Say You'll Be My Jaan

Chapter 19

Karthik drummed his fingers against his thigh. Jim had just popped out of the conference room to let Karthik know that he and the rest of the interview panel were running a few minutes behind schedule, but they’d be ready for him in a moment.

The delay was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Karthik had been on edge all morning. He was almost grateful to have a few seconds to relax. To calm himself down before going inside.

He’d tried to go through his day like normal. Sipping his lavender latte. Checking his email. Talking with Paul—though that conversation had been far from relaxing.

Paul had barreled into his office early that morning, slightly out of breath. “Dude, I’m so sorry about your engagement.”

Karthik had sighed, leaning back in his chair. “How did you even find out?”

“Your mom told me.”

Karthik’s eyebrows had shot up. “You talked to my mom?”

“Yeah. She left a message with me when you were in that meeting and we got to chatting. She’s awesome.”

“Yeah. I know,” Karthik had replied flatly.

Paul had looked at him in confusion. “What’s the matter? I didn’t think you’d be mad if I talked with your mom. She’s really nice. She asked if I’d had any homemade meals lately and said she’d send something with you next week. I was really looking forward to it, but if it’s not okay—”

“No. No, it’s fine.”

“But what happened? I thought things with you and Meghna were going well. Didn’t you just go to a wedding together or something?”

“We did. That’s actually where we decided to end things.”

“But why?”

Because Karthik was a fool. Because he’d accidentally fallen in love.

“We just wanted different things,” Karthik had said evenly.

“Well, I’m sorry, man. Really sorry.”

Karthik had told him not to worry about it, then done his best to put it all out of his mind so he could focus on the interview.

When he’d first joined the company straight out of school, he’d been so preoccupied, distracted by worries that his father had been right. That engineering was a mistake and he should have become a doctor. But after some time, he’d realized that going to medical school wouldn’t have made a difference. Nothing Karthik did would ever make his father happy.

So, he’d buckled down at his job. Marianne, and others, took notice and rewarded his hard work. He redoubled his efforts, really committed to his team and his clients, and then, he started moving up. With each move came more responsibility, but also recognition. Respect. Appreciation. And today, this final interview, was the culmination of all of it.

He should have been overjoyed. He should have been proud of his hard work and where it had taken him. But for some reason, he just felt … off.

His phone beeped. Karthik grimaced when he saw it was a text from his father.

Karthik resisted the urge to roll his eyes. There was nothing his father cared more about than his job and professional reputation. He wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know he’d been terminated.

Maybe he had received some kind of research grant, but that wasn’t the full story. There was more to it, but Karthik wasn’t sure if he was interested in finding out all of the details. His father had lost his job. He’d moved halfway around the world. And his mother was staying here and seemed to be taking it all in stride. There wasn’t really anything else for Karthik to be concerned about.

Of course, he could call his father. He could demand answers. Ask his father how he could treat his mother this way. He could yell at him. Tell him how disgusted he was by his behavior. By his choices. But there was no answer his father could give that would change the way Karthik felt. No answer that would fix things. That would justify his behavior. There was no closure at the end of this. Maybe there was just … acceptance. This was who his father was. And he wasn’t going to change.

Karthik’s phone beeped again.

Karthik’s stomach rolled. Proud of you? At one time in his life, hearing these words from his father would have meant everything. Now they just made him want to throw up.

He didn’t want to be the kind of person his father would be proud of. Someone who kept secrets. Who yelled at the people they were supposed to love. Who chose their career over their own family. Who lied. He swallowed, his throat suddenly itchy and dry.

How different was he from his father, really? Hadn’t Karthik been lying to his mother for months? Even now, he still hadn’t told her the full truth about his engagement. He still hadn’t told her it had all been a trick to get out of his promise to her.

He’d been so afraid of hurting her again. Of reliving their past conversation about marriage. He’d thought pretending to go along with her plan would cause her the least amount of pain. But his good intentions didn’t cancel out his deception. They didn’t make it right.

And Meghna. He’d confronted her about Seth. He’d made her cry. And then, like his father, he’d just … left. Ended things and walked away. Like a coward. He should have done more than just say sorry. He should have been honest with her. He should have told her how he felt about her. What she meant to him. And that he didn’t want the engagement to end. He should have stayed and fought for her. Showed her how badly he wanted to make things right.

How badly he still wanted to make things right. Karthik’s pulse jumped. Yes, his father had run. He’d literally fled the country to avoid facing his mistakes, but Karthik didn’t have to follow his example. He’d run once, but that didn’t mean he had to keep running. He could stop. He could go to Meghna and tell her the truth. Tell her that their engagement, their relationship, none of it had been fake to him. That he … he loved her. And that he never should have let her go. Maybe he’d already ruined any possibility of her feeling anything for him, but he had to at least try.

Karthik pulled out his phone, his hand slightly shaking. He had to book a flight. He had to see her. Talk to her. Before it was too late.

Jim walked out of the conference room, a large smile on his face. And Karthik froze. He was tempted to leave. To bolt again. To run. But he wasn’t his father. He would stay and face things. He would see things through.

He stood up, shaking Jim’s hand and following him. As he took a seat in front of the panel, Karthik made a split-second decision. He’d been so desperate to not be like his father that he’d held himself back from happiness. From Meghna. And from a job he could actually love.

He’d thought that his current job was fine. That he could work in HVAC design for the rest of his life. That he could be content doing something he wasn’t passionate about. But Meghna had shown him that he was wrong.

Meghna, who’d fought and fought against a school board so her kids would have the opportunity to perform. Meghna, who’d written for years, refining her craft, slowly but steadily working toward her dreams. Meghna, who took risks, even when it was hard. Even when there was no guarantee things would work out.

“Before we start the interview, I wanted to say something,” Karthik said. “If it’s all right with you, Jim.”

Jim waved a hand, gesturing for him to go ahead.

“Thank you. And thank you to everyone, really, for your time and patience and for giving me another opportunity to speak with you. I’ve been thinking for a long time about a question I was asked the last time I was in front of this panel. About why I want this job. And it made me think about the reasons I became an engineer in the first place.

“I grew up in a house where something was … broken. And as a kid, I remember thinking that if I could just figure out what was wrong, the reason why nothing felt right, maybe I could find a way to make it better. I tried so many different things, but no matter what I did, everything stayed the same. Whatever was broken … I couldn’t fix it.”

Karthik took a deep breath. “But in this job, that’s exactly what I get to do. Clients come to us, present us with a problem, and we’re paid to analyze it. To come up with a solution. To create a device that can solve things.”

A few of the panelists nodded.

“And then we test that device. And if it doesn’t work, we try again. We try and fail, over and over, until we figure it out. We’re constantly inventing and creating solutions out of thin air. And I could tell you that this promotion would allow me to do that work on a broader scale. To oversee multiple projects, to bridge the gap between our team and our clients, to help the company achieve greater success.

“But that wouldn’t be the full truth. Because really, until recently, I’d forgotten that this was the reason I’d wanted to be an engineer in the first place. I’d forgotten about that initial passion, that thrill of finding and creating the perfect answer to a problem. And I know that if I was lucky enough to receive this promotion, I could lead the HVAC design team and do the job well, but what I’d really like is an opportunity to be considered for a different area.”

Karthik risked a glance at Jim, but Jim’s neutral expression gave nothing away. “The biomedical group is working on the projects that I’m most excited about,” he continued. “And that’s where I want to be. I know it would be a newer area for me, but I wouldn’t ask for any favors. I’d be happy to start over, to prove myself all over again. I know I’ve thrown some curveballs in this process, but I promise, if you’re willing to give me this chance, I won’t let you down.”

Two of the panelists exchanged a bemused glance, and Karthik’s stomach dipped. Clearly, this wasn’t what they’d been expecting. And he couldn’t blame them. Karthik hadn’t even expected that he’d say any of this, but he didn’t regret it. He’d taken a risk, and even if it didn’t pay off, at least he’d tried. Meghna would be proud that he’d tried.

He glanced at the clock, resisting the urge to fidget. He didn’t have a lot of time if he wanted to make it onto the next flight to Dallas. Even if he left now, he’d be cutting it close.

Jim tilted his head, drawing Karthik’s focus. “So,” Jim said slowly, stretching out the vowel as far as it could go. “Just so I have this right, you’re telling me that given a choice between an executive position and an entry-level spot on the biomedical team, you’d prefer the entry-level job? All because that’s what you’re most passionate about?”

Karthik held back a wince. “Yes, sir. That is what I’m saying.”

None of the panelists said anything. The air was tight and tense, and Karthik braced himself for rejection. But then Jim laughed, the sound like a crack of thunder sending a jolt through the room.

“Okay,” he said. “I mean, we’ll need to talk about it some more, but if the head of the biomedical group approves, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. It would truly be an entry-level position, though. In terms of pay and benefits and—”

Karthik shot to his feet, offering Jim an enthusiastic handshake. “Yes. Yes, I understand. Thank you.” Jim gave him a slightly bewildered smile, but clasped his hand firmly and told him they’d make plans to discuss it further next week.

After the panel dismissed him, Karthik calmly walked out, waiting until he was past the glass doors of the conference room before breaking into a run.

He didn’t stop until he reached Paul’s cubicle, feet almost skidding against the carpet, wheezing and out of breath. “Paul,” he said, relieved to see that the intern was there. “I need to go. Can you cancel anything I have for the rest of the day? And I’ll need a plane ticket to …”

Paul grinned. “Way ahead of you. Check your email.”

Karthik pulled out his phone, shocked to see that he was already booked on the next flight to Dallas. “What? But how did you …”

“Just go, man. Go get her back.”

Karthik stared for a moment, then took three large steps forward, throwing his arms around Paul. “Thank you,” he said, barely even registering Paul’s slack-jawed expression when he let go and sprinted away.

“You’re welcome!” Paul called a few seconds later, his voice carrying as Karthik raced out the door. “Good luck!”

Meghna took a deep breath as she pulled into her parents’ driveway. She’d driven here straight from school, but had opted to take the scenic route, forgoing the freeway for the side roads, looping around the neighborhood park, and even driving up and down her parents’ street a couple times. But time had run out. She couldn’t stall any longer.

It was time to tell her parents that the engagement was done. The plan had been to wait until Karthik’s interview, and as far as she knew, that had taken place sometime this morning. She’d been tempted to text him “good luck.” To ask him if he was nervous. Or confident. Or worried. To find out how things were going with his dad.

But she’d refrained from sending anything. A little while ago they’d called each other regularly, talking about everything and nothing. But he didn’t want that kind of relationship with her anymore.

Just as she’d summoned the strength to switch off the car and open the door, her phone rang. She embraced the opportunity to delay the conversation with her parents and answered immediately, not realizing she’d accepted a video call until Samir’s face filled the screen.

She recognized the inside of Samir’s Hyderabad apartment and mentally calculated the time difference.

“Samir? Why are you … Isn’t it the middle of the night for you?”

Samir nodded. He looked far from well rested. Dark-purple shadows lingered under his eyes, and the smile on his face was tight. Tense. “Yeah,” he said. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Well, you look like shit,” Meghna said, the words escaping her mouth before she could help it.

The tight smile on Samir’s face relaxed into a genuine one. “Thanks. It’s nice to see you too.”

Meghna rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“That’s not far from the truth.” Samir lifted a shoulder, grimacing slightly. “I haven’t slept through the night in a while.”

“Why?”

“Doesn’t matter. I, uh, wanted to talk about something else first.”

Meghna knew exactly what he was about to say. It was the conversation she had been avoiding for a while. The apology she had known was coming. The idea of it had made her angry in the past. Had brought up every emotion she had felt the night of Ankita’s party. But time had softened those feelings, so she nodded and gestured for him to continue.

“Go ahead.”

“Did Ankita … did she tell you that it was all my fault? Everything that happened? Because it was. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was impulsive. And stupid. And I didn’t mean for it … I didn’t know that—”

Samir stopped, looked down for a moment, then started again. “Mom told me Ankita’s not engaged anymore. Is she okay? Have you talked to her?”

Meghna struggled for a second as she thought about how to respond. Ankita was upset. And still processing everything. But she’d asked Samir for space, and Meghna doubted her friend would want him to know every detail about her broken engagement.

“She’s okay,” she said. “And I’m okay too, by the way. I’m about to tell Mom and Dad this, actually, but you might as well know … Karthik ended things.”

Samir’s eyes widened and continued to widen as Meghna finally told him everything. How the entire engagement had been fake from the beginning, how she’d just wanted a date to Seth’s wedding, and how things had changed. At least for her. But obviously not for Karthik.

“So, at least we have each other,” Meghna said. “Me and Ankita. Though what she’s going through is obviously worse. What she had was actually real.”

Samir flinched. Or at least it looked like he’d flinched. It could have just been a glitch on her screen.

“What you felt was real too,” he said. “You shouldn’t downplay that. You’re allowed to feel hurt by all of this.”

“I know. But it was my fault. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to think it could be real. That he could have actually felt something. I shouldn’t have—”

“And I shouldn’t have kissed your best friend while she was engaged to someone else. Shit happens.”

A laugh flew out of Meghna’s mouth, and Samir shot her a grin.

“Not too soon to joke about it, then?” he asked, with a slightly hopeful expression.

“Don’t push your luck. But speaking about that … Ankita didn’t tell me everything, but she made it seem like the two of you had had some sort of … something. In the past?”

The grin slipped right off Samir’s face. “Yeah,” he said, his voice somewhat hollow. “It was a long time ago, but yeah, we, uh, we did.”

Meghna swallowed. “Okay. Fine. But I need you to know something. If you hurt her … If you ever do something that makes me have to choose between you and Ankita, I’m going to pick her. I’m always going to pick her.”

Samir snorted. “I don’t blame you. If the choice was between me and Ankita, I’d do the same. I’d pick her every time.”

Something inside Meghna softened. She hesitated for a moment, then asked the question that had been hovering in the back of her mind for months. “Samir, are you in love with her?”

He was silent for a few seconds. His eyes conveyed something heavy. Something almost … sad.

“I think I was,” he said softly. “Once. But now? I … I don’t know.”

“That’s not good enough,” she said. “You need to figure it out.”

“I know.”

“Because if you come anywhere near her and you don’t know for sure—if you actually end up moving back here and you’re not sure—”

“I know. I, umm, didn’t tell you, but I got a job offer. In Dallas. Last time I was there. I was going to take it. Before the party. But now …” He swallowed. “I don’t think it’s fair to her. To come back like this. I won’t move back until I know exactly how I feel. Until I’m sure.”

Meghna squashed down the angry words that had been rising within her. She’d been about to threaten all manner of pain on her brother if he ever hurt Ankita the way he had so obviously hurt her before, but the expression on her brother’s face made her stop. For once, he wasn’t joking. His face was solemn. As serious as she’d ever seen it.

“Okay,” she said.

But he didn’t seem to think she was buying it. “I mean it,” he continued. “Really, I swear it. If I move back, it’ll be because I’m one hundred percent in. Because I’m ready to convince her that I can be worthy of her. Because I’m ready to do anything, anything, to win her back.”

He was quiet for a beat, as if he too was surprised by the depth of emotion he’d just displayed. He cleared his throat, then asked, “How are you planning to tell Mom and Dad?”

She accepted the abrupt change in topic for what it was. “About Karthik? I have no idea. But I don’t have a ton of time to figure it out.”

“You don’t think it’s worth—” Samir stopped talking and looked at Meghna somewhat warily.

“What?”

Samir raised his hands defensively. “I don’t want you to jump down my throat when I say this, but don’t you think it’s worth maybe … telling Karthik how you feel?”

No.No, it certainly wasn’t worth it. It sounded like the worst idea Meghna had ever heard.

“He ended things, Samir. Why would I tell him anything? He didn’t even want a fake relationship with me, let alone a real one.”

“You don’t know that. There’s a chance he could feel the same way.”

Meghna was about to disagree, but Samir continued. “And even if he doesn’t, you’ll feel better knowing for sure. You’ll know one way or the other and then you can move forward. Without regrets.”

A flush of heat went up the back of Meghna’s neck as she thought about having this conversation with Karthik. It would be embarrassing. He’d pity her. He’d say he was sorry that she misunderstood things. She wouldn’t be able to handle that.

“Look, I know I’m the last person who should be giving advice about things like this, and that you and I … that we aren’t as close as we used to be, and a lot of that is my fault. Probably all of it is my fault. And everything I did only made things worse. But I’m just saying … That’s what I wish I would have done. I wish I’d been honest earlier about how I felt. That’s all.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“For what it’s worth, I really liked him when I met him. He seemed like a great guy.”

Meghna nodded and quickly wrapped up the call, though Samir’s words continued to ring in her head.

Samir’s assessment might have been based on only a few minutes spent with Karthik, and his judgment was obviously flawed, but even so, Meghna agreed with him. Karthik was a good guy. A great one, even. But no matter how much she wanted it to be different, he just wasn’t hers.

Meghna scrubbed her hands over her face and finally exited the car. She unlocked the back door to her parents’ house and entered through the kitchen, where the scent of cardamom and ginger perfumed the air. She followed her nose to the large pot still simmering on the stove, inhaling greedily before grabbing a mug and pouring herself a generous amount of chai. Her parents’ voices carried from the living room, and she headed toward them.

“Mom? Dad?” she called out. She took a sip of her tea as she rounded the corner, then almost spat it right out.

Karthik … was … here? Sitting on the couch. In her parents’ house. Was she hallucinating? She blinked, but her vision didn’t change. He remained firmly in place.

His jaw was hard. His mouth grim. But his eyes were bright and luminous, filled with something she’d never seen before. He looked at her like … like they’d never stopped pretending.

Her face flushed under the intensity of his stare. What is he doinghere? Meghna tore her gaze away and almost jumped when she noticed Karthik’s mother was here too. Sitting right beside him.

“Beta!” Meghna’s mother got up and gave her a hug. “You’re here. Look who’s surprised us!”

Meghna forced herself out of her stupor. “Wow,” she croaked. “What a … nice surprise.” She smiled weakly, her movements stiff and mechanical as she hugged Karthik and his mother, then took the open seat on the couch beside him.

Karthik’s gaze was a tangible presence on her side profile. His hand lifted off his thigh, hovering uncertainly, then landed back on the tiny sliver of space between them. Was he trying to hold her hand? Were they supposed to be pretending right now?

She turned in his direction, fully prepared to get some answers, to ask if they could speak privately so she could find out what the hell was going on, but before she could get the words out, her mother started talking.

“You didn’t know they were coming, right, beta? That’s what they told us when they got here a few minutes ago.”

“No, Mom,” Meghna said. “I had no idea.”

“Well, you didn’t miss much. We’ve just been catching up. Though we haven’t talked about everything yet.” Meghna’s mother smiled. “I bet you’re excited about the news,” she told Karthik. “Though I guess we really have you to thank for it.”

Karthik’s eyebrows knit in confusion. “Thank me for what?”

“For Meghna deciding to apply for an MFA! She only told us about it recently, though I’m sure you’ve been talking about it for a while. Meghna said you were the one to bring it up. To suggest it first. We’ve been wanting her to go to graduate school for so long. Of course, we used to hope it would be engineering, but Meghna was adamant that she didn’t want to do that. So, we suggested more laid-back options. Law school. Business school. But she wasn’t interested in those, either. But finally, she’s applying to graduate school. And we have you to thank.”

Meghna’s breath caught. When she’d told her parents the news, her father had immediately been supportive. Her mother, on the other hand, had been full of questions. She’d been a bit confused about what it meant to study fine arts and hadn’t understood why Meghna would leave a stable job to pursue it. But when Meghna had framed it as “going to graduate school,” most of her mother’s concerns had evaporated.

The conversation had gone better than Meghna had expected. And this reaction from her mother … Well, this was her version of trying to be supportive. But it still hurt to hear her dreams diminished this way. To hear them attributed to someone else. To hear Karthik get all the credit.

Meghna’s father picked up on something, his face tight with concern as he looked in her direction, but Meghna just shook her head subtly. It wasn’t worth getting into. Not now. Maybe she’d try to have a conversation with her mother about this later.

“You shouldn’t be thanking me,” Karthik said, his voice even and measured. “I had nothing to do with it.”

Meghna glanced at him in astonishment. What was even happening right now? She’d never told him that she was applying for an MFA. She’d expected him to be somewhat surprised by the news, but to brush it off. To pretend like he’d known about it all along. She hadn’t expected … Well, she hadn’t expected any of this.

“But I’m incredibly proud of Meghna,” Karthik continued. “And I was proud of her before she decided to apply for this too. She’s a dedicated teacher. Her students love her. And she single-handedly put together that musical with barely any funds or support from the school board. And I know you saw how much her hard work paid off because you were there. Did you know the principal has been begging Meghna to put together the next one?”

Meghna’s mother glanced at Karthik with surprise and shook her head. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well, she has. They’re even setting aside more resources next semester because Meghna convinced them that a theater program was important. She put her heart and soul into helping her students, even though teaching has never been her dream. And now, for the first time, she’s pursuing something just for her. Not what you or anyone else wants her to do. She’s a gifted writer, you know. And I couldn’t be prouder of her for doing this. For going after what she wants. And you should be proud of her too.”

“I am,” Meghna’s father said. “I’m always proud of you, Meghna.” He clasped his wife’s hand tenderly, giving her a meaningful look. “And we can both do a better job of letting you know that.”

Meghna muttered a thank you, but couldn’t tear her eyes away from Karthik. When he’d first started talking, she’d been stunned. He’d never read a word she’d written. Hadn’t even known until that moment that she wanted to get an MFA. But the second he’d found out about it, he’d understood what it meant. This wasn’t for Seth or his writing. This wasn’t for her parents or their desire for her to go to grad school. This wasn’t for her students or her principal or the parents or the school district. This was just for her.

And Karthik saw that. He immediately recognized all of it and saw her. And he’d been able to put it into words. So simply. So clearly. He’d said the things she’d thought and felt but had never been able to bring up to her parents.

Karthik turned at that moment, and their eyes met.

“We’re going to step into the study,” Meghna said, her voice high and clear. “Excuse us.” She got up from the couch, and Karthik followed her, the sound of his footsteps mimicking the heavy beat of her heart.

They paused at the entrance to the study, looking at the three framed print copies of Monet’s Water Lilies arranged on the opposite wall.

“They’re really something,” Karthik said, and Meghna hid a smile at his repeating the sarcastic comment she had first made about the art.

“My parents, you mean?” she asked playfully, pretending to misunderstand.

He started. “No. No. Of course not. I meant the paintings. Because of what you said the first time about them. Your parents are great. I shouldn’t have said anything back there. I shouldn’t have talked to your mom that way. I didn’t mean—”

“You didn’t mean it?”

“No. I meant what I said. But that doesn’t mean I should have said it.”

He ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident on his face.

“I was just kidding,” she said softly, and he relaxed a fraction.

She wanted to ask what he was doing here, but over the last few minutes she’d come to the conclusion that Samir had been right. If she didn’t tell Karthik how she felt, she’d regret it. Maybe not right away, but eventually. In a few days or weeks or months, she’d wonder if the man who saw her so well, who knew her down to her bones, could have possibly loved her, or at least felt the same way about her that she did about him.

Honestly, she wasn’t sure if it was love. There was too much unsaid. Too much unknown. Too much and not enough between them. All she knew was that she’d never felt anything like this before. And if this wasn’t love, then it was something a lot like it. And whatever it was, it was worth the risk of potential embarrassment. She took a deep breath and smiled hesitantly at the man in front of her.

Karthik was worth the risk.

“Have you changed your mind about marriage?” she asked.

Karthik blinked and Meghna inwardly cursed.

None of this was going according to plan. Karthik had come here to tell Meghna he loved her and instead had ended up ranting at her parents. Disrespecting them. He assumed Meghna had called him in here to chastise him. But instead … she was asking him about marriage? His heart thudded, hope building dangerously in his chest.

“Don’t answer that,” Meghna said quickly. “That’s not what I meant to say. I wanted to tell you—”

“I don’t know,” Karthik interrupted. He took a step toward her. “But I’m realizing that I was wrong about a lot of things. And I want to be wrong about this too.” He lifted a hand in her direction, then dropped it. He wanted to touch her. Her cheek. Her hair. Her arm. Anything. But he had no idea what she was thinking. What she was feeling. He forced himself to continue.

“I want to think that I could get married one day. That I could do it. That we could have a different kind of marriage than my parents, but I’m scared,” he admitted. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” Meghna replied immediately, and Karthik swallowed a wave of emotion. He didn’t deserve her faith in him. Her trust. But he’d do everything in his power to earn it.

“Karthik, are you saying that …” Meghna trailed off into silence, her beautiful eyes wide and searching.

He looked away, his gaze sweeping around the room. He needed a moment to compose himself. To gather his thoughts. To figure out how to say this.

“Remember what you told me?” he finally asked. “The first time we met?”

Meghna huffed out a laugh. “I said a lot of things the first time we met.”

Karthik’s lips curved into a soft smile. “You did. But this one … I thought about it for a long time. You said you’d accidentally fallen in love before. And I thought that was ludicrous. That it was impossible.” He shook his head. “But I was wrong.”

“What are you saying?”

He leaned toward her, so close that her face took up his entire field of vision.

“I’m saying I accidentally fell in love with you. But I don’t want you to feel any pressure. I don’t know how you feel, but I’d like us to have more time. We could continue the engagement. Get to know each other more. Give you time to see if you could … if you might … see a future. With me. I don’t know whether I’ll ever be able to change my mind about marriage, but I want to. I want to give you everything you want. To be everything you want.”

Meghna placed her fingers over Karthik’s lips, and he immediately stopped talking.

“You already are everything I want,” she said. And then she kissed him.

He froze for a millisecond, shocked over what she’d just said, then moved with fervor. His hand threaded through her hair, and his tongue swept into her mouth. She shivered, then swayed as if the muscles in her legs had gone slack. He pulled back, looked at her for a moment, then maneuvered the two of them so that he sat in one of the brown overstuffed chairs where they’d had their first conversation.

She straddled him, rising onto her knees so that for the first time she was taller than him. She pushed his hair back from his face, and he closed his eyes. Unable to believe this was happening. Unable to believe this was real.

“I wasn’t ready to say goodbye,” he said, his voice full of emotion.

She smiled and placed a soft kiss on the underside of his jaw. “Me either.” She ran her hand over his hair again, and he savored the sensation. “I was planning on telling you I had feelings for you. I’ve … I’ve had them for a while, but I didn’t know how you felt.”

He leaned forward to kiss her again, but she pulled back.

“Wait,” she said. “I … I need you to know that I was wrong too. With what I said before. I never … I never accidentally fell in love. I thought I had. Once. But I don’t think that was love. Not really. You know, I remember what you said that day too. That love takes time. Intention. Commitment. That it doesn’t happen accidentally. And I … I think you’re right.”

Karthik watched her intently, his hand moving up and down her back. Somehow, he understood everything she wasn’t quite saying. She wasn’t ready to say those words. To return his declaration of love. But that didn’t bother him. They both had things to work through. They both needed time.

“Maybe we’re both right,” he said quietly.

“Maybe.”

Their mouths met, and they lost themselves for a while in kisses that made Karthik feel like he didn’t know where he ended and Meghna began. They were one unit, hearts beating in unison, their breaths in sync. They were somehow able to anticipate how the other would move and match those movements in time.

“So …” Meghna said, once they’d taken a break to come up for air. She was sprawled across his body, her head against his chest, and his arms were wrapped tightly around her.

“So …” Karthik replied.

“We’re going to have to go back eventually.”

Karthik threw back his head and groaned dramatically, making Meghna laugh.

“I’m serious. We’ve been in here a long time. They’re going to think we’re—”

“That we’re what?”

Meghna’s cheeks took on the slightest rosy glow. “You know, that … that we’re—”

“Oh. I get what you mean.” Karthik waggled his eyebrows and tried to give her a suggestive look, which only sent Meghna into a fit of giggles.

Karthik couldn’t help but smile, even after Meghna’s laughter came to an end.

“What?” Meghna asked after she’d gained control of her breath.

“I love your laugh,” he said honestly, his hand lightly playing with the ends of her hair. “I love being the one to make you laugh.”

“I like your laugh too.”

“Almost as much as you like the way I smell?” Karthik asked, his voice as smug as he could make it.

Just like he’d hoped, Meghna laughed again. “Yes, almost as much as that.”

“So, what do you want to tell them?” he asked. “When we go back in?”

“The truth?” she suggested.

Karthik leaned forward and kissed her, and it felt softer and sweeter than any kiss they’d shared before.

“That sounds good to me.” They looked at each other for a long moment, discussed the remaining details, and then left the study, walking out hand in hand.

Meghna’s mother was the first to notice that he and Meghna were back in the room. She smiled widely, then elbowed her husband in the ribs.

“Jaan, you owe me fifty bucks. They’re holding hands.”

Meghna’s father smirked but shook his head. “We don’t know what they’re going to say.”

“Well, clearly they’re still together.”

Meghna laughed. “Fifty? You’re betting higher than usual, Mom.”

“That’s how confident I am, beta.”

Karthik’s mother frowned. “I thought our bets were supposed to be secret.”

“Thank you, Shanti,” Meghna’s father said. “Excellent point. And we definitely weren’t supposed to announce them the second the kids came back.”

Karthik’s eyes widened. “Amma, you’re part of this?”

His mother shrugged. “Why not? We had to find some way to pass the time. We thought we’d make our predictions about what you two talked about. But I’m not telling anyone my guess.” She waved a small slip of paper in front of her. “They were supposed to be secret. That’s why we wrote them down.”

“I’m sorry they sucked you into this, Aunty,” Meghna said wryly. She took a seat on the couch, and Karthik joined her.

“Don’t be,” Karthik said. “I shouldn’t have been that surprised. Amma’s something of a card shark. She’s legendary at twenty-eight.” His mother denied ever cheating, but somehow she always ended up winning.

Today, though, she had an unfair advantage. Before coming here, he’d called his mother and told her his plan. And the truth. That his engagement to Meghna had been a farce from the beginning, but along the way, he’d fallen for her. His mother had been surprised and hurt, but she had put it aside for now, insisting that she come to Dallas with him.

Meghna’s mother’s eyes shone with interest. “We should play, Shanti. I’ve got a set of cards somewhere. We have an uneven number, but we could make it work. Do you usually—”

“Mom,” Meghna interrupted. “Can we save that for later? Karthik and I have something to say.” She took a deep breath. “We were planning on telling all of you that we had decided to call off the engagement.”

A sharp inhale came from Meghna’s mother.

“But we spent some time talking and, well, we realized that we really care about each other. And we don’t want our relationship to end.”

“I knew it,” Meghna’s mother said triumphantly.

Meghna rolled her eyes and looked over at Karthik, as if to ask whether he’d take the lead. He didn’t especially want to, but it was clear she was ready to pass the reins.

“But we’re still going to call off our engagement,” Karthik said.

“Ha!” Meghna’s father said. “Radhika, you didn’t guess that.”

Karthik’s mother leaned over to read Meghna’s father’s slip of paper, and her lips curled up. “Neither did you, Akshay. You guessed they were breaking up. I’m the only one who got it right.” She unfolded her own piece of paper and read, “Meghna and Karthik are going to call off the wedding, but stay together.”

The room filled with stunned silence, then Karthik laughed and turned toward Meghna. “Okay, I told Amma some stuff, but I didn’t even know we were going to do that.”

“How could you … how did you …?” Radhika sputtered in Shanti’s direction.

Karthik’s mother delicately raised a shoulder. “It was a calculated guess.”

“We’re playing twenty-eight when this is over,” Radhika said. “I demand a rematch.”

Karthik’s mother smiled serenely, and Karthik couldn’t help but grin. It looked like Meghna’s mother had finally met a worthy competitor.

“Congratulations, Shanti, on the well-deserved win,” Meghna’s father said. “But Meghna, Karthik, can I ask why you’re ending the engagement? You said you care about each other, yes?”

“We do,” Karthik said, squeezing Meghna’s hand slightly. “Very much.”

“So, why not stay engaged?”

“We don’t want to rush anything. We just want to take it a day at a time,” Meghna said. “Without the pressure of a wedding around the corner.”

They’d both agreed that ending the engagement was the right call. Karthik was looking forward to just … spending time with Meghna. Without any kind of end date. Without having to pretend.

Meghna’s mother frowned. “So, that’s it? You’re both just … dating?”

Meghna laughed, and Karthik couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah,” she said. “I guess we are.”