Chapter Fifteen
If cloud nine was a place where you were happy and giddy and felt like you could do anything, Nimita was there.
She and Roshan saw each other as much as they could.
Roshan was back at work, and Nimita was busy with Naya, her father and Reena, not to mention her job search.
Her expenses were low, and she was lucky to have saved some money over the years to tide her over now.
Her father—and, as it turned out, Hiral as well—looked forward to the days Roshan came by to check on the garden. He usually stayed for dinner on those days.
Reena kept her distance, though she didn’t seem to hate him anymore. Maybe because Naya was smitten with Roshan as well as Finn. Their father seemed happier after interacting with Finn, too.
The one thing that showed no sign of changing was the fact that Reena constantly found fault with Nimita.
It didn’t matter what Nimita did, it was not the right thing.
She fed Naya the wrong food, gave their father too much independence, wasn’t around enough or was always home.
If possible, Reena was worse than their mother.
Rationally, Nimita knew her sister was lashing out at her because of Nimita’s prolonged absence, but it still hurt.
In those times, it was nice to have Roshan to lean on, to have that happiness.
The contentment and peace she hadn’t felt for a long time.
Naya’s first birthday was coming up, a few weeks before Easter and Holi.
“Reena, let me take care of Naya’s birthday party. It’s the least I can do for not being around all this time.”
Reena eyed her with suspicion.
“Seriously, you tell me what you want and give me a guest list, and I’ll make it happen,” Nimita insisted. She loved her niece, and she wanted to do this for Naya. But even more, she wanted to do it for Reena. To show Reena that she could.
“You know what, okay. I have a big case I need to work on, anyway. It would be a big help,” Reena capitulated, her smile forced. The unspoken meaning was clear: Don’t mess this up.
They had some friends who also had small children and of course, their foi and cousins, especially Neha.
All in all it was about sixty-some people and about ten children under five.
The party would be in Reena’s backyard, which was big enough for a small tent.
Nimita baked a special smash cake for Naya and another cake for the guests.
For entertainment, she had procured a local balloon animal artist. She had gotten quite the deal.
Which in retrospect should have been her first clue.
“You just dress your little angel, and I’ll do everything else,” Nimita said to Reena on the big day.
The party could not make up for three years of not being around, but Nimita was hoping that it would show Reena she was serious about being back.
Her sister swept past Roshan as he appeared in Nimita’s doorway.
“Hey, Nimi.” He’d come to her room to find her. This was not unusual—Roshan was here for dinner half the week.
“Hey, yourself,” she said as she brushed out her hair and tied it up in a slick ponytail.
“The house and tent look fabulous.”
She grinned with pride. She and Reena had decided on Berry First B-Day as the theme.
So Nimita had spent two days putting up strawberry decor around the house.
She’d made a balloon arch with pink and red balloons, and there were little strawberry caps for the kids.
It was nice, planning a party with her sister again.
“But you are gorgeous.” He stepped into her room and stole a kiss. “I can’t wait to be doing all this for our children.”
She froze. He froze.
“What did I just say?” His eyes widened.
“I don’t know, what did you just say?” She stared at him. Her heart hammered in her chest.
“I said ‘our kids.’” He softened and looked at her. “I’m not going to lie. I think about that kind of thing, with you.”
“You do?”
“I never have before. And I’m not saying anytime soon, but I have thought about it. And I’m not sorry.” He watched her closely.
She was surprised and maybe even a little excited. Maybe it was possible. He hadn’t seemed obsessed with work since they’d started going out, so maybe he was making room for other things in his life. She waited for the panic to set in, but it did not. She smiled at him. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.” She kissed him, and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.
“Ahem.”
Nimita pulled back. “Reena.”
“We have guests,” her sister said, her mouth pressed into that line.
“Right.” She nodded to Roshan to follow her.
Just as she was greeting the first guest, she got a text. From Steve, the balloon animal artist. He was sick and was not coming. He had no backup as this was his side gig.
Oh. NO.
“What’s the matter? You look terrified,” Roshan said.
“The balloon guy canceled,” she said in a hushed voice.
Of course, Reena was walking by at that precise moment. “What do you mean canceled?”
“Like he’s sick. He’s a one-man show, and there isn’t a balloon guy now,” Nimita said.
She waited for her sister to fume, to growl, to shake her fist at her. Reena did none of those things.
What she did was worse.
“No problem, there’s a game of Twister on the side table and a bunch of candy-filled plastic eggs. We’ll play Twister and have an egg hunt. Easter’s in a month, they’re toddlers, they won’t mind.”
Nimita stared at her sister. “You just happen to have those things on the side table?”
Roshan stepped away, but Nimita barely noticed. She figured he was getting out of the line of fire.
Reena shrugged. “I thought this might happen, so I made sure to have a backup. My assistant filled forty eggs with mini chocolate bars last week.”
“You assumed I would botch this?” Nimita said.
“No. I had a backup just in case you botched this. With your new boyfriend, I wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen.” Reena shook her head. “Don’t look so surprised. You say you’re going to make dinner, then you don’t.”
“That happened like twice.”
“We eat dinner every night,” Reena quipped. “You’re preoccupied with your boyfriend and what I can only hope is job hunting. I had to make sure I had some form of entertainment for my daughter’s party.”
Nimita was fuming and hurt all in the same minute. The balloon guy canceling was hardly her fault.
Just then, Mali came up. “I have balloons. I’m ready.”
“What?” Reena said.
“Bhaiya told me the guy you hired canceled. I can do balloon animals. I learned while stuck in the hospital when I was kid. Bhaiya and I found YouTube videos and spent hours practicing. There was nothing else to do,” Malini said.
“You never mentioned,” Nimita said, trying to get her jaw off the ground.
“You seemed so excited about Steve.” Malini shrugged. “Bhaiya went to get supplies. He’ll be back in like fifteen minutes. Just do cake first.” She grinned. “Then I’ll make the balloon animals.”
The party was a success, but Nimita could not shake the feeling that maybe Reena was right about her. Reena clearly still saw her as a screwup, even if her boyfriend had basically saved the party.
Maybe her focus was off. She had been job hunting but certainly not with any real passion. She had been home for over a month now. She needed to find a source of income, especially if she wanted to be serious about getting her own place.
* * *
“Hey, Malini, where are the extra sheets?” Roshan called down to his sister from the upstairs hall. He was staring into the empty linen closet where they usually kept extra sheets and towels.
“The what?”
“Extra sheets you know, for the guest bedroom. I can’t find them. And while we’re at it, your bedroom looks really empty. What did you do with all your stuff? Sell it on eBay?”
“Must be in the laundry. Did Mom and Dad tell you why they were coming?” Malini startled him by suddenly being behind him. She seemed to be trying very hard to sound nonchalant.
“No, they just said they were back from Europe, and they wanted to come and see us. Plus, Holi’s coming up soon, so they thought they would stay and celebrate.” He eyed his sister. “Why? What do you know?”
“Ohh, nothing.”
“Malini.” He narrowed his eyes at her
“Well. Maybe they’re coming to meet your girlfriend.”
Roshan studied his sister. Him having a girlfriend was not big enough news for his parents to make a visit, and Malini knew this. “Malini. What are you not telling me?”
“Don’t you have to go pick up Mom and Dad from the airport?” She started back toward the stairs.
“They are taking a cab.” He focused his gaze on her. Hard. “Malini, what’s going on?”
But she was out the door, muttering about the laundry.
Roshan shook his head. His sister was up to something.
An hour later, Malini was back when the doorbell rang. And when he opened the door, his father snapped, “How could you let your sister move out and live on her own?”
Roshan had no idea what he was talking about. He spun to look at Malini as his parents entered their home, his mother tutting at him.
His sister looked guilty.
Roshan stared at her. “Explain.”
She inhaled and then said, “So-I-found-this-apartment-and-I’m-pretty-much-moved-in-and-I’m-having-a-house-warming-party-with-a-puja-and-that’s-why-mom-and-dad-are-here.”
Roshan didn’t know what to say. His stomach hollowed out. How had he not been aware of this?
“Last week we called you, and you didn’t know where she was,” his father continued.
“She was at the gym. I walked over and saw her car in the lot.”
“You did what?” Malini spun around.
“I didn’t go in,” he said to her.
“You should have gone in to confirm,” his father said.
“No, he should not have!” Malini said.
Roshan stared from his sister, who was the picture of hot indignation, to his parents, whose pursed mouths screamed disappointment. He didn’t know what to do. He was in shock. “When did this happen? I’ve seen you here. Your furniture, your bed.”
“Well, I took stuff over when you were in Hawaii.”
“What about your bed?”
“I bought one for the apartment so this one could stay here.”
“Is that where all our place’s stuff is?” He’d thought their home looked weirdly sparse, had wondered if she wanted to redecorate.
“Yeah.”
“Roshan. How could you possibly not know that your own sister was moving out of this house and trying to live on her own?” his father asked again.
Roshan had no answer. It was his job to know the answer. This was his purpose, and he had not only not known that Malini was moving out but had already moved out and told their parents. That she was having a party to celebrate this big move, and she hadn’t told him yet.
His father glared at him. “It must be the new girlfriend. Doesn’t she understand that you have family responsibilities? Is she distracting you?”
No. That couldn’t be true. Nimita was his one source of peace and happiness. It couldn’t be that he was distracted and failing in his responsibilities.
Could it?