‘You know, Neel,’ she began, ‘when we were in school and the teachers would say, “Oh, Neel Naran is so quiet and intelligent, the model student”, I was so jealous because I’d get: “Natara Naran is talkative. Natara Naran talks too much. Natara Naran is a chatterbox.” But you were the golden boy. Quiet and smart.’
Neel sighed. ‘Get to the point, Natara.’
She didn’t blink. ‘The point is, my dear brother, I used to be jealous, really jealous.’ She paused. ‘But right now? I’m not. Because you are so stupid.’
‘Huh? What did you say?’ Neel asked, looking surprised.
‘I’m serious. Yeah, you’re quiet. You’ve always been quiet. But why are you quiet now? Why are you just sitting back like a spectator in your own life? Why didn’t you tell Kaavi you love her?’
Neel blinked. ‘Wait, hold on. Weren’t you the one telling me I needed to come back to Jo’burg? And that I needed to forget all of this?’
‘No, Neel. I said you needed to sort out your business and come back to Jo’burg. That business was bringing your wife back with you.’
She glanced around and caught two older women blatantly eavesdropping. Natara lowered her voice.
‘Neel, your wife is supposed to be here.’
‘Nats, Kaavi doesn’t want to be here,’ Neel said quietly. ‘Well, not just the airport. She doesn’t want to be with me. Don’t you get that?’
‘But you didn’t tell her, Neel.’ Natara’s voice rose, then dropped again. ‘What is this crap about leaving the ball in her court? What does that even mean? It’s like you two are living some cliché.’
He didn’t respond right away. Just sipped his water andglanced at the two women still watching them like it was a drama on TV.
He almost wished he could give them something like running out of the terminal, shouting Kaavi’s name, and chasing after her in some sweeping, movie-worthy moment.
Instead, he turned to Natara and said flatly, ‘Maybe I didn’t want to speak up. Maybe this time … Kaavi needed to come after me. She left me first, Nats. Maybe this time I wanted to feel like I was worth chasing.’
His usually snarky sister didn’t say anything. She just looked at him, soft-eyed. Unusually sympathetic.
‘He’s right, you know,’ one of the women said.
Neel and Natara looked up, startled.
‘He is worth chasing,’ she added.
‘He’s actually kind of a hunk,’ the other chimed in.
Neel sighed, grabbed his bag, and stood. ‘I cannot believe you just spilled my whole life story in an airport.’
Natara burst out laughing as she stood up. ‘I love you, Neel.’
Kaavi unplugged the microwave. She couldn’t bear to look at the time. Her phone tempted her every few seconds, but she forced herself not to check it. Sen’s apartment didn’t have a clock, but she knew it had to be around 9.45. Neel would be boarding soon.
Johannesburg wasn’t far. She could be on the next flight. He could change his mind and come back. But that wasn’t what happened. He left without saying if he wanted her back.
He’d asked about the divorce papers. That said it all. He wanted them signed. Sent. Done.
Kaavi didn’t want to think about it, but she had to. Neel was right when he’d showed up a month ago and said: ‘Did you think pretending you weren’t married meant you weren’t?’
It wasn’t the time to pretend. It was time to be grown-ups.
She would ask Sen what to do about the papers. Later. For now, she sank onto the couch. She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want to do anything at all.
The doorbell rang.
She wasn’t in the mood for anyone, but deep down inside she hoped it was Neel. Maybe he’d turned around. Maybe he came back to say he’d made a mistake.
She opened the door and found her mother standing there. Without a word, her mom pulled her into a hug.
