CHAPTER 14
Maya
“LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT. YOU WERE STRANDED IN the woods with your hot nemesis, forced to cuddle for body warmth, and he saved you from a potentially venomous snake?” Priya said. “Ugh. You get to experience all the good stuff.”
I gaped at her. “Are you joking? It wasn’t good at all. I thought we were going to die.”
“But you didn’t. Now you have a great story to tell for the rest of your life.” She sighed. “You’re so lucky.”
Of course, Priya would be jealous of my near-death experience. She collected weird life experiences the way other people collected coins. I was convinced she’d wither and die if she ran out of new shock-factor stories to tell people.
“This is why you should’ve joined the Girl Scouts like me,” Neha told me. “You would’ve survived better if you had. Their wilderness survival training is very helpful.”
“You either survive, or you don’t,” I said. “There’s no surviving better. And I’m here, aren’t I?”
“You wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t been with Sebastian.” She returned to her magazine and flipped through it idly. “And there are definitely degrees of survival. Being fully conscious is better than being in a coma, isn’t it?”
I didn’t bother arguing. Neha had classic Younger Sister Syndrome, which was a fancy way of saying she lived to annoy the shit out of me.
It was Sunday, four days after Sebastian and I returned from Vermont, and my sisters and I were spending the afternoon at the Valhalla Club spa. Priya and Ben had flown back to New York at my mother’s insistence, and we were supposed to have a sisterly pre-wedding planning session today.
So far, all we’d done was get facials, drink champagne, and gossip by the pool, the latter of which we were still doing.
“Is Ben still with Dad?” I asked. My father had insisted on a “friendly lunch” with Priya’s fiancé, which was about the most ominous phrasing he could’ve used.
“Yes. Poor thing is getting grilled right now, but that’s what happens when you marry into the Singh family.
I warned him. He can handle it.” Priya didn’t sound too concerned.
“That’s one of the things I love so much about him.
He’s so easygoing, not like all those other uptight guys I’ve dated in the past. Do you remember Troy?
God, he was such an asshole. Ben would never… ”
I forced a smile as my sister rambled on about how perfect Ben was. They’d met at a pottery-making workshop six months ago, and the two had been inseparable since.
I liked Ben. He was the calm to my sister’s chaos, and though it’d taken my parents months to warm up to him, they’d come around—for the most part.
My mother was peeved that he was a middling artist rather than a powerful businessman, but she was also relieved that Priya had given up her previous vow never to marry.
Given how worried she’d been, Priya could marry a professional clown, and she’d accept it.
It helped that Neha had already married their dream son-in-law. Arjun was a successful hedge fund manager, deeply attuned to our culture, and flattered my parents with gifts and compliments every time he saw them.
Then there was me, thirty-one and single. It didn’t matter how many professional accomplishments I racked up; I was the one who kept my mother up at night.
“I don’t want a big wedding, but you know how Mom is.” Priya nudged me with her elbow. “I wish you were getting married too. That way, we could swap. You get the wedding; I get the elopement.”
She didn’t mean it in a condescending way, but her words still stung. They were yet another reminder that I’d “fallen behind” somehow.
If I lived in a vacuum, I wouldn’t care about my singlehood. I’d rather be single than in a relationship for relationship’s sake, but I got anxiety from the way everyone else in my life harped on it.
Societal pressure was real, and unfortunately, I wasn’t immune to it.
“Please,” I said, covering up my discomfort with another forced smile. “You know Mom would freak if any of her children eloped. You’d see a meltdown the likes of which the world has never experienced before.”
She laughed. “True.”
But as we left the pool for our respective massages, I couldn’t tamp down the little competitive flare inside me.
Priya wouldn’t get married for at least another year, but our cousin Radhika’s wedding was in a few months.
Did I want to show up to either of those events alone and be subjected to my extended family’s pity again? No. Was there a strong possibility that I would be the only one out of all my sisters and cousins to attend solo? Yes.
I disrobed and climbed onto the massage table, my mind racing. Perhaps I’d been too hard on my past setups. I had another arranged date this week, and he could be The One. At the very least, he could be a tolerable plus-one to my cousin’s wedding.
No matter what happened, he already had one important thing going for him: he wasn’t Sebastian Laurent.
I wished the hypothetical axe murderer had killed me.
Death would be preferable to the torture I was currently experiencing, and unlike a quick stab to the chest, there was no easy way out of this.
I should’ve known the date would be a disaster when Brady took me to Brasserie M because it was “the most romantic restaurant in the city.” Once I recovered from a horrible bout of déjà vu, we started talking, and that was when things really took a dive.
Frat boy name aside, Brady looked good on paper. He was tall, well spoken, and owned a boutique investment banking firm that catered to media and entertainment executives. I thought he’d make a perfectly acceptable wedding date… until we reached the topic of family.
“How many children do you want to have?” he asked.
“No more than two,” I said. “What about you?”
“The more, the merrier. I have six siblings, and we had so much fun growing up. I’d love to give my kids the same experience one day.”
I nearly choked on my water. “Six.” I coughed, my eyes watering. “Wow. That’s… a lot.”
“It is, but it’s great,” Brady said earnestly. “My mom made sure all of us felt valued individually. We had personalized lunches, hand-knitted sweaters, big birthday parties. The whole nine yards.”
It sounded like his mom should’ve been paid a full-time salary times seven.
“What did your dad do?” I asked.
“He was a lawyer. Still is. He’s a partner at Pierce, Waltham, and Greene.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I said. “What did he do around the house?”
Brady gave me a puzzled smile. “I’m not sure I understand the question.”
A headache set in behind my temples. “Your mom personalized the lunches and knitted the sweaters. What did your dad do?”
“I told you, he’s a lawyer,” he said patiently. “His job is to be the breadwinner. My mom’s job was to take care of us and the house. Actually, she used to be a lawyer too—they met in law school. But she quit when she had us, which made sense.”
Alarm rang in the distant recesses of my mind. My eye twitched. “Oh, really? Why is that?”
“Because family comes before career.”
“I assume that applies to your dad too.”
Brady laughed. “You’re hilarious. They didn’t tell me you were this funny.”
“I’m not trying to be funny. Considering your mom is the one who carried her kids for nine months and gave birth to them, I think it should’ve been the other way around. Your dad should’ve quit his job and pitched in. The same goes for other men in general.”
I had no issue with women quitting their jobs to raise their families if that was what they wanted. I did have an issue with Brady’s blatant misogyny and condescension.
He was lucky I was a vegetarian because if I had a steak knife nearby, he might not make it out of the restaurant alive.
His laughter died. “You can’t expect them to do that. They have important work to do.”
Jesus. Was he even a real human? He was acting like a caricature, but I’d been around enough toxic dude-bros to know some of them really did think like that.
“That’s funny,” I said. “Because a lot of them are shit at their allegedly important jobs. For example, owners of a boutique investment firm should have an adequate grasp of risk management. If they did, they wouldn’t have cost one of their clients hundreds of thousands of dollars because they made a bad bet. ”
Brady’s smile vanished beneath a flush of red. “What—how—”
“I know a lot of people, and some of those people like to talk.” I’d done my research before this date.
Too bad no one had mentioned what a douchebag Brady was, or I would’ve canceled, my mother’s recriminations be damned.
“That’s why I find it hilarious that you talk such a big game about being a ‘breadwinner’ when you can’t even bring your clients a decent slice without dropping it.
Also, in case it wasn’t clear…” I leaned forward, my eyes pinned on his. “This date is over.”
Brady was smart enough not to make a huge scene in the restaurant. However, he wasn’t above delivering a parting shot.
“No wonder you’re single,” he hissed on his way out. “I feel sorry for whatever poor sap you end up with. You want to be so high and mighty? You pay for the dinner.”
He stormed out, leaving a cloud of overpowering cologne in his wake.
I wrinkled my nose. Men could be so dramatic.
The server popped up and discreetly whisked away Brady’s half-eaten food. She was the same one from last time. “Would you like more wine?” she asked, her expression sympathetic.
“Please.” I gestured at my empty glass. “Keep them coming.”
She winked at me. “Understood.”
I sighed, oddly deflated now that I didn’t have anger propping me up. Most romantic restaurant, my ass. This place was cursed.
I took a morose sip of pinot grigio.
The kitchen door swung open, and I straightened before an unfamiliar server walked out with a plate.
I deflated again.
Of course, Sebastian wasn’t here (not that I was hoping he would be). His appearance during my date with Nikhil had been a fluke. Besides, he was too busy working on the frozen foods recipes now to do much else.
I finished my food and motioned for the check.
“Your dinner has already been comped, Ms. Singh,” the server said. “In addition, the kitchen sent you some special treats as a thank-you for being a return customer.” She nodded at someone behind me, and another server swooped in to place the items on the table.
One chocolate milkshake. One slice of chocolate cake with strawberries.
My heart leapt into my throat.
“Enjoy.” The server smiled and winked at me again before she left to take care of another table.
“We’re return customers, and we never get special treats,” I heard a nearby diner complain.
I was too busy searching the room to hear their companion’s reply. A rush of anticipation zinged beneath my skin, but I scoured the whole restaurant and didn’t catch a single glimpse of Sebastian.
Still, I couldn’t hold back a small smile as I took a sip of the milkshake. It was thick enough to be ice cream—just the way I liked it.
There was no note accompanying the dessert this time, and yet I felt Sebastian’s presence as strongly as if he were standing right next to me.
Sebastian
I should’ve stayed away.
After Vermont—after I almost kissed her in the woods—I should’ve known better than to interfere with another one of her dates.
Maya was dangerous, and the more time we spent together, the more I lost control. It was why I’d canceled our North Carolina trip and handed her that win.
I was already unraveling at the seams. If I had to survive another overnight trip with her, I’d disintegrate completely.
I’d had every intention of taking a step back and keeping our relationship professional after we returned to New York. But when she popped up on my VIP diners list again—this time next to some finance hack whose name I vaguely recognized—I’d caved like a fucking sucker.
I’d managed to stop myself from showing up at the restaurant, but I’d instructed the staff to keep an eye on her date and to intervene if necessary.
At the end of the day, it didn’t matter whether I was physically with her or not. She could be hundreds of miles away, and she’d still haunt every corner of my mind, like a shadow I couldn’t shake.
She’d invade every thought, occupy every waking moment.
I was well aware how close I was to falling irrevocably under her thrall…
But there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it.