The Evil Twin? (22 page)

“The line is here,” I pulled Reyan back when he started walking past the end of the line.

“You don’t need to get into line baby, trust me.”

“Okay fine!!”

Reyan took a step forward and turned around surprising me.

“Vinnie, do I still have my ‘anything I want’ card”? he asked taking me by surprise.

“What the heck? Why are you asking about that here?”

“Because I am going to use it now!” he declared.

“What the heck are you talking about?” I asked annoyed that he was delaying my meeting with the author.

“I want you to take the next three weeks as they are. I want you to do what is needed. Is that fair?” he asked boring his eyes into mine.

“Reyan, why are you being so weird about it and why here? We can talk about it after we go home.”

“No, baby, now, the three weeks of Vinnie going with the flow starts this minute. Do you agree?” he insisted.

“Reyan, you know I would do it even if you didn’t have your ultimate card,” I said softly.

“Sweetheart, promise me you will, and you will accept things the way they are for the next three weeks.”

“Okay, I promise. I will do whatever you ask me to do, will that be easier?” I said putting my arm around his waist.

Reyan nodded, his expression firm as he brought his lips to my forehead. He took me by my hand and led me towards one side of the huge banquet hall.

“The author is over there, we should be headed that way,” I reminded him, laughing.

“She will come to you.”

“Oh…” I stood next to him in silence looking at the author surrounded by her team and her fans. I had expected the author to be an elderly woman, but she didn’t seem to be a day older than forty.

“Is this the right author? She is too young to be an author of my mom’s time.”

“Trust me, she is the one.”

Reyan pulled out his phone and dialed a number. I watched as the woman standing next to the author answered the phone.

“Could you please let her know we are here, to your left?” He waved at the woman who had answered the phone. I saw the woman’s eyes widen when she turned to look in our direction.

I watched as the woman who answered the phone interrupt the author as she spoke to one of her fans and point in our direction. The author turned to look in our direction and from twenty feet away, I could see the blood drain from her face.

She jerked up from her chair knocking off a pile of books as she walked toward us.

“Take a deep breath baby, you wanted to see her. She is not only your favorite author but also the mother that has been looking for her daughter.” Reyan’s voice was soft but firm.

I stood frozen as the tall woman wound her arms around me crying her lungs out.

“Nandi, baby...I thought I’d never see you, where have you been?” she managed to utter amidst her sobs.

I stood frozen as she sobbed holding me to her. I looked at Reyan not knowing what to do or how to react only to find him looking at me smiling. I smiled back at him and put my arms around the woman who was my biological mother. I took a deep breath wondering why I wasn’t angry with her and why I didn’t let myself out of her arms. I just couldn’t, I wanted to hold her, I wanted to console her and make her feel better.

She pulled back cupping my cheeks with her palms and kissed my forehead and looked into my eyes. “This is the best day of my life. I had lost hope that this day would ever come.”

I smiled at her and to my surprise I reached out to wipe her tears away. My heart could not bear to see the stranger in tears. She held my palm to her lips and continued to sob.

Reyan put his arm around her and said to the author, “You are freaking out your fans, get a hold of yourself. Vinnie is not going anywhere.”

“Rajee, I can’t do the event anymore. Can you please cancel it?” she told the woman who seemed to be her assistant.

“Rajee, hold it,” Reyan stopped the woman and added, “You can’t stop the event now. Vinnie and I will be back in a few hours to take you back to the hotel, and you can talk to her later.”

She nodded and turned to look at Reyan. “My baby is your girlfriend?”

“I told you you’d love her the second you saw her,” he smiled running his fingers through his hair.

“Thank you, Reyan!!” She reached out to place her palm on his cheek and blew him a kiss.

Reyan turned to look at me, “Vinnie, this is Nandini Singhal, the author you wanted to meet.”

I stared at the woman still not able to fully comprehend what was happening. I saw what I used to see in my mom’s eyes and had longed for that purest form of love that only a mother has for her child.

“You read my books?” she asked looking at the book I held in my hands.

“She writes too…just like her mother,” Reyan added putting his arm around me.

“Wow, I am so happy to hear that...” She put her arms around me and planted a kiss on my cheek.

She looked at Reyan and said, “I will be done with the event at noon. If I don’t see my daughter back here, you are a dead man, Reyan.”

“I got it, Mrs. Singhal,” Reyan teased as we left the banquet hall and headed out.

“Are you okay baby?” Reyan asked softly as we left the community center.

“I have mixed feelings Reyan. I wanted to be angry with her for giving me up for adoption, but I couldn’t be angry with her when I saw her.”

“She is an amazing person, Vinnie. I’ve known her all my life.”

“Reyan, I want to know why I was given up for adoption.”

“I can’t speak to it baby, you need to ask your mother.”

“I will,” I said wondering how I would ask her.

“So…now you know why you are so much taller than your mom and dad? You need to stop giving Meg grief over being a picky eater,” Reyan chuckled.

“Yes, a lot of things about me make so much more sense now and a lot more don’t make sense.”

Chapter 22

“I can’t do this by myself, I need you to be with me, Reyan.”
              “Sweetheart, you don’t need me when you are talking to your mother,” Reyan objected.

“I am not going, if you’re not going.”

He looked at me silently for a minute and nodded. The book-signing event had taken longer, and it was almost three in the afternoon before we pulled into the parking lot of the hotel.

“I want you to sit right next to me,” I ordered as we went up to one of the top floors of one of the luxury hotels in San Francisco. He put his arm around me but did not say anything.

The author’s assistant came to the door.

“Hey, Rajee. How was the event?” Reyan asked walking through the door taking me by my hand. The hotel room was a huge suite with a designated living and dining area and seemed to have more than one bedroom.

“It was a madhouse as usual. Your aunt is pretty famous,” the woman said, smiling and stretched her hand out, “Hi Nandi, I am Rajee, Mrs. Singhal’s executive assistant.”

“Hi Rajee, I’m Vinnie.”

“Sorry, hi Vinnie…it’s very hard for me not to call you Nandi. I’ve worked for Mrs. Singhal from the time she published her first book when Nandi was one,” Rajee said softly.

“Hi Vinnie, sorry to keep you waiting. I took Reyan’s advice and the event took two hours longer,” the author said smiling at us.

“You are famous around here,” he teased.

She came to sit next to me but did not overwhelm me like she did at the community center earlier that day by hugging me.

“Can I get you kids something to drink?”

“I am fine, thank you,” I mumbled.

“Will I get into trouble if I grabbed a drink from your mini bar?” Reyan asked heading toward what looked like a kitchenette.

“You’ll survive,” she laughed and something inside me clicked. I saw how her eyes glowed, her cheeks showed slight dimples, the nose scrunch and remembered a picture of mine that looked just like her. I took a deep breath fighting back the anxiety that was building up inside me.

“Vinnie, are you alright?” she asked softly.

“Yes, I am fine.”

“So...how did you and this guy end up together?” she asked winking at Reyan.

“She came looking for me in the middle of the night,” he said laughing as he sat next to me.

“Very interesting!! What do you write Vinnie?”

“I...I write literary fiction.”

“That’s great!! I would love to take a look at your work,” she encouraged.

“I love your work too, my mom...” I paused looking at her and when her expression did not change I continued, “she used to read your books and when they passed away, I started reading her books in her memory.”

“I am so sorry about that,” she said placing her palm gently on my knee.

“I am sorry about Nandana…Reyan told me about the accident,” I said empathizing with her.

“You are the only reason I was able to pull through after losing your sister and your father in one accident,” she said softly looking at me.

“I’m sorry I did not know about your husband,” I said, my voice trembling at the memory of losing my loved ones.

“You are all I have, Vinnie.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I feel the same way about you. To me, my parents died in an accident when I was ten, and no one can take their place,” I managed to say in a firm tone.

“Vinnie…” Reyan started to say and then paused when she looked at him.

“I understand Vinnie. I am just grateful I could see you and am able to talk to you. I do not expect you to change anything for me. I just need some of your time so I can move along,” she said looking into my eyes.

“I can’t promise anything Mrs. Singhal knowing I was given up for adoption,” I said anger powering my voice.

“There wasn’t a choice sweetie,” she said weakly.

“What was the need to give me up for adoption?” I asked the million-dollar question, the question that had been burning me for the past two months.

She took a slow and long breath and said, “Twins, especially girls born into the Singhal family in the past generations, have killed each other before they turned sixteen.”

“What?” I thought I screamed but my voice was barely audible.

“Your father’s sisters died on the same day when they fell off the balcony fighting over a doll. Similar incidents that had happened made the family believe it was best to have the girls brought up in different homes until their sixteenth birthday.”

“I don’t believe it.” I shook my head.

“I did not believe in the superstition and was completely against it before I had you and your sister but...”

She broke down into sobs holding on to Reyan.

I scooted closer to her and put my palm on her shoulder as an uncontrollable pain took over my body. I could not see that woman in pain, she was a complete stranger but it broke my heart to see her weep. I made eye contact with Reyan and gave him the ‘I got this’ look, and he gently let go of her as I put my arm around her.

She hugged me tightly as if I would disappear if she let me go. “I am just glad Reyan found you, you don’t need to accept me into your life.”

“Why did you choose my mom and dad to give me away?”

“You were never meant to be given away. Your mom and dad were asked to raise you till you were sixteen but...”

“But what?” I urged.

“One month after you were given to them, they left the area without telling anyone.”

“What?” I gasped.

“You may find all this hard to believe, but your mom and dad were childless for many years after their marriage and wanted you for themselves,” she sniffled.

“I dealt with the pain by publishing stories that portrayed the burning heart of a mother who lost her child.”

“I’m sorry…” I uttered as she continued to speak.

“I had names picked out for both of you and when I was told I lost you, I started writing under your name.”

“Wait, is that not your name?” I asked in shock.

“You are my Nandini Singhal sweetie, and your sister’s name was Nandana. When she was six, she asked me who Nandini was, and I told her about how we lost you and she told people that her name was Nandi from that day, a shorter form of your name in your memory.”

“I…I met her friends at work one day, and they were shocked to see me.”

“You are very identical, except for your eyes. Nandi…Nandana had her dad’s eyes and you have mine.”

I smiled at her, my questions were answered, but I did not feel any special affinity towards the woman. She was still my favorite author.

“How did you get my books? I don’t have a lot of sales in the U.S.,” she asked softly.

“My mom used to read your books and would not stop talking about them. She would end up crying just talking about the stories,” I said looking at her and added, “I think I understand the reason behind the sadness whenever she read your books.”

“I freaked out when I saw one of the books in your room the first time we met at your place,” Reyan said smiling and added, “I knew then that the best way for me to have you two meet was at a book signing event.”

“You did well!!” she cheered, smiling at Reyan and asked “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I needed to make sure Vinnie would believe me if I told her everything I knew…your daughter here is one tough cookie.”

“I am happy to hear that...Vinnie, you are doing really well for what you were put through today,” she said smiling at me.

‘Well, that’s because I knew about the search and about my parents adopting me a few weeks ago. We met Reyan’s parents at a restaurant and his mom recognized me,” I said softly.

“Seema knew all along?” she fumed looking at Reyan.

“Vinnie, you got my mom into trouble now.” He laughed, leaning back on the couch as she reached for the phone.

“Mrs. Singhal, please don’t...” I stopped when she looked at me with the eyes that were way too familiar and said, “I would love for you to call me mom or by my first name, but please don’t address me like a stranger.”

“What is your name?” I asked weakly.

“I am Preethi.”

“Pri…”

“You just need to say it like you say pretty,” Reyan chimed in.

“That’s a pretty name,” I observed.

“What’s your real name?” she asked surprising me.

“Vinitha…Vinitha Raj.”

“I like Vinnie better,” she smiled, putting her arm around me and added, “I need to ask you something.”

“Yes...”

“Can you spend one week with me? I know you don’t feel anything for me, but I do. I want you to myself for the rest of my life, but I know I can’t ask for that.”

“A week maybe…” I paused when Reyan interrupted me and said, “Baby, remember ‘whatever Reyan wants time’?”

“Reyan, stay out of this and let her decide,” she growled at him.

“I need to figure out my schedule at work, but I will confirm in a few days. Is that okay?”

“Yes, absolutely. What do you do for work?” she asked cheerfully.

“I used to be a bartender, and now I work as a day manager at the same bar.”

“That is definitely something you got from your dad, he was an expert with liquors. He would know what drink each one of our guests preferred even before they told him,” she beamed.

What the fuck? I thought it was a skill I developed.

“She does that too,” Reyan told Preethi.

“That’s just unbelievable!!” She laughed making my heart flutter.

“She is full of surprises Aunt Preethi!!”

“I believe you, Reyan, and she is so much like Nandi, yet so different.”

“I have to go, I am meeting my friends for an appointment,” I said looking at Reyan.

“That’s right, the girls are going shopping for the wedding.”

“For Rahul’s wedding?” she asked with excitement.

“Yes,” I said smiling back.

“I am here for Rahul’s wedding too,” Preethi said laughing and added poking fun at Reyan, “Did you not tell her?”

“She didn’t want to talk about you, and I didn’t tell her anything about you,” Reyan shrugged.

“I understand and thanks for bringing my daughter to me. I still need to talk to your mom.” She hugged Reyan and looked at me as if she was trying to read my expression. I reached forward and put my arms around her and told her I would let her know when I could take a week off.

“Oh, hang on. I have something for you,” she said, walking back into her bedroom. She came back a few seconds later with a thick sealed envelope in her hand.

“This is from your father. He wanted me to give it to you when I found you.” She handed me a thick sealed envelope and added, “He had one of the nurses at the hospital write it for him.”

I took the envelope and put it away in my tote. I found a biological mother that day and a letter from my biological dad.

What’s next?

*****

“How well did you know Nandana?” I asked Reyan as he got into bed next to me later that night.

“I knew her pretty well. We vacationed a couple of times as a family.”

“What was she like? Was she anything like me?”

“She was very friendly, smart, a bit nerdy.” I could tell he was trying to be very objective with what he told me about my other family.

“You don’t have to be diplomatic baby,” I teased putting my arm around him and resting my cheek on his chest.

“I am not, that’s all I can think of.”

“Did she write also?”

“Nope, but she was extremely smart. She got into Stanford for a Masters and PhD program.”

“Wow!! That’s awesome,” I said looking up at him and saw the looming sadness in his eyes.

“Yes, she was going to be on the plane heading to California in less than forty-eight hours when the accident happened,” he said, shaking his head.

Cold shivers ran through my body, and I tightened my hold on Reyan. He put his arm around me and gently stroked my back.

“She and her dad went for a drive in the middle of the night in her new car and never came back. Her dad was in a coma for almost a month and when he regained consciousness, he wouldn’t stop talking to your mom about you,” Reyan said softly.

“She is not my mom, Reyan,” I said adamantly.

“Sweetheart, you need to give this a chance…” I didn’t let him complete.

“Reyan, you have no idea how badly I want to give this a chance, but I don’t feel the connection. I admire the woman for what she is. I feel for her loss and it hurts me to see her in tears, but she cannot be my mom.”

“Baby love, I don’t mean to push you, but you need to let it happen...”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I want you to go spend time with her, know her better. An afternoon with the two of you in the same room, I saw so many similarities.”