His eyes were firmly pinned on her, scrutinizing her every feature. “Are you family?”
A wide grin split her face. “Yes.”
“Is she expecting you?”
“No. We were in town and we thought…we’d drop in and surprise her.”
He seemed a little skeptical, but jotted down her details in a book and handed them a visitor’s access card. “Elevators are down there,” he said, pointing to a narrow corridor. “Go up to the twentieth floor and ask for Gene. She’s her personal assistant and should be able to help you.”
“Thank you very much.” She grabbed Kevin’s hand, brimming with excitement now. The wild goose chase had paid off. They’d found her and now she was seconds away from meeting her. “Did you hear what he said?” she asked Kevin as she pushed the button for the elevator. “He asked if I was family. I told you I look like her.”
They had traveled miles, been on the road for weeks, and the elevator ride to the twentieth floor was the longest wait she’d ever had to endure.
When the doors opened, there was another desk with a bronzed plated name tag that read Gene Mullins, and Jasmin walked directly to it.
“Hi. We’re here to see Jayshree Kapoor.”
Gene wasn’t as friendly as Leonard and didn’t even smile. “Is she expecting you?”
“No, we thought we’d—”
“Mrs. Kapoor doesn’t like unannounced guests. I don’t know why Leonard sent you up here. You can schedule an appointment. She’s available on Tuesday at noon and—”
“I’m not making an appointment. We won’t be long. I just want to speak to her for a few minutes.”
“Mrs. Kapoor is a very busy woman. She doesn’t have a few minutes and she certainly won’t make the time for someone who doesn’t have a previous appointment.”
Jasmin was getting irritable. She hadn’t come all this way just to be turned away by a bitchy PA. “Then we’ll wait until she’s done for the day.”
Gene rolled her eyes and pressed a button on her speaker phone. “Mrs. Kapoor, you have a visitor…” She looked up at Jasmin for a name.
“Oh…Jasmintha Daas.”
“Jasmintha Daas is here to see you.”
There was a long pause and hearing her mother’s voice made her heart do a little flip. “She doesn’t have an appointment.”
The comment was cold and completely unfeeling, though Gene had said she was busy and probably didn’t recognize the last name. But she wasn’t going to schedule an appointment to see her own mother. “I’m not leaving until I see her,” Jasmin stated adamantly.
There was another stilted pause, which showed that her mother had heard her and then her voice came over the speaker again. “Take her to the boardroom on the eighteenth floor and, Gene…don’t let Amit see her.”
Gene immediately stood up and instead of taking them back to the elevators, she led them down the stairwell ofthe emergency fire escape. She waited for them to enter the boardroom and closed the door behind them without saying another word.
Kevin looked wary as he sat down beside her in one of the high-back leather chairs. “Jasmin, maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
“Kevin, we traveled all this way to see her…I need to see her.”
He took her hand again and gently rubbed his thumb against hers while they waited. It was barely ten minutes later when the door opened again and it was like looking at a future version of herself. Her mother had the same long, black hair and light brown eyes, though her eyes weren’t as big and her lips were thinner which made her look more regal, more sophisticated.
“Hi,” Jasmin said, but her voice seemed to be stuck in her larynx. Her heart was racing at an incredible speed. “I’m Jasmint—”
“I know who you are.” Her tone was just as cold as before. “I want to know why you’re here.”
“I wanted to meet you…maybe talk a little…get to know each other.”
Jayshree didn’t sit down, which was a clear indication that she expected this conversation to be short. “Does Rajan know you’re here?”
“No, he told me never to contact you.”
