Chapter Sixteen
Chapter
Sixteen
Naina’s Anti-Honeymoon Checklist
Try any kind of drug.
Have sex…outside of a bedroom.
Naina led the way inside the karaoke bar, lifting her head and taking in the ambiance.
A random guy was singing “Summer of ’69” in a flat, robotic voice on the wide stage that towered over the rest of the crowded bar.
The room was drenched in purple and red lighting with a bright spotlight shining over the amateur singer, and Naina’s first thought, despite Tejas stiffening beside her, was Finally, I’m home.
Maybe it was because her mother was a singer who lived and breathed music and had infused that energy into Naina, but Naina knew that if she weren’t a lawyer, she’d have ended up in the music industry too—maybe a backup vocalist like her mom, or a pop star who commanded the stage in a stadium of sixty thousand people.
Perhaps in another life. Naina snorted, then turned to Tejas to grab his hand, but he was frozen in place.
“Fuck no,” Tejas said, his voice squeaky. “This is the stuff of nightmares.”
Naina let out a loud scoff. “In the past week, you’ve done much worse.”
“True, but—”
“But singing is what scares you?” She nearly cackled with laughter, pulling him over to the bar counter, since none of the booths and tables were empty.
They sat down on the rickety wooden stools, and Naina grabbed the pen and sheets of paper from a box that said What Will You Sing? “So. Pick your song.”
Tejas did a double take as he shifted on the uncomfortable stool. “Wait, just me? Don’t you want to sing something together?”
She sighed, considering it. Naina had never been a team player, and Santhosh had thought karaoke was “corny,” so she rarely ever did duet sessions.
In fact, whenever she did bring him to karaoke nights with Anil or the others at work, Santhosh would complain about the loud music and off-key singing all night.
Come to think of it, it was a surprise Naina hadn’t broken up with him then and there.
But hey, she was single now. She could do as she pleased. “Fine,” she said, “but I’m warning you, I may end up hijacking our performance. I have really good stage presence.”
“That would be great, thanks, since I’ve never done karaoke in my life.” Tejas flagged down a rather attractive bartender. “Can we get two Heinekens, please?”
Naina tutted, then leaned forward toward the counter. “Ignore him. We’ll have six shots of your special coconut feni.”
“For only the two of you?” The bartender folded his tattooed arms. “It’s a potent liquor, ma’am.”
“I can handle it,” she said, grinning at the bartender.
The bartender sized her up—his gaze fell to her off-the-shoulder top and the dip of her neckline—then smirked. “Is that so?”
Naina looked at Tejas from the corner of her eye and held back a laugh. He was glowering in his seat, his fists clenched. He cleared his throat and pulled on Naina’s barstool, dragging her close enough for him to curl his arm around her waist protectively. Fuck, that was hot.
“We can handle it, like she said.” Tejas gave the bartender a tight smile. “Six shots of feni.”
Mumbling under his breath, the bartender headed to the other side to make their drinks.
“Prince Charming”—Naina placed a hand on Tejas’s chest, gently tugging on the collar of his floral shirt—“are you…jealous?”
Tejas licked his lips as he drew circles on her upper thigh over the shorts she wore. “Maybe I just want everyone in this bar to know you’re here with me.”
Naina swallowed, her eyes dropping to his mouth. “Then maybe we should sing a duet, after all.”
In a flash, Tejas took the pen and paper from the counter and handed them to her. “Great. Pick a song.”
Tutting, Naina scribbled a song onto the piece of paper while the “Summer of ’69” singer walked offstage to smattering applause from their fellow drunk patrons.
The emcee called out the next person’s name.
As the woman sang the latest Sabrina Carpenter single in a reasonably good pitch, the bartender returned with Naina and Tejas’s shots.
He slammed them on the table and walked away without a word.
Tejas picked up a shot glass, chuckling, and clinked it with Naina’s. “To doing karaoke together. And getting shit-faced drunk.”
“Cheers.” Naina downed one shot—the pungent, sharp taste of neat alcohol contrasted perfectly with the feni’s coconutty, floral undertones—then the second shot, and then the third.
By the time she and Tejas put down their glasses and cheered, her vision, already soft and shimmery from the drinks at the club, had turned hazy; her head felt lighter than it had in years.
As the room spun slowly, she put one hand on Tejas’s knee to ground herself, and he frowned. “You okay? I hope it wasn’t too much at once.”
He’s so caring. Naina beamed at him, then pulled him in for a kiss that he returned just as passionately.
“I’m perfect,” she breathed against his lips, then held up the piece of paper on which she’d written “We Don’t Talk Anymore” by Charlie Puth & Selena Gomez.
“I hope you know this one,” she said as she passed it over to the emcee’s assistant, who was walking around collecting requests. “Might be cathartic for both of us.”
Tejas’s lips puckered, but he only said, “Sounds like a plan.”
The crowded bar had given Naina the impression that they’d have to wait a while for their turn at karaoke, but the emcee called them over three songs later.
Normally, she’d have been thrilled, but Tejas looked like he was going to throw up as Naina followed him up the rickety steps to where the emcee was waiting.
“Listen,” Tejas whisper-yelled, tugging on Naina’s hand, “the last time I performed something was in high school, when I got booed offstage by my classmates. I don’t think I can do this.”
God, he was so cute when he was nervous. She smiled up at him. “We can do this…together,” she reminded him. “I’ll be right by your side, I promise.”
Swallowing hard, he nodded. They accepted a microphone each from the emcee, who gave them a thumbs-up and hit play.
The song started with the guy’s part right away, which Naina should have considered, because Tejas missed the first cue and cringed, apologizing while the emcee replayed the track from the beginning.
Naina squeezed his free hand with hers, reassuring him. Tejas’s eyes zoomed in on the screen projecting the lyrics, and he finally sang.
His voice wavered and cracked, and he stumbled over the lyrics, but by the time he got to the chorus, people downstairs were singing and grooving along, much to Naina’s relief.
When it was her turn to sing, her fingers still wound around his sweaty palm, she took a deep breath and let it all out, the music coursing through her bones.
The only thing that felt as good as being onstage and hearing people sing along in the crowd was winning a case for her clients.
Karaoke night was exactly what she needed.
The background music swelled, and Naina pulled him closer, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Good job,” she whispered.
A chuckle bubbled out of Tejas’s lips, and when the final verse of the song ended, he mumbled “Th-thank you” into the mic and returned Naina’s hug while the crowd below them cheered and applauded.
“Your first time?” the emcee asked, shaking hands briskly with Tejas.
He bit his lip. “Was it that obvious?”
Naina burst out laughing. They returned to their seats at the bar and ordered some feni-based cocktails, since the karaoke had sobered them up somewhat. “You were fantastic,” Naina told him, rubbing his arms, which were riddled with goosebumps.
He put a hand to his heart and whooshed out an exhale. “Is it weird that I want to sing again, despite how nerve-racking it was to be onstage?”
“Weird? Not a chance.” She squeezed his knee, which was warm through his jeans, before taking the first sip of her feni mojito. “As a karaoke fanatic, I think you should go for it. And”—she took another sheet of paper from the stack—“you should sing the song your asswipe classmates booed you for.”
“Huh.” Tejas held her gaze for a few seconds before nodding purposefully and grabbing the pen. “You’re right. It’s time.”
Twenty minutes later, Tejas took an actual bow after not just singing but belting out the lyrics to “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” the spotlight shining bright over him.
He looked so proud of himself, his smile no longer nervous or forced, and as he locked eyes with Naina and blew kisses at her, Naina’s stomach fluttered with butterflies…
and she wasn’t sure if it was the feni or something else entirely.
Fuck. She gulped as Tejas walked down the stairs. Rein it in, Naina, she reminded herself. This is just the alcohol talking. It can’t be anything else.
Naina went up to sing an angsty Olivia Rodrigo breakup song soon after, and despite Tejas’s whoops and shouts from below the stage, as well as a flash of light from someone’s camera, she didn’t dare look down.
She moved her hips, tossed her hair back, and walked around the stage like she owned it.
No matter the weird feelings swirling in her belly, or the slurring of her words, she would use this performance to come back to reality.
Love was a lie. Breakups were inevitable.
And she had nobody to rely on but herself.
And tonight, she let herself have fun. Drank to her heart’s content. She sang and danced while people cheered her on, and later she’d return to the hostel and fuck Tejas’s brains out…without making it mean anything more.
Finally, Naina ambled over to her seat and flopped into it, her eyes blurry. She wiped a line of sweat along her upper lip. “Fuck, I’m so drunk,” she said. “Walking down those stairs without tripping on my heels was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
Tejas’s brows wrinkled. “Let’s get you some water. I think this qualifies as ‘shit-faced drunk’ enough for your list.”
Naina nodded, pushing her almost-finished cocktail glass aside. She set her head down on the bar counter and smiled. “Mmm. Tonight was fun.”
Tejas played with a lock of her hair and hummed along. “It really was. I can’t believe we found a karaoke bar within walking distance of the hostel.”
She let out a snort, then slowly straightened. “You’re gonna laugh, but the main reason I decided to book the hostel was because it was near this karaoke bar.”
“Why wasn’t karaoke on the list, then?” Tejas asked, frowning.
“I do it every week back home,” she replied, thinking back to her more memorable performances. “Skyfall” by Adele. “Dancing Queen” by ABBA. “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift.
Tejas pulled her in for a kiss that tasted like feni and coconut and something fresh and quintessentially him.
Naina cracked a grin, feeling a surge of affection for him, then pecked him on the lips, then the nose, then his cheeks. “You’re so gorgeous, do you know that? I could look at you forever.”
He tossed his head back and laughed, a faint blush on his face. “You really are drunk. Come on.” He helped her up, and she grabbed her purse from the counter. “Let’s get you to bed after all that feni.”
“Mmm. I’d like that.” She tossed an arm around his shoulder, and as they walked back to the hostel, chatting, singing, and swaying to nonexistent music, Naina decided this vacation was better than any honeymoon she could have ever gone on with her ex.