“Okay. So I hope that goes well for you. But, in the mean time, let’s see if we can drum up some competition for Ashley. Describe your perfect woman.” Roshan sat back expectantly.
Xander blinked as he continued to gaze at the distant horizon while his mind was suddenly filled with Elaheh’s face. Whatever she looked like, he told himself firmly, he wanted the opposite.
Xander suddenly remembered the way Elaheh’s mouth was level to his chest as she looked up to him. Her breath against his neck had been like the scorching simoom desert winds, whittling away whatever it hits to its essence. He cleared his throat.
“My wife will be tall,” said Xander, walking briskly to the desk he was using. He picked up a report, looked at it without reading it and then placed it firmly on a pile of outgoing correspondence. But the paperwork failed to remove the vision of Elaheh’s eyes, bright against her dark skin. He glanced up at Roshan who was observing him closely. “And pale. Definitely pale.”
“Pale?” Roshan raised an eyebrow. “So, not a local woman then?”
Xander shook his head and looked at the paperwork again. “No.”
“Anything else?”
Xander tossed down the paper, put his hands in his pockets and looked into the mid-distance. Elaheh’s beautiful lips rarely settled into their natural shape. They were always moving, always communicating her thoughts. “Quiet. Not much to say for herself but when she does speak…” He smiled to himself at the thought of Elaheh’s voice. He always felt it was perhaps the one true thing about her that she wasn’t able to disguise. It spoke more truly than the words she uttered, and its dulcet tones never failed to bypass all his objections to her and hit the target he managed to hide from everyone else. “Her voice will be soft, musical and seductive.” So, perhaps his ideal wife wouldn’t be the exact opposite. Okay to let that slip in, maybe, but he had to be firm on everything else. His future wife must be the opposite to Elaheh in every other way.
“That’s some list. Anything else?”
Xander turned to his older brother. “Curvaceous, large breasts.” He turned away. “I like large breasts.” He paused for a moment as he imagined Elaheh’s small breasts. “And”—he swept his hand in a careless gesture—“you know, easy company. I don’t want anyone who’s hard work.” He picked up a book and riffled through it for something to do.
“You’re very definite in your views. I’m guessing you’re describing this Ashley person.”
And, to his surprise, Xander realized he was. He narrowed his gaze onto his paperwork, comparing the two women in his mind’s eye. The one, Elaheh, he couldn’t stand. That much was obvious. The other, Ashley, he got on well with. She was beautiful and everything he’d just described. His frown deepened. Then why didn’t she arouse his passions like Elaheh did?
He slammed the book shut. And that was exactly how he wanted it. If there was no passion, there was no pain. A simple equation, and one he fully intended to cling to.
“Don’t bother looking for a wife for me, Roshan. I’ll sort that out for myself.”
Roshan sighed. “Ashley.”
“Yes. Dr Ashley Maitland and myself will create a formidable team. We’re friends. That’s a good start.”
“Maybe,” said Roshan.
Xander couldn’t ignore the doubt which was redolent in that one word.
“Nomaybeabout it.”
Roshan grimaced. “I don’t think the woman of your dreams can be described in such specific terms. You sound so sure about what you want.”
“I am. Because I know exactly what Idon’twant. Or, should I say,whoI don’t want to marry, nor have anything to do with.”
“Ah,” replied Roshan, the light suddenly dawning on his face. “I see.”
Xander grunted. “Good. And so do I. When I look at Elaheh, when I hear her carping on at me, I know exactly that she is nothing, absolutely nothing, like the person I wish to marry.” He sat in a chair, feeling suddenly defeated, and looked bleakly at Roshan. He swore with fierce exaggeration under his breath. “Elaheh is a woman to drive a man out of his mind! If I have to spend any more time with her it’ll be too much. If I have to listen to her bossy ideas, I’ll go round the bend. In short, brother, keep me as far away from her as possible. Because if you don’t, I won’t answer for the consequences.”
“Oh dear,” groaned Roshan, taking a few steps away, and pulling out his phone. “Look, I have to go. But I’ll be in touch.”
“This is sudden. I thought you were going to stay for dinner.”
Roshan gave a quick smile. “Change of plan.”
Xander frowned as an unwelcome suspicion formed in the back of his mind. Something he’d said had made Roshan change his mood, and his plans. He mentally went over the previous conversation. He couldn’t move over one particular sentence. He groaned. “You haven’t, have you?”
Roshan smiled, too brightly, his hand gripping the door. “Haven’t what?”
Xander tilted his head to one side and narrowed his eyes, his gaze never leaving Roshan’s. “You know,” he said, in his best menacing voice. “You haven’t arranged anything between me and Elaheh, have you.”
He didn’t raise his intonation at the end of the sentence. It was a statement, not a question.