Chapter Eleven #2
Nimita sighed. She had been hoping to put this conversation off.
But there were no distractions, and her sister wouldn’t stop until she had answers.
Nimita inhaled whatever courage there might have been in the air and blurted out.
“I’m no longer employed by Wanderlust.” If she told Reena she had quit, her sister would want to know how she could do that before she had another job lined up, and Nimita wasn’t ready for that discussion. Baby steps.
Reena paused in her chai making to meet her eyes. “You said that.” Her tone suggested that she didn’t think it was that hard to be a flight attendant, so how could you get fired?
Nimita stared at her sister, her chin jutted up. “I spilled a drink on someone when a colleague pushed me—it’s complicated. There were some videos people posted online, maybe you even saw them?”
Reena looked at her sadly. “I saw them.”
Nimita sighed. “Great.”
“Not a great look for you,” her sister said.
Nimita tensed. Just like Reena, waiting for her to screw up. Reena was actually the younger sister, but she was definitely mistaken for the older sibling more often than not, and it had little to do with how she looked.
Reena stared at her for a beat, then shrugged. “So when are you calling Tom?”
“Tom?” That was the last thing she’d expected her sister to say. Hadn’t even realized Reena remembered her old boss at the engineering firm.
“To get your old job back?” Reena wasted no time.
“I don’t know if that’s what I want right now.” Though losing herself in an engineering problem had a strong appeal. But that was still escaping what she had to do.
“Nimita. Look, I get it. We’re all still grieving for Mom.” Reena paused. “But life goes on. You have to move forward.”
“Moving forward does not mean compromising.” Though engineering was her first love. She just wasn’t sure she was willing to go back.
“Seriously? When you’re a grown adult, sometimes it does.” Reena glared at her. She leaned in. “Especially if you have an ailing parent.”
Guilt swept over Nimita. She hadn’t seen her father in months. And Reena was carrying the burden while Nimita worked around the world. Still, she wasn’t sure that going back to engineering was the right thing for her.
Whenever Nimita had wanted to do anything, her mother had insisted she wait until she got married.
Once you are married, go do whatever you want. Just get married first. The words from their arguments echoed in her ears.
She shook her head of it. Dwelling never did anything good. “I’m staying home for a bit. I’ll do whatever you need,” Nimita vowed to Reena. “This is why I’m here.”
Reena pressed her lips together, clearly doubtful. But she nodded. “Fine. Dad has an appointment tomorrow for physical therapy.”
Nimita nodded. “Got it.”
“Also, Neha has started dog walking for money, but she has finals this week and needs a hand.”
Nimita nodded. Neha was their youngest cousin, and she was in med school at UC San Diego. She lived around the corner. Had insisted on living alone so she could have quiet to study. According to Reena, Neha was also happy to babysit in exchange for a homemade meal.
“Is that Nimita?” her father’s voice called from the family room. She turned to find her father slowly walking toward them with a cane. The cane was new.
“Papa! What is this new toy you have?” she asked as she hugged him. Was it her imagination or was he thinner than before?
He hugged her tight before pulling back. “Ah. You know MS takes things. Sometimes I need help when I get up from my nap.”
“Dadu!” Naya came up behind her grandfather.
Nimita feared that the little girl would knock her grandfather over, but even the toddler knew to slow her pace and handle him delicately.
“Ah. There’s my baby.” He gazed fondly at his granddaughter. “What brings you to visit?” he asked Nimita.
Her heart sank. This was her own fault. This was technically her home, yet everyone assumed she was visiting.
Even now, when she’d planned to come here to make amends, she’d put it off for days to regroup in Maui.
“I’m home for a while.” She side-eyed her sister with a smile.
“Unless Reena turned my room into a gift-wrapping station.”
“As if.” Reena rolled her eyes, but Nimita saw her smile. “We use gift bags.”
* * *
All that first day without Nimita, Roshan had tried to keep it light, casual.
Parting was what they had agreed on. Was all either of them had been ready for.
So all good. She had not texted him that she had landed safely.
He had no reason to expect her to. Nimi was probably in the thick of her family, reuniting and all that.
Whatever happened between them was over. That was the beginning and the end of the story.
So what was this ache in his heart?
He wasn’t looking for a relationship. Not while Malini still needed him.
She’d been in remission for nearly four years, and while that was good, it didn’t mean they were out of the woods.
She’d made it to four years before, and then she’d relapsed.
Leukemia could be like that. It was why her blood cell count was tested every three months even though she felt healthy.
If she reached the five-year mark cancer free, then they could relax.
Maybe.
More than ninety-five percent of leukemia patients who achieved that milestone survived. After that, Roshan could reconsider.
In the meantime, he still had a few days with Vishal and Karan.
Nimita’s itinerary for them today was Molokini Crater and snorkeling at someplace called Turtle Town.
Karan had taken over driving the Jeep, and Roshan had not felt like fighting him.
Vishal was in the passenger seat, and he and Karan were discussing something, but Roshan was finding it hard to focus.
“Don’t you think?” Karan asked into the rearview mirror. “Roshan?”
“What?”
Karan shook his head. “You okay?”
“Yes. It was just a fling. Vacation sex. In Hawaii,” Roshan said, not looking into the mirror.
“We didn’t ask about Nimita,” Vishal said.
“What did you ask?” Roshan asked, chagrined.
“Not important. You sure this was just a fling, Ro?” Karan asked into the rearview.
“Yeah. Yes.” He sat up. “That’s what we said. She was fine with it. I’m fine with it. I didn’t even ask where she lived,” he said as if they should be proud of him for that.
Karan gave Vishal a look. Roshan had seen it before. “This is not Simmy.”
“Exactly,” Vishal said. “She’s way better for you than Simmy.”
He hadn’t compared them. Simmy was way in the past. They had wanted different things.
Simmy didn’t understand how close he was to his family.
She hadn’t understood his relationship with Malini or his need to be at the top of his game.
Or how close he was to Vishal and Karan.
In the end, they had mutually decided to move on. No hard feelings.
“Not a comparison,” Roshan said.
“True.” Karan chuckled. “We like Nimita.”
“Drive faster.” Roshan needed to get out of this car and do something—other than think about Nimita. “It doesn’t matter if you like Nimita. It’s done.”
They finally arrived, gathered some gear and hit the water. The snorkeling was incredible—turtles everywhere.
“Nimita would have loved this,” Karan said. “Even with her snorkel boogie board.”
“She would have loved the turtles,” agreed Vishal.
“So, it’s really you two who are missing her. Not me,” Roshan said.
“Yes, we miss her. She’s fun and smart, and she put you in your place.” Vishal smirked at him. “But you…you’re pining away for her.”
Roshan went back under the water. It was quiet, serene almost. The wildlife was colorful and ample. The guys were right. Nimi would have loved this. In fact she’d probably already seen it.
Enough. They’d had fun. It was over. Move on.
He forced a smile onto his face and joined his brothers in their debate about fish.
These guys. This was real.
Nimita was a fantasy.
* * *
“He’s still a puppy, even though he doesn’t look it. So, if you could just come by and walk him a couple times a day, that would be great. I can feed him and all that. His owner should be home in a few days.” Neha handed her the leash.
The golden retriever was so full of energy that Nimita was having a hard time holding him.
“Tell him to sit. But be firm,” Neha said.
“Sit,” Nimita said.
The dog ignored her.
“Make a fist and hold it like so.” Neha demonstrated. “And use his name first. Finn.”
“Finn, sit.” This time more firmly, and Nimita copied the hand movement. The dog sat and looked at her. She rewarded him with a treat. “Okay, Finn, let’s walk.”
“Tap the side of your leg.”
Nimita did so. Finn came to her side and waited for her. Neha went over a few more basic commands. Nimita had never had a dog, but she had always wanted one. This was her chance. At least for a few days.
“Perfect. Thank you so much!” Neha said.
Nimita waved as she and Finn headed toward the beach.
The walk was pleasant enough. Finn responded well to the heel command.
This was not so bad at all. In fact, it was the best she’d felt since leaving Roshan at the airport.
Her mind wandered for a moment, wondering how they were enjoying Turtle Town.
Did they miss her? And by they, she meant he.
She sank into a feeling of contentment. It was a beautiful sunny day in Pacific Beach. She was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and her favorite flip-flops. She looked forward to a relaxing walk on the beach with Finn at her side, the soothing rustle of the waves and the warmth of the sun on her skin.
She should have known better. She should have known that she would be the one to screw this up.
As soon as Finn saw the sand, he took off.
It was all Nimita could do to hang onto to his leash as she ran behind him, the leash taut between them. She kicked off her shoes so she could run better. Her ankle was not quite yet one hundred percent, but clearly Finn did not care.