holiday. There was a group of people going on a trek first thing on Tuesday morning. She decided to join them and booked herself on the tour.

  When thoughts of Ranveer intruded, Chanda crossed her fingers and kept her faith in Lakshman. He had promised to sort everything out and she knew that her brother would. And she refused to feel guilty about not contacting Ranveer - not before sorting her marriage to Veerendra out. While the situation had been the same the last week, the shock of seeing her father-in-law had made Chanda rethink the situation. If and when she spoke to Ranveer, it would be as a free woman and not otherwise. On that thought, Chanda went to bed and had a peaceful night’s sleep.

  Thirty-one

  Both Meera and Mohan had taken astrologer Vidyasagar at his word and were very sure that Veerendra would be in Delhi. Ram and Lakhan somehow convinced their parents that they would go to Delhi and do their best to locate Chanda’s long lost husband. They didn’t mention Ranveer to them. The duo’s trip to Delhi had two purposes - to look for Veerendra and also to meet Ranveer.

  They flew to Delhi on Monday and checked into a hotel. They decided to give Ranveer a surprise visit first thing on Tuesday morning. In the meanwhile, they contacted Samrat, the private detective highly recommended by the twins’ friend. Ram thought that a name like Samrat sounded quite fraudulent, but Bharat’s friend had insisted that the man was a genius.

  Both the brothers were rather skeptical when Samrat agreed to meet them immediately. From what they knew about the man, he worked on his own and sometimes hired a couple of guys as freelancers. How could he be free the moment they contacted him? Not left with much of a choice, they invited the detective over to their hotel at 7 pm.

  Samrat arrived a few minutes before time and the receptionist called their room at five minutes to seven to announce his arrival. Lakshman looked at Ram askance before requesting the receptionist to send their guest up.

  The man who entered their room appeared nothing like a sleuth. Their idea of one was that he would be tall and muscular, strong and fit enough to combat bad guys. But this man standing in front of them was thin and nondescript. Would he be suited for the kind of work they had in mind for him? ‘Well, procrastinating will get them nowhere,’ decided Ram before offering their guest a seat. Well manners prompted Lakshman to provide Samrat with a glass of water before they spoke to him.

  After the introductions, Ram said, “Actually Mr. Samrat, this case might be a bit complicated as it’s being opened after fourteen years. By the way, is Samrat your first name or last?” he asked, not able to control himself.

  A twinkle appeared in the detective’s eyes, catching the attention of the brothers. So far, Samrat had appeared like a simpleton. Suddenly, his eyes shone with intelligence that seemed to light up his dark face. He grinned, his teeth glowing white. His whole personality changed right there in front of their eyes. Ram stared at Samrat, amazed at the transformation while he waited for his reply. He eyed his brother, wondering whether he had noticed the change too. Of course Lakshman had. He too waited silently. The brothers always worked this way on any project. While Ram asked the questions, Lakshman watched silently, observing things cleverly.

  “It’s neither, Mr. Maheshwari. The name my parents gave me is Rajesh and my surname is Khanna. Can you imagine anyone taking me seriously if I announce myself as Rajesh Khanna? The first couple of ventures that I tried to pick up fell apart just because of this. That’s when I coined this name for myself. Samrat seems to work well with everyone.” The visitor’s face was serious once again.

  By now, both Ram and Lakshman were convinced that they had got the right man for the job and explained everything to him. They briefed him on Chanda’s marriage, Veerendra’s subsequent disappearance and the information they had gathered from the astrologer. They also handed over a faded wedding photograph of Chanda and Veerendra and another close shot of Veerendra given to them by his father.

  Samrat told them that he would need a full week, all expenses paid with separate fees for the complete project. He quoted figures and took an advance. Just as he got up to leave, he was surprised to hear Lakshman speak. Samrat had laid a bet with himself that the younger one wouldn’t open his mouth that evening. Of course he didn’t mind losing it as he heard the question, “What do you think are the chances of locating Veerendra? I know it’s quite early yet. But you must’ve an idea as you obviously come with a rich experience in this line.”

  Samrat rubbed his unshaven jaw, thinking hard. It wasn’t that he was confused - only how much to tell the client. Both the Maheshwaris seemed quite smart and that’s why he decided to give them the full truth. “Well, presuming that Veerendra is alive and hasn’t left the country, it shouldn’t be too difficult to trace him. I can probably do that in 3-4 days if he’s definitely in Delhi. I’ll search here first as your astrologer is so sure about it. If otherwise—” he shrugged, “only time will tell. Either way, I’ll give you my answer latest within a week.”

  Lakshman nodded his head, quite confident now that the search was in capable hands. He smiled one of his rare smiles before saying, “Would you like to dine with us?”

  Samrat shook his head, a polite smile on his face. “Thank you, but no. As my life’s going to be quite hectic over the next week, I’d rather spend today evening with my wife and kids,” he said before taking his leave.

  Ram and Lakshman agreed that Samrat was probably the best guy for finding Veerendra and went down to dinner, satisfied that they had done the right thing.

  THE NEXT MORNING FOUND SAMRAT at Chanda’s college and later at her hostel. He was out to check all the people that she associated with. He had decided to go on the astrologer’s hunch that Chanda spent a lot of time in probably the same premises as her errant husband. He knew that the search wasn’t going to be easy as the chances were bright that Veerendra Singh Choudhry had changed his name as well as his surname. Then there was this problem of not knowing how he looked. A grin spread over Samrat’s face as he was thrilled to note that this was probably the most intriguing case he had had to solve in the fifteen years of his detective career. He so enjoyed a challenge.

  RAM AND LAKSHMAN REACHED Chanda’s temporary office. RS Software Pvt. Ltd. was on the seventh floor of the building. They waited at the reception after giving their names. They had told the receptionist Ruma that they were there to meet Ranveer Singh and they didn’t have an appointment. Since Ranveer was quite informal and didn’t mind meeting people who popped up at his office some times, the receptionist called his room. It was 9.30 am and Ruma was confident that her boss must already be in his office. The phone rang and rang and no one picked up. With a small frown on her face, Ruma had an office boy bring tea to the two men waiting to meet Ranveer.

  She rang a couple of more times more and not getting through, Ruma called Shikha’s cabin with reluctance. She did her best to keep out of Ranveer’s secretary’s way. The older woman had a lashing tongue and Ruma wasn’t one who was keen to be at the receiving end. Shikha picked up the phone immediately and barked, “
Yes?”

  “Hi Shikha, there are two guys waiting at the reception - Ram and Lakshman Maheshwari - to meet Ranveer. They don’t have an appointment, it seems. Should I—”

  “Young or old?” barked Shikha again while she frowned at her computer screen.

  “Huh?” said Ruma, not sure that she had heard Shikha right.

  “Are you dumb or what? I asked you whether the guys you’re talking about are young in age or old,” drawled Shikha, sarcasm dripping in her voice as she dragged out the syllables as if she was talking to a retarded child.

  Ruma blanched. With great difficulty, she kept her face straight as she replied, “Why don’t you get your butt out here and find out for yourself?” before disconnecting the line. While she had been tempted to bang the phone down, she didn’t want to create a bad impression on the hunks who sat waiting to meet her boss. She gave them a sweet smile as she said, “Ranveer’s secretary should be here to meet you soon.”

  Shikha dropped everything and got up to go meet the two men who had arrived without an appointment. She arrived at the reception and ignored Ruma royally and looked directly at the sofa. Realising that she must be Ranveer’s secretary, both Ram and Lakshman got up to their feet. Shikha had a difficult time keeping her jaw from dropping as she eyed the tall, dark and handsome specimens in front of her. Two of them, for crying out loud! They were young and they were dressed in expensive gear - designer jeans and branded shirts. Had her luck changed for the better, after all? She conveniently didn’t consider the fact that they must be younger than her.

  “Hello!” cooed Shikha, setting Ruma’s nerves on edge. She ignored the threesome as she sat down and fed in some phone numbers into her computer. Shikha shook hands with the two men, fluttering her eyelashes at both of them. She invited them to sit on the sofa before sitting on the adjacent one herself. Crossing her legs to show them the best view of their length, she asked sweetly, “Was it something urgent that you needed to see Ranveer about? I’m afraid he’s out today.” She didn’t want to tell them that he probably wouldn’t be there the whole week. If they came again tomorrow, she would get another chance to meet them. In fact, she would be better prepared and dressed to suit the occasion. Today, she hadn’t bothered as there was no one to impress, or so she had thought.