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Authors: Sundari Venkatraman

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BOOK: The Runaway Bridegroom
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“You’re too drunk to stand straight. Just do what I say,” he said, before moving away from her, his hand at Chanda’s elbow, guiding her away from the scene.

  
Shikha stamped her foot hard, on the verge of a tantrum. But she didn’t stand a chance as Abhi held her elbow firmly as he guided her out of the office.

  
Chanda’s respect for Ranveer grew. The man did know what he was doing. A small smile broke out on her tense features as she slowly relaxed. Ranveer excused himself to go to the washroom. He got rid of the red stain on his cheek and Chanda was glad to notice that when he returned to her side.

  
The party went on into the wee hours of the night. It was 1.30 am when Ranveer suggested that they leave. Chanda was quite glad to oblige as the day had been quite long.

  
She went down in the lift with him and was quite impressed to see his BMW. She smiled innocently at Ranveer as she said, “That’s a lovely car.”

  
Ranveer grinned in reply as he opened the door for her. “Yeah, I agree. It’s a dream.”

  
Chanda got into the plush passenger seat as Ranveer walked around the bonnet to get  behind the wheel. The car purred at his touch and took off smoothly. Chanda loved the speedy ride to his house especially as there was no traffic to slow them down.

  
They reached his row house in CR Park. The portico light was on as Ranveer drove into the compound to park it below the awning. Chanda liked what she saw. She got out of the car before Ranveer could get to her side and walked behind him to the door. She was surprised to see him take a key out of his pocket to unlock the door. Someone usually stayed up to open the door at her home if anyone was out late. But Ranveer’s family was different, it seemed.

  
“Everyone must be asleep, I suppose,” said Chanda, speaking her thoughts aloud.

  
Ranveer swung the ornate wooden door open before turning around to look at her askance. “What? Who’s everyone?”

  
“Your family, of course. Who else?” asked Chanda as she walked behind him into the spacious living room. Her gaze admired the comfortable sofas arranged neatly. She also noted that the whole place had a rather bereft look.

  
Ranveer stopped midstride and turned around to look at Chanda. “Don’t you know anything about me?” he asked, never having expected to face such a situation. When he had invited Chanda to his house, he hadn’t imagined such a complication. Everyone at the office knew that he lived by himself. It had never struck him that Chanda could have believed otherwise.

  
Chanda looked at Ranveer, her black eyes wide and innocent. “Like what?” she asked, still wondering where his family members were.

  
“I live alone. I’ve no family. My adopted parents live in the USA,” said Ranveer, laying down the stark facts. He wondered what she would do now that she knew that they were alone in the house.

  
Chanda’s large black eyes opened wider as her mouth opened in a big, “Oh, I didn’t know that. I had no clue.”

  
‘How can I stay here then?’ She wondered, not having the courage to put the question into words.

  
Ranveer looked at the innocent face in front of him. It was obvious that the news had been a shock to her. He wondered what had made him suggest that she go home with him in the first place. They didn’t even know each other well. But then, that was the very reason why he wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to know her better. And doing that in the office was next to impossible!

  
“Well, Chanda, it’s like this. I was keen that you stay back for the party and couldn’t think of any place else for you to spend the night. I didn’t bring you here under false pretences either. I just presumed you were aware of my single status. You’re absolutely safe here. There are four bedrooms in this house and you can choose the one furthest from mine. There’s a lock too,” he added for extra measure. But Ranveer’s face was quite serious. He didn’t want Chanda to feel threatened.

  
Chanda nodded her head hesitantly. There was no choice, it seemed. She was stuck at Ranveer’s home for the night. She wondered what her parents would have to say about this. Meera’s serene face floated before her mind’s eye. Her mother had an extremely calm demeanour and was excellent at accepting situations for what they were. She never got ruffled ever and kept their family together. Of course, she had the full support of her husband Mohan, who was always as cool as a cucumber. Chanda knew that she could talk about this situation with her parents quite honestly and that was the reason why she accepted it for what it was.

  
“I suppose there’s no other choice,” she said as she smiled hesitantly at Ranveer.

  
He was totally relieved and quite glad to see that she threw no tantrum. His respect for her grew some more.

  
“Come on then, this way,” Ranveer guided her to the corner where a wooden staircase took them upstairs. “The bedrooms are all on the first floor,” he said as he led the way, switching more lights on.

  
Chanda had just her handbag with her. She hadn’t carried the overnight bag that she had packed as she had believed that she wouldn’t get to stay back till the end of the party. She mentally shrugged her shoulders as she followed Ranveer up the wide staircase. The smaller hall on the first floor had four doors around, two on each side. Ranveer pointed to the door on the far right and said, “That’s mine. You choose any one of the others.”

  
Chanda moved towards the door closest to them on the left side. It was diametrically opposite to Ranveer’s room. He moved forward to open the door for her. It looked simple, with the décor in cream and brown. Ranveer walked in to open the floor length curtains that were covering the French windows leading to the balcony. Chanda was thrilled to note a number of trees outside the window.

  
“My parents stay in this room when they visit. You might find some nightwear and other stuff in the cupboard. I see that you aren’t carrying anything.”

  
Chanda nodded shyly before saying, “Yeah! Thank you Ranveer.”

  
Ranveer hesitated at the door, “Well, good night then. Sleep well! Feel free to get up when you will. It’s quite late and tomorrow’s a holiday. See you in the morning when you get up.”

  
Chanda said, “Good Night!” as she watched him leave.

  
She felt like an intruding child when she opened the wardrobe to see some clothes hanging there. But then, she didn’t want to sleep in her coral dress. She found a pair of pajamas and matching top that belonged to a slim but tall woman. She laid them on the bed before walking into the attached bathroom.

  
It appeared that a lot of planning had gone into setting up the bathroom to make guests comfortable. There were new toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and shampoo in the shelf beside the washbasin. There were fresh towels on the rack next to it.

  
Chanda decided to have a shower before going to sleep. She switched the water heater on before brushing her teeth. As she looked at herself in the mirror above the wash basin, she noted that her cheeks were red with colour. Her black eyes were shining in excitement. She had never seen such an expression on her face before now.

  
What the hell! Life was getting to be exciting and she could feel her heart beating rapidly. Ranveer was obviously a gentleman and wouldn’t misbehave. And he had as good as told her so in that many words. Chanda felt quite safe and looked forward to getting to know the man some more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fourteen

 

  
Meera was like a cat on hot bricks from the moment she got up in the morning. She impatiently waited for Mohan to wake up before she reminded him, “We have to go to the astrologer today afternoon.”

  
Mohan looked up at his wife in amusement. He hadn’t even got out of the bed when she made the declaration. He grinned slowly as he teased, “Should I get up to brush and have tea or shall I directly get ready to visit Vidyasagar
ji
?” he asked, tongue-in-cheek.

  
Colour ran up on Meera’s cheeks as she blushed like a new bride. She gave her husband a flustered look before saying, “I’m sure your day will go absolutely well now that you have begun it by pulling my leg.”

  
Mohan got out of bed and went to pat his wife on her cheek. “Don’t worry so, Meera. I am sure the astrologer has some good news for us,” he reassured his wife before going into the bathroom.

  
Meera stepped out of their room to see Ram and Lakshman going down the stairs. They were her eldest sons. The other two were named Bharat and Shatrughan to complete the foursome from The Ramayana. The tall, muscular young men turned around when they heard their diminutive mother’s footsteps. They stopped and waited for her to join them, smiling at her red face.

  
“So, what did Pappa tell you today morning? You’re all red,” greeted Ram, a teasing look on his face. He absolutely adored his mother.

  
“Your Pappa will have a great day as he has started it by teasing me,” she declared without rancour. She didn’t mind Mohan’s teasing, but in fact, thrived on it. All their five children were sure of it too and joined in the banter that was just fun and never turned hurtful.

  
Lakshman hugged his mother, always the quiet one. He was a man of few words and showed his affection through his hugs rather than words. Meera was very proud of her kids. Was she glad that they had left their village to settle down here in Jaipur! All the boys had had basic education and their own careers, quite independent.

  
While Ram was almost twenty-nine, no one talked of getting him married as the whole family as one was keen on having Chanda settled down before finding brides for the boys.

  
The men sat down at the dining table while Meera buzzed around them, pouring the tea brought in by Shyamlal, the loyal servant who had moved with them to the city. He lived with his wife Panna and their two children in the outhouse that was close to the compound wall at the back.

  
Ram and Lakshman had been fighting over the newspaper pages when Mohan entered the room. Out of deference to their father, the two sons put the pages back together neatly before handing the newspaper to him.

  
Mohan looked at his elder sons with a smile on his face before asking, “Where are Bharat and Shatru?”

  
“Both came in quite late, Pappa. They’re still sleeping,” said Lakshman.

  
There were no particular strictures followed at home. All tended to wake up quite early in the morning, by about 6 am. The family usually spent their morning in the large dining room, reading the newspaper, having tea and breakfast and generally lolling around, spending time together. They had a lot to talk about as each one was in a different line of business. While Meera and Mohan had dinner by 7.30 pm sharp, the boys ate when they pleased, quite late at times. So, the mornings happened to be family time.

  
Ram was the replica of his father, only taller. He also had the same tendency to tease mercilessly. “Bharat and Shatru went for a late night film, Pappa. They came in at about 2.30, I think,” he said. He so enjoyed playing mischief.

  
While Mohan was a very easygoing parent, the one thing that he didn’t approve was the boys getting home later than midnight. In fact, the kids called it ‘the Cinderella syndrome’ behind their parents’ backs. Mohan was quite obsessed with this and told his sons off if they got in late. But, that never stopped the boys from telling the truth. They never even thought of lying to their parents, never having felt the need for it.

  
Ram had a devilish grin on his face when he saw the twins enter. Yeah, Bharat and Shatru were twins and identical ones at that. Not that the family ever got them mixed up. In fact, they could find a dozen differences between the two while strangers tended to get confused all the time.

  
When they caught Ram’s look, the twins immediately knew that they were in for a lecture from their father. Mohan frowned up at them, or was trying very hard to. Only, he had too much love for his sons, especially the twins. He did his best to keep a stern expression on his face when he asked, “Where did the two of you take off last night?”

BOOK: The Runaway Bridegroom
11.36Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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