Her smile brightened even more. Her tongue came out to lick her lips, he was sure for ice cream. But he had other thoughts flood his dirty mind.
“Ritu.”
They broke away from each other’s eyes, turning around to an old man in a white shirt and black trousers.
“Papa.”
The old man’s eyes came to him, but Nilay showed zero interest in playing the good boy out to court the father.
“This is Nilay Patel,” Ritu introduced, her voice back to that no-nonsense Doctor tone of their Day 1 encounter. “Nilay, this is my father, Rasesh Kapadia.”
Nilay nodded. He did not want to shake hands. The old man took the cue and banded his hands behind his back, looking up just as stoically.
“What do you do, Nilay?”
“I am a couturier.”
His eyebrows creased in ignorance.
“He is a fashion designer.” Ritu helped.
His brows went up. “In India?”
Nilay gave a nod.
“Ritu?” Her father cued, hoping to get more explanation from her.
“Hmm?” She was just as cool.
“How do you know him?”
“He is working with Maya and Gautam.”
“Aah,” her father smiled.
“And seeing Ritu,” Nilay completed. The skin under his hand heated. He held on.
“How old are you?” Her father asked congenially. “Where are you from? Which part of Gujarat, I mean?”
“Panchmahal.”
“And your parents?”
“Papa,” Ritu interrupted. “We don’t need the interrogation here."
“We will talk on the phone later.” He widened his eyes, giving her a chin nod. “See you later, beta,” he told Nilay before moving on.
“What happened to turn me from Nilay to beta?” He wondered aloud, watching Rasesh Kapadia walk away.
“You ticked all his boxes,” she deadpanned.
“Really?” He grinned, dipping his chin to look down at her.
“Really,” she smiled sweetly up at him. “And if his checkboxes mattered to me, I would have been married to some neurologist in Chicago with three kids by now.”
Nilay felt his mouth stretch, thanking some lucky stars that her father’s checkboxes didn't matter to her.
“Aren’t you affected by it?” He asked solemnly.
