Flaming Sun Collection 3: Perfect Twins Find Anya (Box Set with 3 novellas)

by Sundari Venkatraman

  Would Sanya ever accept his words if he told her so? Ansh didn’t think so. While she was obviously fighting her growing attraction to Ansh while believing in some kind of a stupid loyalty to her feelings towards Arth, she still clung to the belief that Ansh wasn’t good enough for her.

  Her shocking behaviour had shaken him up today. The trip to Arth’s shop must have really bothered her. The beer and the time by himself cooled Ansh down. He could well sympathise with Sanya. She was one resolute young woman who liked to have her own way. A small grin split Ansh’s face as he drank from a third bottle of beer.

  While she was built slightly, she had the grit and tenacity of a bull. He had been amazed at the way she had reported to Jaya’s domain every day, unfazed by the humidity and heat in the kitchen. She had learned to make different cuisines and had never complained about the hard work. Jaya had been all praise for Sanya while his own mother waxed lyrical about the darling little girl who had grown up to become a lovely young woman—not just from without but from within too.

  It was true that he, Ansh, brought out the worst in her. That’s when Ansh decided that he should turn all that passion around to something positive and make her fall for him instead of letting her be angry with him all the time.

  Next in line then was the question of how did a villain turn into a hero.

  But then, Ansh was a strong-minded person too. He never gave up easily. While he might appear laid back most of the time, an intelligent mind and a penchant for hard work made him an excellent businessman. His turnover was lesser than Arth because of the smaller area that his shop covered. But then, he had always adored his twin and never wanted to compete with him.

  Ansh got up with purpose and decided to go to the main house for dinner. It was time to tackle the woman he had fallen for and change her mind about him.

  13

  Arth turned up for dinner as promised. But to Sanya’s horror, his partner Farhan had tagged along.

  “Hello Farhan,” said Shantanu as he welcomed the guest with great warmth. “How are you? It’s been a while since you visited us,” he smiled.

  Farhan shook hands with Arth’s father, smiling in reply. “Yeah, I know, Sir. I’m sorry about that. But there’s been a lot of confusion in the family. Arth must have mentioned…”

  Shantanu nodded as he seated Farhan on the sofa even as Arth handed him a glass of red wine.

  Sanya watched on as Ratna walked into the hall. Farhan got up to greet her. She hugged him and said, “Hello Farhan. This is just not done, okay! You can’t keep away for so long,” she scolded affectionately.

  Farhan blushed as he looked at the diminutive woman in front of him. “I’m sorry about that.”

  Who was Farhan? And why were Shantanu and Ratna treating him so lovingly? Of course, both of them were affectionate by nature. But Sanya realised that she didn’t like it at all. She greeted Farhan in passing and turned to go to the kitchen on the pretext of checking on the dinner that she had prepared. She didn’t notice the look that passed between Arth and Farhan.

  She heard Ansh come down after a shower and change. She was too ashamed to turn and look at him as she heard him greet Farhan like a long lost friend.

  Dinner was a grand success as far as the food was concerned. Sanya had made a full-fledged Italian meal. Both Jaya and Deepa helped serve dinner.

  To begin with, there was Cream of Broccoli Soup with freshly made Garlic Bread. Sanya had baked the bread herself and it had turned out to be perfect.

  Ansh didn’t say much while everyone complimented Sanya on the delicious soup and bread. Next came piping hot Penne Pasta in Cream Sauce that was perfectly flavoured. Caesar’s Salad was served along with it.

  Sanya watched anxiously as everyone tucked into the meal with gusto. Arth caught her eye and smiled. “This is simply amazing, Sanya. You’ve turned out to be a superb cook.” Before her answering smile could reach her eyes, he turned to look at Farhan and said, “Hey Farhan, do you like it?”

  Farhan nodded his head vigorously as his mouth was full. “It’s just too good,” he said, after swallowing the pasta.

  There was only the clink of cutlery that could be heard for a while as everyone concentrated on eating their meal.

  Shantanu took a piece of garlic bread and wiped his pasta plate clean with it before popping the morsel in his mouth. He finished eating it and sat back to enjoy his wine. He looked at Sanya who was barely halfway through her meal and said, “Sanya, now that you’ve got to this high standard, how’d you like to train in a proper restaurant?”

  Sanya’s jaw dropped as she carefully placed her fork down, the food on her plate forgotten. “What are you saying, Shantanu uncle? You’re teasing me.” She looked at him, her eyes wary. Shantanu was a man of few words, but whenever he addressed her, he had always been nice.

  Shantanu grinned at the young lady who had taken over their kitchen over the past few days. Her cooking was simply divine and he truly believed that the whole world should get a chance to taste it. He shook his salt and pepper head at her before saying, “I’m absolutely serious.”

  Sanya felt choked with excitement. This was just too good to be true. She had realised over the past week that she had a flair for creating perfect meals. She felt pretty secure about her culinary skills within these four walls, especially with the Sharmas being the loving people they were. But having that exposed to the outside world was a different ballgame altogether. She turned to Ansh who had been surprisingly quiet throughout dinner. But then, Sanya was kind of aware of the reason and felt rather embarrassed about it. She stared at him until he smiled at her slowly, his eyes lighting up. He nodded his head at her before closing his left eye in a wink. Sanya’s face turned redder.

  “Hmm...hmm! So my dear Sanya. Do you understand what I’ve been saying all along? You are five-star chef material,” grinned Ratna. She had tasted the food before it went on the table and complimented Sanya effusively. But the younger woman’s self-confidence needed constant boosting and so Ratna had kept quiet and waited for the food to speak for itself. A compliment from Shantanu was exceptional indeed. While it was obvious that he appreciated good food, he rarely said something about it.

  Sanya was extremely thrilled as she got up to get the dessert from the kitchen. Jaya looked askance at Sanya’s half-eaten plate when Deepa brought it to the sink. “Just tell me who did not like that meal,” she demanded, looking all set to pick up a quarrel with that person. Sanya laughed giddily as she said, “Jayaji, that was me. I couldn’t finish it as I’m too excited.”

  Ansh had followed her into the kitchen and was glad to hear her laugh. She had looked sad since evening. “I can’t wait to get my hands on the dessert. Tell me what it is!” he said as he bent down to kiss a startled Sanya on her cheek. How could he behave like this in front of the cook and the maid? She tried to catch his eye in vain as he put his arm around her waist to pull her close and whispered naughtily in her ear, “You know what they say about the way to a man’s heart, right?”

  Sanya’s face flamed as she heard Jaya giggle. She pulled out of his hold to walk to the fridge and buried her face in there under the pretext of getting the cheesecake. She so hoped that the temperature within the fridge would help cool her heated cheeks. Ansh followed her and watched in awe as she pulled the perfectly turned out cake topped with slices of pineapple, kiwi, orange and blueberry jelly. Her hands trembled as she lifted the large tray holding the dessert. Ansh took it from her saying, “If this tastes half as good as it looks, I’m your slave for life.”

  Sanya’s startled honey brown gaze looked into his grey green eyes. She couldn’t quite believe the expression in them. She was surprised to see that he held no rancour over the earlier scene. Her respect for him increased by a few notches and she took some more steps towards mentally forgiving him his terrible treatment of her before she moved to London.

  They walked out of the kitchen with Sanya holding a tray full of dessert dishes and spoons while Ansh held
the cake up for everyone to see. “Did you really make this from scratch?” he asked, still overwhelmed by the gorgeous creation.

  She nodded her head shyly as she replied, “Yep. Do you like cheesecake? Jayaji taught me step-by-step, of course.”

  It was Ratna who spoke up then. “It’s true Jaya taught you, but don’t underestimate yourself Sanya. You’re a fantastic cook. It’s also true that Jaya tried teaching me to make plain rice. I could never learn.” Everyone laughed at Ratna’s joke.

  The dessert was a major hit as the cheesecake simply melted in their mouths. Everyone wanted a second helping while Ansh insisted on a third. He blew her a kiss as he spooned the last of the cake into his mouth.

  After dinner, Jaya shooed Sanya away as she tried to help her clear the table. “You go on and enjoy a drink with everyone else on the balcony. Deepa and I will manage to do all this.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Sanya, keen to join the others but feeling that it was her responsibility to help Jaya.

  “Of course I am. As it is, you’re doing most of my work in the kitchen. Do let me feel worthy of my job,” teased Jaya as she gently pushed the young woman out of the dining room.

  Sanya walked into the balcony to see the twins, their parents and the guest seated in the cane chairs placed there. Shantanu was smoking a cigar while Ratna sat next to him, her pets at her feet. She saw Arth and Farhan on a double seat and found their behaviour kind of strange. To begin with, they were sitting too close to one another, their heads together as they whispered to each other as would lovers. Sanya was startled by her own thoughts. Now, why had she thought that? Another thought soon followed the first one. Was Farhan gay? Maybe that’s why he was behaving the way he was. But what about Arth? Couldn’t he sense something strange in his partner?

  Sanya scowled, unable to ask any of the questions that rose within her. She couldn’t actually put a finger on Arth and his friend’s curious behaviour. She turned her attention to Ansh as she didn’t want to be found staring.

  Only a couple of candles were on in transparent glass holders as a full moon was in attendance. Ansh patted the seat next to him on the sofa and Sanya had no choice but to join him there. She felt a sense of trepidation as she didn’t really know how to deal with the new Ansh. He placed an arm casually around her and pulled her close to his warmth. Sanya gave his parents an agitated look but it appeared that the older couple didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, while the two men on the other sofa were totally oblivious to everyone else. Something wasn’t quite what it appeared to be.

  The utter silence except for the twitters and screeches by a couple of owls and nocturnal insects managed to calm down Sanya’s nerves. She had felt highly strung throughout the day, hurt by Arth’s indifference.

  Shantanu and Ratna got up as one to retire for the night. Sandy and Sunny who had been lying near their feet, got up to follow the older couple as they wished their son and young guest ‘goodnight’.

  That was the cue for Arth and Farhan, it seemed. They also got up and taking their leave, walked away. Sanya craned her neck to watch the two of them as they moved towards Arth’s cottage and not towards the gate as she had presumed. Something was definitely fishy. She would need to get to the bottom of it first thing tomorrow morning.

  ‘Now what?’ wondered Sanya. She had no words to tell Ansh as she felt ashamed of her rudeness earlier. Would he say something, now that they were alone?

  Ansh said nothing as they continued to sit there in the stillness of the night as the moon traversed the night sky. Without her volition, Sanya’s head fell against Ansh’s broad shoulder as he pulled her closer to his broad chest. She closed her eyes as a deep sigh shuddered through her body. She had never imagined that she would find solace in Ansh’s arms but felt too comfortable to move from where she was seated.

  They continued to sit there for how long, she did not know. She was amazed at the feeling of peace that stole over her whole being. If anyone had told her that Ansh could remain silent for hours together, she would never have believed them. He was such a livewire who spent most of his time teasing those around him.

  But then, she was surprised at herself. She was not known for keeping quiet either. But the two of them had been sitting there on the Sharmas’ balcony for almost a couple of hours without uttering a single word.

  When Ansh got up, Sanya did too. But she couldn’t have said anything to save her life. He escorted her to her bedroom in silence and left her at the door with a peck on her cheek.

  Sanya touched the skin on her face that still tingled with his kiss as she changed into a nightshirt. She felt so torn between her love for Arth and this strong physical attraction that she felt for Ansh. Should she just drop everything and go back home to London?

  Somehow, Sanya couldn’t see herself doing that. She wasn’t one to run away from her problems.

  She went and sat down at her bedroom window to stare at the sea. The tide was high because of the full moon as the waves glittered in the moonlight. If there were any stars, they weren’t visible from this angle.

  Her knees folded and her chin resting on them, Sanya sat there thinking for she knew not how long. Sleep eluded her as she kept recalling Arth’s behaviour that evening. His partner Farhan had been friendly with everyone but seemed close to Arth. Maybe a little too close! She felt flummoxed. That Arth showed no interest in her at all as a woman was the truth. It was time she faced it.

  All these years, she had believed that she was in love with him. But had she been in love with a figment of her imagination? The Arth she met this morning was nothing like the young boy of seventeen that she had left behind when she went to London. Then again, she had looked at that boy from the perspective of a thirteen-year-old. Today, she was a mature woman of twenty-two who had met a lot more people and had had many opportunities to get together with any man of her choice. Only, she had chosen to cling to her teenage dreams all these years. Had she wasted all these nine years pining after a mirage? It seemed so. But the tenacious woman didn’t want to let go that easily. She still wanted to be sure that there was absolutely no chance of Arth being interested in her and was ready to let go of him only under those circumstances.

  The only way that was possible was if Arth was interested in some other woman. But if that were the case, he would have brought that woman home sometime during the past month or so, wouldn’t he?

  The one person that Arth had brought for dinner was Farhan. He had called him his partner. Sanya sat up. She knew for sure that the electronics business run by the three Sharma men was very much a family business. What had a partner to do with it? Tomorrow could not come soon enough. She had to get some things straight. She decided to go to bed, simply refusing to analyse her body’s traitorous behaviour towards Ansh. Her mental stamina was completely used up for now.

  14

  Sanya walked towards Arth’s cottage in the middle of the afternoon. She had taken the spare set of keys from the kitchen wall where all keys for the property hung from a key rack. The thought did badger her that she had no business snooping into Arth’s home without his knowledge. But right now Sanya was beyond reason.

  She walked to the main door and opened it after a couple of attempts. Closing the door behind her, she walked into the hall. Newspapers and a couple of books were strewn about the place. There were a few photographs on the shelves that also held an iPad and a laptop.

  The only time she had been in here with Ansh, Sanya had walked around in a hurry and not taken in much. Recalling the visit, she realised that it was Ansh who had actually rushed her through the house, not allowing her to linger at any point.

  She studied the photos. One was of Arth and Ansh that must have been taken recently, in this very house. Another was of all four members of the Sharma family. It was the third picture that made her frown. Sanya had been pretty confident that Arth must be in love with someone and had decided to explore his house on an impulse to find out the truth. Yeah, it was nosey on h
er part. But then, no one was forthcoming about the situation.

  She stared at the framed shot that she held in her hand. The photo was of two men grinning widely at the camera and the background suggested that they were in some exotic foreign land, probably in Europe. The second guy in the picture was Farhan. While Farhan had his arm around Arth’s shoulders, she saw Arth’s arm around the man’s waist. Sanya blinked rapidly a few times, to see that her eyes weren’t playing her false. She had been on the right track since last evening, it seemed.

  The room held nothing to suggest the existence of a girlfriend. Sanya returned the photo to where it had been and walked towards the bedrooms. Ansh had pointed to the biggest one on the right and said that it belonged to Arth. She had come this far, what did it matter if she checked out his bedroom? After all, they had all been friends since childhood. Sanya bit back the feeling of guilt that surfaced and went to the shut door and opened it.

  Pale light streamed into the bedroom through the floor length windows that had taken up two adjacent walls. She could see the boiling sea from the room as the curtains were completely pulled back. The view was breathtaking as the waves tossed over the shore in the rainy weather. She shut her mind with great determination as the turbulent grey water reminded her so much of Ansh’s eyes.

  As she turned, a newspaper cutting caught her eye. It was laminated and placed on the side table next to the bed. Sanya was surprised to see a full length colour picture of Arth. It was a cutting from a popular tabloid and he looked very handsome in it. The article ran the whole page.

  Fascinated, Sanya read the caption that said, ‘Arth Sharma, electronics businessman, comes out of the closet’. She paled as she ran her eyes to the beginning of the article. Reading on, she realised that it was a part of a series of articles that ran on Sundays and it was about men who were ready to admit publicly to being homosexuals.