Chapter Eight #2
They found a spot on the slightly packed sand with an umbrella and two lounge chairs, not too far from the water. It was early, but the air was already warm. Roshan insisted on putting towels on both chairs before allowing Nimita to sit.
She huffed a bit as she finally sat down, but it didn’t have much power behind it. Almost as if she was softening toward him.
She placed her water bottle on the small table between them as he leaned over to pull out a book.
She glanced over at him as she pulled out her own book. “NO WAY!”
* * *
No effing way. Roshan Dave was not in fact reading medical journals.
He was reading Obsidian Rain. It was the hottest romantasy book out right now.
The third in a five-book series, it had just been released a week ago, and Nimita had only just had time to start it.
She was holding the six-hundred-and-fifty-page tome in her hands.
And so was Roshan Dave.
“You read romantasy?” She didn’t even bother trying to hide her surprise.
“Yes,” he said, his gaze flicking to the hotel as if Vishal and Karan could see him. “Who doesn’t like dragons and warriors and…” he shot her a flirty smile “…sex?”
She tried and failed to control the flush that heated her face. Not because she was embarrassed, but because when Roshan said sex, it made her think of him. Naked. She turned her head to follow his glance. “They don’t know, do they?”
“They don’t know everything about me,” he quipped.
She doubted that. These three were clearly up in each other’s business. Roshan was purposely keeping it from them. “You should be proud of whatever you’re reading,” she chided him.
“I am,” he stated, indignation oozing from him. He relaxed. “It’s just that they wouldn’t get it, so I keep it to myself. Besides, my sister is a fan.”
“Are you a true romantasy reader? Or did you pick this up to be ‘trendy’?” She made the air quotes.
He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t do trendy. My sister and I have a two-person book club. And it was her turn to choose. We read the other two already.”
“Huh.” Nimita tried to sound dismissive, but she was touched that he shared books with his sister. She had no idea if Reena even read anymore. “How far are you?”
“Three hundred pages. You?” he asked.
“Two seventy-five,” she answered, glancing at his book. “Don’t say anything.”
His eyes widened as if insulted. “Of course not. I’m not a monster.”
“Good to know,” Nimita said softly, making eye contact. “Although I notice that you don’t use a bookmark.”
“I dog-ear the pages,” he confessed.
She narrowed her eyes at him as she turned to her book and settled into her chair. “So you are a little bit of a monster.”
“No more than you, apparently.” He chuckled as he nodded at her dog-eared book.
She smiled and chuckled in spite of herself. “Read your book.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They read in comfortable silence for a while. Then Roshan gasped.
“Stop that!” she chided, laughing.
“Sorry.”
They kept reading.
“Oh my god,” Nimita exclaimed.
He turned to her, a knowing smile on his face. “I know, right?” He put his book down and stood.
“What are you doing?” Nimita was aghast as he started walking to the water.
“I’m going to practice surfing while you catch up,” he called out. “Then we can talk theories.”
Nimita wanted to not like that idea—because it came from Roshan. But the truth was, she loved it. She hadn’t been in a book club before, and she’d never had anyone to talk to about the books she read.
She rolled her eyes for effect. “Fine.” But she could feel herself smiling. What was more surprising was the look of happiness on Roshan’s face.
By the time Roshan returned from trying to surf, they were at the same spot, and she’d stopped reading. Now, he stood dripping ocean water in front of her while she gushed about the latest twist. She could not complain.
They ordered lunch and talked theories while they ate. Nimita unwrapped her foot and waded into the ocean every so often to cool off. Roshan practiced surfing. They read.
All in all, kind of a perfect day. Especially since they’d both finished the book by the time they finished dinner. Roshan had checked on his friends a few times, and they were still down.
“How’s that ankle treating you?”
“Feels a bit better. Could be the painkillers. Could be the saltwater.” She shrugged. The sun was setting, and the air was still warm. She unwrapped her ankle and stood. “Want to walk in the waves a bit?”
His grin could not have taken up more of his face. “Thought you would never ask.”
“Don’t get excited.” She tried to hide her smile behind a smirk. “I just don’t want to fall again. And the crutches aren’t great on the sand.” Besides, she kind of liked leaning on him.
He laughed as he stood. A warm ocean breeze caught his T-shirt. He offered her his arm and she wrapped her hand around his bicep as he led the way to the water’s edge. “Of course. Why else would you ask me to walk with you?”
“As long as we understand each other.”
Nimita leaned into his arm as they wandered along the beach, small waves cooling their feet as they walked. The sunset colored the sky in hues of pink, orange and purple, and Nimita was reminded of why Hawaii was her happy place.
“So what book will you read next?” she asked.
“I have to talk to my sister. She’ll be amazed that I already finished this one.” He shook his head.
“You and your sister are really close.”
He nodded. “She means the world to me.”
“She’s quite a bit younger, right? I remember her being just a little kid when I was tutoring you.”
“Eight years younger, yeah.”
Nimita glanced at him when no more information was forthcoming. “She’s cancer free now?”
Roshan inhaled deeply.
“It’s okay. It’s none of my business. Sorry—”
“It’s fine. She’s been in remission for a few years now.”
Nimita frowned. She didn’t know a lot about leukemia, but she thought it was a childhood thing. “She had a long battle with it?”
“Yes. Well. She had a couple of relapses. We kept thinking we were out of the woods, but we know better now. It’s—” He stopped. “Anyway, she lives with me now.”
“Is that why you went into pediatric oncology?”
He nodded. “I did a lot of research when she was sick, to understand how to help her. Being a pediatric oncologist was almost a foregone conclusion. It was all I knew, all I cared about.”
“I’m sorry.” She slipped her hand into his and squeezed. “That must be hard. Your sister being sick.”
He glanced down at their joined hands. Nimita thought about pulling away, but she didn’t want to. It didn’t seem like Roshan wanted to pull away, either.
“It can be,” he said softly. “Thanks.”
They walked in silence. The sun had finished its colorful show, leaving behind the soft blue-gray of dusk, the crescent moon starting to show itself.
“What about you?” he asked. “What’s your story?”
Nimita tensed.
“Not ready to answer?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s just not much of a story.
I loved being a BME for the years that I did it.
Figuring out how medical devices worked with the body was completely captivating.
At the same time, I also wanted to travel, but my mom was singularly focused on getting me married.
I wasn’t ready. Her philosophy was that everything you wanted to do, you could do after you got married. ”
She turned and steered them back to the resort.
“You know, she had always wanted to go to London, Greece, Africa. She talked about it all the time. She never went. Then she…was gone.” Tears burned behind her eyes.
“She died three years ago, and aside from moving to the States from India, she’d never been outside of Maryland.
” Nimita swallowed her tears, but they continued to burn.
“After her funeral, I quit my job and became a flight attendant for Wanderlust.” She shrugged.
“I…traveled.” She sniffled as the tears began to flow freely and without her consent. “She…she never did.”
Nimita had taken great joy in her travels, but she had never been without the ghost of her mother.
Her mother would have so loved the food and experiences Nimita had had.
At times, Nimita had been angry that her mother never took these trips, never felt that she deserved this simple joy.
That anger vied for space with Nimita’s joy of traveling the world, her grief over her mother and the tug of regret and guilt that reminded her she had all but abandoned her sister and father.
She paused and allowed the tears to fall for once.
“And now,” she said, voice thick, “I don’t have a job. ”
She felt him turn to her, but she couldn’t look at him.
Roshan squeezed her hand and remained silent.
They walked hand in hand in silence for few minutes as darkness draped over them.
Nimita found it comforting, in the most unexpected way.
Roshan did not tell her to get over it. Or judge her for leaving what was a fantastic job.
Nor did he seem to pity her for being unemployed. Or even wipe her tears.
It just was.
Nimita felt a surge of…gratitude toward him. Gratitude for letting her be herself, no judgment. At least until he heard the full truth, which was never going to happen.
After some time, Roshan squeezed her hand and said, “Tell me a few of the most beautiful places you’ve been.”
She grinned into the darkness. “Here.” She paused. “As you have seen.” She took a few more steps. “Ios, Greece, has the most beautiful beaches. Bangalore has some of the best Ayurveda there is.”
“What did you love most about those places?”
She considered that. She had felt at peace at all those places. But it wasn’t really about just peace. “The escape I found.”
He released a breath, and she looked at him and saw him scanning the water, the sky and beach. His gaze landed on her. “I could see that, for sure.”
* * *