Though the faint scent of her perfume still lingered in the air, his heart thudded painfully when he realised that Siya was gone.
He’d only been gone ten minutes, five if he didn’t count the time he’d spent pacing outside the elevator rehearsing how he would tell her the truth about who he is and why he’d cometonight to meet her, before anything else happened between them. But it was long enough, it turned out, to lose her.
Abhay noticed the folded piece of hotel stationery and the anklet perched on top of it. He crossed the room in long, hurried strides and reached for the note first.
It wasn’t by chance that we met, was it?
The air rushed out of his lungs as if he’d been punched. He sank onto the bed, the note in one hand and the anklet in the other. His fingers curled around the seashells as he looked at the door, willing her to walk back through it so he could explain everything. His shoulders slumped, his hands falling to his sides as the silence became suffocating around him.
He had told himself he had time, that he could find the right way to explain, that she would understand if only he could show her what they had was real. Now there was no chance of that. Now all she would remember was his lie.
He pulled his phone out and called the only person he could think of. When she answered, he whispered, ‘Nica, I’ve messed up.’
Chapter 7
Present Day
Abhay kept his hands tightly curled around the steering wheel. The soft hum of the engine filled the silence inside, but his thoughts were anything but quiet. He hadn’t slept, not even for a few minutes. The memory of Siya walking out of the dining room last night haunted him.
Her message had come just after two in the morning.
Can you come over tomorrow morning? We need to talk.
Abhay had stared at that text for ten minutes, trying to see deeper than her words. Pacing around his apartment, phone in hand, he’d debated whether to reply or just drive over to her place right then to make sure she was okay.
He hadn’t done either. And now, hours later, the anxiety that had kept him awake was twisting in his gut with a sharper edge. Something in her tone had hit him right in the chest and left it aching like a bruise.
His car phone rang, pulling him out of his thoughts.
Luv calling.
Abhay answered it and put him on speaker, already aware of what he would say.
‘You’re late! We’re already two games in. Swayam is gloating about how he’s better than you.’
Abhay rubbed his temple and sighed. ‘Can’t make it today. Something has come up.’
‘This is racquetball, not brunch. You can’t just skip it on a whim,’ Luv scolded him.
It slipped before he could catch it. ‘I’m going over to Siya’s place.’
There was a pause, and then Luv laughed. ‘Okay, no seriously.’
‘I’m serious.’
‘Come again?’ Luv asked, voice cracking mid-word. Abhay heard him holler and then Swayam joined the conversation.
‘Siya? As in our Siya?’
Abhay ignored the burn of jealousy that blazed through his veins when Swayam referred to her as “ours”.
‘Yes. She texted last night saying she needed to talk.’
Luv let out a low whistle and asked, ‘And you’re just going over without a bulletproof vest? Do you need me to be on standby outside her building with a getaway car or…’
‘Not in the mood, Luv,’ Abhay said firmly.
Luv made a choked sound. ‘Okay, wait. I thought you two weren’t even on speaking terms.
