‘Danny Mbatha is all talk. Any other meetings set up for today?’
‘Nope, you’re free,’ she replied.
Neel looked at his watch. Free for what at 7pm? Rally was probably asleep. Most stores in town closed at exactly four o’clock. He’d had back-to-back meetings and was playing catch-up after being away with Kaavi. Sarika didn’t even wait for him to reply. She hung up. He didn’t blame her. The day had been long and draining.
He pulled off his tie and started to unbutton his shirt. He looked ridiculous. He wore shorts, but the top half of him was all business because he had video meetings.
He was just about to call Kaavi when his phone rang.
‘Nats, how’s it going?’
‘Hi. I’m good. I see you’re back in full force. You could have taken the day off. Granddad would have jumped at the chance to fill in for you,’ she said.
Neel put her on speaker to pull on his T-shirt.
‘That’s what I’m afraid of,’ he said.
Natara chuckled.
‘So, how’s Kaavi?’
‘I didn’t really chat to her today because I had to play catch-up,’ he replied.
‘You haven’t discussed the future of your relationship?’
‘We didn’t really have a chance to, but I’m going to leave the ball in her court,’ he said.
‘And you think that’s a wise idea?’
‘I don’t want to pressure her.’
‘Fair enough, but remember Kaavi doesn’t face anything head-on. She runs. Do you honestly think she’s going to be the one to initiate this talk?’
Neel sighed.
‘Nats, you know it wasn’t always like this. I admit my initial attraction to her was her beauty, but then I saw this smart, funny, kind and lovable woman. Of course, I fell in love with her. I never expected it to fall apart the way it did,’ he explained.
‘I know. But what I don’t get is how you never knew what happened.’
‘She didn’t have panic attacks. She was always happy. We’d argue only over the secrecy. I hated that I’d invite my family over only when my wife was away and I didn’t even have to hide any of her stuff away because my wife lived out of a suitcase, jetting all over the damn world!’ he said angrily.
‘And she never ever mentioned her past?’
‘I can now understand the secrecy. Her mother told me in the hospital that she was glad her husband didn’t find out because he would have ruined us. We actually did that on our own,’ Neel said bitterly.
‘I don’t understand why her grandfather or Senthil didn’t confront her about the marriage when they found out about it.’
‘I asked Senthil. He said Kaavi runs when confronted. They discussed it and his grandfather advised that she would most likely run from them too. Senthil said he wanted to contact me when Kaavi moved to Rally, but Shona told him to give her time,’ he replied.
‘She had two years …’
‘Nats, I know. I’m just so confused and conflicted. God, Nats, I can’t get over the last couple of days,’ he said.
‘It’s stuff that we think only happens in the movies. I had to put Mom and Dad off showing up in Rally. They want to put Kaavi in a ball of cotton wool and keep her there,’ his sister said.
‘If only …’
‘Neel, you love Kaavi. She knows that. All of us know it. We heard you say it at the funeral. We can see it in the things youdo. She loves you too. But sometimes love is not enough to stay together. Kaavi has a lot of trauma and issues to deal with. I don’t know if love is going to be enough.’
