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

  PERFECT TWINS FIND ANYA

  (Flaming Sun Collection #3)

  Box Set of 3 romance novellas

  Sundari Venkatraman

  Copyright © Sundari Venkatraman 2017

  Indie-published in 2017 under the banner Flaming Sun

  Perfect Twins Find Anya (Flaming Sun Collection #3) is a Box Set of the novellas Twin Torment, Finding Anya & Mr. Perfect.

  All rights reserved.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite eBook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author-publisher.

  Sundari Venkatraman asserts the moral right to be identified as the author & publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Edited by: The Book Club Editorial Panel

  All book covers by: Unaiza Merchant

  Books

  by

  Sundari Venkatraman

  Standalone novels

  The Malhotra Bride

  Meghna

  The Runaway Bridegroom

  The Madras Affair

  An Autograph for Anjali

  Twin Torment

  Finding Anya

  Mr. Perfect

  Collection of shorts

  Matches Made in Heaven

  Tales of Sunshine

  Box Set

  Flaming Sun Collection 1: Happily Ever Afters from India

  Flaming Sun Collection 2: Marriages Made in India

  Flaming Sun Collection 3: Perfect Twins Find Anya

  Novella series

  (Marriages Made in India)

  1 Her Smitten Husband

  2 His Drunken Wife

  3 Her Secret Husband

  4 The Casanova’s Wife

  5 Her Bohemian Husband

  (The Bansal Legacy)

  1 Simha International

  2 Rose Garden International

  3 Maharaja International

  (Written in the Stars)

  1 Scorpio Superstar

  2 Leo’s Desire (Coming soon)

  TWIN TORMENT

  A romance novella by

  Sundari Venkatraman

  1

  Sanya sat in front of the dressing table, staring at her reflection in the floor-length mirror at 3 am. She first turned left and then right, checking out her hour-glass shape critically, her honey brown gaze sharp. Her figure hugging navy blue sheath was strapless and stopped many inches short of her knees.

  No, she hadn’t put on weight. She relaxed on realising that before pouring some make-up remover on a cotton ball to run it against her face carefully, removing the smoky eye-shadow and blue eyeliner, before attending to her forehead and cheeks.

  She had just got back from a party with her friends. Sid had been her partner for the evening and it was obvious that he was keen to be more than that. He was handsome and smart, well-educated, had joined his father’s business and most importantly—for her parents—was from India.

  They had danced together a lot, though Sanya had escaped a few times to dance with the other guys. But everyone treated Sid as her partner and left her with him most of the time.

  It would have been great to strike a relationship with him. Only, Sanya had been in love since the ripe age of eleven, with Arth Sharma, her childhood sweetheart. As a preteen, she had been fascinated by 16-year-old Arth, who seemed like Prince Charming and Shah Rukh Khan rolled into one. He had an angelic face and demeanour and had always been polite to a fault. To the young girl, he had been a romantic dream come true.

  Of course, at that point, it had never struck Sanya to find out if he returned her feelings. There was no need, she had thought. He had treated her like a China doll and had hung out a lot with her. Well, his devilish twin Ansh had also been present most of the time. But that didn’t really matter.

  Sanya grimaced when she thought of Ansh. He was the devil incarnate. They were identical twins, but Sanya could easily tell them apart from their expressions. And well, she had known them since she was a baby.

  She sighed now, as she peeled the sheath away from her body. Her heart had been broken barely two years into the rosy world of young love. Her parents had shifted lock, stock and barrel to London, so far away from the Sharmas. She had missed Arth so much that she had cried herself to sleep for almost a year after the move. Not that he had been aware that a young lady’s heart was bleeding for him. She had been waiting to grow up.

  Not too much into the internet those days, Sanya completely lost touch with the man of her dreams.

  Now she sat on her bed, wondering about her future. She was absolutely tired of the party circuit and hanging out with her so-called friends. Neither activity could be called creative even by a long stretch of one’s imagination. Over and above all that, Sanya realised that she was just plain bored with her monotonous life.

  At twenty-two, she had a BA degree, just because it was expected of her. But she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. If left to her mother Bindiya, Sanya would be married to the first eligible Indian who walked into their lives. Sanya shuddered, thinking of the terrible consequences of such an alliance.

  She would have liked to live an independent life, but then, till today, she was financially dependent on her father. Yeah, Diwakar Chaturvedi gave his daughter a lot of pocket money, but how much could one shop? She needed a purpose in life.

  And how Bindiya tried her best to rule her daughter’s life! Even now, Sanya had got into their apartment stealthily. Her mother never knew that she stayed out late at night to party. If she did, Bindiya would burst a blood vessel. Her mother worked hard at instilling some of the Indian culture into her headstrong daughter.

  Bindiya had done her best to make Sanya learn the Kathak dance form as well as Hindustani music. Sanya giggled now as she recalled her teachers’ expressions when she refused to toe the line. One by one, they had called her mother to insist that she remove her daughter from their respective classes.

  Pulling a nightshirt over her head, Sanya washed her face in the bathroom, feeling wide awake. She decided to finish the book she had been reading since two days—Sidney Sheldon’s Memories of Midnight. There was no need to wake up too early as tomorrow promised to be another bummer.

  2

  On the morning a couple of days later, Sanya stepped out of her bedroom to hear her father talking on the phone. He was speaking in Hindi. Curious, she eavesdropped unashamedly. It wasn’t long before Sanya realised that her father was chatting with Arth’s father, Shantanu Sharma. Her heart went skittering as excitement overcame her. It looked like her father had always been in touch with his friend in Mumbai.

  She went to sit at the dining table after serving herself a cup of hot coffee and waited for her father to finish his call. It was about eight in the morning in London and was probably 1.30 pm in Mumbai. Diwakar cut the connection after wishing his friend a good day and turned to smile at his daughter. He was obviously in a good mood. Sanya smiled at him and asked,
“Who was that Papa?”

  “Do you remember Shantanu Sharma? You know, my friend in Mumbai. You used to spend a lot of time with his sons…”

  “The twins Arth and Ansh? Of course I remember them Papa. I did think that you were talking to Shantanu uncle when I heard you, though I wasn’t sure.” A wide smile broke out on Sanya’s face when she realised that her guess had been right.

  “Yeah, it was Shantanu. I’m glad you remember them. He’s still my best friend and I’ve always remained in touch.”

  Bindiya stepped out of the bedroom to see Diwakar and Sanya grinning at one another and wondered what the two of them were cooking between them. A small sigh escaped her despite her doing her best to stop it. Her daughter did tend to run wild. She wondered whether any young man of Indian origin will accept Sanya’s hand in marriage. Moreover, will the young lady be able to fit into an Indian household? Bindiya had her doubts.

  “Sanya, would you like to go to Mumbai for a holiday?” asked Diwakar suddenly, thinking aloud. He knew deep down that his daughter missed living in Mumbai. And the Sharmas had been inviting them down since ages. He couldn’t spare the time. But it was obvious that Sanya was at a loose end after completing college. A break in Mumbai would definitely do her good. “I’m sure Shantanu and his wife would be thrilled to have you stay with them. It would be great for you to get in touch with your roots. What do you say?” Diwakar turned to look at his wife who nodded in approval. That was the best idea that her husband had come up with in all these years. They turned to look at Sanya to see what she had to say about it.

  Sanya’s face lit up like a Diwali night. “Oh Papa, I’d love to go.” Maybe this was exactly what she needed. Well, not a vacation actually, but a break from the mundane before she zeroed in on what she wanted to do with her life. She could have fun for a while, get to know Arth better and explore her feelings for him. Hopefully, a couple of weeks away from the London party scene would help clear the cobwebs and she would gain clarity as to what she wanted to do.

  Diwakar got up from the dining table and walked towards the door, a purpose to his stride. “Leave all the arrangements to me, my dear. I’ll keep you posted.”

  Sanya felt a strong sense of anticipation bubbling within her. She was going to Mumbai, that too to stay with the Sharmas. She was bound to meet Arth there. She wondered about him, what kind of a man he must have grown into, whether he had become as tall as his father and so on. Her mind reluctantly moved on to Ansh. The younger twin must have also grown along with his brother. Chances were that she would be getting to meet both men. Only, she did not like Ansh at all. He used to tease her so. For the mischievous 16-year-old, a timid girl of eleven had been a perfect target. She had simply hated him. But Arth had always been quiet, a sweet smile on his face. He had been simply adorable. Sanya still saw them with the eyes of her 13-year-old self.

  It didn’t occur to her that, as an adult and with time, her perceptions might have changed.

  3

  Sanya waited in the lounge of Heathrow Airport, her flight yet to be called. A copy of Jeffrey Archer’s The Sins of the Father lay unopened on her lap as she stared unseeingly at the television screen on the pillar in front of her. She was too nervous to concentrate on anything. What would Arth think of her? Would he find her attractive? She wondered how he looked now. He had been a tall, gangly teenager. He must have surely filled out. He had already had the makings of a handsome man in those days. She was confident that he must have broken a few female hearts since then.

  Sanya bent her head to hide the smile that broke out on her face. Just thinking of Arth brought a bloom to her cheeks and a cheer to her heart. Was it any surprise then that she couldn’t stop grinning? She surreptitiously studied the other people around her to check whether they had noticed that she was smiling all by herself. Nobody had. So far, so good! With great difficulty, Sanya worked her features into a serious expression and opened her book with great determination. After all, with the number of hours on flight, it would be about 11-12 hours before she met the man of her dreams.

  The book couldn’t distract Sanya on the flight. She was too close to achieving her dream, the closest since she had become an adult. Her thoughts winged back to the days she had spent with Arth. She forced all thoughts of Ansh out of her mind. She did not want to be reminded of the evil twin who had harassed her. She recalled Arth’s gentle smile. He had always been patient with the girl who had tagged along with the teenage boys wherever they went.

  One day, the twins had decided to go fishing in the artificial lake near their farmhouse in Karjat. Sanya’s family was also staying at the house at that time. Sanya had insisted on tagging along, though she had had no clue about fishing. It was Arth who had patiently taught her how to attach a wriggling worm to the hook and throw the line into the water. When Sanya refused to touch the worm, he had done it for her. It was he who had applauded her when she caught her first tiny fish on the third day after more than a hundred attempts. Of course, being the gentleman that he was, Arth had immediately let the fish back into the water. What a sweetheart!

  There was a similar instance when it had been her birthday. She had turned twelve that year. Her parents had invited many of her school friends who had arrived by 5 pm. But Sanya had refused to cut the cake until her hero arrived. While her mother fretted and fumed in the background, Arth had walked in at 6 pm, dragging a reluctant Ansh for company. It was he who had given her, her first Barbie doll. She had been thrilled with the gift and still treasured it.

  Sanya refused to dwell on what Ansh had given her while she recalled with explicit clarity that it had been a toy gun. The twins had stayed back to help her unpack her gifts while the rest of the young guests had left. She remembered requesting Arth to remain with her while she unwrapped each one of her presents. Of course, Ansh was part of the package, sniggering at her every time she exclaimed in delight. But nothing could spoil the occasion for Sanya as Arth gave her his full attention, joining her in her happiness.

  The rains had been the most favourite time of the year. The three of them used to spend a lot of time in the Sharmas’ library. They used to either read, sitting on cosy sofas or play indoor games. Chess, carom and scrabble were some of their treasured pass-times. Ginger tea and hot Bhajias used to be served by the Sharmas’ cook and housekeeper Jaya.

  Sanya continued to daydream about her time with Arth, not wanting to open her eyes. She ignored the passenger on her right as she leaned towards the window. She had worn a pair of slim-fit jeans in light blue, a black sleeveless top that flattered her figure, and a denim jacket to ward off the chill. But she was sure that Mumbai must be wet and humid as it was July. Sanya wondered if Arth would find her attractive. Well, why not? A number of guys had chased her in London.

  By the end of her journey, Sanya couldn’t quite recall what she had eaten or drunk on the flight as she had refused to step out of her rosy world, waiting eagerly to reach Mumbai.

  4

  Ansh heard his mobile ringing on the passenger seat beside him. Seeing his mother’s picture flashing on the cell, he drove to the left side of the road, parked the car and took the call.

  “Hey, Jewel of my life! How can I serve you?” he asked, a grin splitting his handsome face. While his mother was Ratna to the world, Ansh had taken to calling her Jewel.

  Ratna adored both her sons. “Listen, you rogue, I need you to get to the international airport in half an hour. I…”

  Ansh groaned. “Mom, you can’t do this to me today of all days. I’ve a date with Suren tonight. And I don’t want to break it as he’s leaving for the USA in a couple of days. Why, what’s up? Who’s coming from where?” he asked as an afterthought.

  “Ansh, Sanya’s flight is landing at 7.30 pm. Someone needs to pick her up and you’re the one who’s closest to the airport. Even if Arth leaves his office this very minute, he’ll still take more than two hours to reach Andheri. Can’t you meet Suren after bringing Sanya home?”

  W
hat she said was logical as Ansh had just left his office which was at Juhu. The international airport was in Andheri East while their house was in Versova. It didn’t really make sense for Arth to rush from his place of work at Vashi in Navi Mumbai. But Ansh wished that she had not picked today of all days. He so wanted to meet his friend and they had a lot to catch up on.

  But, wait a minute, Mom had mentioned Sanya. Who was this?

  “Mom, you said Sanya’s coming. Who’s this? Not…”

  “Do you remember little Sanya Chaturvedi, Diwakar uncle’s daughter? She used to play with you and Arth a lot before they went away to settle in London. She…”

  Ansh chuckled wickedly. “Oh my God! Don’t tell me the little mouse is going to visit us after all these years?! This is that little stick thin urchin in pigtails, right? I think she liked Arth more than she ever liked me. She…”

  “Can you blame her Ansh? You used to trouble her so much.” Ratna shuddered as she recalled the incident where a half-drowned Sanya had to be pulled out of the lake at Mahabaleshwar. While Ansh had done his best to wear an innocent expression, Ratna had been sure that it was he who had shoved her from the boat they had been riding in. That had been just one of the many unfortunate circumstances that used to befell Sanya whenever she was in the company of the twins.

  Ansh chuckled gleefully. “You mean this Sanya’s arriving in Mumbai shortly? But this will be fun.” He decided that he must go to the airport. “Okay Mom. I’ll go to the airport and pick her up.”

  Ratna had never thought otherwise. Her boys were good kids. And again, both she and Shantanu would never ask them to do something they wouldn’t want to. It worked both ways. “How do I recognise her?” he wondered aloud. He most definitely wasn’t going to stand there holding a placard with her name on it.

  His phone pinged as he got a message. “I’ve just sent you Sanya’s photo on WhatsApp. I’m sure you’ll be able to recognise her from that.” His mother, as usual, thought of everything.