“Karthik,” Meghna said gently. “What happened?”
He broke eye contact, looking down at his plate for a moment. “I had my interview today. For the promotion.”
Oh. For some reason, that wasn’t what Meghna had been expecting.
“I take it that it didn’t go well?”
He let out a humorless laugh. “No, it didn’t go well.” He picked up his fork and put it back down, straightening it so that it was perfectly aligned. He stared at it for a moment, then lifted his head, meeting her eyes directly.
“My dad’s an ass,” he said.
A surprised laugh almost escaped Meghna’s mouth, but she held it in.
“I won’t argue with you there,” she said.
A ghost of a smile touched his lips, but quickly disappeared. “I thought he was cheating on my mom. Honestly, I’ve thought that for a long time.”
Without thinking, Meghna lifted her hand and placed it over his. His hand immediately became tense.Right.He wasn’t the touchy-feely type. Just as she was about to take her hand back, he flipped his over so that his palm was touching hers. Then he wrapped his fingers around the back of her hand, holding her in place.
The small touch made her heart soar, but she ignored it, returning her focus to their conversation. “Were you right?” she asked. “About him cheating?”
“Yes.” He shook his head. “No. I don’t know.”
She squeezed his hand lightly and almost melted when he squeezed hers back.
“I don’t know how bad it got, or if he did anything that could be considered cheating, but he…A group of students sued him. For a lot of things. But mostly for the way he treated women. Unfair treatment and discrimination, but it sounded like there was also harassment and…” He stopped talking.
“You don’t have to go into the details if you don’t want to,” she said.
He shot her a look of gratitude. “Thanks. But honestly, that’s all I know. That’s all the article said.”
He went quiet as Annie came back, dropping off the food. Meghna thanked her and waited until she was out of earshot before asking, “That’s how you found out? An article?”
“Yes. It was only the campus newspaper, but I’m sure word will spread fast.”
Sympathy welled up inside her. She couldn’t imagine how awful she would feel if she was in his position.
“I guess there’s a chance it’s not true,” he continued. “But I believe it. All of it.”
“Is your father denying it?”
“Maybe. Probably. I haven’t talked to him about it yet. And I don’t want to talk to him. Really, I’m only worried about my mother. I don’t know how she’ll take this. I don’t even know if she knows. I should have made sure she was okay first, but I wasn’t thinking. I just came here.”
To Dallas. To see me. Whatever had been growing, that tiny little pea shoot, that promise ofsomething,shot up three inches.
They moved on to lighter topics—his thoughts on the lead performer in the musical and questions about how she’d rehearsed with the kids to get them ready—but they mostly ate in silence. It was surprisingly comfortable. Natural.
“Where are you staying tonight?” Meghna asked as she finished off the last spring roll.
Karthik’s face reverted to that vulnerable, slightly lost expression. “I don’t know.”
Annie came by a few minutes later, clearing the plates and dropping off the bill. Meghna grabbed it and paid before Karthik could say anything. He looked adorably grumpy and put out about it, and in that moment Meghna made up her mind.
“Come on,” she said, getting up and gesturing for him to follow.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to my place.”
