Chapter Twenty
Twenty
Days melded into nights, weaving together like chapters of a story that Priya never wanted to end.
Although spring brought warmer days, mornings and evenings retained a chill.
It was as if the universe, too, was urging Priya and Ethan closer.
They cuddled under the blankets at dawn, and in the evenings, they lit a bonfire in the field and watched the embers float to the sky.
Sitting in the open doorway of the forgotten freight car, with her shoulder leaning against its metal frame, Priya’s legs dangled over the edge.
Ethan lay on her lap, reading a screenplay.
His expression transformed with each page, the storyline pulling him into its world.
A carpet of grass and wildflowers surrounded them, swaying under the afternoon sun.
As she scrolled lazily through her phone, Priya suddenly perked up. “Ooh. This looks cool.”
“What is it?” Ethan put his script aside and sat up.
“An app-building contest.” Priya tilted her screen toward him. “Hosted by a nonprofit that supports tech start-ups. You come up with an original idea; build a prototype across Android, iOS, and the web; and submit it.”
“Winner gets fifty thousand dollars and help launching a real app.” Ethan skimmed through the description. “Not bad.”
“I know, right? I’ve been playing around with a bunch of ideas, but this gives me a reason to commit and actually start building an app.”
Ethan gave her a thoughtful look. “How much would you need to launch something like this on your own? I mean, if you bypass the contest? I do a bit of angel investing if you’re interested.”
“I appreciate the offer, but after what went down with Manoj, I’ve learned my lesson. I’m never mixing business and personal stuff again.”
“Pri, I’m not Manoj. We could—”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “Just having you here, listening to me ramble on is more than enough. I need to do this on my own, to prove to myself and my parents that I’ve got what it takes.
Funding is only one part of the puzzle. Winning could open doors to mentorship, collaborations, and sponsorships too. ”
“You can do anything you set your mind to, Pri,” Ethan said, his eyes scanning her face. “You’ve always had a quiet courage inside you. When life knocks me down, I raise hell, spewing smoke and exhaust fumes everywhere. But you? You just rise, dust yourself off, and push forward.”
“I liked the hell-raising biker.” Priya smiled. “But I always saw beyond the rebel to the guy with a soft, gentle heart. Fame hasn’t changed you one bit.”
As their gazes caught, the moment stretched—charged, weighty, and peaceful all at once. Priya’s heart hammered in her chest. Something was shifting between them.
For a second, it felt like their younger selves were right there, giving them a push to own this connection. They had come full circle—from kids escaping to this hidden spot to adults who had made it back to each other through all of life’s twists and turns.
The rusty walls around them, the train tracks swallowed by wild plants, the pages of Ethan’s screenplay, all seemed to dissolve. But then Priya’s phone went off, shattering the moment.
“It’s Manoj.” She sighed, silencing the call. “Probably work stuff.”
She tried to move past the interruption, but the phone buzzed again.
“Persistent little fucker,” Ethan muttered, glaring at the screen.
Priya frowned. “Actually, it’s Ravi now. How the hell did he get my number?”
“What’s with all these guys making cameo appearances?” Ethan grabbed Priya’s phone and sent Ravi to voicemail. “The lead role’s been cast, and spoiler alert—it’s me.”
He was about to mute the phone when it chimed with a new notification. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he growled. Then he paused, his brow furrowing. “It’s a message from your sister Deepa,” he said, handing the phone back to Priya.
Priya glanced at the message preview: This is Dinesh. Curious, she tapped it open and read the rest: Mumma and Puppa met with him and his family today. Heads up—they asked for your number.
The image took a second to load, then filled the screen.
Dinesh stood in the center, looking as wholesome as a matrimonial ad—tidy hair, friendly smile, very “good boy” energy.
On his right were, presumably, his parents, and on his left, her own.
Mumma clutched his arm like he was already family, and her father was grinning, eyes crinkled at the corners.
As Priya stared at the photo, a wave of déjà vu washed over her.
Her parents had given Manoj the same stamp of approval, praised his ambition, his charm, and how he would “secure her future.”
“You okay?” Ethan asked, grazing her arm with his fingers.
“Meet Dinesh.” Priya angled her screen so he could see the photo. “My parents’ latest attempt to fix my life. They think being with the right man will magically solve everything.”
Ethan looked at her phone for half a second, his expression tightening.
Then he pried it from her hand and turned it face down.
“Enough interruptions, Priya. We need to talk. I know we both agreed this was just a fling, but let’s be honest…
there’s something more happening here.” His eyes searched hers, his voice rough around the edges.
Priya’s throat tightened as the words hung between them. “I know,” she said softly. “But do you actually want something more? With me?”
Ethan held her gaze, steady and unwavering. “More than I’ve wanted anything in a long time. Being with you feels solid. It feels real, Pri. And I’m not ready to walk away from that. Question is, do you want to take this further?”
“I do,” Priya admitted, drawing in a shaky breath.
“But I don’t know how to handle this—my family, your fame…
” Her gaze dropped as she continued. “I mean, even if I say yes to us, I can’t handle the attention that follows you.
The press would be all over me. If we don’t work out…
that’s another failure I’ll have to carry.
My divorce already feels like a black mark against me, and this would be so much more public. So much harder to escape.”
“I get it.” Ethan reached for her hand, his grip warm and grounding.
“I know how scary this feels, but I think we deserve a chance. A real one. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but I’ll be right here with you for all of it.
The messy parts too. You don’t have to go through it alone, Pri.
I may not understand everything you’re facing, but I know what it’s like to choose between what you want and what’s expected of you.
I’m paying for that choice myself.” His gaze drifted toward his father’s home.
Then he turned back to her. “We can figure it out together—you and me. Whatever happens, I can promise you that.”
Priya rested her head on his shoulder and let out a soft sigh.
She wasn’t used to leaning on anyone else.
As the eldest daughter of immigrant parents, she carried more than just her own dreams. She was their firstborn, the one meant to pave the way for her sisters and justify the sacrifices her parents had made.
Their hopes and struggles were all tied to her choices.
But here, in this quiet little pocket of time with Ethan, she could just be—be seen, held, and understood.
She had three whole days with him before her parents came back.
Enough time to figure things out. She closed her eyes, soothed by the soft murmur of pages as Ethan flipped through his script again.
Every detail—the hum of insects weaving through sun-dried stalks, the sun-heated metal of the freight car under her legs, the distant call of birds—etched itself into her mind.
“Do you think we’re happy when we get what we want because we finally have it, or because the wanting is over?” she mused.
Ethan glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “A bit of both, I’d say. Why?”
“Because right now, I don’t want anything else.”
“Oh, just wait,” he said with a grin. “I’ve got a whole list of things that’ll have you begging for more before the night’s over.”
Priya let out a soft laugh. “Being proven wrong has never sounded so good. How did I get so lucky?” She whispered the last part to herself, as if speaking the words any louder would jinx things.
Ethan flipped the final page, pausing for a long moment before setting the screenplay down.
“Any good?” Priya asked.
“It’s better than good. It’s absolutely brilliant. But the real question is…” He brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Are you done?”
“Done with what?” she asked.
“Thinking about your app,” he teased, playfully tapping her forehead. “Thinking about your parents. Thinking about us. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking…”
“Well, I still haven’t figure out how to explain you to my parents.”
“So, you are thinking about coming clean with them?”
“It’s a lot. I mean, you’re…you. But if I can somehow sell us to my parents, pitching the app will be a piece of cake,” she said, chuckling. “I just need one good idea, but it has to be a game changer.”
“You know what’s the ultimate game changer?” Ethan picked up his script and waved it at her. “Death.”
“Yeah, I doubt I’ll be solving that with an app.” Priya laughed. “How does your script handle it?”
“Well, my character has seven days to cheat death. For six days, he wakes up in a casket and spends every moment planning ways to escape. But Death always gets him by sunset. On the last day, he stops fighting and leaves the funeral home. He goes home, walks his dog, makes his wife breakfast, flies a kite with his son, listens to his favorite album, has a drink with his friends.”
“And then?”
“The final scene shows him on a park bench, watching the sun set. Children are playing. His son’s feeding pigeons, his wife’s taking photos, and their dog’s pulling on the leash. He just sits there, totally at peace.”
“No more running?”
“Exactly. He stops looking over his shoulder and just enjoys his last day.”
“And the movie ends with him on that bench?”
“Not quite. As the sun dips below the horizon, a single leaf drifts down from the sky. It brushes past him and lands quietly at his feet, like a kiss from Death. His family’s voices, children shouting, the distant sound of a siren—all of it keeps going.
It’s like he fades quietly into the moment, dissolving slowly into the night. ”
“That’s haunting and beautiful,” Priya whispered.
“There’s a real emotional weight to this. It’s unlike anything I’ve done before. Could be a major turning point in my career.”
“Sounds like the perfect excuse for a movie night at the coach house,” Priya declared. “Pillows, blankets, wine, cheese, and popcorn!”
“Tomorrow,” Ethan said. “Tonight, I’m taking you out for a night on the town.”
“You know you can’t go anywhere without getting mobbed, right?”
“I’ve got ways to stay under the radar,” he teased. “I’m thinking dinner, music, dancing, and cocktails under the city lights.”
“Do you always plan dates like they’re pulled from a movie?” Priya laughed.
“When I’m with you, every moment feels screen-worthy.” He cupped her face and kissed her softly. “So just relax and let me take care of everything.”