“First of all,” Shelina said, pulling Kamila into a hug, “it’s good to see you, Sis.”
Kamila hugged her back. Kamila wasn’t super close with her sister—it was hard to be when for years Kamila thought Shelina believed her little sister was a disgrace to the family. But they’d talked it out and Shelina had apologized in family therapy. Apparently, Shelina had coped with the tension in the family by staying out of it as much as possible.
Kamila would have preferred her older sister had stood up for her instead, but she forgave her and assumed if they lived closer together now, they would be friends. But even if they weren’t really tight, Kamila loved her sister and was happy to see her. Zayan, too, who was a great guy and a loyal brother-in-law.
She hugged him, trying not to think about what she’d been doing with the man’s brother only hours ago.
Another reason to tread carefully with this issue with Rohan. She didn’t think of Rohan as a brother. Obviously. But hewasa part of her family, and that was one more reason why a relationship was impossible. All Kamila could think about were the people who would get hurt when things went belly-up between them.
Kamila squared her shoulders and switched her mind back to what was important here—Dad. Not her feelings for Rohan. She looked pointedly at her sister. “Okay, what the heck is Dad on?”
“A new antianxiety medication.” Shelina chuckled. “It might be working a bit too well. He’ll probably have his dosage tweaked when he sees the new psychiatrist.”
Kamila shook her head, smiling. “Maybe I should get some of this stuff myself. How’d you get him to agree to see a psychiatrist again?”
“Rohan convinced him.”
Figured. “How were his test results?”
“Nothing significant. He still needs to work on his cholesterol and blood pressure, but we knew that. His heart is okay. In fact, all things considered, he’s well enough. The doctor said we can treat this whole episode as an early warning. She recommended he take some time off work and reduce his stress for a few weeks. He needs to learn better self-care and mood monitoring. The doctor suggested yoga.”
Kamila nodded, but her mind was racing. Time off work? This messed up their whole plan. He was supposed to be part-time for a month while Kamila proved she could manage the more complicated Emerald clients. But if he stopped working altogether, who would take the rest of his clients? Could she? She still had her own. Plus, the puppy prom and the Aim High party. How could she impress Anil Malek if she was spread even thinner?
“I hear you’ve already taken some of his clients. Rohan’s agreed to take the rest for a few weeks,” Zayan said.
“That’s not necessary,” Kamila said quickly. “I can take them. Rohan is too busy.” She couldn’t ask him to take on even more for Dad.
Shelina shook her head. “How are you going to do that, Kam? You have your own clients.”
Zayan snorted. “Rohan’s not going to be taking the clients himself, anyway. He’ll divide the cases among the team at Toronto HNS.”
Well, that was a relief. Of course, it made sense—Rohan wouldn’t do this himself. He was in a delegating role at his company, not a doing role.
“He might come by for dinner so we can discuss details,” Zayan said, taking an apple out of the fruit bowl and rubbing it on his sweatshirt. He took a hearty bite.
Fudge nuggets. Rohan was coming here? Today? Shedidwant to speak to him, but she wasn’t thinking right away.
“By the way,” Zayan said, chewing the apple with his mouth open. Zayan wasn’t nearly as…polished as his brother. He was the hoodie-and-jeans sort of executive, instead of the suit-and-tie type. “I can’t believe what you did yesterday.”
Kamila’s eyes widened.Crap crap crap. It hadn’t occurred to her that Rohan might be the kiss-and-tell type. He certainly wasn’t seven years ago.
She tried to look nonchalant. “Oh, I—”
“Zayan, don’t tease Kamila. So what if she brought him throw pillows?”
“Hell, I’m not complaining,” Zayan said, laughing. “Someone has to try to breathe some life into my brother. He was even wearing a color this morning.”
Phew. But also, Rohan told them about the cushions she bought him?
“Kamila!” Dad called out. “I’m hungry. You should have seen the lunch they gave me in the hospital. They called it soup…but broth with two carrots isn’t soup. Is there any more of the bean stew you made? With some crackers. The ones the hospital gave me were salted…Can you imagine! I have high blood pressure!”
“Okay, Dad, relax. I got this…”
And Kamila didn’t have time to worry about Rohan, or anything else. She only needed to take care of Dad.
***
Kamila spent the weekend mostly on the couch with Dad, watching cooking shows and working with him to come up with a meal plan for the week. His mood was the same—almost too happy and enthusiastic about everything. While she was glad to see him in a good mood, the fact that it was chemically induced didn’t do much to put her at ease. Tomorrow, he could be back to how he was before. Or worse.
