The bell rang as if on cue and Saloni rushed to open it. “Hello Aarav,” she said in greeting, a welcoming smile on her face, not missing the huge stuffed teddy he held under his arm.
“Hey Sal, you are a sight for sore eyes.” He smiled right back.
Saloni couldn’t control the blush that stole up her cheeks. That was the first time Aarav had called her by the shortened version of her name that only her siblings used. Not missing the tiredness on his face despite her thumping heart, she said in a breathless voice, “Come on in and sit down. I’ll get you a cup of tea.”
“Don’t go away Sal.” His voice was a whisper, meant only for her ears.
She turned to look at him, saying, “I’ll be back in a second. Mitesh,” she called out to her son, “See who’s come.” She rushed towards the kitchen to request Vinayak for a cup of tea.
“Who’s come?” asked Rati, who was standing over Vinayak as he prepared dinner.
“Aarav.”
“Why?” Rati looked at Saloni with a frown on her face, setting her sari in order before stepping out of the kitchen to greet their guest.
Saloni walked behind her mother, not bothering to give her an answer as she pretended not to have heard her query.
By now, Shyam, Ryan and Shaan had also come to the living room to chat with the guest. Aarav answered all their questions patiently, though his concentration was fully on the baby as he squatted on the floor near Mitesh. He nodded and shook his head to the chuckling toddler as he chatted to the others.
“You sure have grown up a lot in the past few months, little man,” said Aarav, his eyes studying the sitting baby with affection. He lifted Mitesh off the floor and into his arms, kissing him gently on a plump cheek.
“Kaise ho Aarav?” asked Rati, looking at him warily before her eyes darted to her daughter, though she couldn’t read anything from Saloni’s expression.
“I’m fine aunty. And how have you been?”
Rati sighed loudly. “How do you think I will be? I suppose you know that Saloni is getting a divorce. Can’t understand today’s generation. In our time, women stood by their husbands; they did not run away at the smallest excuse.” She gave her daughter an irritated look. Her boiling anger had simmered down by and by when she realised that the circumstances were not going to change just because she didn’t like them, though she did continue to give not-so-subtle hints of her displeasure.
It first appeared as if Aarav was going to ignore her words when Mitesh gurgled, kicking his legs, reaching out to grasp a lock of Aarav’s hair. “Oh you haven’t forgotten that game, have you?” Aarav laughed, rubbing his nose against the little nose in front of him. He spoke to Rati as he continued to look at the baby. “You are right aunty. Today’s generation is different.” He turned suddenly to give Rati a smile. “They are more solution-oriented and don’t just sit around complaining. Don’t you think so?”
Rati didn’t really know what to say to that and excused herself saying that she had work to do in the kitchen.
“Give Mitesh to me and have some tea,” said Saloni, standing next to him.
He handed the baby to her and took the cup offered by Vinayak, giving the cook a smile as he chatted with him for a few seconds.
“You must stay back for dinner,” said Ganga.
Aarav looked at Saloni with a quirked brow and said, “Okay Daadima,” when her eyes begged him to agree.
Dinner was fun as they sat together, eating their way through the mutton kababs, chole bhature, machchli Amritsari and jeera rice. There were jalebis for dessert.
Aarav tucked into his food, his eyes seeking Saloni’s surreptitiously from time to time as she sat on the opposite side, between her brothers. His tiredness disappeared little by little as joy seeped into him with the time he spent in her proximity.
Aarav stayed back for a couple of hours more, chatting with everyone till Ganga was ready to retire. He followed her and stood at the entrance to her room, saying, “May I have a bit more of your time Daadima?”
“Come on in Aarav. Sit down.” Ganga pointed to the recliner before sitting on the bed. “Tell me.”
“Err...Daadima. I...” Aarav hesitated, looking at her for any signs of encouragement.
“Aarav.” Ganga held his hands in hers, a smile in her eyes. “I think I know what you’re going to say. Go ahead and say it.”
“I’m keen to marry Saloni if she’ll accept me.”
Ganga’s smile turned into a grin. “You have my blessings. One word of advice though. I don’t think she’s ready to take the plunge again, not so soon after her disastrous marriage. And of course you know that her divorce will take time to get through. It’s going to be a lot of work for you while you wait around for things to move forward.”
Aarav had seen the way Saloni smiled at him, her eyes holding a special dialogue with his throughout the evening. And Daadima wasn’t aware that they went back a long way. He was confident that he could win Saloni over easily. Okay, they might have to wait for the divorce to happen and then get married. But what was another year or two for a guy who had given up the hope of marrying the love of his life after waiting for her for seven years? Aarav had been heartbroken when he heard that Saloni had got engaged to be married the moment he arrived in India. He took a flight out of Delhi the very next day, not returning until he got to know that she had left the country to join her husband in Chicago.
“Yeah maybe, Daadima.” Aarav shrugged now. “But Saloni’s the only woman I ever wanted to marry.”
Ganga gave him a look of surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me so Aarav? Oh my God!” She shut her eyes for a few seconds before opening them to look at him. “Why Aarav?”
“There was no right time I suppose. Well,” Aarav got up to give her a hug, “You need your beauty sleep. I’ll get along. It’s late.”
Ganga hugged him right back. “I’ll be the happiest person if Saloni decides to accept your proposal. I know for a fact that you will make her a perfect husband.”
“Thank you for your vote of confidence, Daadima.” Aarav dropped a kiss on the top of her head before leaving the room, his hand raised in a wave.
When Aarav came out from Ganga’s room, only Saloni was in the hall, the others having retired to their respective rooms. Rati had gone only because she had presumed that Aarav had left and Saloni hadn’t bothered to enlighten her. Mitesh was also asleep with Bindi keeping a vigil over him upstairs in Saloni’s bedroom.
“So, you’re joining us next week, right?” Aarav didn’t sit down.
“Yeah, on Monday. Thank you so much for the opportunity Aarav. I...”
He shook his head. “Why are you thanking me? It’s what you deserve. The way I look at it, AC Group has gained an asset.”
Saloni stared at him, wide-mouthed. “Oh come on! I’m a raw hand.”
“All the better,” he smiled. “We can train you the way we want.” He stepped into his shoes, all set to leave.
“I hear that your employees never leave.” There was awe in her voice as she stood up to see him off.
“You do know that it’s their choice, right?” He quirked an eyebrow at her.
“But of course.”
“I’ll see you then, on Monday.” With a wave of his hand, Aarav left.
Saloni stood for a while staring at the closed front door. Aarav had brought so much energy into their home, she thought with a smile on her face, as she turned to walk slowly up the stairs. He was on friendly terms with everyone, right from her grandmother, her parents, her brothers and little Mitesh. He had even spoken to Vinayak and Bindi.
She wondered why he wasn’t married. And no, she wasn’t going to think about their meeting so many years ago. That was in the past and best left buried.
Anyway, Saloni couldn’t wait for Monday morning to arrive. She would be going to work for the first time in her life. It was sure to be a challenge and she planned to do her best.
Aarav believed that his company had gained an asset. That
was the last thought on her mind as Saloni drifted into a deep sleep.
Aarav couldn’t stop smiling all the way back home. He parked his car in the underground garage before taking the lift up to his penthouse.
Life couldn’t get better at this point in his life. Saloni was single. She had a little boy whom Aarav adored. Okay, Mitesh had cried on seeing the big stuffed teddy. But well, that wasn’t going to stop Aarav from buying gifts for him. And now that Saloni was going to work for his company, he planned to spend as much time with her as possible. Yeah, Daadima had mentioned that Saloni might not be ready for marriage. But that didn’t matter. He would woo her first, make her feel wonderful, do all the things that her husband obviously hadn’t done. Marriage would happen if and when it had to. That needn’t stop them from belonging to each other.
He looked forward to seeing more of her.
17
“Want to go for a drive?” Aarav asked Saloni.
“Are you sure? You must be tired. I...”
“Not so tired that I can’t spend some time with you. So what do you say?”
“I say yes! Give me a minute, I’ll get my purse and keys.” Saloni ran up the stairs taking them two at a time and rushed back exactly a minute later, waving her purse at him. “Let’s go.”
Aarav navigated his car expertly through the roads till they reached a quiet lane and parked the car in a dark area below a tree. He turned to look at the silent woman next to him.
He felt a sense of déjà vu when Saloni pressed her soft lips to his rough cheek. It felt as if life had come around a full circle.
Aarav laughed softly, lifting her bodily over the armrest and into his arms. His laughter got caught in his throat when Saloni pressed her mouth to his, her tongue seeking entry.
Aarav groaned in response, sucking on her tongue, drawing it deep within his mouth, before tracing hers with his own.
They clung to each other, drowning in the onslaught of passion. Aarav pushed her short top out of the way to caress the skin of her midriff, while Saloni tore at his shirt buttons, her hands tracing the incredible breadth of his shoulders and chest. “Aarav...you are broader than before and,” she looked up into his eyes, “Handsomer than ever.”
“Sal...” He buried his face in her throat. He so wanted to pop the question then and there but her grandmother’s warning came to mind and shut him up effectively. He traced his tongue over the pulse under her ear before drawing it over the shape of her ear. “You look as gorgeous as ever, all woman now.” His hands moved restlessly over her back, one moving south to caress the curve of her bottom. He nibbled gently at her collarbone, pressing her closer to his aroused body.
She felt so perfect in his arms. He...
Aarav opened his eyes with a start when his cell phone rang. Shucks! He had been dreaming. He picked up the mobile that had stopped ringing, to see it was Hiten. That’s when he also noticed the time. It was 8.30 am. How could that have happened?! Aarav pushed away his comforter to get up from his bed and stretched. He had never slept this late in his life, not ever. But then, sleep had refused to come last night as his mind revolved around thoughts of Saloni and Mitesh. He had finally gone to sleep at 4 am, trying to distract his mind by reading a book. It was lying there, face open on the bed, Jeffrey Archer’s latest, This Was A Man, the seventh and last book in The Clifton Chronicles series. Aarav reached out to the other side of his bed and removed the book to place a book mark in position before shutting it. Keeping the book on the bedside table, he speed-dialled Hiten, going in search of coffee.
“Baldev!” Aarav called out before speaking into the phone. “Hahn Hiten, good morning, tell me.”
“You have an appointment at nine. I just called to remind you.” Hiten usually left a calendar on Aarav’s desk in the morning. But today, since his boss hadn’t turned up at his usual time of 8.30, he had decided to give him a call.
“I’m running late yaar. See if you can delay it by half an hour. I should be there by 9.15.”
“Righto boss! Will do that.”
Aarav drank his coffee before getting ready speedily and leaving for work. It looked like Saloni had thrown his life totally out of sync.
Well, it was time to move from simply existing to living, he thought with a smile on his face.
18
Saloni didn’t know where the two weeks had gone since she had joined Aarav’s company. She was at work every day at nine sharp and left by six in the evening. They had both Saturday and Sunday off; she had heard that Aarav discouraged working on the weekends unless an event was happening. She had been a bit surprised in the beginning as most of her friends worked late hours in their respective places of work. But it looked like AC Group ran on different principles. While in office, though the atmosphere was pretty chilled, everyone was dedicated and completed their work speedily and efficiently.
On the first day, Dharmesh had introduced her to Ganesh who headed the marketing division. “Meet Ganesh Selva. Ganesh, this is Saloni Malhotra, our new trainee. She will start work here and learn the ropes. I need a report from you at the end of two weeks, copy to boss.”
Ganesh got her busy within fifteen minutes, after introducing her to the four other people who worked under him.
Saloni had been kind of sceptical about learning the ropes in two weeks as the HR head had suggested. But now, by the end of two weeks, she knew her work inside out, thanks to Ganesh and his team.
She couldn’t help thinking that she had seen Aarav only twice during the whole time. And yes, she missed him. She mentally shrugged to herself. Right now, she was too busy juggling her hectic schedule between work and Mitesh. She was glad that her grandmother and Bindi managed the little one between them, while Rati hovered around them anxiously.
Her mother, as expected, wasn’t too happy with Saloni taking up a job. “Why do you have to work? We have so much money. Shouldn’t you be at home, taking care of your child?”
“Mamma, wouldn’t that be unfair to Bindi?” asked Saloni mischievously. “She needs the job.”
“So let her work for us nah? Who’s stopping her?”
Saloni had laughed outright. “One little toddler. How many people do you think are needed to take care of him? There’s you, Daadima and Bindi. I...”
“But he’s your baby nah Saloni? Mitesh already has no father to love him.” She sighed loudly, her eyes accusing Saloni for the father’s absence.
“Mamma,” Saloni hugged her mother. “Believe me, Mitesh never had one.”
“How can you say that Saloni? Whatever you say, I won’t accept that Manish is so bad.”
“I’m not saying Manish is bad either, Mamma. He’s exactly what he is, totally uninterested in my baby. And I’m so glad about that,” she said fiercely. “He would never fight for Mitesh’s custody.”
Saloni realised that at the end of the day, she had to be clear about what she sought in life. She was keen to have a rocking career and be a good mom to Mitesh. There was no news from Manish’s end. Her father’s company lawyer had advised that she needed to live separately from her husband for a minimum of at least one whole year before seeking a divorce. Just now, Saloni couldn’t care less. It was a good thing that she hadn’t changed her surname to Chawla and all her identification documents, including her passport, mentioned her as Saloni Malhotra. That made life way easier than it would have been otherwise.
Just now, she wondered where Aarav had disappeared to. She didn’t want to ask anyone as she was still new and wasn’t keen to proclaim that she knew the president of the company on a first name basis. An unexpected sigh took Saloni by surprise. Well, she obviously didn’t know him so well it seemed. Otherwise, wouldn’t she have known his whereabouts?
For his part, Aarav was juggling the work of two people to be available at his AC Events office, to be closer to Saloni. That was where he worked from most of the time. But he had to travel twice during that period—once to Jaipur and again to Singapore, both trips on a recce for the wedding
event that they were putting together. Usually, one of his subordinates went on these trips. But since this was the first time they were doing a wedding, Aarav wanted to ensure that all requirements were met with. He didn’t want any stone unturned to make the event as successful as he could.
Then there were those minor emergencies that cropped up from time to time in his other offices, not leaving him any spare time. While all the offices were located in the same compound, they were in different buildings. He gritted his teeth and went through his work like a bull dozer, getting things in place. Normally, he took it all in his stride. But right now, his focus was to get close to Saloni and work was getting in the way.
Lifting his hand to check the time, Aarav saw that it was 12.30 pm. He had to see Saloni or he might just go mad...
All those years ago, after the kisses they had shared in her grandfather’s car, Aarav had been devastated when Saloni had disappeared from his life. For the first three days he had lived in hope to catch a glimpse of her either at her home or outside her college. After that, till the end of the week, he had been worried that she had probably fallen ill. There was no one he could ask. But both her grandparents had seemed their usual cheerful selves. That’s when he concluded that she must be well.
Then what must have happened to keep her away from him? He had fallen deeply in love with the seventeen-year-old who had kissed him passionately. And Saloni must have felt something for him too, hadn’t she? After all, it was she who had instigated the kisses. He didn’t think she was the type to flirt with any man who came her way.
It had taken a few weeks and a lot of heartburn for Aarav to figure out that he was probably waiting for her in vain. He was their driver’s son. How could he have thought that Saloni and he could get together? But she had told him that she didn’t believe in their social differences. Then again, she must also have realised that her family wouldn’t approve, and that must be the reason why she had cut off from him.
Aarav had always planned to rise out of his impoverished existence, lifting his family along with him. But now, after the way Saloni stayed away from him, he decided that he had to become even bigger than what he had envisaged. He studied and worked harder than ever, grabbing every opportunity presented to him.
Flaming Sun Collection 3: Perfect Twins Find Anya (Box Set with 3 novellas) Page 30