Flaming Sun Collection 2: Marriages Made in India (Box Set with 5 novellas)

by Sundari Venkatraman

  4

  Dia had finished cooking and baking for the whole week and left the food to cool down before storing it in her fridge. Sitting down for a cup of coffee, she opened the Sunday newspaper. It was usually the business and financial pages that got her attention. But today, she was curious about Page 3. Would she get to see Bharat Maheshwari featured there? She opened the society pages to check the pictures of the post event party that she had attended with Avantika the earlier night.

  She turned pale when she saw a picture of her lover of last night, his arms around not one, but two gorgeous-looking women, who were obviously models too. He was so bloody not in her league. How did she even imagine that Bharat might be as interested in her, as Dia was in him? Just because he wanted to spend a night with her in bed, didn’t automatically follow that he had fallen for her. It was a one-night stand and she’d better accept it. And well, she had gone into it with her eyes open, after all.

  Before leaving his hotel room, Dia had given herself a missed call from his cell and saved his number, hoping to be in touch with him. But now, she knew that she had been chasing after an impossible dream. Bharat would never be hers. He was too big, too popular and a ladies’ man as he had admitted himself. Why the hell would he want to be with someone so ordinary like Dia?

  A deep sigh shuddered through her. Their lovemaking had been nothing short of volatile and she had fallen in love with him. But that would mean nothing to Bharat. He moved in a different circle and probably slept with a different woman every night. The models who were seen hanging on his arms in the photo would definitely be more entertaining in bed, unlike her own inexperienced self. Dia’s lips began to droop, same as her shoulders.

  That’s when she gave herself a thorough talking to. This was ridiculous. When she went to bed with Bharat, it had been with her eyes open. Yeah, she had done it because she was too deeply attracted to him. By the end of the night, she had fallen in love. So what?! She was glad she hadn’t missed the one chance to be with him as she knew their paths would never cross again.

  She took her phone and erased his number. Bharat was a lovely memory and that was it!

  Later in the evening, Avantika called her. “Hey, did you spend the night with Bharat? Tell me all!” Her friend’s voice was excited. “I’d have come over, but I have an event today and just managed a couple of minutes to talk to you.”

  “Of course I didn’t,” lied Dia through her teeth. It was her secret to keep, buried deep within her heart, and nobody else’s business, even if Avantika was her closest friend.

  “Oh!” Avantika sounded disappointed. “The very air sizzled around the two of you. I was sure something was cooking.”

  Dia laughed. “Tum bhi Avi. You let your imagination run with you. Yeah, the party was fun and I really enjoyed myself. Thank you for taking me along.”

  “Stop being so formal Dia. Chalo, I need to go. Will catch you later.” Avantika disconnected the call, leaving a shaken Dia alone with her memories of Bharat that just refused to go away.

  5

  That week was too damn hectic for Bharat to think much of Dia. But he couldn’t deny that he craved her body like a man in a desert would yearn for water. Three of the female models he was working with made it obvious that they would like to take their relationship with him further into the bedroom. He had actually slept with one of the girls before and had even enjoyed the sex. But he couldn’t garner the interest now. It looked like Dia had spoilt them all for him. He smiled inadvertently, recalling their lovemaking. Well, he would have to find her soon.

  “Hey.” Bina tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. “You look lost to the world.”

  Bharat looked down at the gorgeous model he worked regularly with, shrugging. “I suppose.”

  “What’s up? Don’t tell me!” She looked at him, wide-eyed with surprise. “Are you in love?”

  Bharat grimaced. “Is that what it is? I miss her terribly.”

  Bina grinned. “And how the mighty fall!” She hugged him. “Do I know her?”

  “I don’t think so. I’ve met her just the one time.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Dia…” A deep sigh shuddered through Bharat as he uttered her name. Had Bina realised what hadn’t struck him? Was he in love?

  Bina laughed softly. “It looks like you’ve caught it bad. Does she have a surname?” she teased.

  Bharat frowned, trying hard to remember, before shaking his head. “None that I recall.”

  “How long did you take to fall in love? You must have spent very little time with her if you don’t even know her full name.”

  Bharat looked at Bina with stormy brown eyes. “You don’t know.” Yeah, he had caught it bad, it seemed.

  His shoot over, Bharat left the studio abruptly, rushing back to his hotel to pack up. He had a flight booked to Jaipur that evening and planned to spend the weekend with his family. He missed them, especially his twin Shatru who was jet setting around the globe nowadays.

  And Dia! Looks like that woman had stolen his heart. How was he going to find her?

  After the weekend with his family, Bharat flew back to Mumbai in search of Dia but gave up after the many failed attempts. Actually, he didn’t even know where to look for her. His instinct was to rush to a private detective. But there was something that stopped him. She knew who he was. If she was even half as interested in him as he was in her, she would surely know how to get in touch with him, wouldn’t she?

  Yeah, he did feel hurt when he finally acknowledged that. It looked like Dia had used him to gain some experience in bed. But to him, it felt like she had made him impotent. He seemed to have lost interest in both women and sex. Feeling bitter, he’d gone on a drinking binge for three days in his hotel room, not answering phone calls.

  Bharat had been in a drunken stupor when the doorbell to his room rang on the third day. He buried his face under the pillow, choosing to ignore it. Only the ringing wouldn’t stop. Cursing viciously, he got up to open the door to see Ram and Lakshman standing outside. Looking sheepish, Bharat walked back into the room, letting the two of them in.

  Lakshman handed Bharat a bottle of water even as Ram asked, “What happened to upset you? You aren’t answering calls. You know Mamma and Pappa would be anxious.” He scowled at his younger brother. Hearing Ram, anyone would have thought that he wasn’t personally worried about his brother. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

  Bharat turned around angrily. “Why can’t you all mind your own business? Can’t you see I’m an adult? I’m twenty-five, for God’s sake.” He buried his face in his hands, refusing to look his brothers in their eyes.

  Lakshman went up to Bharat and hugged him close, not uttering a word. Bharat burrowed his face in his brother’s shoulder, his body shuddering with emotion. Ram walked up to them and put his arms around both his brothers.

  That was it! No more questions asked. Their very silence acted as a trigger and slowly Bharat opened up enough to tell them what had upset him so badly. Not everything, maybe. But the gist was more than enough for his brothers to realise how much their kid brother had been affected by the disappearance of Dia. The young man, who was a confident model, who was chased by women in droves, did have a soft heart it seemed. Ram and Lakshman could feel it bleeding for the loss of this one woman who had obviously touched the said heart. They just listened as Bharat rambled, not all that clear at times. But talking about his feelings began the healing process and was enough to bring Bharat out of his self-pity and put him back on his feet.

  By the time Ram and Lakshman left that evening, Bharat was stone-cold sober, had spoken to both their parents, and returned every single call that had gone unanswered on his cell.

  He was back to the world of the living, signing up for all the assignments that came his way—still advertisements, film ads, ramp modelling—every single project, keeping extremely busy as he did his best to push Dia out of his mind. He even did some photo shoots for Laki’s Bakes—Lak
shman and Ruma’s bakery chain; Nakshatra Jewellery—Ram’s designer jewellery and his wife Sapna’s beauty centre called SaRa Salon.

  While his days were busy, it was during the nights that memories of Dia came to haunt him. Bharat blazed through the party circuit, attending every single shindig, with more than his share of enthusiasm. It worked, though only to some extent.

  Through all this, Bharat realised one thing, Dia was the one for him. If he couldn’t have her, he’d rather go without a partner.

  6

  Dia worked longer hours than ever. So much so, that in just a few months she got a big hike in her salary and her own office cabin, much to the irritation of her immediate boss. She refused to think of her personal life, doing her best to forget Bharat. But it wasn’t easy when his face stared at her every other day from the society pages of the newspaper. Yeah, she was addicted to those pages since meeting him. He appeared leaner and meaner; handsome right from his curly mop of carelessly styled dark hair to his feet encased in branded shoes. Dia, who had always stayed away from fashion magazines, seemed to have acquired a morbid fascination for them. She scouted her office library for glossies, checking out the advertisements and a rare couple of interviews of Bharat Maheshwari. It was obvious that he had forgotten her. A bitter smile broke on her face as she acknowledged what a fool she had been, to have fallen in love with a Casanova like him.

  That night, sitting on her bed, Dia stared at the middle page spread. It was a screenshot of Bharat playing volleyball with a bevy of beauties—each female model more gorgeous than the other. And he was the only guy. The setting was a beach in foreign shores, obviously. No, she didn’t recognise it as Andaman. They were all dressed in skimpy outfits, looking tanned and fit and perfect. It was an advertisement for a fashion brand. Like an addict, Dia took a photo of the spread on her phone, before picking up another magazine.

  Bharat was dressed in a natty three-piece suit in steel grey in this one, with a royal blue tie that had tiny grey motifs in it. He had teamed them up with a brilliant white shirt, a silver tiepin and matching cufflinks. The background was a five-star ballroom. He was holding a glass of red wine that he raised in a toast. A lady in a full-length blue gown held her own glass against his. The blue of her gown was the exact shade as his tie. It was a vineyard advertisement. Dia couldn’t take her eyes off Bharat. She tore her gaze away to study the woman’s face. She vaguely remembered seeing that particular model at the party the other day. Was he sleeping with her as well? Dia turned pale.

  She threw the magazine away and picked up another, rushing through the first few pages till she reached the one with Bharat on it. He was dressed up as a bridegroom in this one. She checked to see that it was for a jewellery brand called Nakshatra. While the main focus was on the bride next to him, Dia’s eyes were only for the man. He wore a sherwani in a deep shade of red that made his face glow, his melting brown eyes gazing at the camera. The pants he wore were shaped like a dhoti of rich cream coloured superfine cotton, the folds falling perfectly. A pagari of gold cloth with a red bandini border, the same shade as his sherwani, graced his curly hair. The buttons on his kurta were made of diamond solitaires set in gold; a matching diamond-studded paisley patterned pin, with a huge ruby in its centre, set on the turban. There was a heavy gold bracelet on the hand that held his bride’s, along with two gold rings—one a plain band and the other set with diamonds and rubies. No, Dia didn’t want to see what the bride wore. Good she couldn’t see the woman’s eyes as she had pulled her sari pallu down on her forehead. Otherwise, Dia might have been tempted to tear them out of the page.

  How could a guy wear so much jewellery and still look so masculine? Bharat looked like royalty and Dia wanted to kiss him so badly. Her hand involuntarily caressed a clean-shaven cheek. Disappointment stung as her fingers encountered glossy paper.

  Some weeks later, she went to catch a movie with Avantika. Bharat came to haunt her in not one, but two advertisements. One was for a brand of deodorant. She almost drooled as he took centre stage on screen, his upper body bare. The top button of his low slung jeans was open. Her imagination went haywire as she recalled with absolute clarity what the jeans hid. She raised her eyes in a hurry to stare at his chest. What startled her was his smooth, hair-free chest. Huh! She knew from personal experience that he had a hairy chest. Then how…? Dia’s brow cleared as she recalled reading an article on metro sexual men. Dia curbed her mind that was running away with her imagination when Bharat appeared yet again in another ad ten minutes later. Briefs! She shut her eyes as colour flamed on her cheeks and opened them again to see him wearing one in another colour. Each time, he had a different woman hanging on his arm. WTF!

  And Bharat had himself admitted that he made love to many women. His exact words were, ‘I don’t do virgins’. Dia gritted her teeth as she felt pain in the region of her heart. Of all people in the world, why did she have to give her heart to this man?

  But that’s how it was! Till a few days ago, Dia hadn’t known that a man called Bharat Maheshwari had even existed. After that party and the night spent in his bed, she could see him all around her. Was there no escape?!

  7

  Bharat didn’t know where the two years had gone. He worked harder than ever, doing his best to keep memories of Dia buried deep within him. He went home at least once a month for a long weekend. He would have preferred to go every weekend, but his mother’s eyes were all seeing. He didn’t want her to know that he wasn’t happy.

  That weekend, Shatru had also got back from his six-month sojourn in Europe and the twins were happy to reconnect. Mohan was ecstatically happy that all his children were home.

  Bharat grinned at the heavily pregnant Sapna. “You’re looking beautiful Sapna. When is the baby due?” He clapped a hand on Ram’s shoulder.

  Sapna grinned back, colour blooming on her cheeks. “Three weeks to go.”

  “And how’s the dad-to-be?” he teased Ram.

  “A tad nervous,” said Ram, surprising everyone.

  “I can’t believe that we’re soon to become uncles,” said Shatru, hugging Ram and Sapna.

  The Maheshwaris sat down to dinner together, Ruma and Lakshman getting the dishes from the kitchen.

  “Do we get to taste some new cake, Ruma?” asked Shatru, rubbing his stomach.

  “Of course, I’ve baked a blueberry cheesecake for your homecoming. Would you like to cut it after dinner?” she asked.

  “Cheesecake? Yummy,” grinned Shatru even as Bharat grumbled.

  “I protest,” said Bharat. “Why only for Shatru and not for me?”

  “That’s because Ruma loves me more,” declared Shatrughan, grinning evilly.

  Bharat got up from his chair and hugged Ruma. “No, Ruma loves me more.”

  When Shatru pushed his chair to get up, Lakshman said, “Cut it out, guys. Ruma loves only me. She made the cake for me, but I’ll let you both cut it together.”

  Meera laughed, enjoying the bickering between her grown up sons.

  Sapna said, “I think I should cut the cake as the baby wants to have the first bite.”

  Shatru replied with a smile, “I suppose we uncles can’t compete with the little one. You get to cut the cake, Sapna.” He planned to stay back till his niece or nephew was born before getting on with his next trip.

  Bharat shrugged, sitting back with a smile on his face.

  All of them chattered away as they ate their food. When there was a lull in the conversation, Mohan said, “The Mathurs are visiting us tomorrow. They are here for the whole day. I hope you will all stay at home to spend the day with them.” Looking around, he asked, “Do you all remember Paresh uncle and Daksha aunty? It’s been many years since we met. Paresh and I grew up together. We lost touch when we moved to Jaipur. They have also been living in Meerut since the past thirteen years.”

  Ram nodded. “Yeah, I remember them. They have two little girls.” His forehead puckered as he thought deeply before he snapped his fingers in recollec
tion. “Pia and Dia.”

  “Okay, you remember the girls,” laughed Sapna, teasing her husband.

  Lakshman chuckled. “They must have been babies, I think.” He didn’t remember the family.

  Meera said, “Not really. The elder one was almost ten if I remember right.” She winked at Sapna, making her daughter-in-law laugh out loud. “Their full names are Dipali and Piali. The girls shortened them.”

  Ruma and Sapna laughed as they could relate to that.

  “Can’t really blame them,” said Ram.

  Mohan raised a hand. “So, the whole family, Paresh, his wife and his daughters, are coming tomorrow. I’d…”

  Shatru groaned. “Pappa, I am planning to meet some friends and also spend time with Bharat since he’d rush back on Monday morning. Can I be excused? Please.”

  Mohan looked at him before turning to Bharat. “Bharat, you move your appointments further down the week and spend a couple of more days here with Shatru.” That was it. No one argued. Their father rarely demanded anything from his children. So, when he asked for something, the boys chose to fall in with his wishes.

  They continued to chat while Meera consulted her family about the next day’s lunch menu. They were having guests after a long time. She was looking forward to meeting Daksha again. The girls must have grown up too. They were obviously not married. Well, what if one of her twin sons liked either Pia or Dia? The wheels turned in the mother’s mind.

  When they were alone in their room, Meera spoke to Mohan. “Do you think we can speak to Daksha and Paresh about an alliance for one of our boys with either of their girls?”

  Mohan looked at his wife, a mischievous smile on his face. “Let’s meet them first. It’s been so many years. What if you dislike the girls on sight?” His wife was too mild to take an instant dislike to anyone. But Mohan so loved to tease her at every opportunity.