“I’m not looking to get married,” I said automatically.
“What are you looking for,didi?” Reeti asked gently.
The question opened up a void inside me. Like standing on the edge of a cliff and staring into the abyss. Once you took away what other people thought of me, was there anything even there?
“You keep calling me that.”
“Because it is your name, yeah? Almost your name. And I think of you as a sister.” She narrowed her eyes. “Stop avoiding the question.”
Right. “I want to find where I belong, I guess. A world of my own.”
“It’s a good thing you’re a writer then, isn’t it?”
“Why’s that?”
She smiled. “You can make your own world.”
A rush of affection filled me. “I love you, Reeti.”
“I love you, too.” Her smile widened. “But I am still going to let my parents set me up with this boy.”
—
The smell of baking drifted up the stairs as I left Reeti’s, butter and... I took a deep, appreciative sniff. Vanilla, maybe?
Tim popped out of his apartment as I passed. Like the troll under the bridge in “Three Billy Goats Gruff,” lying in wait for the sound of my footsteps.
The image made me smile. “Hey, Tim.”
“I have something for you.” His tie was off, collar unbuttoned, shirtsleeves rolled back. I wasn’t going to pretend there was some imaginary attraction there. But he did have very nice forearms.
“Chelsea buns?” I asked.
He looked blank.
“I thought I smelled baking,” I explained.
“Scones. In the oven.” He frowned. “Did you want Chelsea buns?”
I sighed. “It was a joke, Tim.”
“Ah. Yes. No, I wanted to give you this.” He wiped his hands on the towel tossed over his shoulder. Reached inside his apartment.
A book, I saw as he offered it to me. “Oscar Diggs?”
“His Guardians series. One of the early ones.”
I glanced at the lurid cover, a hedge of thorns pierced by a sword. “What’s it about?”
He held it out. “Read it.”
“Really, I...”
“The heroine reminded me of you.”
“That’s very nice of you. But I don’t have time. I already have so much reading to do for class.” And there was the book of plays from Sam I hadn’t even started.
“Then this will be an escape.”
