“Parth?! He’s here in the States? And you met himtoo?” Rohit sipped his drink, the cool liquid quelling his rage towards Kartik. The news of Parth’s
appearance quickly commanded his attention, “What a coincidence?! You saw him randomly?”
This was a huge country, what were the chances of two classmates running into each other?
Shehnaaz detected Rohit’s animosity and displeasure towards Parth. She blinked her huge doe like eyes at him and said softly, “It wasn’t randomly. I’vekept in touch with Parth over text and told him our address before, so it wasn’t hard for him to find here. He’s
actually so nice to me and even carried me home when Icouldn’t walk anymore.”
Rohit snorted as he deliberately ignored Shehnaaz’ssmile. He crossed his arms and looked up, “Even if that’s the case, he should’ve came to the apartment to look for you? –What’s the meaning of this, randomly seeing you on thestreet? And even carrying you home. He’s just looking to earn bonus points…”
Could it be that Parth had an ulterior motive too? Rohit had been infected by Sidharth and began imagining conspiracy theories too…
Shehnaaz understood what Rohit was implying and burst into laughter, “Brother Rohit, what are you thinking
about? Parth’s phone can track the location of mine. He just has to turn on the location function to know where Iam.” Parth probably used the location function assoon as he arrived to her building to see if she was home,
then discovered she was away… With the location provided by his phone, he was able to find Shehnaaz, whose legs
were numb from walking by then.
Rohit slapped his forehead, “No, that’s not ok. I have to find a way to delete that from his phone.” He went on to
warn Shehnaaz, “You have to pay attention to your safety too. Why did you let him locate your phone? Did he give birth to you, or raise you? You don’t have a conscience, do you not want us now that you have a boyfriend?”
It was the second time that Shehnaaz had been told she“lacked a conscience.” Her emotions were conflicted and hung her head, “It’s you guys who don’t want me anymore, how do I lack conscience?”
“Who? Who doesn’t want you?! Tell me and I’ll go beat him up!” Rohit rolled up his sleeves jokingly.
Shehnaaz looked up and smiled, “You’d really beat him up?”
“Of course. There’s less than five people in the world that your Brother Rohit can’t defeat!”
“…Then can you beat Uncle Sid?”
“…He’s too difficult, let’s have someone else.”
“Hmph” Shehnaaz pushed Rohit, “I knew youcouldn’t beat Uncle Sid, you shouldn’t have boasted infront of me. –Go make me dinner, I’m starving.”
“Ok, ok, I bought prawns and fresh scallops and was going to make garlic prawns and baked garlic scallops.” Rohit dragged Shehnaaz to the kitchen so he could make her smell like garlic and prevent shameless guys from
bothering her all the time, “Tell me, how is it that Mr. Shukladoesn’t want you anymore?”
“He has a girlfriend, so he’ll get married and have kids oneday. He won’t have time for me anymore.” Shehnaaz sighed as freed herself from his grip and scrunched her nose, “I’m not staying in the kitchen, you cook and call me when it’s ready.”
Rohit’s heart softened when he saw her swollen face,“Ok, you go shower and get some rest. I’ll call you for dinner.”
Shehnaaz nodded and watched Rohit go before taking clothes to the bathroom. When she was done, Rohit had finished making dinner. The pair sat across from each other and had a delicious meal. Shehnaaz paced around the room to digest the food while she thought about calling Parth to confirm a time for him to come over for dinner tomorrow. She got the busy tone, and thought perhaps he was calling his family. Shehnaaz hung up anddidn’t try calling again.
Parth was indeed on the phone, but he wasn’tspeaking to his family. Mahira was calling him from the India.
“Parth, why did you go to the States without saying anything?” Mahira’s voice was smooth like velvet, soft and alluring, “I miss you.”
Parth was silent for a long time, and finally spoke after Mahira pressed him on, “Mahira, I have a girlfriend.”
“Really? Who is it? Is it the little girl you went to see in the States?” Mahira asked gently, “Parth, don’t be so stubborn with me, ok?”
Parth was unsure what to say.
“Parth, I know there’s something you still can’t let go of in your heart. I’m not going to say anything more. You haven’tbeen on ‘Black Tea’s Sky’ for a long time, right? I wrote some posts recently, have a look when you have time. I’vesent the password to your phone already.” Mahira hung up.
After hesitating for a long moment, Parth unlocked his phone and logged into Weibo.
…
Rohit placed all the dishes into the dishwasher and returned to his room to report to Sidharth. This time,he actually go through to him at the first try. “Mr. Shukla? Youhaven’t slept yet? Or did you wake up early?”
It was 7am in the India right now, and he had just been on the phone with Sidharth two hours ago at 5am local
time. Sidharth actually hadn’t sleep all night, butdidn’t feel tired at all. His work was busy and intense, so it was common for him to stay awake for several days and nights.
“Tell me, what is it?” Sidharth put on his headset and closed his eyes. He leaned back on the high backed chair to relax.
Rohit peeked out the door and said quietly, “…Kartik kicked Sana out. She somehow angered him and made her walk home alone. It was a three mile walk and it took her an hour.”
Sidharth shook his head impassively, “Took one hour to walk three miles? You should make sure Sana continues
her morning exercises and not skip the ten kilometer cross-country runs.”
Rohy, “…” Mr. Shukla, you’re not focussing on the right thing! However he didn’t dare confront Sidharth and
laughed before continuing, “Parth is here and apparently came to see Sana.”
Sidharth kept his eyes shut as he rubbed between his brows and asked casually, “Why did he go to the States? Did he see Sana?”
“He did. The kid was lucky and ran into Sana after she got kicked out from Kartik’s. He even carried her for awhile.” Rohit reported anything to do with Shehnaaz in great detail to Sidharth.
“Useless. You tell Sana that if she can’t even walk three miles, she should be too ashamed to tell people she was
raised by Sidharth.”
Rohit thought Sidharth was being too harsh,
“Mr. Shukla, Sana was seriously injured today, did you forget? She was hurt physically and emotionally, can’t you call her to comfort her?” This was the true reason why he called Sidharth again that day. Poor Shehnaaz was said Sidharth didn’t want her anymore, and it scared Rohit witless. What a poor little girl! Her saddened look was just like an abandoned kitten on the streets…
Sidharth opened his eyes and put the privacy film on his monitor as he entered the password. He grunted, “Was ita serious injury? Didn’t you say Kartik was there to help?”
“Kartik left her, but you can’t do that to her.” Rohit mustered up his courage, “Even if you have a girlfriend, you can’t abandon her.”
Sidharth’s hand froze when he detected a slight change in Rohit’s tone. This didn’t sound like something Rohit would say at all. He squinted his
inky eyes and they appeared inscrutable, but the corners ofhis mouth lifted slightly. Sidharth regained his composure and said dryly, “Then you can tell Sana that I
don’t have a girlfriend. I also won’t abandon her.” He hung up and sighed deeply before getting up for a ten kilometer cross-country run.
Rohit was momentarily puzzled—then it dawned on him.
Mr. Shukla had realized that Rohit had been speaking on behalf of Sana.
Rohit was impressed. This was why Mr. Shukla was the boss, while he and Little Deepak could only be his personal secretaries—he was perceptive, considerate, and always
one step ahead of everyone else. There was no way he could ever measure up to someone like that.
Rohit tossed his phone onto his bed and went to Shehnaaz’s room to talk to her.
Shehnaaz was already fast asleep on her bed.
She was lying on her side, her swollen cheek turned upwards. The corners of her mouth were wrinkled, and her
eyebrows were tightly knitted together. She seemed to be in pain, even in her dreams.It had been a long, miserable day for her.
Rohit’s heart ached at the sight. He mentally swore at Kartik as he walked over to Shehnaaz and pulled her blanket over her. He turned off the lights, and gently shut the door before returning to his room.
…
Parth was in his hotel room. He had just finished reading the latest post on “Black Tea’s Sky”, and was now full of conflicted feelings. He fought the urge to call Mahira, but eventually gave in.
It was morning, over in the India.
Mahira was seated at her breakfast table. She accepted the call with a swipe of her finger, and said,smiling: “Had your dinner, Parth?”
It was past seven o’clock in the evening, over in America.
“Yeah.” Parth ran a hand through his hair, agitated.
“Mahira, I have a girlfriend.”
He had said this so many times now—it was as though he were trying to convince himself.
This was the only weapon he could defend himself with, inthe face of Mahira’s charms.
Mahira’s smile stayed on her face. After a moment,she said, “Is that the honest truth? Does she actually admit
to being your girlfriend?”
Parth sat up at this. “…What do you mean by that?Don’t look down on me.”
“I’m not looking down on you." Mahira could not help laughing. “It’s just that Shefu told me that youhaven’t quite won over the lady’s affections, not yet.”
In actual fact, Shefali had told Mahira that the young girl Parth had been trying to woo was simply not interested in him…
Mahira knew better than to say this to Parth’sface, of course. Men were such sensitive creatures.
If she humiliated him now, there would be no possibility of their getting back together.
Parth breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up the remote control, turned on the TV, and switched to the HBO
movie channel. “Shefali doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Don’t listen to her.”
“I don’t want to hear it from her, anyway.” Mahira’stone was suddenly serious. “I want to hear it from you. Do you actually have a girlfriend, or don’t you?”
“Why do you care? So what if it I don’t?”
“If you don’t have a girlfriend, well, that’s fine. But if you’reseeing someone, then I’ll have to keep my distance.” Mahira’s voice was silky smooth, but her tone was firm and resolute.
Parth’s eyes were on the TV, but his brain wasn’tregistering anything he was seeing. He mumbled, “…Keep your distance? You want to keep your distance from me?”
“Yes. I can’t be like Shefali. I can’t continue being friends with you, if I know you’re in love with someone else.” Mahira rose from her chair and, with her free hand, began to water her broad-leaved epiphyllum with her watering can.
“I’m not the type to do something like that.”
“You knew?” Parth was very surprised.
When Parth and Mahira had been together in high school, Shefali had been good friends with the both of them…
“Of course I knew. I’m not stupid.” Mahira laughed lightly as she set the watering can down and caressed the
leaves of the epiphyllum. She found a Rain flower stone, and put it in the flower pot.
“But you don’t mind?” Parth remembered how they had been each other’s first love, back in high school. They had shared so many firsts together. His heart gradually softened at the thought.
It was obvious that Mahira was also thinking of the memories they shared; her voice had grown gentle and sweet. “Of course not. Why would I? You don’t like her,that’s all I need to know. So let her stay by your side and, asthe saying goes, quench her thirst by thinking of plums…”
The witty pun was very like her. Parth’s heart flopped over like a puppy, docile and defenseless: he had never been able to resist her charming wit.
Mahira was still the only one who could send his heart on a rollercoaster of emotions, the only one who shared his tastes, the only one who could read his mind…
Parth suddenly thought of Mahira’s foreign boyfriend, and his lips curled with distaste. He suppressed the agitation in his heart and said, carefully, “I’m sleepy, Istill haven’t gotten over my jet lag. I’m going to take a shower now, I’ll call you tomorrow.” With that, he hung up
on her.
Mahira glared at her phone, unable to believe that Parth had hung up on her.
In all the years they had been together, Parth had never hung up on her, not even once!
It seemed that Shehnaaz had a special spot in Parth’s heart.
For the first time, Mahira was afraid.
She did not believe in fairytale “I’ll never love another forthe rest of my life” romances.
If someone was unwilling to move on from a past relationship, it was only because they had yet to find abetter match.
Once they found someone, they would quickly forget about their ex.
Mahira was uneasy now. She could not bear to think of Parth actually getting together with Shehnaaz.
She hastily dialed Shefali’s number.
Mahira had been overseas for the past several years,but Shefali had stayed in the country with Parth,and most likely knew everything that had happened with him.
…
Shehnaaz awoke the next day to find that the swelling on her cheek had completely subsided. There was now only a subtle hint of red, as though the blood vessels under her fair skin were now a little closer to the surface. Her face would probably be back to normal in a few days.
She picked up the bottle of ointment Rohit had given her, and suppressed the urge to kiss it.
The ointment was extremely effective. She was sure that Brother Rohit had gotten it from Uncle Sid, and was
determined to get some more from Uncle Sid once she was back in the country.
Uncle Sid had also promised her that he would let her picka few of his black T-shirts from his closet to use as her pajamas.
Even if he had found himself a girlfriend by then, she would hold him to his word. A promise was a promise!
Shehnaaz pursed her lips. She opened the organizer appon her phone, and made a memo for the ointment and theT-shirts. She set the app to remind her on the day of her return to the India six months later, which happened to be Christmas eve.
She collected herself, and walked out of her room after changing into a Polo shirt and denim shorts. She said to Rohit: “Brother Rohit, I’m inviting Parth over for dinner today. What’s on the menu?”
Rohit realized that he had turned into Shehnaaz’spersonal chef. He stewed over this, depressed, for a long moment before finally saying, “Why don’t we eat out? We’lllook for a classy restaurant, eat something nice and expensive.”
All dining expenses when they ate out would be reimbursed…
It was an excellent idea. Rohit mentally gave himself an upvote for that.
Shehnaaz thought about it, and decided she liked the idea.
The injury on her face was so much better now; it would be practically invisible if she put on a little concealer before going out. “Okay. Why don’t you help book a table for us,
Brother Rohit? I’ll call Parth.” With that, she walked away,humming a little tune.
Huh, someone’s in a good mood.
Rohit blinked at Shehnaaz’s retreating back. He took out his phone and began looking for a restaurant.
He wasn’t familiar with any of the restaurants nearby, so he made a dinner reservation at the most expensive restaurant in the neighborhood. He was a firm believer in the golden rule: expensive food was not necessarily delicious, but it was definitely high class.
Parth showed up at the apartment in the afternoon.
He made polite conversation with Rohit for a few minutes before entering Shehnaaz’s room.
Parth took in the furnishings in her room. He said,“Nice place. Did your family rent this apartment for you?”
Shehnaaz was about to tell him that Kartik was paying for her apartment, but changed her mind. She refused to
help Kartik earn extra brownie points with her friends,not when he had been so rude to her the day before. She
merely smiled and made no attempt to correct Parth.
Parth had made up his mind. He moved closer to Shehnaaz, took her hand, and said softly, “Sana, will you
agree to be my girlfriend?”
*
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I hope you enjoy reading it.
Love you all.