Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter
Thirty-Two
For the first time since his breakup with his ex, Tejas woke up with another person snuggled tight in his arms. And not just any person—Naina Shetty, the woman he had caught feelings for in Goa, struggled to forget in Mumbai, and fallen back in love with in Bangalore.
He blinked away his drowsiness, trying to adjust his gaze to the sunshine streaming in from the window. It was probably just past nine a.m. Since it was Saturday, neither he nor Naina would have to rush through the morning. Maybe he would make her breakfast in bed again.
Astrid stretched her body against him from his other side, and he twisted his right arm back to pet her.
Then he shifted, facing Naina, who was still asleep in his grip, her straight hair splayed over his biceps.
The blanket lay in a heap on her feet; she probably ran hot in the morning.
Naina had changed into his nightshirt before they turned in for the night, and God, seeing the bare long legs she’d wrapped around him last night made Tejas’s heart race. I love you, he thought.
He tilted her head up to kiss her cheek, and Naina stirred, a soft smile crossing her lips. “Good morning,” he mumbled. “Did you sleep well?”
Naina looked up at him, stifling a yawn. “Like a baby. That hasn’t happened in months, maybe years.”
Tejas kissed her slow, a light brush of their mouths, then swept a lock of hair away from her eyes. “I had a dreamless sleep too. Going to bed together for a change…” He pulled her into his arms again. “It felt right. Didn’t it?”
Naina nodded, her head in the crook of his shoulder. “It did.” Then she blinked, and before Tejas could protest, she sat up and scrambled for her phone on the nightstand. “Fuck. What time is it?”
“Uh, a bit after nine-thirty—” Tejas straightened when Naina cursed loudly and ran out to the living room. Astrid let out a confused meow and raced after Naina, with Tejas following.
In the living room, Naina was rifling through the overnight bag she’d packed. Her hands came up with a pair of trousers and a formal silk shirt. Tejas opened his mouth to ask her where she was going when she pushed past him, back into the bedroom.
“Naina, it’s Saturday,” he reminded her as she tugged her pants over her muscular thighs. “Why are you getting dressed?”
She looked up at him, her eyes wide. “I have a performance review meeting with Iqbal and Kumble at ten. It’s already nine-forty.”
“Okay, breathe.” He reached for her, but she turned to the mirror, buttoning up her shirt. “It’ll be fine,” Tejas said, stepping closer. “My place is only twenty minutes from work. You could blame it on Bangalore traffic. From what I’ve seen, it’s pretty brutal.”
“I don’t like being late,” Naina replied testily. She gripped her straight hair with her fingers. “Fuck, I look like a mess.”
Wordlessly, Tejas handed her a comb from his drawer. “Thanks,” she said, shooting him a weak smile as she ran the comb over her smooth strands. She put the comb down and strode back out, Tejas following in her wake.
“I’ll hail an auto downstairs,” she said, slinging her overnight bag over her shoulder. “It’ll be quicker than an Uber.”
As she started for the door, Tejas pulled her back by the hand. “Hey,” he said, and he hated how desperate his voice sounded. “Will you come over after? We could get brunch—”
Naina hesitated, averting her gaze, and he knew before she even opened her mouth that she was reconsidering last night. “I’ll let you know,” she said, throwing a glance at the wall clock. Nine forty-five. “See you.”
And just like that, Naina was gone, the front door ajar, before Tejas could so much as kiss her goodbye.
A confused meow sounded from the floor. Astrid brushed against Tejas’s ankle as she peered outside into the hallway.
“I know, right?” he replied. Sighing, he shut the front door, picked Astrid up, and fell back into the couch. He rested his head against the cushions. “Do you think she’ll be back, Astrid?”
Astrid said nothing, only blinked at him with her doubtful yellow eyes.
“Yeah,” he agreed, his shoulders slumped. “That’s what I thought.” Sighing, he went through the motions: He filled Astrid’s water and food bowls, took a shower, made his usual breakfast, and sat at the dining table to eat his eggs and bread while looking wistfully at the empty seat beside him.
Last night, and this morning, Tejas had seen a glimpse of Naina Stark. Happy, relaxed, at peace…with him. And then, in a moment, she had slipped through his fingers.
Naina had needed to rush out for her meeting, and that he understood; he valued time and punctuality as much as any good lawyer would. What scared Tejas, though, was that Naina might take this opportunity to let her fears get in the way of any possible relationship with him.
Tejas put his dish in the sink and returned to the couch, grabbing the television remote.
He flipped through the channels until something on the news caught his eye, and he stiffened in place.
Breaking News! the ticker proclaimed. Billionaire Industrialist Kamal Subramanian Found Guilty of Fraud and Embezzlement on Three Counts.
“Fuck,” Tejas cursed. The court must have released the verdict on a Saturday because of the high-profile nature of the case. With shaking hands, he muted the TV and dialed Dhanush’s number. “Hey, I just saw the news,” he said when the call connected. “Are you okay?”
There was silence for a few seconds, after which Dhanush spoke, his voice small. “Not really. I’m fucking terrified of what this might mean for me.”
Tejas pursed his lips, his heart sinking for his friend. “Do you want to grab a coffee? It might take your mind off things—”
“Thanks, but no,” Dhanush said, and a small but weak chuckle escaped his lips. “I, uh, I’m actually not alone, for a change.”
“Oh?” Tejas found himself grinning when he heard another man’s laugh in the background. “Tell me about it at work.”
“I will, once I put out all of these fires. See you.”
Tejas hung up just as his phone buzzed again, and he jumped. Was it Naina? Had she changed her mind about brunch? But the caller ID said Iqbal Akhtar. Frowning, Tejas picked up.
“Hey, Tejas, do you have a minute?” Iqbal said, his words rushed. “Kumble and I just finished our meeting with Naina, and we caught her up on a really big discovery.”
Was this about Preethi’s case? Tejas’s brow furrowed. “Yes, of course.”
“My contact at the police station told me that someone tried and failed to visit Preethi in jail last night.”
Tejas stood; he clutched the phone to his ear with a trembling hand. “What? Who?”
Iqbal exhaled sharply. “Sandhya Gowda. Any theories as to why?”
“Huh. Preethi mentioned they were on good terms, but that she was also close with Pai,” Tejas said, rubbing his chin. “Do you know anything else about her visit?”
“She tried to use a fake name,” Iqbal said. “But the jail attendant recognized her and asked her to leave. Plus, she’s not on the approved list of visitors, so they wouldn’t have let her in anyway.”
Tejas paced around his living room. “Thanks, Iqbal. Naina and I will get to the bottom of this.”
“You’ve got this,” his boss said before hanging up.
Tejas arrived at Fourth Wave Coffee, where Naina had asked him to meet to discuss this new lead, and spotted her at a table by the window. She was looking at something on her laptop, her forehead wrinkled.
“I’m trying to find a link between Sandhya and Preethi, or maybe Sandhya and Pai,” Naina said as soon as he pulled up a chair beside her, their thighs touching.
“There’s not much except for this.” She turned the laptop toward him.
It was an old article from a Bollywood news website.
Exclusive: All the Celebs at Sandhya Gowda’s 21st Birthday Bash!
Tejas went through the photos. The party had happened only five months ago at a high-end Japanese restaurant in central Bangalore. Other than Jagannath and his wife, countless other young starlets were in the pictures.
And there, in one of the photos, close to being cut off at the edge, was a middle-aged man with a beer bottle against his lips. He was looking straight at Sandhya, who was dancing with her friends in the center of the frame. Rohith Pai.
“He seems to be the only person at the party who’s friends with Jagannath, not Sandhya.” Tejas’s eyes narrowed. “Why is he there?”
“Exactly,” Naina said in a low voice, meeting Tejas’s gaze.
Tejas placed his hand over Naina’s, nodding resolutely. “We’ll figure it out.”
Her eyes scanned the café, then she slowly slid her hand out, shifting her chair back a few inches. Tejas’s heart sank, and he frowned at her. “You’re pushing me away again, Naina.”
She put a hand to her forehead, massaging the area. “Look, Tejas, I…we shouldn’t do this right now.”
“You mean you don’t want to,” he said bitterly.
“I want to. Trust me, I do,” she replied, and Tejas noticed the faintest shimmer in her eyes behind her glasses. “But my first priority is and always will be my career. Until we win Preethi’s case, I can’t make any decisions about our rela—about this thing between us.”
Tejas opened his mouth, then closed it as the words died on his tongue. In some ways, he understood Naina’s hesitation. Preethi’s trial mattered more than anything else at this moment, and if things went south between them, it could affect their work on the case.
And he knew he couldn’t convince someone to choose him if they didn’t want to. He’d made that mistake with Rahul a year and a half ago. He couldn’t in his right mind make it again.
“Fine,” he said, crossing his arms on the table. “But I can’t take another Goa. I don’t want to get physical again until you make it clear where you stand with us.”
Naina licked her lips, her eyes raking over his face like she was trying to figure something out. Finally, she gave a slight jerk of the head. “Okay. I get where you’re coming from.” She cleared her throat and returned her gaze to her laptop. “Let’s talk to Sandhya.”
Tejas shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them, forcing himself back into work mode. “If we subpoena her, Jagannath might intervene. We’ll have to do it behind his back.”
“I’ve been looking at her Instagram,” Naina said, showing him Sandhya’s page. “She posts about her entire day on her stories, so we might be able to catch her.”
“You’d think she’d be more discreet, considering her father’s a key witness in a murder case,” Tejas said. “I’m surprised Jagannath hasn’t put an end to it.”
Naina shook her head. “I suppose if she stopped posting all of a sudden, people would speculate why.” She thought for a minute, then said, “I’ll keep an eye on her stories and figure out where she’s going tonight. Maybe I could ‘accidentally’ run into her.”
“I’ll join you,” Tejas said. “If she’s going somewhere on Saturday night, it’s bound to be a nightclub full of drugged-up celebrities, and I don’t want you to…” His voice trailed off, and he hung his head. “Sorry. I know I have no right to worry about you.”
Was that a small smile on Naina’s twitching lips? “No, you’re right,” she said as she stared at her phone screen, which had gone dark. “It might be best if you tag along. I’ll text you the details whenever she posts about it.”
“Good plan,” Tejas said, then added, “Also, the IT intern texted me while I was on my way here. He can’t get an IP address from the Reddit account without a DM conversation, but he’s on it. He said he’ll update us soon.”
Naina nodded, still not looking his way. “Sounds good. I’ll see you tonight, then.”
“See you.” With a sigh, Tejas stood, his chair creaking, and hailed an auto rickshaw home. Hopefully tonight would bring them more answers than questions.