She didn’t have time to grieve over the fact that she thought she’d found her one true love but he turned out to be just another man who’d left her at the moment she needed him most. That he was lost in his own grief. That he wasn’t hers anymore. The familiar burn prickled her eyes and nose. She closed her eyes and fought it back.
Daniel was just another failed relationship. Just another boyfriend. Just another someone she’d fallen for who’d decided she wasn’t enough. She made poor decisions when it came to love, and it was time she listened to the people who really did love her. Her parents. Naya. Maybe she’d call Sajan in a week or two. She just couldn’t handle anything right now.
These were the lies she told herself to get herself out of bed and back into her life.
“You don’t have to work at the bar.” Her father was having his chai. Even the familiar aroma of the cardamom and cinnamon failed to comfort her shattered heart. Her parents had taken over Naya’s room, and Naya had gone home to visit her parents. Her mother had insisted upon spending the night at the hospital, and her father was on his way to relieve her. Though Nilay was out of danger, they needed to be with him. This was what they did.
“Yes, I do, Papa.” She needed the money but left that fact unsaid, hanging between them.
“It’s dangerous.”
“I’m fine, Papa.” She forced the irritation out of her voice. Her parents had enough to deal with right now.
“What happened with Daniel?”
She opened kitchen drawers, looking for nothing, as she avoided his question. She swallowed the lump in her throat that formed at the mention of Daniel’s name, but there was no way to mask the sorrow in her face.
“Annika—”
“Papa!” She looked at him, calling on her anger. “What difference does it make? You never liked him. You got what you wanted.”
“I didn’t want you to be unhappy.”
“I’ll be fine.” She had no choice. He wasn’t ready to move on. Not yet. Maybe someday he would be, and some other woman would benefit from that. The thought of Daniel with another woman burned like acid in her heart and had her blinking back tears—again.
“I know why he didn’t come into the school building on Career Day.”
Annika froze. “You do?”
“I heard him in the waiting room that day.”
“Then you know—” Her breath caught.
“Yes, I know.” Her father’s face took on a distant, pained look, one that Annika had seen more than once. His eyes went soft. “You know what he has to do.”
She sagged. “Papa. He won’t. I’ve tried—”
“He has to be ready.” Her father inhaled deeply and stood to face her. “You know, when I came to the school that day with Sajan, I saw how beautifully you handled those disappointed children.” He paused and put a hand on her shoulder. Her father was not afraid to admit when he was wrong; it was one of the things she most respected about him. He lifted his chin and looked her in the eye, chagrin coloring his smile. “It was then that I realized I have let you down. You are my daughter, and you are following your heart—as you should. I was impressed. With skills like that, you should not have to work in a bar to make ends meet. It’s a sad state of affairs for teachers, I am sorry to say. But I am proud of you.”
Tears filled her eyes. She didn’t realize how much she had wanted to hear those words and see the pride in her father’s face. It didn’t matter how old you got: you always wanted your parents to be proud of you. She hugged him, relaxing into her father’s arms as if she were still a little girl. “Thanks, Papa.”
He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. “In the meantime, you should get to work. Come, I’ll drive you.”
AFTERSCHOOLBUTbefore her shift at Phil’s, Annika went to see her brother at the hospital. Naya was sitting beside a drugged and sleeping Nilay. She and Naya had not spoken much since that dinner. It had been only ten days, but it seemed longer. Annika had reached out to her cousin, knowing that Naya would be hurting from her breakup with Ravi, but Naya had remained distant until Nilay’s accident. Annika couldn’t imagine her life without Naya and knew the feeling was mutual.
Annika walked in. “Hey.”
Naya turned and smiled at her, but the smile did not reach her eyes. She had dark circles and her cheeks seemed sunken. Naya got up and hugged her. “Can you ever forgive me for being such a terrible best friend and sister?”
Annika hugged her tight and felt tears prickle at her nose. “It’s forgotten—and anyway, you were a little bit right.” She pulled back and tried to stem her tears. “He broke up with me, right in the waiting room. What is it with me and hospitals?” She tried to joke.
“What? That little fucker.” Naya shook her head.
“Jeez, Naya. I did love him.”Still do...
“Sorry, reflex. What happened? I was just starting to like him.”
Annika raised an eyebrow at her cousin.
