The Fashion of Love | Adult F/M Romance [COMPLETE]

ch. 20 - June

JUNE

Sora's former stepson was her unexpected visitor of the day on Monday. Thursday and Friday had been wall to wall conferences and teleconferences. It wasn't much of a way to celebrate growing old, but Sora had the memory of a kiss to keep her going strong.

He knocked on the door and steeped inside.

"Sam, I didn't know we had a meeting scheduled. Did I miss a call from you?" Sora scrambled to locate her phone. This was a rare fumble as she was rarely without it.

Sam ambled into her office, making a show of taking in the décor. She'd put up a few more pictures of the men in her life. One from her birthday showed all three of them sporting faces covered in chocolate frosting.

"I called the house-that's where I stopped by the other night, on your birthday. Remember that night?"

Sora swallowed, anxious. How could I forget?

"You came by the house?"

Sam nodded obliquely. "I called first, but you didn't pick up. I don't know what I was thinking just showing up like that. I had gotten your message earlier in the afternoon about wanting us to meet and I thought I'd drop by and see what was up-you know, in case I needed to clean out my office before close of business."

"You're not being fired."

Sam sprawled into a chair, a picture of relief. "Oh, thank god. You don't know how happy I am to hear that. I'd hate to be fired. I really, really love my job."

Sora enjoyed having him in her corner.

"I'm sensing a topic change is in order."

"Yeah, I guess my question is 'when did you and Ravi become a couple to watch?'"

"I don't follow."

Sam only just reined in his visible disbelief.

"I came into the house-you should lock your doors, by the way. I came into the house after I saw Dhiren waiting in the car because I figured you wouldn't be busy."

"Oh."

"Mmm, yeah, I guess you can say I called that one wrong."

"That was..." Sora frantically sought a word to describe what Ravi's kiss had meant to her. None of those springing to mind were the sort she'd say out loud.

"You two have been in the society papers since February. You can't think this would come as a surprise to anyone."

"Contrary to what the tabloids have been saying, this is new. Sam, I'm not sure what this is. This could destroy my standing at Himura. You cannot tell anyone."

"Who would I tell?"

"Who knows? You can't say anything. Rumor is one thing, but the first hint of real scandal..."

"Ravi is single. You are single. This is a victimless crime."

"Tell that to the next member of my family to come lecture me about whatever they think is going on between us."

"They should want you to be happy. I don't know much about how you two work, but I know what you look like when you're happy. That's the happiest you've been since you married my dad."

"He's not any happier about the situation."

"He's weighed in." Sam sighed to himself, "Of course he has. The truth is, my dad doesn't know when to leave well enough alone. He's got the life he claims to want. He can't contend with the idea of you and Ravi Misra. He can't wrap his head around it. Up the moment I saw you two...like that, I don't think I could either. The cards weren't there."

"For me, either. Ravi wasn't on my radar before this year. He was Hana's true love, not to be trifled with or touched. He was her Holy Grail. Who was I or any woman to think we could compete?"

"Something changed in Ravi while he was gone, didn't it? This Ravi..." Sam gestured vaguely. "He's not the same. This Ravi makes the two of you together seem natural. In the papers, in interviews when he mentions you-"

"Ravi mentions me?" Sora oversaw a publishing company, but she had very little time to spend reading anything that didn't come in the form of a quarterly earnings report.

"Uh, yeah, a couple of times recently. He was talking about perspective and new leases on life and how spending time with you had inspired him to see things in a new light. That's kind of why I figured you two were an ongoing thing. He hasn't exactly been subtle."

"He hasn't said anything to me. Up until he kissed me that night, I wasn't sure he had real romantic feelings for me. I figured I was misreading the signs."

"Billboards tend to be pretty clear."

"Not helpful."

"I'm just saying. He's been giving off smoke signals since, uh, the beginning." Sam ticked off the benchmarks on his fingers: "How he talked about you to Hana-big sign. How he talked about you to Narsi. How he talked about you to my dad. When I look back, it's obvious he's had these feelings. The only one who wasn't ready to see it was you."

"Why would he wait this long? That doesn't make sense. Ravi Misra waits for no woman."

"Has it occurred to you he was waiting to see if you'd make the first move?"

"That's not me."

"Which he must have realized, so he took a chance and...here you are. The question you have to ask yourself is do you regret it?"

"I..." Sora thought of being in Ravi's arms and that feeling of being safe and loved that had immediately enveloped her. She thought of the look in his eyes that she had seen almost every day for months when she caught him watching her across a crowded desktop. You were there my whole life. How'd I miss you? She recalled the sheer undaunted, passion and want he'd poured into their kisses. "I don't regret it. Not the kiss or the time we've spent together. I've denied these feelings for the sake of keeping the peace and I'm not sure I can do that anymore."

"Then, you have to tell him. Falling love is the best thing in the world, but it's nothing if you don't share it."

"I don't have the luxury of loving whomever I want. There are consequences."

"Face them as a team, as you've faced all kinds of stuff. If it's my dad you're worried about-okay, yeah, he might be a problem. Cross that bridge when you come to it. Do this and then the rest. Just make sure you actually do it. Missing a chance at love to avoid some negative publicity is the worst thing you could to yourself in the long run. Take it from somebody who lives with that regret every single day."