A Wifey for the Bad Boy(163)

Ronda and the twins yearned for each other’s company but capitalism came in the way. Ronda was busy with a new partnership the publishing house was working on and the twins were busy fine-tuning Edna for the great launch. It was an important phase in the career of both the parties and under no circumstances, could they compromise with that aspect. Their romantic escapade had to wait. However, they met for lunch regularly and carried on with their conversations of business and pleasure.

The lovers were as happy as they could be. But good things do not last smoothly nor do they last long.

Ronda was not the type of girl to fall in love easily. She could only remember one man who could make her feel the butterflies in her stomach: Alexander Rodgers. Alexander was the teaching assistant of Ronda’s professor in college and the two young people had taken an instant liking for each other. They both had similar likes and dislikes in their taste of poetry, art and drama. Ronda had seldom found anyone apart from her, except Rodgers, who liked Dryden as much as she did. They had bonded over their love for the metaphysical poets, good Scotch and Renaissance paintings. A romantic relationship was an obvious outcome.

Alexander Rodgers was not particularly good-looking. He was unkempt, a little sloppy and quite absent-minded at times. His physique was rugged and he went about with an aura of a carefree attitude towards life. His fingers could create magic on a canvas and there were more than one willing woman to model for him at any time. He could mesmerize any audience with his talent with the flute. Ronda had fallen in love with Alexander the day he played Debussy’s Clair de Lune on his flute in the amphitheater on a full moon night. She had kissed him for the first time that night and it was an ethereal experience altogether.

Ronda had always been wild and passionate. Sex for her involved a lot of heat. But with Alexander it was different. She was subdued, yet passionate. She had understood what the poets had meant by making love when she was with Alexander. He was used to creating these environments that caused the union   of the five senses in a synesthetic harmony. Alexander treated sex holistically and he would perfume the room with scented candles and herbs; play soft music and light the room in mellow earthy tones whenever he made love to Ronda. There would be fruits and chocolates around and he would often blindfold Ronda while touching her. She had laughed at the arrangements initially, but on witnessing the effect, the cynic had turned into a believer. Their courtship lasted for eleven months and then Alexander had disappeared without a word. Ronda had searched for him high and low, but to no avail. No one knew where Alexander had disappeared. Ronda was depressed and for almost a month kept to herself. The episode had hurt her in several dimensions. She felt lonely for the first time in years. Alexander’s abandonment cut her like the daggers of betrayal. She had turned into a greater cynic after the episode and had meticulously avoided to form any kind of emotional connection with her lovers.

The twins were however in a league of their own. Ronda always felt emotionally secure with the twins. She firmly believed that they shared a bond far deeper than just friends or lovers. She was confident that they would always have her back and that three of them together could face any situation whatsoever. The bitter experience with Alexander had not discouraged Ronda to form an emotional connection with the twins. They were safe in each other’s company. And then life threw a curveball at them.





Chapter 4

Ronda was attending an art exhibition of budding new artists. She was impressed by the new talents. They were fresh with their perspectives and bold with their use of techniques. There were a lot of themes that these artists had experimented with and it tickled Ronda’s grey matter to discuss about them. She felt refreshed by the innovative ideas around her. She was inspecting oil on canvas on the theme of motherhood, when she was disrupted by a tap on her shoulders. She turned around to behold one of the most bewildering sights of her life till date. Right in front of her stood Alexander Rodgers and he did not even look a day old.

Ronda had spent many days thinking about him after he had abandoned her. She missed him now and then, but she felt she had moved on. On seeing Alexander standing in front of her, she realized how wrong she was. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, but her heart was reduced to an endless pit of grief that revealed its self through droplets of tears in her eyes. Collecting herself, Ronda flashed a bright smile and greeted the only man she had ever loved.

“Hello Alexander, didn’t quite expect to see you here.”

“Well, I did expect to see you here. That’s my painting there you were seeing.”