Chapter 26
Agood, honest man, Mr. Bhatia said about the person intent on hurting his daughter. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. I saw Tara watching my every move. I wanted to run into her arms and declare it all a sham. But Aarti slipped a platinum band on my finger before handing me a diamond to put on hers. I did, numb and robotic. She kissed me as more rose petals rained down on us.
I was now engaged to be married to the woman I had planned to break up with the next day. I watched as a few rogue petals caught the night breeze and disappeared into the trees. I longed to escape with them, but Aarti gripped my hand and guided me off a stage now strewn with the corpses of dead flowers. Crowds surrounded us, shook hands, offered congratulations, and all I could think of was Tara.
My queen in the purple gown. Where was she? How was she? I hoped she knew I intended to quit this relationship. Was she crying? I needed to find her. My eyes skimmed the crowd. I saw her standing by the stage, and the next instant, she was gone. I couldn’t spot Mihir or Amar either. I needed to get away and make sense of what had just happened. How did an innocent anniversary party turn into my engagement soirée? Why was everyone important that I knew at this party? Did Aarti know I loved Tara? Is that why she planned this surprise? A million questions whirled around in my head as my eyes scanned for Tara and I smiled, muttering “thank you” to the people around me.
When I saw Mom standing by a table, I excused myself to speak with her. Anxiety marked her lightly furrowed brows.
“Did you know about this, Ma?” I growled.
“Of course not! Do you think I would blindside you like this?” she retorted with indignation.
“What the hell happened?” Ordinarily, she would have admonished me with a single word, language.
But not today. “Have you talked to Tara?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I can’t find her.”
I saw Amar approaching us, and my body perked up. “Where’s Tara?” I asked him.
“Mihir is driving her home. What happened, Sameer?”
Apparently, no one knew. I had to ask Aarti, but she was busy showing off her ring to her friends, who gushed about her being the luckiest woman on earth.
Suddenly, a sick feeling gripped me. “Where’s Dad?” I asked Mom.
“Not sure.”
The three of us looked around and spotted him in the distance talking to Aarti’s parents. I felt blood rushing to my head. Mom grabbed my arm.
“Don’t make a scene,” she warned.
She signaled for Amar to follow me as I stormed toward my father.
“Ah, there he is! Our son.” Aarti’s father beamed with pride.
“Congratulations, beta,” her mom said, “we’re so happy, so proud of you both.”
I managed a gracious smile. “Thank you.”
“I was just telling your father what a fantastic idea this was,” Mr. Bhatia said, confirming my fears. “Our special day is now your special day too.”
My father cast me a villainous look cloaked in an affectionate smile. “Yes, you’re now bound by more than love,” he said with a laugh, then softly added, “I just want the kids to be happy.”
But the vicious look in his eyes betrayed his words.
“Can I talk to you for a moment?” I said, excusing us from the Bhatias.
“What did you do?” I asked quietly, trying to rein in my anger. Amar stayed by my side to prevent me from acting recklessly. Mom’s words.
“You don’t need to thank me, son.” He smiled as if this were a tender father-son moment. “The look on your face is thanks enough.”
My fingers curled into an angry fist at this betrayal.
Just then, Aarti approached us with a wide smile, and I eased the grip on my fist. “Hey, you!” she said. “Are you happy?”
I had no choice but to respond with a nod.
“I was so nervous,” she said, wringing her hands. “I was worried you’d walk off or something because we never talked about it. But Uncle convinced me you’d be happy.” She looked at my father standing beside me and leaned in to put a hand on his arm. “Thank you, Uncle.”
“All we want is for you to be happy.” He patted her hand and directed his smile at me, menacing and vindictive.
“That’s why I invited Tara,” Aarti continued. “I wanted your friends to be a part of this special evening. I’m glad Amar is here too.”
Amar shuffled in place before returning a weak smile.
“Where is Tara? I want to show her my ring. You are happy, aren’t you?” She looked at me expectantly.
“Yes,” I lied with a strained smile.
“A word, Sameer?” She pulled me aside. “I want us to go back to your place. This is a big night for us, and I can’t wait,” she said with a coy smile.
“Yeah, sure, let’s talk after the party.”
She nodded and placed a kiss on my cheek. “You look so handsome. You literally take my breath away.” She wiped the lipstick off my cheek with her thumb and left.
My chest tightened. There were too many fires to put out. I had to talk to Tara. I called but got her voicemail. I called Mihir, but he didn’t answer either. I needed to settle the score with my father and had to discourage Aarti from wanting to spend the night with me. How had I ended up trapped like this again?
When my head stopped spinning, I looked around. My father had found himself a drink and was no longer concerned with what was going on around him. Aarti beamed with the happiest smile on her face before disappearing from my sight. At that moment, I decided everything else could wait. My fight with my father could wait until tomorrow. Appeasing Aarti could wait. I needed to be with Tara. As the party began winding down, I shamelessly used my mother as a crutch and told Aarti that she was feeling unwell and that I should stay over at their house in case she needed me in the night. Aarti didn’t doubt me. She accepted the ruse and even offered to help. Trust is a liar’s most useful ally.
I drove straight to Tara’s and rode the elevator to her apartment. She didn’t answer the door or her cell. But I wasn’t budging until I had spoken to her. She could ignore my phone calls, but she couldn’t avoid me. I planted myself down against the wall in the carpeted hallway.
About half an hour later, the elevator doors opened, and Tara walked out, her makeup still intact. No runny mascara, no streaks down her cheeks, no red eyes.
She froze for a moment as I stood.
Retrieving a key from her clutch, she asked in a voice that was neither angry nor annoyed, “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” She approached the door with calm steps.
“I tried calling. Where were you?”
Throwing me a dispassionate glance, she slid the key into the lock. “Shouldn’t you be by your fiancée’s side right now?”
I took a step toward her.
“See you later, Sameer.”
When she tried to close the door in my face, I thrust my foot against the jamb and stopped the door with my palm. “I’m not leaving until we talk.”
She turned and walked inside. I followed and closed the door behind us.
Gracefully stepping out of her heels, she stowed them in a small shoe cabinet. Her gown rustled against the carpet as she walked to the kitchen, filled a glass of water, and downed it before moving inside toward the bedroom.
“Tara,” I cried, unnerved by her apathy.
She looked at me and kept walking. I followed her into the bedroom, where she proceeded to remove her earrings.
“Say something, love. How are you not angry?”
She glanced at me in the mirror, standing behind her, but she continued to hold her silence.
“Where were you?”
“Mihir took me to some exclusive club to get a drink. We couldn’t go to a regular bar dressed like this. He seems pretty well connected.”
Her nonchalance was now beginning to annoy me.
“Are you drunk?”
An angry frown. “Now,” she said, turning to me with her hands on her waist. “If you could please leave, I need to change.”
“I’m not leaving.”
She grabbed a t-shirt and pajama bottoms from her dresser and started toward the bathroom.
“How’re you not angry? I thought you’d be in tears.”
“Are you ending your engagement?”
“Of course,” I said.
“Then why should I be angry or in tears?”
My mouth dropped.
“On the other hand, if you won’t, why should I waste my anger on you?” She faced me with fierce eyes, hands on her waist. “You need to figure out how to fix this mess. Don’t expect me to cry and wait for you. I won’t. Not this time,” she said, still in her power posture.
Ah, this was the Tara I was looking for.
She blinked. “Let me ask you something. How many tears did you shed for me? How many nights of sleep did you lose after you disappeared from my life? I cannot be the one to cry every time, Sameer.”
“Tara—”
“I’m sad, but I’m done shedding tears. My tears are precious, just like my love. You must earn them, deserve them. Go away, Sameer. Go spend the night with your fiancée or spend it alone. Go fix your messes, then come back and earn my love and my tears.”
I stood rooted to the spot, looking at her. “I’m not leaving,” I repeated for a third time.
She pulled in a deep breath. “Can you handle the heat after you end it with Aarti? Are you strong enough? Can you come to terms with the fact that our passionate dispositions make us explosive, that we’ll always be at loggerheads? Can you accept that I’m just as fierce and hotheaded as you, and will fight dirty for what is mine? If you claim to be mine, I’ll fight for you. Every single time. I’ll stand against the world for you. But I need to know you’ll fight for me too. I came to you the night of the opening, and you pushed me away yet again. You seem to give up on us at the slightest hint of tension. Why would I expect today to be any different? You’ve been pegged into a relationship in the presence of family and friends, all those social contacts that are so important to you. You’ve been handed the keys to the kingdom. How am I to assume you’re ready to give it all up for me? When did you ever give me an indication that you’re willing to fight for me? Fight for me, Sameer. If you think you deserve me in your life, fight for me. Show me how much I mean to you.”
I removed the ring from my finger, put it on the dresser, and stood before her. She hugged her clothes to her chest and turned toward the bathroom.
“No Tara, don’t walk away.” She stopped and stood with her back to me. “I heard you out. Now you’ve got to listen to me, babe.” She remained unmoving. “Look at me. I need you to look me in the eye.” She turned and met my eyes with grit. I stepped up. “I’m here. I’m already fighting for you, can you see that? I’m here when the woman I just got engaged to wants me in her arms tonight. You want me to be invested in this relationship, but I already am. I’m devastated and distraught by what happened this evening. I expected you to be sad, not because I want your life to revolve around me, but because I know how much I mean to you. I’m not demanding your tears, Tara. I deserve them because I love you so fiercely. I need you to feel about us the way I do.
“I made a mistake by not coming clean with Aarti sooner, and I regret it. I regret hesitating the night of the party and the night of your opening. I was afraid, but no more, babe. I said I’m ready to give up Aarti and everything that comes with it, and I haven’t changed my mind. But I can’t do this alone. I need you. I need your strength. You said you trusted me? I need you to believe it. Trust me to do right by us.”
She blinked.
“Now, do you want me to leave?”
She responded with a shake of her head.
“Come here, babe.” I threw my arms out. She tossed her clothes on the bed and rushed into them. “I know I haven’t given you a good reason to trust me in the past, but I’m here now. And you’re right, it is my turn to fight for you.”
She lifted my chin with her forefinger and placed a light, reassuring kiss on my lips. My body slacked down to her bed.
“What do we do now?” she asked and sat beside me.
I fell back, my legs dangling off the side of the bed. She laid down, turned on her side, and placed a gentle hand on my chest. I covered it with mine. “Nothing has changed. I’ll talk to Aarti tomorrow. It will be tough, but I never expected it to be easy, so a mere ring on my finger is not changing anything for us.”
“Will you hold a grudge against me for getting in the way of your ultimate goal?”
“My goal was to return happiness to Mom’s life, and I think you’ve already done that. I saw how happy she was the other day. Everything else was my folly.”
“I’m thinking of making a quick trip to New York to see Sujit.”
I kissed her hand. “You’re wrong about one thing, though. I did cry for you. I’ve cried and hurt for all these years.”
She let out a choppy breath, then her eyes glazed. “Did you lock the door?”
I shrugged.
“Go check,” she said, and I pulled myself up.
“Yup, all locked up and safe,” I said as I returned and laid down by her side.
I loved it. It felt normal, domestic. Something couples do.