35. Aarti
AARTI
I spent that weekend luxuriating in the warmth of Tara’s words. I was ready to grab my happy.
If I had read Sujit correctly, I knew he liked me.
But he had enough reasons to tamp down on his feelings.
After all, I wasn’t the only one in the public eye.
That event with our picture in the tabloid had made it clear that Sujit had as much to lose.
And if he thought our relationship would mark us for ridicule, I would understand and accept his decision.
But I wanted him to make that call because I was ready to take the plunge.
My nerves kept jangling all weekend, excited to go back into Sujit’s arms and terrified of my father’s reaction if our relationship actualized. That was the reason I chose not to divulge any of this to Mom. I hadn’t told her about my meeting with Tara either.
The society assumes and expects women to catfight over men, like they were prizes to be won.
And there we were, Tara and me, sharing brunch and developing a friendship that would’ve been seen as suspect by anyone who knew our situation.
The crux of the matter was, I wasn’t jealous of Tara, and she wasn’t insecure about me.
I didn’t want what she had, and she didn’t suspect I would become a thorn in their relationship.
In fact, I was mildly, albeit pleasantly surprised at her reaction to my interest in Sujit.
Unlike my feelings for Sameer, her admiration for Sujit hadn’t waned.
She wanted him to have the happiness that he had granted her.
Although I had never cared about accolades, it was reassuring to learn that she respected me enough to believe in my happiness. To believe that I could keep Sujit happy for life. It was a grown-up, healthy approach to relationships that I hadn’t encountered before.
The mountain I needed to scale right now was my impending talk with Dad. Demand, don’t beg , Tara had advised. Finding the right words to do just that was the herculean task before me.
“What’s bothering you?” Mom asked, looking at my hand. We were at the table having a family dinner.
I stopped fiddling with the ring on my left index finger and shook my head at her. “Nothing.”
“If you don’t want to go back, you don’t have to, my child. It’s all done now. The buzz has died down,” she reassured.
“Yes,” Dad added to my surprise. He usually chose to stay silent on the subject.
I decided to tread that forbidden line. “Have you forgiven them now?” I asked in a gentle tone to suggest I wanted him to. But to my dismay, he shook his stubborn head.
“No. Never. They hurt my little girl, and I will never forgive them for it.”
I unleashed a quiet sigh of dejection and threw a glance at Aakash.
He returned me a somber I told you look.
Mercifully, Aakash had chosen to underplay the gravity of our last conversation, opting instead to revel in the misconception that I had given up all association with Sujit.
That was his folly, and I chose not to shatter his delusions.
Jia didn’t know about any of this and continued to eat her food in blissful ignorance. I was glad about that.
“You should return now,” Dad continued. “I miss you here.” His voice was soft, but he quickly cleared his throat and gruffly added, “The business needs you.”
I glanced at Aakash again, who shook his head and got back to his food. I burst into a quick laugh, and Dad realized his error.
“Err...I didn’t mean to imply Aakash isn’t doing a good job?—”
“It’s all right, Papa,” Aakash interjected. “We both know she’s more qualified than me to handle it.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you are not holding it on your own,” Dad consoled him, then turned to me, “But we are still awaiting your return, Aarti.”
“Darn, he must really miss you,” Aakash said with a grin. “When’s the last time you heard him express his feelings so vocally?”
Mom chuckled in response and said to me, “We all miss you, my darling.”
“And we want you to be back here,” Jia added. “For good.”
I smiled around the table at everyone. “I have some unfinished business in New York. As soon as I see it through?—”
“You’ll take the next flight back,” Dad declared without looking at me. He had his attention on his food, enjoying his favorite aloo ki sabzi with dal and chawal.
It was another thing we shared. We both loved this particular potato recipe that only Mom could make perfectly.
I took the opening to broach the subject. “About that…”
Dad sat upright and glared at me. “What? I knew there was something fishy when you decided to buy that condo there.”
“Is that true?” I heard the panic in Mom’s voice. “Are you having second thoughts about coming back?”
Now Aakash joined in. “Come on, Sis. This is ridiculous.” He huffed. “You can’t let Sameer drive you out of your own hometown. This is your birthplace. You can’t just up and leave because he broke off an engagement.”
And then Jia chimed in. “Aakash is right. I can’t imagine Nitara growing up without you around her.”
“Will you all just calm down?” I cried with a frown.
“No one is driving me out. I’m neither timid nor fragile to be frightened off so easily.
But the expanding nature of our business means we need another home base.
And New York seems like a logical one, doesn’t it, given how much property we’ve already invested in?
” I looked pointedly at Dad, who returned a resigned, sheepish look.
“We can find someone else to conduct business there,” Aakash suggested.
“Yes, and you can travel there whenever you need to, but don’t even think about moving there!
” Jia said with a panic in her voice. I understood her fears and empathized.
New York wasn’t a place of particular fondness for her.
She grew up adjacent to the city where she had experienced the worst years of her life.
I reached over and placed a hand on her arm. I had no real words of comfort to offer, and I didn’t want to lie if only to assuage her.
“Nitara will never grow up without me in her life,” I said. This was the truth. Even if I were across the world on another continent, I would be in her life and she in mine. “I can’t imagine growing old without her in mine either.”
“Old?” Jia said and burst out laughing. “Please, you’re never getting old. You’re like fine wine. You’ll age like Angela Basset or Jane Fonda.”
Mom smiled lovingly at Jia first, then at me. “Or like Rekha, the Bollywood icon of agelessness.”
“Or like our own Ma right here,” Jia said with a love so pure, it existed only in the realm of the spiritual. Mom beamed and gifted Jia the most brilliant smile I had seen on her in a while.
“Alright, alright, you both!” I chided lovingly and was instantly reminded of Sujit. If he were here, he would have agreed with them and probably added a few more names to the list. Michelle Yeoh, perhaps.
A wave of gentle warmth brushed my heart at his thought, and suddenly, the idea of being away from my family halfway across the country didn’t fill me with dread.
Instead, I found myself daydreaming of a fulfilling life with him.
I looked at my father, his blissful self enjoying a satisfying meal with his family.
We gathered in the anterior room and chatted until Dad excused himself and retreated to the study. A tired Jia went to her room to spend time with Nitara.
“You both head up too,” I said to Ma and Aakash. “I’ll talk to Papa for a bit, then turn in, or I’ll be tired on my flight tomorrow.”
Ma gave me a tight hug. She did miss me but I wasn’t worried because she had found a daughter in Jia. I knew she’d be loved and cherished in my absence. I also knew I was only a phone call and a four-hour flight away if she ever needed me.
Outside the study, I spent a few moments admiring my father hard at work before I knocked. He waved me in.
He turned around in his work chair as I took a seat on the couch.
“You’re leaving tomorrow,” he said.
This was as close to I love you as he could get.
“Yes, Papa. I wanted to talk to you about something before I left.”
A smile and a nod as he interlaced his fingers, resting them on the slight paunch of his stomach.
I pulled in a deep breath, mustering all my courage. If there was ever a time to be brave, now was it.
“I met someone in New York, Papa. Someone that I’ve come to like and respect,” I said with as confident a voice as I could manage.
His smile disappeared and was replaced with a thoughtful frown.
“You haven’t been in New York that long.” Read, how did you meet, connect with, and come to trust someone in such a short period?
“We have been able to spend some time together.”
“It is not difficult to impress someone if you are so inclined.” Like Sameer, who had efficiently managed to fool us all. My mind completed the unsaid part.
“I’ve had the chance to witness his true nature and personality. I trust him.”
“Have you done a background check? Do you want me to?”
I shook my head firmly. “No. But I need your blessing.”
The frown deepened. “Here is what I know, Aarti. If you were confident in your choice, you wouldn’t be here talking to me.”
I took another deep breath. It was time to drop the bomb. “It is Sujit Rao.” I wondered if Papa knew his connection to Tara.
“That name sounds familiar,” he said and turned his chair to his desk.
If Sujit were anyone else, he would’ve made sure that everyone knew who he was, what he was capable of. Thankfully, Sujit was not just another billionaire. He was the kind of billionaire the world needed more of. A benevolent king who’d spend his riches trying to do good for humanity.
The big screen of Dad’s home computer lit up as he did a quick search for Sujit. What he read must have pleased him because this time when he turned to face me, his frown was gone.
“Sounds like a decent enough guy.”