Chapter 12
The next morning, Karthik woke up to a warm, shapely leg wrapped around his torso. Meghna was half lying across his body, clinging to him like a koala. He smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead before carefully extricating himself from her embrace. He would have loved to linger for a few moments, but he didn’t want her to feel awkward or uncomfortable. Especially after the way things had gone last time.
He left the room quietly and went to her kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. As it brewed, he leaned against the counter, his elbow bumping against a messy pile of papers. Curious, he picked up a page, a good portion of which was marked up and crossed out with red ink. He read the first few sentences and raised his eyebrows at a handwritten comment that just said: HORRIBLE. He read the line it was referring to and agreed with the assessment. “Your eyes as deep as the ocean blue / You know I’ll always love you”? Yikes.
Meghna had sent him a number of Seth’s songs, and he had to admit that he’d actually enjoyed most of them. But if this was what they were like before Meghna got to them, Seth owed her a great deal. Karthik dropped the papers, opening the refrigerator to grab eggs, milk, and bread. Then he started cooking breakfast.
“You’re making Bombay toast?”
Meghna stood in the entranceway. He held back a grin as her mouth stretched into a large yawn. Her hair was delightfully mussed, and he was struck by the temptation to walk over and mess it up further, to run his fingers through her soft curls and kiss her good morning. But he wasn’t sure where they stood after last night.
“You call it that too?” he asked instead.
“Yeah, that’s what my dad always calls it.” She poured herself a cup of coffee, then pulled out two plates from the cabinet. “So that’s always the name that comes to mind. And it’s not like it’s really French anyway.”
“Makes sense to me.”
She held the plates out to him, and he put a few slices on each of them. She didn’t have a kitchen table, so they ate standing up, their plates on the counter, facing each other. He thought for a moment about how nice it would be to start every day this way.
Every day?He mentally shook himself. He wasn’t thinking clearly. Yesterday’s events had obviously taken a toll on him.
“So …” she said.
He steeled himself, thinking she wanted to talk about how far they had gone last night. And what it meant for their fake relationship going forward. He’d been thinking about it too, but had no answers.
“So …” he replied.
“When are you going back to New York?”
Her words were like a slap across the face. A harsh but much-needed reminder of reality. He had to go back. How had he forgotten that? He had to figure out what to do about his job. How to explain things to Jim. God, he needed to talk to his mother. He closed his eyes. He still didn’t know how she was doing. If she’d found out yet. If she needed anything.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Soon.” He needed to check what flights were available for later that day. In his rush to get here, he hadn’t booked a return flight.
“Oh. Okay. I was just wondering how much time we had—” She stopped, seeing the mess of papers near the coffee maker. “You read that?”
He cringed. “Was I not supposed to? Sorry, they were lying right there. I only read a bit of it.”
She grabbed a bottle of maple syrup from the fridge, pouring a generous amount on her plate, then offering it to him. “No, it’s fine,” she said. “I’m just curious what you thought.”
He declined the maple syrup and took a bite of his breakfast. “I’m no expert, but if you made those comments in red, I agree with you.”
“Right?” She let out an exhale. “I’m glad it wasn’t just me. I don’t even know where to start on it. I’ve been putting off responding to Seth, but the wedding’s coming up and he wants to sing it at the reception.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be complaining about this. I know you have a lot on your plate.”
“It’s okay.” Honestly, he was thankful for the distraction. “Why don’t you tell Seth to start over? To try writing a new song?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never told him anything like that before.” She blew across the surface of her coffee before taking a sip.
“Has he ever told you anything like that?”
“Anything like what?”
“That you needed to start something over. Start from scratch.”
“Oh. Well, yes. A bunch of times. But he’s usually right.”
“And aren’t you right?”
She looked away, but not before Karthik saw a flicker of self-doubt in her eyes. He paused. Meghna had always struck him as sure and confident. Every time he talked with her, she spoke her mind freely and never seemed to hold anything back. Why wouldn’t she tell Seth what she actually thought?
She shrugged, but didn’t respond. They finished eating in silence, and Karthik grabbed both of their plates, rinsing them in the sink.
“Did he give you that feedback you’ve been waiting for? On your play?”
“No, but I’m sure he will soon. He has a lot to do before the wedding.”
“Including rewriting this song.” He picked up a kitchen towel and started drying the plates.
“I guess.” She looked a bit distracted, her eyes zeroed in on his hands.
“Because it is bad. You’re right, Meghna.”
She shrugged again, and Karthik felt a twinge of annoyance. Who had made her this unsure of herself?
“Would you ever let me read your play?”
Meghna’s eyes shot to his. “No. I mean, maybe. Once it’s done. But it’s not done.”
“What’s the play about?”
She crossed her arms defensively. “What’s with all the questions?”
“I’m just curious.” And he was. He could tell Meghna’s writing was a sensitive topic, but he couldn’t understand why. He was about to ask more, but the expression on her face twisted his heart. She looked like a cornered animal: nervous, uncomfortable, and a little afraid.
“What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?” he asked instead.
Meghna visibly relaxed.
“Just lunch with Ankita. And an appointment this afternoon. But I can ask her to get lunch another day if you want to do something instead.”
“No, that’s okay. I should head to the airport before then.” He refilled his coffee. “What’s the appointment for?”
“A tux fitting.”
“For you?”
She nodded.
“You’re wearing a tux to Seth’s wedding?”
“Yeah. We debated the options, but we landed on a tux so I’ll match the rest of the guys. But they said they’ll be styling it differently? I don’t know. I guess we’ll see how it turns out.”
An image of Meghna in a tuxedo popped into his head, and he hid a smile. She’d look so cute. He was suddenly tempted to see it for himself.
“What time’s your appointment?”
“Around one.”
Karthik pulled out his phone and checked the flight schedule. There were several flights with vacant seats in the afternoon, but he really didn’t have to get back right away. It was only Saturday. Even if he took the last flight of the day, he’d still have all of Sunday to figure things out at home.
He thought it over for a minute, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t hide out in Dallas forever. He pressed a few buttons, booking himself on the next available flight.
“Yeah,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “My flight takes off right around that time. So I’m going to go shower, unless you want to go first.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “No, go ahead.”
He made it to the bathroom, hesitated for a second, then backpedaled. Meghna had already moved from the kitchen and was sitting on the couch in the living room, a copy of Seth’s song on her lap and a look of extreme concentration on her face. He watched her for a moment as she crossed something out, mouthed a few words to herself, then pursed her lips. He was again struck by the temptation to delay his flight, just so he could sit here, spend more time with her, and watch her mind at work.
Instead, he walked toward the couch. Her head swung up at the sound of his footsteps.
“Do you need something?” she asked. “There should be new towels in there.”
“I’m sure there are,” he said. He sat down on the arm of the sofa. “But I need something else.” He looked at her lips, doing his best to be as obvious as possible.
Her eyes lit with comprehension. And maybe it was only wishful thinking on his part, but he thought he saw a flicker of interest in them as well.
“Yeah? Hmm. I wonder what that could be.” She smiled and started ticking items off on her fingers. “I have shampoo in there. And conditioner.”
The corners of his mouth tilted up. “It’s not that.”
“Soap? Face wash? A razor?”
“Meghna,” he said chidingly.
“What?” she asked, a look of pure innocence on her face.
“Can I kiss you good morning?”
She sighed dramatically. “Well, if you insist.” Then she sat up on her knees, put a hand on his jaw, and pulled him down for a kiss.
The moment their mouths met, Meghna wondered why they hadn’t been doing this all morning. They’d wasted valuable minutes on food and talking when they should have just stayed in bed the whole time.
“We should have,” Karthik said, and Meghna realized she’d said that part out loud. She was about to reply when Karthik’s mouth came back to hers. She was rendered speechless, unable to do anything but match his movements with her own. Push when he pulled, retreat when he pressed, part her mouth when he parted his. She ran her hand up and down the scratchy stubble on his jaw, loving the feel of it against her palm. She used that hand to tilt his head at exactly the right angle, and he moaned in appreciation.
“You taste like maple syrup,” Karthik said. His tongue touched the corner of her mouth, picking up a leftover drop of it. He withdrew, then came back, planting a soft kiss on that same spot. “So sweet.” He leaned back, his face warm and tender. “I love your hair like this.”
Meghna let out a surprised laugh. “Like this?” She lifted a handful of the frizzy, messy curls.
“Yes. It makes me imagine messing it up even more.” Karthik’s eyes filled with heat, and Meghna’s stomach twisted in response. He ran his fingers lightly over a curl, twisting it around his finger, then letting it go.
They stayed like that for a minute, just watching each other, until Karthik left to go take his shower. The bathroom door shut behind him, and Meghna stared at it for a moment in confusion.
She’d loved waking up to see Karthik in her kitchen. Making her coffee. Cooking for her. Doing the dishes. He’d looked unbelievably hot while doing it. The way his forearms had flexed when he’d washed the plates? She had wanted to fan herself.
But she didn’t understand what any of this meant for their relationship. Their fake relationship, that was. Karthik had been very clear about two things: 1) that he never wanted to get married and 2) that he wasn’t interested in being her friend. But where did that leave them? She walked into her bedroom, changing out of her pajamas and into a pair of jeans and a white cotton top.
She sent a quick text to Ankita. I’m not going to make lunch today, but I’ll see you at the fitting.
Ankita replied quickly.
Meghna’s eyebrows shot up. Since their first conversation about it, she and Ankita had avoided this topic. Ankita knew where Meghna stood, and Meghna hadn’t felt the need to bring it up again. At first, she hadn’t wanted to rock the boat. Hadn’t wanted to make things worse. But then … Meghna had started to realize that she wasn’t entirely in a position to judge. Not when she was keeping the truth about her own engagement a secret from her parents. And Samir. And Seth.
Compassion rose within her, knocking aside the pent-up bitterness that had been brewing toward her friend.
Meghna slipped her phone into a bag and tied her hair into a ponytail. She and Ankita would sort all of this out later. Right now, she wanted to make sure she was ready by the time Karthik was done with his shower. They had a lot to talk about, but not a lot of time left. If she drove him to the airport, they’d have a chance to talk in the car, and she’d hopefully still make it back in time for her appointment.
She needed to know where this was going, or even if it was going. She needed to know if last night had changed anything for him. The way he’d opened up and shared his fears. The way he’d laughed and teased her. The way he’d quite literally rolled with the punches. That was a man she could very easily fall in love with. But she wasn’t the same girl she’d been in college. She wouldn’t allow herself to develop feelings for Karthik if there wasn’t a possibility of those feelings being returned. If there wasn’t a possibility of a real relationship between them.
Karthik stepped out of the bathroom, his hair damp and pushed back from his face. He wore the same suit and shirt he had worn yesterday, but now they were a little rumpled. He tucked his shirt in and frowned at it, as if the wrinkles had personally offended him. Meghna resisted the urge to laugh.
“I have an iron you can use, but I don’t think we have the time.”
Karthik checked the time on his phone and grimaced. “You’re right. I need to leave now.” He sighed, swiping and tapping the screen. “I’ll get a car.”
Meghna jangled her keys. “No need. I’ll drive you.”
He looked up. “You sure? Don’t you have a lunch?”
She shrugged, walking toward the door. “Ankita and I can do lunch another day.”
He followed her out, and she locked up behind them.
When she got into the car, a whiff of tea tree oil and lemon wafted in her direction from the passenger seat. “You used my shampoo?” she asked.
“You said I could.”
“Yeah, I know, I just …” She pulled out of the apartment complex and entered the address for the airport into her GPS. “I didn’t realize that meant you’d smell like me.”
He frowned. “Do you … not like it?”
“No, I mean, I picked out that shampoo. I like the smell. I just like the way you normally smell.”
He was quiet for a moment, but when he spoke his voice was pitched lower than normal. “What do I smell like?”
She got on the highway and answered distractedly. “You know, woodsy. Earthy. Like … petrichor.”
“Petrichor?”
“Yeah. It’s that smell when rain hits the pavement.”
He didn’t say anything in response, so she glanced over at him, only to see a self-satisfied look on his face.
“Don’t be weird about this,” she warned.
“I’m not,” he said smugly. “I just didn’t realize you loved the way I smell.”
“I said ‘like.’ Not ‘love.’”
“Sounds like you love it, though.”
She let out a noncommittal sound, but hid the smile that threatened to break out on her face.
“Just for the record,” Karthik said. “I like the way you smell too.”
“Thanks.”
The car went quiet, and for the first time Meghna didn’t feel like she had to say anything to break the silence. She almost enjoyed it. There was something new in the air between them. Something almost … comfortable. She wanted to continue sitting in this feeling, but it was time to bring up the elephant in the room.
“You want to talk about the kiss, right?”
Meghna’s mouth opened in surprise. “How did you know?”
“I’ve been watching you for the last five minutes. You seemed to be working up the courage to bring it up, so I thought I’d help you out.”
“Well, thanks for that, but we both know it wasn’t just one kiss.” She let out a long breath and kept her eyes on the road. She didn’t want to see his reaction to what she was about to say.
“Karthik, what are we doing?”
The car went quiet again, but this silence felt thick and tense and heavy. A few seconds passed.
“What do you think we’re doing?” he finally asked. His tone was plain and even, neither harsh nor soft. Just neutral.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I know it’s more than practice.”
“It’s definitely not practice,” he said firmly.
“But it’s also not fully real, right?”
He paused. “Why do you say that?”
“Because none of this can be real. Unless you’ve changed your mind about marriage?”
“I haven’t,” he said quickly.
“So where could this possibly go?”
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. “There are options between nothing and marriage. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.”
“I know that. But for me it does.” She winced. “That’s not what I meant. I’m not saying we have to know right this second whether we want to get married to each other or not. But I need to know that marriage is on the table. As a possibility. At some point. I mean, I don’t even know what you really mean when you say you never want to get married. Are you saying you never want a legal marriage or are you saying you never want a partner?”
He didn’t respond for a few moments, and Meghna risked a look over at him. His face was deadly serious, his expression still and pensive.
“Both,” he replied.
“Okay,” she said, pushing aside the disappointment she felt. “That’s fine. I get it. You’ve said that before, but where does that leave us?”
He went quiet again, then finally let out a sigh. “I don’t know.”
“Well, I don’t want to be friends with benefits.”
“I don’t want that, either.”
“Then what do you want?”
Meghna had been driving as if she were on autopilot. She only now registered that they were at the airport. She pulled into a curbside parking spot in the drop-off zone, switched off the car, and turned in her seat so she could fully face Karthik.
“Well?” she asked.
“I want to be around you.” His hands lifted, and he held her face gently.
Some of Meghna’s frustration softened when she saw the genuine conflict in his eyes.
“I want to kiss you,” he continued. “And talk to you. And …” He shook his head. “Why can’t that be enough?”
She gave him a small smile. “I want those things too,” she said. “But I want more.”
“I can’t give you anything more,” he said with a note of desperation in his voice.
“I know.”
Panic flared across his face. “You said you didn’t want me to regret anything. And I don’t. But I don’t want you regretting this, either.”
“I don’t. I don’t regret it. But I also don’t think we can repeat it.”
He dropped his hands and moved back suddenly. Meghna wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw him flinch.
“We need to stick to the original plan. Go back to just being engaged.” She let out a short, humorless laugh. “Fake-engaged, I mean. Nothing … physical unless it’s necessary.”
“Makes sense.”
Meghna searched his face and saw that the Karthik who had made her Bombay toast this morning was completely gone. In his place sat the man she had much more experience with: the cold, closed-off, shut-down Karthik.
She wished she could turn the clock back. If only she had known that her time with that Karthik would be so fleeting.
“You’re right,” he told her. “We shouldn’t lose sight of our original plan. You still need a date for the wedding, and I still need your help. I don’t want to do anything that could disrupt our arrangement.”
“Okay,” she said cautiously. “So, we’re on the same page?”
He gave a brisk nod. “Absolutely.”
He stepped out of the car, and she was turning the engine on and preparing to pull out of her spot when she heard a knock on the passenger-side window. Karthik stood there, watching her. She rolled down the window so he could speak.
“Send me a picture from your fitting, okay? Of the tux?”
She found herself agreeing, even though she was incredibly confused. Why did he want it? But before she could ask the question, Karthik turned away and walked into the airport. Meghna sat there for a few seconds until the car behind her honked, shaking her out of her thoughts and forcing her on her way.
“Karthik is going to lose his mind when he sees you in this.”
Meghna snorted, turning a bit to the side to get a better view of her reflection in the mirror. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious,” Ankita insisted. “You’re an absolute bombshell. He’s not going to know what hit him.”
“As my best friend you’re required to say that.” Meghna lifted her arms, the movement constrained by the pins the seamstress had just placed, indicating where some last-minute alterations were needed.
Ankita shook her head. “Nope. Once you see these pictures, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. You look amazing.”
Meghna rolled her eyes, stepping behind the dressing room curtain to change. “Enough about me,” she called as she carefully removed the tux, making sure the pins stayed in place. “We need to talk about you.” She pulled on her jeans and threw her shirt over her head before coming back out. “Last time we talked, you had a pretty … different approach to how you wanted to handle things.”
Ankita flinched, and Meghna immediately felt guilty. “I didn’t mean that in a judgmental way. I promise. I just meant that, you know, you were pretty adamant about not telling Rishi before.”
Ankita rubbed her forehead, letting out a sigh. “Yeah. Well, before I thought it was only one kiss. A mistake made in the moment. Really, I think I was trying to convince myself that was all it was. But then Samir called me.” She paused. “He called a couple times.”
Meghna’s eyebrows rose. She hadn’t realized that her brother had been trying to get in touch with Ankita. Meghna hadn’t spoken to Samir since the engagement party. Since he’d gone back to India. He’d called and texted, saying he wanted to explain, but Meghna hadn’t been ready to hear his excuses.
“I didn’t pick up at first,” Ankita said. “I thought I could just avoid him. But Rishi started noticing that I’d jump when the phone rang. That I’d send calls straight to voicemail. And he was so sweet. He never asked questions about it. He never pushed to find out what was going on. And that just made me feel even worse. Like I was some horrible person, keeping this big, dirty secret. It didn’t seem like one small kiss anymore. It felt like something more.
“So, I called Samir back, thinking I could get clarity. Closure. And move on. But talking to him made me realize that there’s still … something between us. I don’t know what it is exactly or whether there’s a future there, but I can’t be engaged to someone when I feel like this. It’s not right. Or fair to Rishi.” She met Meghna’s gaze, pain in her eyes. “I love Rishi. I love him. But I don’t think I’m in love with him. I don’t know if I ever was.”
Ankita’s face crumpled, and Meghna drew her close, pulling her into a hug. “It’s okay,” Meghna said. “It’ll be okay.” She held her best friend for a few moments until Ankita pulled back, wiping her tears away.
“Rishi’s such a good person,” she said. “He’s so kind. And when we met, I knew I didn’t feel the way I should, but I’d hoped those feelings could grow. And I just … I wanted not to be alone anymore. I’m so tired of being lonely.”
Meghna knew exactly how she felt. She’d been lonely for a long time too.
“I don’t know if things will work out with Samir. I don’t even know what he wants, or if he even knows what he wants. But I need to tell Rishi. About everything.”
“I’ll be there,” Meghna said. “Before. After. Whenever. Whatever you need.”
“Thank you,” Ankita said, her eyes shining. “And I’m so sorry. For keeping all of it from you. For not telling you the truth. I was confused. And hurt. And embarrassed. I didn’t know how to tell you back then. I didn’t know what to say. But I don’t want to make that mistake again. You deserved the truth. And so does Rishi.”
“I’m sorry too. For not being willing to hear you out. For not trying to see your side of things. I should have tried harder. I should have tried to be there for you.” Meghna hesitated. “And I haven’t exactly been honest about everything, either. I’ve been lying to everyone about Karthik. And I’ve been keeping things from you too.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Karthik and I … We kissed.”
“You what?” Ankita exclaimed.
“More than once,” Meghna admitted. “A couple times. But it’s over. Not that it ever really started. He doesn’t want anything real. Anything serious. And … I don’t want to get hurt again.”
Ankita nodded in sympathy. “I can understand that.”
“But I don’t know what to do now. How to be around him. We still have to go to Seth’s wedding and pretend like everything’s fine, like we’re together and in love and …” She shook her head. “I have no idea how we’re going to do that.”
Ankita let out a watery laugh. “We’re a real mess, huh? The two of us.”
“We are, but at least we’re going through it together.”
Ankita wrapped her in a quick, fierce hug, and something tight and heavy in Meghna’s chest eased during the embrace. She felt lighter. Like she’d let go of something that had only been dragging her down.
“So, what now?” Meghna asked as they left the store.
Ankita linked her arm through Meghna’s. “Well, I have ice cream at my place. And we’ve missed quite a few episodes of our favorite show.”
Meghna smiled. “As long as we can build a pillow fort, I’m in.”
They headed to Ankita’s house, catching each other up on all the small things that had happened in the last few weeks, sharing the details they’d been keeping from each other. Meghna had missed confiding in Ankita, and though they wouldn’t be able to resolve everything in one day, it felt like a step in the right direction.
Karthik called his mother the moment he landed and went directly to the house. His father, unsurprisingly, was out of town at a conference, so Karthik was able to discuss everything with his mother alone. She’d heard about the article, though his father hadn’t told her any details about the university investigation or the lawsuit. She had about as much information as Karthik did.
She wasn’t surprised or shocked when they discussed the news. Just quiet, an inscrutable expression on her face. Karthik told her that he was there for her and asked if there was anything she wanted him to do, but she only said that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She got up and served dinner, and they ate in silence, like they had so many nights before.
Though she seemed fine, when it was time for Karthik to go back to his apartment, he found that he didn’t want to leave her in the house alone. He told his mom that he’d be staying the night in his old room, and she distractedly acknowledged his words before going to bed.
After Karthik had gone to college, his childhood bedroom had been converted into a home office/guest bedroom. The changes caught him off guard every time he entered. Something inside him expected to see pale-blue walls, his twin-sized bed, and glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, but he was greeted instead by a cherrywood desk, a large computer monitor, and a dark-gray couch that pulled out into a bed.
He took a seat and remotely logged into his office email. He had resisted checking it while in Dallas, unsure what he’d find. Unsure if he’d be able to handle it. The promotion was likely out of reach now; he’d basically abandoned his job by walking out without telling anyone. Bile rose in his throat. He’d never done anything like that before. He had no idea what to expect. He might be disciplined, perhaps even terminated for acting so unprofessionally.
Taking a deep breath, he scanned his inbox, surprised to see that there were only a few emails and that the first one was from Paul.
From: Paul
To: Karthik
Subject: ???
Hey, was waiting for you to come back. Hope ur ok. Call me if you want to talk.
Paul had included his personal cell phone number at the end of the email, and Karthik couldn’t help but feel touched. Karthik shot back a quick response saying he was fine and that he’d see him at work on Monday. He scrolled further, his blood freezing when he saw that the next message was from Jim.
From: Jim
To: Karthik
Subject: Yesterday
Karthik,
I’m unsure what happened yesterday. I went to your office later and your intern told me you were feeling unwell and were taking a sick day. I hope you’re getting some rest and feeling better, but I’m very concerned by all of this. Please give me a call on Monday or whenever you are back to work so we can discuss.
Jim
Karthik blinked. Then read the email again. As far as responses went, this was better than expected. He could talk to Jim. Explain the situation. Or at least explain that he had gotten sick very suddenly that afternoon. That had the added benefit of being technically true. And then he could ask for another chance.
He swallowed. He might still have a shot at the promotion. Karthik texted the number that Paul had sent.
He almost set the phone down, but it beeped before it even reached the desk.
The phone beeped again. Paul had sent a fist bump emoji. Karthik shook his head with a small smile and sent one back.
He typed a short response to Jim, apologizing for the inconvenience, promising that he had an explanation for his behavior, and thanking him for understanding.
Karthik would have to fight for a second chance, but he could do that. He’d make plans. Prepare for Monday. Look at everything again. And he’d definitely come up with better answers to the panel’s questions this time. He did a quick scan through the remaining emails before reaching for his phone again.
He needed to tell someone about this. He pulled up Meghna’s number, but before he could share the news, he realized something.
Karthik put his phone down and continued reading the emails, his foot absently tapping against the floor. Three minutes later, his phone beeped.
Astute as always. He thought for a moment. He couldn’t say that he wanted a picture because he’d been tempted to go to the fitting with her. That he was desperate to see if she looked as cute as he’d been imagining. They didn’t have that kind of relationship. Meghna had been firm in the boundaries she had set for them going forward, and he wanted to respect them. This was the only way for their arrangement to work, and he wasn’t ready for it to be over.
He waited, watching the screen, growing a little nervous when the speech bubbles popped up, indicating that she was typing, then disappeared. They popped back up. Then went away again. Finally, a response came through.
A few seconds later, she sent the picture. Karthik tapped on it so it filled the screen of his phone.
The picture was full length and showed Meghna in a tight-fitting, perfectly cut tux. Her hair was pulled back from her face, and she was smiling at the camera, her lips dark red and sinful. This was so far from the image he’d created in his head. Meghna in a tux wasn’t cute or wholesome. She was downright sexy.
Without thinking, he replied.
He waited half a second, then quickly typed on his phone.
A few seconds later, Meghna responded.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Karthik looked down at his feet, took a quick picture of them, and sent it to Meghna.
Karthik stared at his phone, thinking Meghna would be following up with a picture of her feet, but nothing came through. He exited the app and came back, but he still didn’t see a new message from her.
Karthik let out a loud laugh.
Karthik turned back to the computer. He pulled up the documents and spreadsheets he had initially gathered to prepare for his interview. He needed to review everything again before his meeting with Jim on Monday. He skimmed for a while, but his attention wandered until he finally opened the web browser and entered something in the search bar: “mechanical engineering positions in Dallas.”
Out of all the results, only a few caught his eye. He emailed the links to those open positions to himself, then went back to reviewing his materials for the interview. He wasn’t seriously looking at other jobs. He just did this every now and then. The way people searched for homes on real estate websites and saved their favorites without any intention of ever buying them. It was good to know what was out there. To have an idea of what the market looked like.
After reviewing the spreadsheets for an hour, he closed out of them. Relief rolled through him as he realized all the facts and figures he’d studied the first time were still in his memory. He was about to shut down the computer and go to sleep when a thought took him by surprise.
He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought about it sooner. It was a serious oversight. If he and Meghna wanted to really make people believe their engagement was real, they had to take care of this. People were bound to ask about it eventually.
He opened the browser back up and did one final search before going to bed: “what to look for when buying an engagement ring.”