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

by Sundari Venkatraman

  “Should I give you an appointment for tomorrow?” When Ram Maheshwari agreed, she told them to come over the next day at 12.30 pm, pretending to check her cell phone for Ranveer’s appointment list.

  Disappointed they couldn’t meet Ranveer, the brothers gave Shikha a vague smile and turned to leave. As they moved towards the lift, Lakshman suddenly walked over to the receptionist and said softly, “Bye Ruma! We’ll see you tomorrow.” Ruma looked at the handsome man in front of her in surprise. Did she hear right? Ranveer wasn’t there the whole week. She had just received an email from Abhimanyu that said so. The mail had been sent to everyone in the office. Then how come Shikha had given them an appointment? Ruma decided it wouldn’t be right on her part to say anything. She nodded to Lakshman, who waved before leaving. Ram watched on in astonishment. His silent brother appeared to find the receptionist attractive. But knowing Lakshman the way he did, Ram decided not to say anything just then.

  After the men left and Shikha had gone back inside, Ruma called Abhimanyu’s extension. She knew that he was the man in charge when Ranveer wasn’t in the office. She explained to him about Ram and Lakshman’s visit and how Shikha had given them an appointment to meet Ranveer the next day. “Did you say Maheshwari?” asked Abhimanyu, his brain going into overdrive. While the whole office worked on a first-name basis, Abhimanyu tended to remember people by their whole names. Maheshwari had struck a bell. When Ruma answered in the affirmative, Abhimanyu gave her a couple of instructions before disconnecting the call.

  Where had he heard the surname before? More like he had read it somewhere. It took Abhimanyu exactly three minutes to arrive at an answer. Chanda’s surname was Maheshwari. Abhimanyu’s photographic memory recalled her bio-data. Under family background, she had mentioned that she had four elder brothers. The chances were high that the two guys who had visited their office to meet Ranveer without an appointment, were her brothers. Abhimanyu put two and two together and arrived at an exact four.

  Chanda had taken leave this week citing a family emergency. If there was one, then what were two members of the same family doing here in Delhi while she had been retained at home? Abhimanyu left his work alone and sat down to think, his logical brain going over the situation, bit by bit. One conclusion he arrived at immediately. Things were not as they should be. Something was definitely not fitting in. He decided to meet the Maheshwari brothers the next day when they arrived. No sense in hitting the panic button by trying to get in touch with them by phone today itself. Yeah, that would have been possible as all visitors had to leave their names, phone numbers and contact addresses.

  He called Ruma and told her to inform him the moment they arrived the next day. As an afterthought, he asked, “Did they leave a contact address?” Ruma checked the visitor’s book and told him, “Yeah, of course. They are staying at Hotel Jewel Palace.”

  Abhimanyu thanked Ruma before disconnecting the call. It looked like his guess had been bang on. He sincerely hoped for Ranveer’s sake that there was no trouble afoot. Ranveer must have left that morning to go to his village. Abhimanyu decided to find out all details before contacting his friend and boss. No sense in bothering him just now. Abhimanyu went back to work realising that there was nothing to it but to wait till the next day when the Maheshwari brothers came back for their appointment.

  Thirty-two

  Chanda pressed her soft lips to Ranveer’s rough cheek as she bent towards him as he lay on the bed. She simply loved the tingly sensation on her sensitive mouth as she kissed the man she had fallen in love with. She knew that he wasn’t sleeping while he pretended to. She didn’t mind as it gave her a sense of freedom that would have not been possible if his eyes were open.

  Chanda’s hands ran through the silky strands of his hair while she sat down next to him on the edge of the bed. Ranveer moved unobtrusively to accommodate her. He kept his eyes closed with difficulty as he felt her fingers massage his scalp. He felt the feather touch of her lips all over his face as she explored it inch by inch. He felt impatient for her to reach his lips. It became too much when she ignored his mouth to place hers on his chin. There was only so much he could endure.

  Chanda was startled when Ranveer’s strong arms suddenly wrapped themselves around her as he captured her lips in a devouring kiss. He was thoroughly aroused and wanted more than her playful pecks.

  He pulled her quite easily across his chest without breaking the lip-lock and held her body close to his. Chanda shut her eyes tightly the moment she realised that Ranveer had taken over. She felt too shy to look at him. Moreover, she was quite dazed at the awareness that spread over her body. Her breasts were crushed against his hard, wide chest and they felt bombarded with sensations that were quite new to her. But she loved them all.

  If Ranveer held her close, Chanda clung to him, her legs tangled with his while he kissed her thoroughly. His large hands were on her back. While his left arm held her close, his right hand moved in a caress as he traced the contours of her slim waist and lush bottom. Chanda was lost in a rosy world when she heard a knock on the door. She froze in Ranveer’s arms as he continued to kiss her. Couldn’t he hear that someone was at the door?

  Chanda tried to pull out of his arms, but Ranveer refused to let go of her. The person at the door was getting impatient as they knocked loudly and incessantly. Chanda pushed Ranveer away and got out of the bed. She ran her hand over her hair, pulled down the kurti that had ridden up and walked to the door.

  Chanda opened the door a couple of inches to see her father-in-law standing outside. She shut it immediately and leaned against it. What was Surendraji doing here? Chanda panicked. It was one thing to decide that she would divorce Veerendra and get married to Ranveer - presuming he wanted to wed her too. It was an entirely different matter that her father-in-law found her in the same room with a stranger while she was still married to his son. But why had he come here?

  “Chanda, we know you’re there. Open the door, will you?”

  What? That was her father. Her father was also there with Surendraji. Chanda turned to look at the bed. Ranveer was lying there, his eyes closed as if in sleep. Was he mad? Chanda most definitely didn’t want him to meet her father just now.

  Before she could do anything, a third voice joined the melee. “Chanda, open the door Beta.” That was her mother.

  Where the hell was Lakshman? Or Ram for that matter? They were supposed to help her out. That’s the reason she had come here to Mount Abu. To wait here till everything was set right. She didn’t want to face Veerendra’s father at this juncture. It was his son who had run away and there was no need for her to be afraid of him. That’s what Lakshman had told her that day. But why had her parents brought the old man here along with them? Chanda was in a fix as she didn’t want to talk about Ranveer to her parents just now, most definitely not with her father-in-law hovering in the background.

  The door rattled on its hinges as three people knocked on it now. Not able to wait any longer, Chanda opened the door halfway to find the hotel boy outside.

  “Memsaab! You have to get ready for the trek. We tried to call you on your phone, but you didn’t pick up. I came here to call you as you have barely half an hour to get ready.”

  Chanda stared at him, her black eyes confused. She turned to look at her bed to see no one there. The bedspread and comforter were in a mess as if she had tossed and turned throughout the night. Had she been dreaming?

  “Memsaab!” called the boy once again, worried about the dazed look on the guest’s face. He wondered whether what he said had registered with her. She had only requested for an alarm service that morning.

  Chanda nodded her head much to his relief. “I’ll be ready,” she said before closing the door behind him.

  Luckily, the geyser heated up water quite fast and she had a quick shower before wearing warm clothes. She carried an extra shawl and sweater in her backpack and ensured that she had a water bottle along. Locking the door behind her, Chanda ran down the stai
rcase to join the knot of people waiting at the reception. Thank God there were still three others who were yet to come down. That gave her a chance to have some hot tea that was being served. Thank God for small mercies! That dream had been so authentic, not just Ranveer and his lovemaking. Her parents and father-in-law had appeared real too. A small shudder shook Chanda’s slender frame as she held the hot cup of tea in both her hands, willing it to warm her chilled body.

  RANVEER REACHED AJMER THAT NIGHT and checked into Mansingh Palace. The luxurious room was lost on the distracted guest. Throughout the day, he had been thinking of Chanda. He so hoped that she was attracted to him as much as he was to her. But just now, he was unable to quite believe it. How could she not contact him? She had mentioned a family emergency to Parth. Then, obviously nothing was wrong with her. Why had she switched her phone off in that case? Ranveer refused to think that she may not be interested in him. It had been obvious that she was an innocent when he kissed her. Why would she return his kisses so fervently if she hadn’t wanted to get involved with him?

  Ranveer’s mind went round and round in circles as he thought of different reasons for her silence. Finally, as he went down to dinner, he decided to concentrate on his visit home rather than the woman he had fallen for. There, he had admitted it finally. He had fallen for Chanda. And he wanted to marry her.

  Ranveer went to Sipehsalar, the luxury bar at the hotel. He sat back in a comfortable chair in one corner and ordered for a Johnny Walker Black Label whiskey on the rocks. While he waited for his drink, he thought of his grandfather. The old man and Ranveer had been very close. While Daadaji loved all his grandchildren, Veerendra had been his favourite, more so as he had been the youngest.

  A sudden thought struck Ranveer. Will his Daadaji be alive? Oh my God! He had never thought of that all these years. In fact, over the past fourteen years, Ranveer had done his best not to think about his family; except for that one visit. But he didn’t want to think about that now. Getting in touch with them hadn’t been an option as he would have been stuck with a wife that he most definitely hadn’t wanted. They hadn’t left him much of a choice. While Ranveer regretted breaking off ties with his family, he was glad that he had found a way out of that marriage. And better yet, Dave and Jane had educated him. He wouldn’t be what he was today if he had stayed back in his village. He would probably be a farmer like his brother Jeetendra. He wondered whether Jeetendra had kids by now. He must have surely, Ranveer answered his own question.

  His thoughts moved to his father and mother. He wondered whether they had grown very old. If he remembered right, his mother was barely eighteen years older than him, while his father was ten years older than her. That made Sona forty-five and Surendra fifty-five. Ranveer couldn’t recall his grandmother’s features clearly. She had talked very less and had always remained in the background. But then, she had passed on immediately after his wedding to Chanda. That much he knew and he refused to feel guilty about it. Ranveer’s sister Sulekha had been a year elder to him and had been married when she was nine. He didn’t remember her much either. He had been quite close to Jeetendra who was four years older and the first born.

  Scenes from his childhood came in flashes as Ranveer allowed his mind to recall his life before his marriage, after all these years. He remembered playing a lot. It had been fun in the village and the young lads usually had no responsibilities. That was until they got married of course. He recalled his bitterness when Jeetendra had married Meena and stopped coming out to play.

  Jaggi! Jaggi had been a close friend. In fact, Ranveer had misused their friendship quite badly. He had spent more than a year mentally apologising to his best friend for having placed him in a quandary. He wondered whether Jaggi still lived in Jastwantpura or had moved on. His father had been the local blacksmith and there had been vague talks of moving to the city as business had been quite bad in those days.

  Ranveer looked down at his glass suddenly to realise that it was his third drink. Not wanting to imbibe more, he finished the whiskey and got up to go to the restaurant. He opted for the Italian buffet that was available at Sheesh Mahal. A live ghazal programme was on while a local artiste entertained the guests to popular numbers sung by Jagjit Singh and Pankaj Udhas. The soothing music barely registered with Ranveer who walked directly to the buffet spread.

  Carrying a plate filled with pasta in tomato sauce, fresh salad topped with a dollop of onion sauce and crisp golden garlic bread, Ranveer found a table for two and sat there all by himself. While he had his dinner without tasting it, his mind wandered once again to the family that he had left behind at Jaswantpura. He wondered how they would greet him. Will they be too annoyed? Of course they would be. He only hoped that they would forgive him. Ranveer didn’t feel too apologetic as he knew that he would do exactly the same if the circumstances repeated themselves once again. He hadn’t wanted to be tied down to a child wife at thirteen years of age and had found the only way out that had been possible.

  After finishing his dinner and signing the bill, Ranveer got up to leave, completely unaware of the admiring glances from a group of young women who sat at the table on his right. While they were eyeing his brooding features, Ranveer was completely lost to his surroundings. He went up to his room and decided to go to bed even though it was not even 11 pm yet. But then, he had a long drive in front of him the next day and was keen to leave as early as he could. He wanted to reach his village by evening.

  Thirty-three

  Of course, it was just the second day of his investigation and Samrat hadn’t expected to get too far ahead with it. Yet the detective was disappointed as he had come up with a blank wall both at the college where Chanda was studying and the hostel she lived in.

  The hostel was exclusively for women, but Samrat had found out that there was a separate building that housed male students and this was in the neighbouring compound. A thorough search of the list of students living there had brought up a blank. But then, all of them were either of Chanda’s age or younger, actually.

  He had even managed to get a list of the male professors teaching at the college. He had run through their personal and professional data on the college’s website and found that none of them matched the criteria that he was looking for.

  Samrat looked at his watch to see that it was almost 3 pm. It was time for a meal and his stomach growled as if on cue. He shut the laptop he was working on and decided to go for lunch. That only left one place for him to check. Chanda had been working as a temp at RS Software Pvt. Ltd. He had already verified that the company was placed in a twelve-storey commercial building. That could mean that there was a chance that Veerendra could be working in any one of the umpteen companies that were placed there. Then again, he could be a businessman who transacted with any of the said companies. That could run into hundreds, to say the least. But then, Samrat never left anything to chance and he was an expert with lists. Then there was his gut instinct that was very strong. Not even for a minute did Samrat think that it might be a crazy idea to work on an astrologer’s forecast. He and astrologers went a long way. He had used a couple of them during some of his investigations. If the astrologer was of great repute, then the chances were that they gave accurate predictions.

  Deciding to have lunch before going to check out Chanda’s temporary workplace, Samrat packed his backpack before stepping out of the college.

  RAM AND LAKSHMAN REACHED ten minutes before time for their appointment with Ranveer Singh. Not having had any updates from Samrat, the duo had kind of become restless as they were both at a loose end. The moment they walked into the reception of RS Software, Lakshman took the initiative to walk up to Ruma as Ram watched on in amusement.

  “Hi Ruma,” said Lakshman softly, a smile on his face.

  Ruma looked up to see the handsome guy who was supposed to meet Ranveer that afternoon. She recalled that he was Lakshman Maheshwari even before he gave her his name. She lifted the intercom as she smiled and said, “Could you p
lease take a seat, Mr. Maheshwari? You’re early. Let me check if someone’s free to see you.” She didn’t want to mention Ranveer’s name as that would be an outright lie.

  Lakshman nodded his head before walking to the sofa where Ram was sitting back, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. Lakshman ignored the devilish glint in his brother’s eyes and went and sat quietly next to him. He didn’t respond to Ram’s furtive looks as he took a magazine and pretended to read it. Ram gave up after a couple of minutes and started reading the newspaper that was lying on the table next to him.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen!” called out Ruma. The brothers got up as one to go to her. “Mr. Ranveer Singh is rather busy at the moment. Mr. Abhimanyu will see you immediately.” She had already instructed an office boy to lead the two of them to Abhimanyu’s cabin.

  The two men followed the office boy and went to meet Abhimanyu. Shikha looked up from her cabin and just happened to notice the two tall men as they walked into Abhimanyu’s office. She was furious. What the hell was happening? It was she who had given the appointment to Ram and Lakshman. What were they doing meeting Abhimanyu? She lifted the phone to ring Abhimanyu’s extension only to find it engaged. Expecting a call from her, Abhi had left the phone off the hook. He had even taken the precaution to keep his cell phone on silent mode. He was quite confident that Shikha wouldn’t walk into his cabin as she would definitely not want to create a bad impression on the Maheshwaris.

  Unable to yell at Abhimanyu for interfering in her affairs, Shikha got up and walked to the reception to give Ruma a piece of her mind. Ruma was just placing the phone receiver down when Shikha barged into the reception. She walked up to the younger woman and thrusting her face threateningly close to hers, snarled, “How dare you? Just how dare you? You knew very well that the Maheshwaris had an appointment with me today. Why the hell did you send them over to meet Abhi?”