The tight smile on Samir’s face relaxed into a genuine one. “Thanks. It’s nice to see you too.”
Meghna rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You look like you haven’t slept in days.”
“That’s not far from the truth.” Samir lifted a shoulder, grimacing slightly. “I haven’t slept through the night in a while.”
“Why?”
“Doesn’t matter. I, uh, wanted to talk about something else first.”
Meghna knew exactly what he was about to say. It was theconversation she had been avoiding for a while. The apology she had known was coming. The idea of it had made her angry in the past. Had brought up every emotion she had felt the night of Ankita’s party. But time had softened those feelings, so she nodded and gestured for him to continue.
“Go ahead.”
“Did Ankita…did she tell you that it was all my fault? Everything that happened? Because it was. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was impulsive. And stupid. And I didn’t mean for it…I didn’t know that—”
Samir stopped, looked down for a moment, then started again. “Mom told me Ankita’s not engaged anymore. Is she okay? Have you talked to her?”
Meghna struggled for a second as she thought about how to respond. Ankita was upset. And still processing everything. But she’d asked Samir for space, and Meghna doubted her friend would want him to know every detail about her broken engagement.
“She’s okay,” she said. “And I’m okay too, by the way. I’m about to tell Mom and Dad this, actually, but you might as well know…Karthik ended things.”
Samir’s eyes widened and continued to widen as Meghna finally told him everything. How the entire engagement had been fake from the beginning, how she’d just wanted a date to Seth’s wedding, and how things had changed. At least for her. But obviously not for Karthik.
“So, at least we have each other,” Meghna said. “Me and Ankita. Though what she’s going through is obviously worse. What she had was actually real.”
Samir flinched. Or at least it looked like he’d flinched. It could have just been a glitch on her screen.
“What you felt was real too,” he said. “You shouldn’t downplay that. You’re allowed to feel hurt by all of this.”
“I know. But it was my fault. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to think it could be real. That he could have actually felt something. I shouldn’t have—”
“And I shouldn’t have kissed your best friend while she was engaged to someone else. Shit happens.”
A laugh flew out of Meghna’s mouth, and Samir shot her a grin.
“Not too soon to joke about it, then?” he asked, with a slightly hopeful expression.
“Don’t push your luck. But speaking about that…Ankita didn’t tell me everything, but she made it seem like the two of you had had some sort of…something. In the past?”
The grin slipped right off Samir’s face. “Yeah,” he said, his voice somewhat hollow. “It was a long time ago, but yeah, we, uh, we did.”
Meghna swallowed. “Okay. Fine. But I need you to know something. If you hurt her…If you ever do something that makes me have to choose between you and Ankita, I’m going to pick her. I’m always going to pick her.”
Samir snorted. “I don’t blame you. If the choice was between me and Ankita, I’d do the same. I’d pick her every time.”
Something inside Meghna softened. She hesitated for a moment, then asked the question that had been hovering in the back of her mind for months. “Samir, are you in love with her?”
He was silent for a few seconds. His eyes conveyed something heavy. Something almost…sad.
“I think I was,” he said softly. “Once. But now? I…I don’t know.”
“That’s not good enough,” she said. “You need to figure it out.”
“I know.”
“Because if you come anywherenearher and you don’t know for sure—if you actually end up moving back here and you’re not sure—”
“I know. I, umm, didn’t tell you, but I got a job offer. In Dallas. Last time I was there. I was going to take it. Before the party. But now…” He swallowed. “I don’t think it’s fair to her. To come back like this. I won’t move back until I know exactly how I feel. Until I’m sure.”
