37. Aarti
AARTI
S ujit’s text greeted me the next morning. He had sent the text late into the night after I’d finished fantasizing about him and was snug in my bed.
Sujit
Welcome back, sweet girl. Sorry I’m just seeing your message. Guess you must be asleep by now. Talk to you tomorrow.
And then, a few minutes later,
Glad you’re back.
I was glad to be back, too. Although the idea of meeting Manoj that evening was the first thing on my mind, seeing this text from Sujit had raised my spirits. I wasn’t one to be flustered easily, but Manoj had the knack of getting on my nerves in all the wrong ways.
After I learned about him from Tara, I harbored even more animosity toward him. He had messed with the wrong person this time. Sujit might be kind, but I was not. I believed in just deserts, not blanket kindness. By the end of the day, Manoj would be out of our lives for good.
By the end of the day, I’d also know if Sujit would be in my life for good.
I called him the first thing after coffee.
“Good morning,” he said in his sexy, husky voice, and I melted right away.
“Hi,” was all I could manage.
“How was Dallas?” he asked.
“Wonderful!” I said. “I can’t wait to tell you all about it.”
“I can’t wait either, sweet girl. Wish we could have dinner tonight, but I have a standing date.”
“A date, huh?” I teased. “Is she pretty?”
“Very pretty. Like an angel.”
A silly place in my heart sank. “Is it a date date?” I asked, trying very hard not to sound jealous.
“A dinner date,” he clarified. “Why? Does it bother you that I’m having dinner with other pretty girls?” he teased more brashly than he had before.
“Not at all,” I said sweetly. “In fact, I have a dinner appointment myself. Although I wouldn’t call it a date.”
“Yeah? What would you call it?”
“I’d call it a raging tempest.”
“That explosive, eh?” he teased and I laughed.
“Sujit…”
“Yes, Aarti?”
“I can’t wait to see you,” I said simply.
“Can I come over after dinner, or do you think you’d be occupied with your raging tempest?”
“The tempest should be razed to the ground by the time dinner is done,” I said with fury.
“Is everything alright? If you want to meet sooner, I can.”
“Thank you, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“There is nothing you can’t handle,” he replied.
A warmth coursed through my being, bringing a smile to my face. I was so proud of this man, and I wanted to take him in my arms and tell him just that.
I blazed through my workday, awaiting the evening when I could finally tell that slimeball Manoj what I thought of him. This time, I decided not to toe but step over the line.
Instead of picking a sensible dress that would indicate my disinterest in him, I picked a low-neck mini sheath.
Instead of opting for a sensible bra that wouldn’t draw attention to my breasts, I retrieved a push-up from my drawer and jacked my bouncing breasts up to my chin.
I covered up my beauty spot completely. He didn’t deserve to see it.
Instead of choosing a soft, muted color on my lips, I reached for the bold red that was my signature power shade.
And instead of slipping on my trademark cool demeanor, I channeled all my anger and wrath.
Today was the day Manoj would finally stop messing with Sujit. Forever.
I found him waiting by the valet when I arrived.
“Hi, Aarti,” he said with a smile that would enamor many a weak person. I wasn’t one. “You look spectacular.” The lecher’s eyes landed straight on my chest.
Of course I looked amazing. I had planned it that way. I merely nodded.
“Are you not going to say a word?” he said as the ma?tre d’ escorted us to our table.
A prime spot, or the “display tables,” as they called them.
Visible to the people walking in but distant enough from the entrance to avoid the draft from the door.
Not in proximity to either the kitchen or the back of the restaurant toward the restrooms. I wouldn’t expect Manoj to choose anything else.
He knew how to show it up. That’s what people like him lived for.
He also made sure to take the coat off my shoulders and hand it to the ma?tre d’. Then he pulled out a chair for me. I let him. It was best to allow him the illusion that I was impressed by his chivalry.
“What would you like to drink?” he asked after we had settled, and I had buried myself in the menu without a word.
I looked up at him and returned the menu to the table. “What do you want to talk about?”
He unleashed a Grinch grin that instantly reminded me of that Tim Curry scene in Home Alone 2 .
“Enough with the games, Manoj,” I stated in a cool voice. “I’m running out of patience.”
“You know, you could at least be grateful to me,” he argued, dropping the menu on the table as the server came for our drinks order.
“Get us your finest red,” Manoj delivered the line straight from a movie.
I suppressed a snort. If he knew me at all, if he had paid even the slightest bit of attention, he’d know I preferred white. But that was the thing about such men. They didn’t care about others. The only person they saw was themselves. He wasn’t Sujit.
An untimely softness surged through me at the thought of that kind, gorgeous man. I couldn’t wait to see his handsome face and the reassuring smile that ended in two perfect divots in his cheek.
The door opened again, and my eyes drew to the party walking in.
For a moment, I wondered if it was a figment of my imagination.
If I had somehow summoned Sujit with my sheer willpower.
He was walking in behind the ma?tre d’. With him was Devi and a young girl, who appeared to be Devi’s daughter.
She chirped something to Sujit, and he gave her the smile that I was just daydreaming about.
Our very visible table meant that he saw me too.
Our eyes met, and his smile broadened. But one look at my companion, and he stilled.
With a quick nod, he asked if I wanted him to come over.
With just my eyes, I conveyed I had this covered.
Another nod at my conviction, and he turned his attention to the girl.
This was the fucking connection I’d been waiting for all my life. And like hell I was going to give it up without a fight. Manoj was a non-entity; I’d fight the gods for Sujit.
While the ma?tre d’ pulled a chair for Devi, Sujit did so for the girl and handed their coats to a wait staff who had appeared at their table.
Manoj followed my gaze. “Well, well,” he said. “Our secret is out now.” He cast his Grinch grin again.
“What secret is that?” I marshaled my cool and sipped the water from the goblet on the table.
“You and me at this table,” he said as the server returned with the wine, a fine Malbec.
I patiently waited as they went through the tired routine of sampling and okaying the wine. I was tempted to say something about not being fond of red, but I bit my tongue.
“Here’s to you, Aarti. The fabulous woman that you are,” he said, raising his glass at me.
I sipped mine without a word. It wasn’t a bad wine.
A bit heavy but very good. A nice mouthful with notes of plum and sweet tobacco.
Certainly a wine that someone like Manoj would choose.
But then, he didn’t choose it, did he? He let the restaurant do it for him.
He couldn’t even be trusted to pick a good wine for himself.
Sujit, on the other hand, knew exactly what he wanted. Like the scotch he chose at our first meeting. My eyes drew to Sujit and Manoj’s were glued to me.
“What is the deal with the two of you?” he finally asked.
“What did you want to talk about, Manoj? I really don’t like the idea of being threatened like this.”
His eyes widened with a dramatic flair. “Threatened?” Then he shook his head with the same vehement theatrics and added, “No, you’ve got it all wrong, Aarti. I’m worried about you.”
“Worried about what?”
He hesitated for effect, as if he had planned it. Then, placing the wine glass back on the table, said, “I know about you and Sujit. About your connection.”
He used the same word that had been stated in the tabloid. I frowned. “What connection?”
He let out an exasperated breath as I continued to deny him the pleasure of what he sought. Flustering me.
“I know you’re Tara’s husband’s ex-fiancée.”
“So?” I returned a quizzical frown again.
“I know you both are hiding it from your families and from the world.”
“There’s nothing to hide,” I replied in a calm voice, even as every word from his mouth infuriated me.
“Then you wouldn’t mind if these pictures made their way to the news, would you?”
He placed an envelope near him on the table. I didn’t reach out to grab it like he wanted me to. That seemed to irk him further.
I sat back in my chair with a conceited smile. “I didn’t mind the first time they did.”
“Oh, but they didn’t . See, that’s the point I’m trying to make.”
“So the first time was about cornering Sujit. And now it’s my turn, is it?”
Perturbed at being seen so visibly by a woman he had clearly underestimated, he drew his brows together.
“This is unfair, you know,” he cried in a defeatist tone. “I brought these to you. Can’t you see that?”
He grabbed the envelope and tossed it across the table toward me. It flopped next to my wine glass. I picked up the glass and took a sip before placing it at a distance from the envelope.
“The question I have at this moment is,” I asked with a menacing calm. “How do you have these pictures in the first place?”
His brows flew off his forehead. “What, you think I had something to do with this?”
“The thought definitely crossed my mind,” I said. “How else would you have the rest of the pictures , as you put it?”
He shook his head and blew out a breath. “I care about you, and that’s why I went to great lengths to retrieve these pictures. If I hadn’t, these would be splashed across the front page of a magazine next week.”
Ah, there it was! The threat I was waiting for. I turned up my lip in a sneer.