‘Neel.’
He was in dark denim jeans and a grey button-down shirt. Long sleeves, Kaavi noted.
He wiped a few beads of sweat off his forehead.
‘Is it always this hot in Rally?’
‘I asked the same question when I got here. You just have to learn to dress for it and always find a place with air conditioning,’ she said.
His eyes travelled down her legs.
‘So you’re saying I should get shorts?’
‘You’re here for business, right? Shorts won’t work in the boardroom, although I doubt there are any boardrooms in this town,’ she said.
Durban was an hour away and that was where everyone did business. Sen’s law firm and Shona’s bridal clothing shop were in the city. Rally was laid back. Kaavi wondered what business Neel was after in Rally.
‘I really need to get out of this,’ Neel said, pulling at the collar of his shirt.
Kaavi shyly looked away. But Neel had caught her expression before she did.
He took a step forward, oozing confidence and sex appeal.
‘You’d like to see me out of this, wouldn’t you?’
Kaavi didn’t respond. But the fire was building in her belly. They were standing on Main Street on a Wednesday afternoon and this was what was happening.
‘Kaavi,’ he whispered.
‘This is silly,’ she whispered back.
‘Not to us. We get it,’ he said.
‘No. It’s never made sense. And it’s already made us make one bad decision,’ she said.
‘I don’t regret marrying you and I didn’t marry you for sex,’ he said.
She believed him. Neel was always sincere, or the Neel she knew was. The Neel who had arrived in Rally three days ago confused her.
‘You didn’t send the divorce papers,’ she said quietly, snapping out of the spell.
‘I didn’t,’ he said coolly.
‘Why?’
‘Just answer one question. Why did you leave me?’
Kaavi looked around. Everyone was going about their business. Shona’s dad’s tailor shop was busy. The ice-cream parlor was crowded and the beauty salon was buzzing with customers. But here she was ready to sink to the ground. A sudden, overwhelming storm was about to tear through her mind and body. And then her heart started racing uncontrollably, as if it was trying to break free from her chest. She felt starved for air. Just breathe, she told herself. She couldn’t believe this was happening here, in front of Neel.
‘Kaavi? Kaavi, are you okay?’
She gripped his arm to anchor herself and gasped for air.
He pulled her into her arms and held onto her. She heard him call someone for help.
‘Don’t,’ she whispered.
‘Kaavi, just hold onto me. I got you. I got you, baby.’
