Trouble Has a New Name Read Online Free Page A

welcome—vermilion
tika
on the forehead, garlands of fragrant frangipani, a sprinkling of rosewater and a chilled mango drink—before she checked in to her designated villa.
    The receptionist informed her that her bags had already been sent up to the villa. With a pang she realised she had not thanked the guy with those mesmerising eyes for having her suitcases airlifted to the resort. He would probably be on his way back to Mumbai now after shepherding the guests to the wedding venue. She glanced at the note that the smiling attendant gave her as she entered the villa. It read:
Call me as soon you get in. BTW why has your phone been switched off since last night? XOXO. Milee.
    If she knew Milee, the pint-sized dynamo, she would be bounding into Rayna’s villa the moment she heard the guests had checked in.
Patience
was a word that didn’t exist in her friend’s vocabulary. She felt a tad guilty about avoiding her BFF, but she needed to gather her thoughts, figure out just how much she should share with Milee. Or else she would be bulldozed into narratingthe sordid story of her HTRB moment. One thing was for sure…she might privately wallow in self-pity but she was not about to throw a pity party for the whole world to witness.
    The two-storey villa was just the right combination of lavish, cosy and comfortable. The living room was spacious and impeccably furnished. The huge French windows opened out to a tiny garden, brimming over with bougainvillea in a riot of colours, frangipani shrubs thick with sweet-smelling flowers and decorative palms. A little white marble birdbath with water tinkling from a landscaped wall comprising rocks and lush foliage completed the serene picture. The couple of bedrooms on the second storey opened out to large balconies offering breathtaking views of the ocean. There was an outdoor Jacuzzi pool at the back, shaded by tall palm trees, and a white picket gate led down a short pathway to the beach.
    Unable to resist the temptation, she ran down to the beach, to dip her feet in the softly lapping waves. She had always loved the sea. There was something calming about the rhythmic sound of water lapping the shore. It soothed away the fears that surfaced every now and then, even though she had shoved them into the deepest recesses of her mind for years now. And she wondered why they had resurfaced today. But she wouldn’t let them breach the dam she had so painstakingly erected over the years. Not now. Not ever.
    She had trained herself to think positive whenever those dark memories threatened to take her down and virtually choke the life out of her. It had taken years of practice to not let them overwhelm her. Slow, tortuous,soul-searing practice. But she had done it. She had learnt to bring up happy thoughts at will.
    She scanned her brain for one such moment and found it when she spotted a pink and orange seashell. It reminded her of the large treasure trove of multicoloured stones and shells she had amassed as a kid. Her collection had grown rapidly, as she spent her vacations at the beach with Dad and Mom. Their constant companion on those holidays had been their beautiful Irish Setter, Oona, who loved to chase the surf and kept them in hysterics with her crazy antics.
    Sometimes Robi Da, her elder brother, would also join them. On their return home, she would meticulously clean out the shells and string them into little jewellery pieces. Sometimes a neckpiece, at times a bracelet, and she had even once made a set of dangling earrings for Mom. She recalled how Dad pretended to be jealous and was pacified only after she had made him a tiepin. She smiled at the memory as she clutched the seashell tightly in her fist and found her way back to the villa.
    Neel was more than satisfied with the wedding arrangements. Everything was on schedule, under control. His decision to hire the street-smart Shiva Mani as the manager of his start-up property had been more than validated. He had first met