“You should get that,” Tani said huskily.
“It can wait.”
But the phone started up again, juddering on the floor and he made the mistake of glancing at it. His blood ran cold at the number flashing on the display. Almost on cue, someone knocked on the door.
“Tani?” Shikha’s concerned voice filtered through the door.
Their eyes locked as the implications of getting caught together in a locked room sunk in. Tani put a finger to her lips, not that he needed the warning. Kabir shut his eyes and fell back on the ground, flipping his phone face down as he did so to avoid looking at that damned number.
“Yeah?” Tani called out.
“Are you okay sweetie?”
“I am, Ma. I’ll be down in a minute.”
A pause and then Shikha said, “Can you open the door? I just want to see that you’re okay.”
“I need a moment, Ma, please?”
Another pause and then, Shikha sighed heavily. “Are you drinking in there, Tani?”
Tanisha groaned. “NO! When I come out, I’ll breathe in your face okay? But could I just have this moment to myself?” She channelled her inner, outraged, hormonal teenager and let loose. “Is it too much to ask for? One moment of privacy away from the madness of this family? Do we need to be in each other’s faces all the damn time?”
“That’s enough.” Shikha’s crisp voice cut through her tirade. “I’ll give you your moment. You can join us downstairs when you’re ready to be in the faces of the people who love you so damn much.”
Before Tani could respond, they heard the sounds of Shikha’s footsteps receding, the click of her heels slowly fading away.
“You’re going to pay for that one,” Kabir said tiredly, sitting up and scrubbing his hands over his face.
She shrugged, an intricate byplay of emotions crisscrossing over her face. “What’s one more added to my list of sins?” she murmured.
Kabir drank in the sight of her, sitting on that mattress, her wild tangle of curls tumbling around her beautiful, sad face.
“No guy is worth giving up your dreams for, Bug,” he said quietly. “This is your life and you should live it for yourself.”
“Jay didn’t ask me to give up anything, Kabir,” she replied tiredly. “Moving back to India was my idea.”
His heart stumbled in his chest. “Why?” he asked, though he had a feeling the answer would destroy him.
“I did give up my dreams of living and working in New York because of a guy,” she said, meeting his devastated eyes. “I can’t do it, Kabs. I can’t live in New York and not – “ She stopped for a moment, tears finally spilling over. “New York is you. It’s…Itwas,”she corrected herself, “the hope of us, of us being an ‘us’. I can’t be there anymore. I can’t be around you and not have you in my life.”
He opened his mouth to say something but she held a hand up before he could interrupt and continued to shatter his heart, “Not the way I have you. The way I want you. I can’t do it anymore, Kabir. I want to live my life, I want to move on, and I can’t do it if you’re around. I need to not be where you are. I need you gone.”
She rose to her feet, walked over to where he sat on the floor. She crouched beside him, leaned forward and kissed him, softly, gently, aching beautifully. A feather soft touch, there and gone before he could do anything but tremble.
“Bye Kabs.” And with that final whisper, she rose, unlocked the door and left.
CHAPTER 12
TANISHA
Tani racedthrough the changing rooms backstage, her hair flying in a wild, tangled mop behind her. She’d just about managed to coax the security team into letting her in and it had only worked because the guy in charge had seen her with Kabir often enough. She opened the door to the main room, the one Kabir usually used before a show but it was empty.
Shit. She ran down the long hallway, knowing she only had minutes before the band was due to take to the stage for their rehearsal. Where the hell was he?
“Tanisha?” Rahul, Kabir’s assistant, widened his eyes when he saw her. “Is everything okay?”
“Kabir,” she gasped, pressing a hand to her side. “I need Kabir.”
