‘Kaavi,’ she whispered.
Kaavi held her tightly. There were so many years she had spent angry, so many moments wasted. But right now, none of that mattered. Her mother was here and that was enough.
She finally stepped back. ‘Mom, what are you doing here?’
Her mother smiled. ‘I decided to take your aunt and uncle up on their offer to stay for a few days and celebrate Diwali with them. Plus, your grandfather’s driving me insane. He calls every hour on the hour to check if I’m okay. I appreciate it, but maybe if I’m in the same town for a few days, he’ll finally relax.’
She walked in, glanced around, then paused. ‘Neel’s gone back to Jo’burg?’
Kaavi nodded. ‘He’s probably on the plane already.’
Her mother moved to the couch and sat down, patting the cushion beside her. Kaavi followed.
‘How are you feeling about it?’ she asked gently.
Kaavi sighed. ‘Oh, Mom, I don’t know. I’ve been so stupid about this whole thing. Do you think I made the right call?’
‘Kaavi, only you can know if you made the right choice. But I will say this: I don’t think Neel’s the kind of man who’d stay with someone out of pity. I only spent a short time with him, but that much seemed clear.’
‘That’s the thing, Mom. You don’t know Neel like I do. He’sso kind it hurts. He’d give up his own happiness just to make someone else feel okay. Maybe he does feel sorry for me. I saw it in his eyes.’
‘That wasn’t pity. That was sympathy. What you went through, any decent person would feel that,’ her mother said.
‘I know.’
Her mother leaned in a little. ‘But think about what you just said: Neel would give up his happiness for someone else’s choice. What if that’s exactly what he’s doing now? Respecting your decision not to go back with him?’
Kaavi stood up, restless. ‘I don’t know.’
She picked up her phone, checked the time, then put it down again.
‘He’s just in Jo’burg … That’s not far, but I don’t know,’ she whispered, trying to keep the tears at bay.
as his house always this cold? It didn’t make sense. November shouldn’t feel like this, Neel thought as he unpacked his suitcase. Maybe it wasn’t the weather. Perhaps it was everything else.
Natara had gone straight home after they landed.
He sighed. He already missed Rally’s heat, but that wasn’t what was gnawing at him. He missed Kaavi. He pulled out his phone, hesitated, then typed:Hi Kaavi. Just wanted to let you know I landed safely in Jo’burg.He hit send.
What else could he say? I miss you. I want you back. Please don’t sign the divorce papers. Please don’t go to Miami. No. None of that would help. Not now.
When Kaavi’s phone lit up beside her, she was halfway through drafting the empowerment class plan her grandfather had asked for. She grabbed the phone. What was she hoping for? Itwasa message from Neel, but just to let her know that he was back in Johannesburg. She’d known he was leaving, but seeing the message made it sink in. He was really gone. They were really apart.
She stared at the screen. There were so many things she wanted to say, like ‘Come back. I miss you. I want this to work.’
But instead, she tapped the thumbs-up emoji and went back to her notes.
The doorbell rang and Kaavi got up slowly, figuring it was her mother stopping by again. But when she opened the door, it was Sen.
She looked up and blinked. Sen was in suit pants and a white shirt – his work clothes – but he wasn’t at the office in the middle of a Friday afternoon. That wasn’t like him. He was the definition of routine. So, this was obviously intentional. It was a check-in disguised as a casual visit, just like the rest of the family had done this week.
Sen walked in and made himself comfortable on the couch. ‘Hey cuz, what’s up?’
Kaavi smiled weakly. ‘All good,’ she replied, settling into the armchair across from him.
‘You haven’t bought your Diwali clothing,’ he said.
‘Is that why you’re here? To talk about clothing?’
