‘Who’s the designer behind this magnificent dress you’re wearing?’
She snorted and that set him off. They both burst out laughing.
It felt strange yet comforting. But he knew what had to be done.
‘We need to get divorced, Kaavi.’ He couldn’t believe he’d said it. But seeing her laugh made him want to see her happy even if it was without him.
She nodded.
He waited for more, for her to say something, but she didn’t. And then her cellphone rang.
She excused herself and he watched her pick up the phone from the coffee table.
‘Hi … yes … I’m okay. You’re too much. Of course I’m fine.’ She then laughed at something the caller said.
‘I know. We’ll do it when you get back. I love you too.’
Neel blinked and hated the ache that spontaneously developed in his stomach. She was talking to the man she lived with and she told him that she loved him.
He ran his palm over his face and sat up straighter. He was starting to feel exactly like he did when he’d found her note.
When she got back to the table, he stood.
‘I have to go. Can I send the divorce papers tomorrow?’
She gasped. ‘You’ve already drawn them up?’
‘Of course, Kaavi. What did you think I was in town for?’
She pushed her plate of pasta away and stood too.
‘I still don’t get why you’re staying for a month or why you initially wanted to talk or whatever for a month,’ she said.
‘I’m actually in town for some business. I thought I’d get the divorce over and done with, and spending time with you for a month was just a way for me to get the perks, if you know what I mean,’ he said callously.
She stepped back and started buttoning her collar, avoiding looking at him.
He’d hurt her. It was written all over her face. But what did it matter? She was in love with someone else.
‘You can send the papers tomorrow. I’ll be at home all day,’ she said quietly.
Neel nodded, but she wasn’t even looking at him.
‘Thanks for supper. I’ll see you around … oh wait, I won’t. So I guess it’s goodbye and good luck,’ he said, emotionless.
She didn’t respond, her fingers missing buttons as her hands shook. He walked out without looking back.
He didn’t send the papers. She’d waited, on edge all day. But no divorce papers arrived at her door.
The next day, she left the apartment looking for anything totake her mind off Neel. She was still confused by what he’d said. Neel was never arrogant. In fact, his gentle nature was what had drawn her to him. But his words made no sense. Why would he want to use her for sex when he could get any woman he wanted? He was in Rally for business and had probably discovered her whereabouts, so thought he would kill two birds with one stone. But she couldn’t understand his initial proposition.
She found herself on Rally’s Main Street. She’d once commented to her cousin that Rally looked as if it was straight out of a Christmas movie; she still believed it, even when it was scorching hot almost every day. The main street had an old-school ice-cream parlour – something that was probably extinct in most parts of the country.
A tackle and bait shop right next to a dress shop? Yes, it was called Dora’s Dress Boutique and Kaavi had it on good authority – Shona – that it reeked of expensive perfume to overcome the stink of bait from next door.
The supermarket on Main Street was called The Super Market. Most Rally residents supported local, so although a supermarket from a giant franchise was a couple of kilometers away, The Super Market was always busy.
When Kaavi had first moved to Rally, she half expected Father Christmas to jump out of a corner and offer her a chance to go back in time and change her choices. But all she got was headaches from the heat. Now that she’d acclimatised, everyone knew who she was, and everything she did filtered back to her grandfather, who people unashamedly called ‘Rally’s richest man’. Kaavi and Sen hated it, but it was what it was. They came from a wealthy family and they couldn’t change that.
