Double Jeopardy

My theme for this year's A to Z Challenge is A Reader's Take, where everyday I will be picking out a novel title corresponding to that day's letter and write my post based on it. To make it more challenging, I have decided to write a serial story. The novel I have selected for today is 'Double Jeopardy'. This novel is about jeopardy of choosing between twins and I have adapted it as jeopardy of two choices to suit my story.

Chapter 4

(Read the previous chapter here)

Ayaan could no longer think calmly. He had lost the battle. Why did he have to lose the ones he loved always? First, it was his mom, the person he had loved the most. She had succumbed to cancer when he was just twelve. His dad was too busy with business to give him his time or attention. Friends were never true to him; they all wanted one thing – his money. He was wounded. He had built a wall around himself and never let anyone in. But then Kayra had walked in and everything changed. Slowly, she had broken the walls and melted his hard heart. They were in college when he first met her. She was vibrant and would chatter nonstop. They were lab partners and there was no way he could have avoided her. Though, he was weary of accepting her friendship in the beginning, he couldn't help it after sometime. She was quite a charmer. Now, years later, friendship was slowly turning into love and just when Ayaan had thought everything was going well, Kayra had decided to leave. 

No, Ayaan could not take it anymore. He needed to get away from Mumbai, where every place and everything reminded him of Kayra. He could stay and try to convince Kayra but that would hurt him more; or he could move somewhere far from her memories but that would mean losing the last bit of hope. It was a double jeopardy for him. After lot of calls to Kayra, which went unanswered, Ayaan steeled his resolve and rebuilt the walls around his heart. Another bottle of beer and a few phone calls later, his tickets to Singapore was booked. A new start was what he needed.

Sameer was pacing around his little room in Delhi. He had fled from Mumbai in a hurry and a friend of his had been kind enough to help him with accommodations when he arrived. After that, it was just the wait! Every second of waiting seemed like a torture to him. How he wished he could go back to Mumbai. But no, he had ruined that chance himself. So now, he had to wait till he got the green signal. His reverie broke when his cell beeped. It was Shruthi, his sister. “Coast is clear. They are leaving soon. Come back next week. TC” Sameer’s face broke into a smile for the first time after months! Finally, he had served his sentence and now he was free! 

To be continued...

About today's novel: Double Jeopardy is a novel by Sundari Venkatraman. Sanya doesn't just have trouble, she has double trouble. Twins Arth and Ansh Sharma, are rich, sexy and sinfully handsome - what's a girl to do?
Sanya last saw the twins when she was ten years old. Now, all grown up, she has come looking for gentle Arth, the twin she loved ever since she can remember. But instead, she is confronted with fiery Ansh, who is hell-bent on seducing her. And what's worse, she can't seem to stop herself from responding to him.
As she chases Arth and is chased by Ansh, Sanya finds herself on a crazy roller coaster ride with no way of getting off. How will she deal with these two very different men in her life? Will she be able to convince one twin that she loves the other?

PS: Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2015. If you are participating too, please leave a link to your blog in the comments, so that I can visit you :)

Until the next post,

Keep Smiling :)

Love,

Swathi :)