Chapter Eight #3
This woman was incredible. Talk about following your heart and making your dreams come true. Maybe she was just using travel as escapism, but she still made it happen.
He took in the water, the sky and beach through her eyes. Adventure. Excitement. Peace.
They had just been reading about magic, and he swore magic swirled in the air between them. There was no other explanation for what he saw in her eyes, felt in her hands and heard in her voice.
In the two years he had known Nimita Chaudhary, he had never known her to be vulnerable as she was now. He had no idea what shone in his face and eyes, and in that moment, he didn’t care. Nimi was magic, and he was under her spell.
“What did you want to escape from?” he asked.
She looked away, and the spell was broken.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. He was an idiot. Vishal would have hit him upside his head for ruining that moment.
“Escape from everyone who was judging me. From everyone who didn’t understand,” she said, an edge of anger in her voice. “From everyone who wanted to have a say in how I lived my life. From everyone who keeps wanting to know what I’m going to do next.”
“Who is asking you that?”
“My sister—” She seemed as though she was going to add to that but stopped.
Roshan kept walking, kept holding her hand.
Nimi sighed. “Although…my sister got married, like my mom wanted. And when I took off, she and her husband started taking care of our father.”
He nodded. “We did the same.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean everything we did was for my sister. My parents were always in a constant state of worry. I gave her blood, marrow, everything I could.” His time most of all.
“Did your parents ignore you?”
“No.” He sounded defensive, and Nimi raised an eyebrow. “I mean they loved me, but she was sick. She needed them more.” He shrugged.
Nimi watched him as they approached their chairs in the dark. “Didn’t you need them?” she asked softly.
He shook his head. “Not as much as my sister did. I was healthy and capable of taking care of my own things.” He shrugged. “With me on autopilot, all they had to do was make sure my little sister got healthy.” His voice cracked. They had reached their chairs, but neither of them sat.
“Maybe, Dave,” Nimi said, her voice soft and sweet over the low splashes of the ocean. “But everyone needs parents. No one chooses to raise themselves.”
“I didn’t—”
“Didn’t you?” She reached out and turned his face to her. She was close enough that he could feel her breath. “What did they say when you graduated second in the class?”
He shook his head. He had told them both the night before graduation.
* * *
Butterflies had filled his stomach. It really was no small feat, graduating second in a class of over eight hundred students. He’d been excited.
His parents had been sitting on the sofa, watching their shows. Malini was healthy at the moment, so they were relaxed.
“So class rank came out,” he said, trying to remove the shake from his voice.
His mother looked up at him. Dark shadows had made permanent circles under her weary eyes. “Yes, Beta?”
His father tore himself away from the TV to look at him. His mouth was set in a permanent frown.
“Yeah. So I graduated second in the class,” Roshan said with a smile.
Silence greeted him.
“Who graduated first?” His father broke the silence.
“Nimita Chaudhary.”
“That girl who is tutoring you?” his mother asked.
“Yes.”
“So she is the top, the best in the class,” his father said. “She does the speech.”
“Yes,” Roshan answered, the pit in his stomach finding a permanent place. “She’s the top.” It was impressive.
“Good for her.” His father’s voice was flat, without emotion of any kind. But Roshan felt the disappointment heavy in the air, nonetheless. “Though I wonder, how did she get extra points? Maybe she argued with her teachers?” His father shrugged.
Was that even a thing?
“We are proud of you, anyway,” his mother said with a smile and squeeze of his hand. “Second is also good.”
Message received. Be the absolute best or don’t bother. He had known it for a long time. Didn’t change the fact that he was crushed.
And he took it out on Nimita the next day.
* * *
“I’m so sorry that happened,” Nimi said.
Wait. He had been an ass to her, and she was sorry? “It wasn’t your fault.”
“No. But it explains why you were so pissed at me. We were just kids.”
“I’m still sorry I was cruel to you.” His voice was gravelly from emotion. It had eaten at him for years.
She nodded. “I know. I forgive you.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “To be honest, while I was angry, I didn’t exactly live my life around that moment. We were kids. You were going through a lot. I know you feel bad about what you said. I forgive you.” She smiled at him. “Let it go.”
Roshan hadn’t realized the heft of the weight he had been carrying around until Nimi lifted it from him. She truly was incredible. His heart was light and free.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Maybe there isn’t really anything to say.” Her gaze shifted to his mouth.
That was all he needed. He leaned to claim the kiss he had been dreaming of. She tilted her chin to him. She smelled of sea water and sunscreen. He was millimeters from heaven.
“Roshan! Roshan! Nimita! Are you out here?”
Nimi jumped back, and he caught her to steady her. He saw the flush on her face in the moonlight. “We’re here,” she called out.
He shook his head at her. “He never would have seen us,” he whispered.
“Ah. There you are.” Vishal came over. “What are you doing on the beach in the dark?”
“Walking,” Nimi answered without hesitation.
“In the dark?”
“There’s moonlight,” Nimi insisted.
Roshan gave Vishal his absolute best glare, but clearly there wasn’t enough moonlight for him to see it.
“Are you feeling better?” Roshan asked.
“It’s ‘run its course.’ But Karan is still wiped.”
“What did you need?” Roshan didn’t even try not to be harsh.
“Nothing. I just wanted to see what you were up to.”
Roshan was going to kill him. Maybe even with his bare hands.
“Though I’m feeling a bit lightheaded from running down here.”
“Have you had a chance to eat anything today?” Nimita said. “Why don’t we go get you some food?” They started walking toward the hotel.
Vishal put his hand on his belly. “Actually, maybe just some soup.”
“Sure,” Nimita said as she picked up her crutches and hobbled beside Vishal. She seemed to be doing much better. There must be something in the saltwater. Roshan gathered their bags and followed.