Broken Harmony

by Brenda Barrett

  She wanted to go home. Back home to India. Suddenly the place didn't feel like paradise anymore. The day had lost its luster.

  "I have to go," Alka said to Boris dully. "I came here with friends and they will be wondering where I am."

  "Don't run off yet," Boris said, grinning wickedly. "Give me your number. I'll call you later. Maybe we can go out sometime."

  "No thanks," Alka said dryly. "I haven't gotten around to getting a phone yet and I wouldn't date you."

  "Why, are you married?" Boris asked shrewdly. "Because let me tell you, I am not particularly picky about stuff like that."

  "You really haven't changed," Alka said, walking around him. "Bye, Boris."

  "Not goodbye," Boris said chuckling. "I like a challenge, Alka."

  *****

  Alka stepped back into the ballroom feeling frazzled and unhappy. What Boris said had shaken her up and exposed her reasons for coming back here, tearing through her excuses and the lies she had been telling herself.

  She had convinced herself that she wanted a vacation and she just had to come to Jamaica. Her own country had tons of places that she had not managed to visit yet and yet here she was in Jamaica.

  She had spent nineteen hours on a plane from Mumbai to come to Montego Bay for nothing else but to see Aaron again.

  For the past ten years she had harbored secret thoughts of seeing him face to face. She had seen stories of him with her secret Internet searches, but those stories were mostly business related and revealed nothing about his private life. She had actually missed the Montego Bay Chronicle and its gossipy pieces about the Lee family.

  She tightened her fingers. This was her chance to feel again. Aaron was the only one she had ever come close to loving, but he loved someone else and was getting married. She had taken her vacation ten years too late.

  She headed to the restroom. She was sure her face was flushed. She very much felt like crying right now. She felt ridiculous. Why hadn't she enquired about Aaron from Farrah before she came to Jamaica?

  Maybe because she didn't want to hear that he had moved on. She didn't want to blast her hope to smithereens. Thoughts of him had been what kept her going since she left.

  She wasn't even looking where she was going in her mad dash to reach the restrooms before she broke down in the public area like an idiot. She had no reason to cry. She had expected Aaron to move on after all this time. Her dog in the manger attitude was unacceptable, even privately.

  She desperately needed a private space to recoup and adjust.

  She tripped over a lady's train dress and was about to fall when somebody grabbed her arm. "Watch out."

  She straightened up, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry."

  When her eyes finally met those of the guy in the tux, she inhaled sharply.

  He was looking at her with a frown on his face, as if he wasn't quite sure he was seeing right.

  They stared at each other, locked in inertia, until Alka said softly, "Hi Aaron."

  Aaron shook his head, slightly unsure if he was seeing right. "Alka?"

  She nodded ruefully. "Sorry, it's me."

  "Sorry? Why?" The group that surrounded Aaron was looking on interestedly. Aaron belatedly realized where he was. For a moment when he had seen her time had stopped. He thought that he was looking at an aberration.

  "Excuse me," he murmured to the group and indicated with his head for Alka to follow him to the office where he had just spoken to his father. When he looked behind him, Alka was following.

  He opened the door, feeling surreal, and allowed her to precede him, then he locked it and leaned on the door.

  He watched her keenly. She was slender; the youthful fat on her face that had given her a slightly fuller face ten years ago had smoothed out and now she looked honed and toned and lethally beautiful.

  A million and one thoughts were running through his head and he had no idea what to ask her first.

  Was she still married? What was she doing in Jamaica? What was she doing here at his hotel?

  "Hi," was the only thing he could manage verbally.

  Alka smiled tremulously. "Hi. You must be wondering what I am doing here?"

  Oh yes, Aaron thought, but he nodded instead.

  "I was, er...I wanted to take a vacation and Jamaica just happened to pop into my head as a destination."

  Aaron moved from the door and moved closer to her, until he was close enough to touch her. "What are you doing here at Paradise Palm?"

  "I came with Farrah." She inhaled his scent. He smelled earthy, like the sun and breeze, and uniquely like himself. She wished she could bottle his scent. She could return to India and sniff it. She would call the perfume Nostalgia.

  "Oh, you guys were close friends weren't you?" he said inanely.

  "Nothing's changed between us." Alka shrugged. "Some people stay the same."

  "Really?" Aaron asked huskily. "Have you stayed the same?"

  "Basically," Alka looked up into his brown eyes. The irises were ringed with green. She had forgotten that detail about them. She had found it particularly fascinating at one time. She cleared her throat. "But I know that you have changed."

  She took a step backward, hoping to put some distance between her and his imposing presence, when she felt the desk press the back of her legs. "Boris told me that you are going to get married and that you have turned into a man whore."

  Aaron shook his head and then laughed. "Really! You've been in touch with my brother?"

  "No, I just saw him," Alka said, swallowing nervously.

  "And he has already started assassinating my character?" Aaron shook his head. "I need to keep his mouth on a leash."

  "Aren't you going to deny it?" Alka asked.

  Aaron shrugged. "Why should I?"

  He stepped closer to her and touched her hair, running it through his hands slowly. "Are you still married, Alka?"

  Alka did not answer; her scalp was tingling. She could literally feel the strands of her hair that he rubbed in his hands; they lit up like her nerve endings were dancing.

  "Answer me," Aaron said softly.

  "Yes," Alka whispered.

  Aaron stepped away from her. "Are you happy?"

  Alka inhaled. "I don't want to talk about it."

  Aaron stared at her, an imperceptible look on his face. "I am going to rejoin the party. It was nice to see you again."

  "No, Aaron, wait," Alka said straightening up from the desk.

  Aaron gripped the door and then looked back at her. "No, not this time. You called me back the first time we met. This time, I am not going to stop. I don't want to know. Goodbye, Alka."

  Chapter Six

  Boris watched Aaron from the corner where he was standing. Aaron was nursing the same glass of champagne that he had gotten from the waiter twenty minutes ago and was studiously ignoring the delicious Alka, though he could see that she was fidgeting and looked unhappy. Boris laughed to himself; he hoped his lies to Alka did not put that frown on her pretty face.

  He would have loved to pursue her now; she was the one who got away. He had had a serious crush on her when they were younger. Back then, he had gone out of his way to visit the beach because he knew that she would be there. He had seen her first and had expected her to like him back but the silly girl had wanted his brother.

  He vividly remembered how he would rush home from work to see her at the beach and how she would shun him, turning up her nose at him, and only giving him a morsel of her attention when she wanted to find out something about his brother, Aaron.

  He was surprised that he still felt vestiges of anger from that time but he had the tendency to store in memory every time that he had ever lost to Aaron. He was the eldest child for his parents but as far back as kindergarten, he resented every little thing he had ever lost to Aaron.

  Alka was just one of the losses that he had on his list and he would have liked nothing more now than to woo Alka Duggal and even the score in his mind, but he had other fish to fry.
Right now he wanted the senior vice presidency, not only because he was the eldest brother and it was only right and fair that he succeed his father, but he was riding high on his success at single handedly overseeing the Paradise project.

  It was a beautiful hotel—incredibly so. It was one of their best hotels so far and he was the one responsible for seeing it to completion. He deserved more than mere parental praise and a pat on the back. He wanted to be president of the companies.

  How hard could it be? The morality clause, though rubbish, shouldn't be too hard to adhere to in the short term. He could go to church for six months, stop partying and find a woman that his grandfather and father would approve of. The rest of the board would listen if they approved.

  He stood on the outskirts of the crowd and watched the women in the crowd with keen eyes. He was a connoisseur of women. He scanned one face after the other. Most of the single ones were unsuitable; they were not his type. He needed a little naughty with his nice.

  His eyes zeroed in on Dawn Terry. She was standing in a group, talking to Aaron, her eyes clinging to Aaron's like a love-starved puppy.

  For years she had been waiting for Aaron to sit up and take notice of her. She was good looking and sophisticated. She wore her hair in a chin-length bob and she had dyed it a bold red orange, which matched her nut-brown complexion perfectly. He liked her hair; it showed that she wasn't afraid to try new things.

  He saw her in a bathing suit at his parent's annual barbeque dinner that they held at their house last year. She had the kind of shape that video models would give their eyeteeth for. She was bright too, and very smart. She had worked with him on the Palm Tree in-house magazine and he found that he liked talking to her, though she had deliberately and easily thwarted all his efforts to get personal. She was good at focusing conversations toward the business at hand and was incredibly crafty.

  He wondered how easy it would be to get her to the altar. He was not that different looking from Aaron. Until his brother had decided to bulk up, they were practically the same size. Surely it wouldn't take long for Dawn to fall for him. When he poured on the charm she wouldn't be able to help herself. Well, maybe she could; he had tried that before and it hadn't worked. He weighed the pros and the cons of pursuing her.

  His parents already heartily approved of her; she was on the same decorating committee at the church as his grandmother. She was smart and beddable. He was already attracted to her. It wouldn't be hard to see himself with Dawn.

  He would shower her with attention and see how well she would respond. He would live like a monk for the next few weeks. He would try the celibate life and act just like Aaron; maybe that was what had her so keen to be with his brother.

  He didn't know how Aaron did it. He had his brother watched for one solid year by a private detective but he could not come up with any dirt on him. His brother was annoyingly clean. He played with that band of his and went to work and hung out with his friends in their warehouse building. He had even had Aaron's friends checked out. The only one who had somewhat of an interesting past was Jayce, the fat one; aside from that, all of them were collectively boring.

  The only potentially scandalous piece of history his brother had was with Alka and he had put his mouth in it earlier and told her how awful Aaron had become, and now his brother was ignoring her.

  He shouldn't have said a word. Alka had been the only woman who had the power to turn Aaron inside out. She had done it ten years ago and now he had practically run her off Aaron.

  That was a stupid move; he needed Alka in his brother's life to distract him from Dawn. Maybe Alka being here would make Dawn jealous enough to consider him an option.

  He hadn't clearly thought out the plot for the lies he told Alka. Maybe he should apologize to Alka, have her distract Aaron and then he would move in on Dawn. He would give it four weeks before Dawn was putty in his hands. After that he would propose marriage and then start visiting church regularly, quote a few scriptures and then voila—presidency. He wanted Aaron tied up and distracted. His new plan was foolproof.

  He headed for Alka to confess some of his lies but he saw that Xavier and Ian had found her first. They were chatting to her when he strode up.

  "Hi guys," he smiled, forcing his facial muscles to move up. He hated Aaron's friends; they were closer to his brother than he would ever be, and he hated them because he didn't have many male friends himself. Men didn't seem to like him much and they never wanted to introduce him to their wives and girlfriends. They were so insecure.

  "Hello," Xavier and Ian said almost simultaneously.

  Xavier had a polite sneer on his face. Boris gritted his teeth. Xavier had never liked him and now that he was super rich and had technology that they needed for their hotels, he couldn't afford to offend him as he had done in the past. He had found it a very satisfying pastime to tease Xavier Bell when they were younger but now he couldn't; it grated on his nerves.

  "Can I speak to Alka for a sec?" he asked, adding a placating note to his voice. "I sort of told her a few untruths earlier that I need to apologize for."

  Ian raised his brow and Xavier looked at him distrustfully.

  "It's okay, guys," Alka said, staring at him distrustfully, "I want to hear this." Reluctantly they left them.

  Boris inclined his head. "Alka, I am sorry. Aaron is not a whore. As a matter of fact, he is a much better man than I made him out to be at the beach earlier."

  Alka sighed. "It doesn't matter anyway. As you said, he has moved on with his life."

  "No," Boris said smoothly, "he has not. I am the one who thinks Dawn is the best thing to ever happen to me."

  Alka gasped. "You told me..."

  "Yes," Boris nodded, "as I said before I am sorry."

  He hadn't counted on Aaron heading toward him with a stormy scowl on his face. He must have incorrectly read their body language. Obviously Aaron had been covertly watching Alka.

  Boris almost smiled gleefully at the new development.

  "Okay, it's about to get crowded," he said when Aaron bore down on them. "See you around." He escaped toward Dawn before his brother could open his mouth.

  *****

  "Is he bothering you again?" Aaron asked Alka sternly.

  "No," Alka sighed. "Can you drop me home?" she asked weakly when Aaron nodded and was about to turn away. "I feel really weary. I think it's the jet lag catching up with me."

  Aaron stopped. "I thought you came with Farrah."

  "I did, I just need to find her and tell her that I am going to leave."

  Aaron sighed. "Alka."

  "It's just a drop home, Aaron," Alka said tiredly. "We don't have to talk."

  "Wait here a second," Aaron said, moving away. "I'll talk to Farrah."

  He headed in the direction of where he had last seen Farrah. He found her with Ruby and Cynth near the kitchen door.

  "I am going to take Alka home," he said to Farrah.

  Farrah frowned. "My home or hers? She said she wanted to stay in her parents' old home but I thought I would have her for a few more days."

  Aaron shrugged. "I'll drop her wherever she wants to go."

  Farrah touched his arm, concerned. "Aaron..."

  Aaron read the anxiety in her eyes and moved away. Who was she concerned about, him or Alka?

  He could feel the defenses that he spent the last hour trying to build up crumbling when Alka had looked at him with tired eyes and begged him to take her home. It had taken a Herculean effort not to crush her to him in a hug that they could not untangle themselves from. Like ten years ago, he felt helpless to stop himself from feeling again.

  Farrah followed behind him rapidly. He didn't even realize that she was there until she passed him to talk to Alka. He stood at a distance, waiting for them to finish speaking, and then when Farrah walked back inside with a displeased look on her face, he headed to Alka.

  "What was that about?" he asked as they headed out into the lobby area and toward his car.

  "S
he wants me to stay at her place but I feel as if I am intruding," Alka sighed. "Farrah and Xavier are newlyweds; they need their space. I am just going to get my stuff and move into the old house, if you don't mind."

  Aaron frowned. "Have your parents kept up the maintenance of the place?" He opened the passenger door for her and watched as she slid into the car.

  He stood there waiting for an answer and watching as she modestly pulled down the end of her skirt.

  His eyes couldn't leave her short pale pink painted fingernails as they rested on her thigh, though. After a long silence he looked up to find Alka looking at him.

  "No, they haven't," Alka said hoarsely.

  "Are you sure you should stay there, then?" Aaron was speaking but his mind felt as if it was short-circuiting. He could smell her scent—orange blossom.

  He would recognize that perfume anywhere because it always reminded him of her. He couldn't believe that she was right here, right now. "I could get a cleaning service to clean it up for you."

  "Then where am I going to go now, until they do that?" Alka whispered.

  "You could stay at the Montego Bay Palm," Aaron said. "I'll arrange it."

  "It's just for a night." Alka swallowed. "Why don't I stay with you? Are you still living next door?"

  Aaron rested his forehead on the doorframe. "No." He shook his head. "I moved out a long time ago. You can't stay with me, Alka. You are married. It would be totally inappropriate and potentially dangerous."

  "My life...it's not what you think." She closed her eyes. "I am not really married in the sense of being married. It was never consummated."

  Aaron drew back from the door and looked at her in shock. "What?"

  "It's a long story," Alka said slowly. "A long, long story."

  Aaron closed the door and walked around to the driver's side of the car.

  "Talk to me." He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

  "Rajiv was attacked some years before I returned to India and his testicles were crushed. He was rendered useless down there."