“You said you were pining! You said you had feelings for me for a while. That’s pining, Mr. Nasser.”
“Kam, you’re incorrigible.”
She smiled impishly. “And yet you love me anyway. It’s okay. I was pining, too. That’s why I haven’t had a hookup since Ernesto. You’re the reason I’ve been so sexually frustrated. Anyway, do you think sex will be weird between us? I mean, we’ve known each other, like,forever, and maybe we weren’t always tight, but…did you ever see theFriendsepisode where Rachel laughed every time Ross touched her butt?”
“Kam, I’ve touched your butt before. Just a few weeks ago, remember? I don’t recall you laughing.”
She remembered a lot about their spare-room shenanigans. She hadn’t been able to look at her tattoo without shivering since. But she didn’t remember any rear-end groping. She wrinkled her nose. “How is it you remember touching my butt but don’t remember who initiated that kiss? Is my butt that memorable?”
He snorted a laugh. “Actually, yes, it is. You know what, Kam? I’ve been pining, as you call it, over you for a year. I didn’t expect this would be the conversation we’d have on the day we finally come together.”
She waggled her brows. “Oh, believe me, Rohan, when we finallycometogether, there won’t be any conversation. I plan to leave you speechless. Also, tell me more about this pining…You’ve known me for twenty-seven years, and you’ve only pined for one year? Was there no pining the year you finished law school?” The moment she asked the question, she wished she could take it back. Bringing up the past didn’t fit this light-and-playful conversation.
“Kam, I—”
“No, never mind, Rohan. It was a long time ago. We can continue to pretend it didn’t happen.”
“No. You asked the question. We’re going to be honest with each other, remember? We should have talked about that day a long time ago. I didn’t have…these kinds of feelings for you back then. I thought you were sexy, and we had fun that summer, but I wasn’t looking for more. I didn’t think you were, either. I’m sorry if I misinterpreted you.”
She shook her head. “You didn’t misinterpret me. I mean, I had a small crush on you, but who didn’t? And let’s face it—I hooked up with a lot of people back then. It’s just after…” Could she tell him about the cascade effect that little kiss (and a butt grope that shedidremember) had on her life? “You remember that my parents found us making out on the couch, right?”
“Yeah, of course. They never said anything to me about it, though.”
“Well, they did say something to me. Mom screamed that I’d ruin your life, and that you were way too good for me, and she basically reminded me how worthless she thought I was. Dad defended me, and they got into this massive fight. We were in the car and we got into an accident.”
“Oh my god, Kam. Is that why you refused to speak to me?”
“What? I didn’t refuse to speak to you.”
“I called you the night after your accident to see how you were doing. Your mother said you didn’t want to talk to me again. I believed her. So, I let it go. I thought…well…we didn’t need tension between our families. My brother and your sister were dating, and our fathers were business partners. I should have been there for you.”
Kamila exhaled. “It’s fine. My mother was wrong about me, anyway. I was in therapy for a while to help me understand that. And…” How could she explain this? “I want to make this work with you, Rohan. I do. But the thing is, that memory of you and me back then is kind of attached to a very bad memory for me. Lately, my brain has been getting it all jumbled and I’ve been feeling a lot of insecurity come back for…reasons. I’m going to start therapy again soon. Just so you know.”
He smiled small. “Thank you for being honest with me. We can go slow. Whatever you need.”
Kamila frowned. “Not too slow, I hope.”
He smiled. “And Kam? I think your motherwaswrong.” He paused, looking deeply at her. This was a big mistake. She wanted to see him for real, not through a phone screen. “You were different back then,” he said. “You were a kid, and you were a ton of fun. No one took you seriously. But we talked a lot that summer—”
“Like we do now.”
“Yeah, like we do now. I saw something else in there during those talks. You were empathetic, and you understood people so well. You were so deeply kind and conscientious, and much smarter than people realized. We were in different stages of life, and maybe we both needed to grow up, but…I don’t think you would have ruined my life. I was definitely not too good for you—probably the opposite. Because the Kamila I fell in love with was in there, and I saw her back then.”
Kamila blinked. He saw her. She was twenty years old—a college dropout with no future and a giant chip on her shoulder. Everyone saw a delinquent, and he saw the best in her. She didn’t know what to say. She looked at him through the tiny screen on her phone.
“Say something, Kam. Are you crying?”
“Yes,” she said, sniffling. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Kam. Now, tell me more about this frustration of yours.”
***
The Aim High board of directors met on Monday, and much to Marlene’s disappointment (Kamila assumed), they voted to retain Emerald for all their finance needs. Kamila came very close to saying no, and not taking the client—she didn’t much like the idea of continuing to work with Anil. But Jana convinced her otherwise. If Jana accepted the job at Aim High, then she would be Kamila’s contact person, not the sperm donor (as Jana had taken to calling Anil). Plus, Rohan was on that board. Not that Kamila needed excuses to see him anymore, but still. She liked the idea of him sort of being a client of hers.
And about seeing Rohan, it turned out getting a new boyfriend at the same time as putting in an offer to purchase a company wasn’t ideal for finding the time to actually see that boyfriend. The fact that the boyfriend was the one she was buying the company from, all while he was purchasing shares of his company from her father, only exacerbated their free-time scarcity. Kamila was in meetings with clients all week, both hers and her father’s, and in the evenings she and Dad worked on getting Emerald’s business valuation sorted and putting together the paperwork for her offer to purchase. Rohan was working long hours ironing out the legal details for both sales. Although they had several business conversations during the week, they still kept their nightly video chats before sleeping. Playful, loving, teasing. Just like it had always been with Rohan. Kamila had her best friend back.
Most of their friends and family were thrilled about the upgrade to Kamila and Rohan’s relationship. Shelina seemed to think this meant her sons were finally getting cousins—and double cousins at that. Kamila didn’t have the heart to tell her sister that she didn’t really want kids. Dad didn’t believe Kamila at first when she told him she and Rohan were seeing each other, but then he surprisingly gave his blessing. He said he’d worry less about Kamila while he was in Florida if he knew Rohan was there to take care of her. Kamila rolled her eyes at that—she didn’tneedto be taken care of. But yes. She dreaded Dad leaving less now that she knew Rohan would be around even more.
