6. Sujit
SUJIT
A slew of discordant thoughts swirled around in my head as I walked toward my car. The morning had already attempted to upset my equilibrium, and now I was walking away from Sameer’s ex-fiancée. It felt like my world had tilted on its axis.
I’m in the wrong place . That was the first thought I had when I saw Aarti that evening.
Since Tara’s departure from my life, I’d had that feeling an overwhelming number of times.
The time I was invited to the New York Philharmonic, and when my friends dragged me to a live performance by Tara’s favorite Bollywood singer.
The time I got the Innovator of the Year Award and ended up hostage in a conversation with an influential but incredibly boring guest. If Tara were with me, she would’ve efficiently deflected him or found an excuse to pull me away.
Tara had been at my office the day I’d received the letter, an honor bestowed upon me by a committee of my peers and industry experts.
She had gifted me a tie that week, a tie my family forbade me to wear to the event.
I think it eventually found its way to a thrift store somewhere, thanks to Cathy.
I had felt out-of-place multiple times over the last months. Yet, as I walked away from the evening with Aarti, I didn’t wrangle with the feeling anymore. It felt as if I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Talking to Aarti had been refreshing. Purifying, even.
The rot eating at us to our core had been exposed and purged.
Sharing our stories, honest and heartfelt, seemed to have eased the pain.
I didn’t need to hide my hurt and humiliation from her, and I was glad that she didn’t either.
The giggles, the tears, the laughter, the warmth, it all came gushing—unfeigned and unfettered.
An acute feeling tugged at my heart. Was Aarti alright? Had it been cruel to leave her alone when she was fighting off loneliness and hurt? Would it be a good idea to go back and comfort her?
No . My mind declared, resolute in its decision. I didn’t know her well enough to go knocking on her door at this hour of the night.
As I stepped into the biting cold, Imran came around to hold the door open for me.
“Are you okay, Boss?” he asked as he drove me back home.
“Yes.”
My mind remained preoccupied with Aarti’s thoughts. There was something compelling, something very powerful about her that seemed to have sparked a longing in me. I couldn’t say for sure what it was. All I knew was I wanted to see her again.
“Same time tomorrow?” I heard Imran again.
I looked at him. “What?”
He appeared perplexed. “Same time tomorrow morning?”
“Yes,” I said and saw the lease documents on the seat.
“What’s wrong, Boss?” Imran asked, noting the change in my demeanor.
“Everything is alright. No reason to worry.”
After he dropped me off, I texted him to come half an hour sooner than our usual time.
The next morning, I was en route to Aarti’s hotel with a tasteful bouquet in tow, reflecting upon our connection.
What was the nature of my concern for her?
She was a business associate I barely knew, who was also my ex’s partner’s ex.
My ex, who was also her ex’s former lover, and now our exes had ended up together again.
Whichever way I looked at it, that was a lot of ex factor for comfort.
“It’ll be okay, Boss,” Imran said in a soft voice, and I caught him studying me with concern in the mirror. “Whatever it is, it’s going to be fine. I know you’ll make it right.”
I gave a nod, grateful for his unshakable camaraderie.
Years ago, Imran, then hardly twenty-one, worked as an errand boy at my office.
His younger sister was sick back home. She had a congenital heart condition, and he needed money.
But money wasn’t the issue. He needed to get her to the U.S.
to help her avoid getting pushed into a premature marriage before she completed her education.
I helped him bring her over and paid for the treatment, which wasn’t much of an expense. Since that day, he’d trusted me with blind devotion. I kept advising him to be smart and not to trust someone so completely.
He always responded, “I don’t trust anyone else. Only you.”
His optimism about my current situation was colored by this faith in me.
Taking the elevator, I alighted on the eleventh floor, slightly surprised that I remembered it from last night.
Walking up to her suite, I pressed the bell.
A few quiet moments elapsed. The floor was silent.
Had she checked out? I rang the bell again.
This time, the door opened, and I stood face-to-face with Aarti, holding a rather expensive bouquet of flowers in my hand. Instantly, I felt like a fool.
She saw the flowers and looked at me. “Suj—Mr. Rao!”
“Ms. Bhatia…” It was too late to hide or ditch the bouquet, but I pulled it out of her face.
“I’m about to leave for a meeting.” Her hurried words matched the impatience in her body language.
“This won’t take long. I wanted to make sure you were alright after last night.”
Her stern lip turned into a slight smile. “Are those flowers for me?” she asked with a glint of mischief.
My eyes drifted to the flowers in my hand and I held them out. “Yes.”
She nodded. “Come in.”
I stepped inside, and she closed the door.
“Thank you. I am okay. I’m much better, actually. The tears might have helped but I’m not ready to lose this battle of the egos with you, so I’m going to firmly deny that they did.”
I laughed. “Well, good,” I said. “But just so you know, I’m not fond of losing either.”
“Is that right?” She cocked her hip and raised a brow.
“Yes, I’ve been preparing my armor for our meeting this evening.”
“Well, I hope you shine it nice and bright. Get all kinks out of those pins and hinges.”
I gazed at her as her eyes shone with amusement. I could gaze into those eyes for a long time…
I cleared my throat. “See you at the restaurant this evening?”
Her smile disappeared at my words, the softness and mischief replaced by an impassive, formal look.
“Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d like to meet in your office,” she said. “Not that I’m not grateful for your concern and for…these flowers.” She raised the bouquet for effect. “But I think it would be best if we conducted this business in a formal capacity.”
“Of course,” I said and took a step back from her. “I just wanted to ensure you were alright. See you at my office at six?”
“That works.”
“I’ll have my assistant send you the address.”
She nodded. “I must apologize for yesterday,” she added. “I’m not a woman governed by her emotions, and certainly not before someone who’s a business contact.”
We were not just business contacts, but I didn’t contradict her. I was convinced she was reiterating it for her benefit, not mine.
“No harm done. Business or otherwise, you have lost no respect in my eyes, Ms. Bhatia.”
“Yes, but I wanted to clear the air from my end. It was an aberration and completely out of character for me.”
When I returned a silent nod, she pulled in a deep breath. “You know, we’d be having a completely different conversation right now had we not been who we are.”
“Exes’ ex-exes’ exes?” I said, and she looked at me with amusement.
“How much time did you spend coming up with that?”
“Well, there was traffic,” I joked. “If we weren’t who we are, we wouldn’t be having this conversation in this room at all,” I observed and was glad that we were.
She smiled, then pulled her hand over her forehead and ran her fingers down her dark, glossy hair. “Those two have quite literally messed us up, haven’t they?” she cried.
“Not if we don’t let them. We do have our own lives and identities. Our future lies ahead of us, not behind.”
She blinked at my words. “Sorry, but I really need to leave. I do have a meeting. It wasn’t just an excuse.” She slipped me a tiny smile.
“I wouldn’t know,” I teased in return and was treated to a wide smile and a shake of her head.
As I walked back to my car, a blanket of calm surrounded my heart. I felt something I hadn’t in a while now. I was happy. I had no reason to be, but I was.
“See, I told you that you’d fix everything,” Imran said, spying the relief on my face in the rearview mirror.
“Maybe I didn’t fix it this time. Someone else did,” I said and looked out my window.
“Ms. Devi called to ask how long you’ll be.”
“Why didn’t she call me?”
“You left your phone in the car.” He pointed to the seat beside me with his eyes.
“Oh!”
“I said you weren’t ready yet. Didn’t want to tell her where we were.”
“Thank you.”
“That doesn’t mean you’re getting off easy,” he teased with a twinkle in his eye.
Devi ran the place with an iron fist, but she got the work done. If it were up to me, I would’ve happily spent hours tinkering with codes and experimenting with new ideas without taking care of the business part of my business. She was the one who made sure I didn’t relapse into my nerd mode.
Devi came barging in right behind me as I entered the office. “Where were you?”
“Woke up late.”
“Were you out late last night? Do I need to reschedule your meetings?”
“No.” I removed my coat and hung it on the stand in a corner.
“Don’t get too comfortable. Your first meeting is in fifteen minutes. I hope you are prepared. Do you need Vaishali to sit in with you?”
“She owns the codes, so yes, I want her here. Make sure she brings the notes from last week.”
Devi nodded and began to walk away. “How was you meeting last night?” she turned at the door and asked.
“It was alright,” I said with my eyes deliberately planted on my computer.
“You think she’ll be open to negotiating on the rent?”
“It’s a difficult call. We’ll see what happens. She’s coming here at six.”
“She’s coming here ?”
I nodded, still pretending to be deeply engrossed in my screen.
Devi closed the door and stepped back in. “I thought you were meeting her at Marco’s, that you were going to use food as one of your bargaining positions.”