And then there’s the way she looks at me. It’s as if she can barely tolerate being in the same room.
What the hell did I do? And why—why does it even bother me? It doesn’t. It shouldn’t. I swore off complications a long time ago. Life’s hard enough without adding…this.Whateverthisis, I don’t need it. I need to stop offering food to wandering cows and humans, no matter how captivating their wide, questioning eyes might be.
Right. No more distractions. Stick to the plan: work, sleep, repeat. Keep it simple.
And then, of course—the phone. The damn phone. It never stops ringing.
I groaned, grabbing it off the counter. “Yes?” I answered, too drained even to bother checking the caller ID.
“Hey, Handsome!” Meeta’s voice came through, brimming with her usual, unstoppable excitement.
“Why are you calling me at midnight?” I asked, sitting up straighter.
“I can call you whenever I want,” she replied without missing a beat.
“Aren’t you on your honeymoon? Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know,busy—eating your husband’s head off or something?” I already regretted picking up.
“No surprise, he’s your best friend. Just like you—always glued to the laptop, working day and night. Honestly, he should’ve just married his office… or maybe his phone.”
“Oh, and you would’ve let him?” I began pouring water into a glass.
“Hey!Mr. Manav Oberoi,I didn’t marry your best friend just so you could team up against me every time!”
“Remind me again why you married him, then? I warned you, remember?”
“As if I had a choice…mmmm baby…!I’m on the call with Mr. Hothead,” she giggled, clearly distracted by Kartik’s antics in the background.
“Meeta… why don’t you two finishwhatever that is,and I’ll call you later?” I sighed.
“Somebody missing some action?” Kartik’s voice broke in. I could picture his grin perfectly.
“Hi, Kartik…” I replied, rolling my eyes. “By the way, can youpleaseput your laptop away for a few days? I can’t keep answering calls every time your wife complains about you going into ‘non-husband mode.’”
“Hahaha… she’ll call you anyway, man… So, how are you?”
“All good… How are you both?” I replied.
“We’re blissfully happy—married… and very much in love. Let’s just say we’re keeping busy—barely sleeping, missing breakfasts…”
“When are you coming back? I need to be here a little longer than planned…”
“Man, I don’t get it… You usually handle properties like a cup of coffee. How many more months do you need to finalize this one in Beaufort? And why is it that you, the CEO of the Oberoi Group—have to be the one dealing with this alone?”
“It’s… important to me,” I replied, rolling my shoulders to ease the tension. “And listen… Rocky Mehra is on the move…”
“I’ll handle that piece of shit,” Kartik interjected firmly. “Bro,” his voice turned serious, “You trust me to run a multibillion-dollar company, but not this beautifully old building?”
“Listen, I gotta go. Don’t let Meeta hit something on your head again.”
“Manav, for the last six months, I've been asking you—what’s so special about this house that it’s taking you forever to even step inside, let alone sell it?”
“It was… Mom’s.” My voice was quieter now, the sound of waves crashing softly in the distance, providing an odd sense of comfort. “She spent her final weeks there.”
There was a long pause on the other end. “Shit… I'm coming there next week, and we'll figure it out together, okay?”
“No need,” I replied quickly, “Just get back to India when you’re free. The empire needs its COO back soon. And tell Meeta to stop reading so many romance novels. They are fiction, not real.”
“Don’t worry, that ship has already sailed,” Kartik laughed. “By the way… met any girl over there?”
