The Evil Twin? (13 page)

“Oh, Jason is kind of an ass so I didn’t think he would be good for you,” I defended.

“Stop sounding like Reyan now and set me up with him. Whatever happened to meeting Mr. Wrong so I know when I meet my Mr. Right?” she winked.

“Fine, I will introduce you to him. Where is everyone else?” I asked without looking up just so I don’t look into the overly familiar brown eyes accidentally.

“At the booth settling in...oh and why did Reyan ask me to set him up with a date for tonight?” Annie whispered leaning in.

I heard my heart crack and the pieces fall freely into my stomach, and my stomach clenched into a tight knot. I held my breath and looked at her in silence unable to find my voice.

“He took you home in his friggin hot car and that meant a lot more so I am surprised you guys aren’t a thing?”

“Annie, it was just a friendly ride and he was teasing me back for all the crappy text messages we exchanged last night.” I dismissed her excitement.

“What are you not telling me, Vinnie?” she asked not falling for the explanation.

For the few weeks we had known each other, Annie knew me too well.

“Oh…here’s Jason,” I said looking over Annie’s head and waved him over to the bar.

Jason got excited and headed towards the bar smiling.

“This beautiful woman troubling you, Vinnie?” I almost snorted when I realized that Jason was also flirting with Annie.

“Yes, Jason…get her off my bar counter,” I winked at him.

“Anything for you, Vinnie,” he said and added looking at Annie, “I am Jason and you are?”

“I’m Annie, nice to meet you Jason.” Annie’s eyes twinkled as she spoke to Jason. Jason was tall; he had dark brown hair and all the right features that would make any woman swoon, except me.

I am a snob. I want Reyan.

I got back to my usual tasks when I saw Jason and Annie disappear into the crowd. I saw Chloe, Neel, and Eddie a few times when they came to the bar for their special drinks that I had mixed for them. I was relieved Reyan was not at the event.

Four hours of making an endless number of drinks, I took a break and went into the back room. I grabbed my phone and was looking at it when I heard a dull thud from the refrigerator section. I walked towards the coolers to find Annie and Jason in each other’s arms, claiming each other’s mouth. I stopped short in my tracks but before I could turn and walk away, Jason saw me and pulled away from Annie running his fingers through his hair.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt,” I laughed looking at Annie blush.

Jason mumbled something and left the back room.

“Oh my god, Vinnie, I was this close to getting fucked by him against the wall, good thing you interrupted me,” Annie whispered.

I laughed shaking my head.

“Looks like Jason is totally into you,” I teased.

“He is so hot, Vinnie. You have to give me his phone number. I want to see him again.”

“Are you sure?” I asked in a firm voice.

“Yes, please. Let me be a bad girl for once in my life. I am done being a stuck up and trying to be the ideal daughter,” she declared and added, “Do not, I mean do not, say anything about Jason to Reyan.”

I laughed listening to her threat and said, “Okay, I won’t say anything to anybody.”

“Even better, but I’m sure he suspected something when I walked away from the group with Jason to check out the bar’s wine cellar,” Annie rolled her eyes.

“Wait, Reyan is at the club tonight? I thought you said he was on a date with your coworker,” I asked as a shiver ran through me.

“Not on a date, he wanted her to be his date for this event and why wouldn’t he be here.”

Holy shit!! He was at the club!!

My heart started to beat so hard I could hear the rattle from my ribcage. I stood still as Annie continued to talk about Jason and wondered how I could go back to the bar knowing Reyan was in the club. I am sure he could see me from the private booth, and I could have never spotted him in the dim lighting.

“Okay, I am gonna go find Jason now. Text me his number later. I won’t ask him for his,” Annie giggled and left the back room.

I stood in the back room staring blankly towards the crowded bar debating if I should go back out there. One side of me challenged me to go out there and pretend like I was not affected by being under Reyan’s eyes, and the new side of me reminded me of the pain I would experience if he were to show up at the bar. My eyes wanted to see the beautiful smiling face, my heart longed for the warmth, and my body longed for his thumb to run circles way down below.

What the heck? I am not a softy!!

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and went back to the bar to find Dave losing control of the crowd.

“What took you so long?” he snarled.

“I know, I am sorry.”

I worked for another hour moving at half my speed, mad at myself for being so jumpy just at the thought of being under the same roof with Reyan. I knew I was mainly consumed by the guilt of maybe hurting him a little bit, but I knew there was something else that was brewing inside me. An unfamiliar composition of feelings that were new to me, and I knew I had to nip them in the bud.

Chapter 13

“Thank you!!” I smiled at the cabbie stepping onto the sidewalk of the domestic terminal of the San Francisco International Airport. I took a deep breath trying hard to remember the last time I was on a plane and for that matter, the last time I left the San Francisco Bay Area.

I remembered travelling with my parents but after they left me, I had put my life on autopilot and worked in a zombie mode. I had never felt as alive as I had felt in the last five weeks. I had to acknowledge that part of it was because of Reyan, but the majority of it was because of Annie. I knew she was a godsend to rescue me from my lame and boring two-job life. I had saved enough to take a few days off but never had the motivation to take that time.

I took a deep breath looking at the instructions Neel had sent me to board the plane to go to his brother’s wedding as his fake girlfriend. I was excited to spend a weekend with everyone except for Reyan.

Almost a week after I told him I didn’t want to see him, I had still not made peace with the fact that I had to move on and not keep thinking about him. I knew he had moved on, but I could not get myself to stop thinking about him.

I texted Neel and Annie and let them know that I had reached the airport.

Neel: Follow the instructions and I will meet you at the security gate.

Me: See you in a few…

I followed the instructions and walked away from the major airline counters towards a less crowded area of the terminal. I walked towards a set of double doors and was greeted by a cheerful woman. She checked the paperwork I had and instructed me to follow the signs to a private lounge. 

Neel and Annie met me at the private lounge. 

“What's with the special entry guys?” I asked winking at Neel.

“For my beautiful fake girlfriend,” Neel chuckled wrapping his arms around me.

“Right, can I expect an engagement ring this weekend?” I teased.

“I am sure my mom has one ready for you,” Neel retorted laughing.

Chloe and Eddie joined us at the private lounge a few minutes later. The flight crew then joined us and took our bags from us. Annie had the most number of bags and Eddie teased her as we were ushered towards a private jet.

“Neel, you got a private jet for me?” my voice blared with excitement.

“Right!!” Neel said laughing.

“Seriously Annie, what's with all these bags?” Eddie continued to poke her.

“Hey, not all of it is mine. I've got Chloe’s and Vinnie's stuff too, and we need a lot of things for the four-day wedding,” she snapped.

“Chloe, I don't know about you but I think I will look weird in my outfits,” I said, my nervousness kicking in.

“Enough with the modesty Vinnie. You have a great body and if I were as tall as you were, I would've had so many other options for outfits,” Annie grumbled.

“The view is no better from up here Annie,” I said shaking my head.

“Don't fool me. I have reinforcements, and I know what a huge difference a few extra inches can make,” Annie said winking.

“Where's Reyan?” Chloe asked, and I held my breath waiting for Neel to respond.

“He is off the grid working on his other company stuff. He'll join us later tonight.“ Neel said softly.

“Is he cheating on us with the family company?” Annie giggled.

“Not really, but he's got to do what he gets paid for,” Neel defended.

“Yeah, fancy CFO slash COO, when he is the CEO of our company,” Chloe retorted.

“Do you all work together?” I asked confused with the conversation.

“Kind of except for Eddie. Eddie is the legal dude for the big company and our spy on Reyan,” Neel laughed fist-bumping Eddie.

I lost their conversation as I fought myself not to think about Reyan. I could not stop thinking about how miserable I had felt that past few days. My heart would start racing every time I heard a motorcycle or saw someone on a motorcycle. I had kept my eyes glued to my phone for any kind of communication but nothing from him. I wanted him to move on, but at the same time I wanted him. I wanted him badly. I was thankful for being with everyone else, but something inside me felt incomplete without Reyan.

I had hoped to see him earlier that week when Annie, Neel, and I met at the boutique for a final fitting of my outfits, but he didn't show up.

Neel and Annie wouldn't speak of him and got me to wonder if they had picked up on the tension and were doing that on purpose.

"Welcome aboard, Ms. Raj." The friendly stewardess greeted me as I stepped into the fancy private jet. We had an hour of travel, but I looked forward to the fun short ride. The pilot came to greet us and talk to us about our trip and gave us a brief description of the route and what to expect from the hour ride.

“We will be ready to take off in just under fifteen minutes,” the pilot announced before heading back to the cockpit.

“I haven't been on a plane in ages so I don't know what I am going to do,” I confessed to Neel.

“Check with the lady that greeted us to see if she has a shot of whiskey. That'll help,” he advised with a wink.

“Be right back,” I laughed.

I got off the comfortable leather seat and headed towards the back of the plane. I walked past what seemed like a bathroom on one side and a closet on the other side. It looked like the plane had everything for its size.

I walked gingerly towards the back wall and peeked through the opening, and what I saw almost made my heart jump out of my chest.

Reyan!!

He was standing leaning against a counter with a glass of whiskey in his hand. For the time of day, he was drinking it neat. He looked stunning in a baby pink dress shirt that was tucked in partially from his dress pants and his tie was loosened around his neck. His manner was extremely relaxed as he scanned me from top to bottom with his dark eyes. I stood frozen in my floral ‘burst into spring’ silk maxi dress as he started walking towards me.

“Looking for some of this?” he asked tipping his glass towards me.

“No, I am fine,” I said and turned on my heel before he could get any closer to me. I felt him reach out swiftly and grabbed my hand by my wrist.

I turned partially to look into his eyes that seemed to be happy to see me, but the expression on his face told me he was annoyed.

“You can have my drink, if you like,” he offered.

“Thanks, but I am fine,” I flashed a fake smile at him and added, “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Sorry, I can’t help but be here considering it’s my plane.”

“What the…” My voice trailed off.

“Why are you here?” he snarled.

“I am here for Neel,” I said looking straight into his eyes.

“That’s right, you can’t be with someone but want to be a fake girlfriend?” His tone annoyed me to the core.

“Reyan…I…I want to talk…”

His stern voice interjected my statement.

“I don’t want to talk to someone who isn’t interested in me,” he said walking away from me.

“You’ve got some serious rich people issues,” I snorted, and that made him stop and turn around to look at me.

His annoyed expression evaporated and I knew he was going to smile, but something else happened and he nipped the smile and shut it down.

What the heck is he trying to do?

“I know how to deal with my issues. I hope you’ve figured out how to deal with yours.” He walked away leaving me in the back of the plane as the burning pain in my stomach spread throughout my body. I ignored the ache and headed back to the seating area only to find Reyan in the seat I was in a few minutes ago.

I realized that he was somehow trying to force a situation where I would lose my cool, but I wasn’t going to let that happen. I walked towards the seat I was in and bent down enough to show my cleavage to Reyan as I reached for my phone from the drink holder. I was tempted to rub one of my breasts against his shoulder but decided it may be too much. I heard his breath hiss as he caught a good glimpse of my cleavage, and I smiled innocently looking at him fight for a breath.

I can play those games too!!

“Hey Neel, are you going to kiss me in front of your parents?” I asked batting my eyelashes at him.

The group cheered, and I caught Reyan choking on his drink. Encouraged by his reaction, I sat next to Neel and wrapped my arm around him and said, “I’ll do whatever it takes to make people believe that I am your girlfriend.”

Neel shook his head laughing and said, “I don’t know what I need to do to make sure people believe me when I say this hot chick is my girlfriend.”

“Oh c’mon Neel, if you were into women, I would have fallen for you for sure,” I encouraged keeping an eye out for a reaction from Reyan.

Neel swallowed and said, “I was thinking more like you are the conservative coo-coo type that wouldn’t let me kiss you until you and I have been together for a year.”

“That would be hard to sell, Neel, especially with Vinnie,” Reyan snorted making me want to reach out and slap him.

“It doesn’t matter what you think, whatever makes us being a couple more believable,” I said in a gruff voice and flashed a dirty look at Reyan.

“You guys better not forget the answers to the questions we practiced for the initial interrogation,” Annie reminded Neel and me.

“Do you think you and I will be sharing a room?” It was Neel’s turn to choke on his drink.

Reyan laughed sending thrills through my body.

“I don’t think Neel can handle sharing a room with you. Maybe you and I can share a room,” Reyan said with a wicked smile, and I felt my cheeks heat up and turn red.

“Stop kidding, Reyan. You know how it works in an Indian wedding; guys and gals don’t share rooms unless they are married. Chloe and Vinnie, you gals are stuck with me.”

“What? No!! I want Chloe with me,” Eddie whined.

“I’ll sneak into your room at night,” Chloe winked at him.

“Easy, people. I made sure we have individual rooms and Ed and Chloe, you guys will have a connected room.” Neel confirmed laughing.

“I am so excited to be your girlfriend this weekend, Neel,” I said resting my head on Neel’s shoulder and managed to catch Reyan’s grim expression from the corner of my eye.

This is just a preview Reyan Bhatia!!

*****

“I am so proud of you, Vinnie,” Annie smiled, looking at me adjusting the scarf of my outfit for the wedding. I survived a full day in the opulent Indian wedding outfit, and I was on my second day.

“I love this outfit, Annie,” I said looking at myself clad in an extremely cropped deep red blouse that literally crushed my boobs, while shaping them and the long flowing skirt that weighed me down with the heavy thread work and crystal embellishments.

“I am glad you are willing to show off your belly a little bit,” Annie cheered and added, “We can hide your birthmark with some makeup.”

Annie never once asked me what the story was behind the scary scar on the side of my chest and kept referring it to as a birthmark. It really was a birthmark as I was reborn as a different person.

“Annie, I am pissed off at Reyan,” I blurted out unable to keep my emotions to myself.

“I was wondering when you were going to talk to me about it,” Annie mocked.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to keep it from you but…” My voice trailed off when the familiar lump started to form in my throat again.

“I get it, so what’s going on?” she paused adjusting the sheer scarf and stood looking at me.

“I told him last Saturday that I didn’t want to be in any kind of relationship with him,” I confessed.

“What? Why?” Annie was clearly surprised.

“I don’t know, Annie. Reyan and I are so different, and I knew that difference would eventually rip us apart,” I said softly and added, “I didn’t want to lose you when that happened.”

“Aww, you’ll never lose me no matter what, is that clear?” she declared and added, “So, now you want him back?”

“Yes, I do, and I tried all day yesterday to talk to him but he completely ignored me,” I complained.

“I saw that. He can be an ass sometimes.” She scrunched her nose.

“What do you think I should do, Annie?”

“Hmm…you should make him jealous,” she suggested with a wink.

“I tried that but no effect,” I said shaking my head.

“How did you make him jealous…wait you mean that’s what you were trying to do with Neel on the plane?” she asked.

Annie started laughing uncontrollably when I nodded and said amidst her spurts of laughter, “Neel and Reyan are so thick and Reyan would never be bothered by it as he knows Neel is not into women, c’mon girl.”

“I know, but what else can I do?”

“I have an idea, and I need your full co-operation,” Annie winked and pulled the scarf off my chest to make my outfit a bit more revealing.

“Hey...” I objected.

“I need you to flirt with Dev,” Annie declared.