‘No, of course not,’ Varun said. At the exact same time as Swati, who said, ‘We’ll need to discuss this internally.’
For a second, the three of us just stared at one another in silence. Then Varun gave me a small, helpless nod, as if he wanted to reassure me but didn’t really know how.
‘Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? Let’s touch base again tomorrow,’ Swati said, placing her hands on the desk to push her chair back.
I stood up on trembling legs and stepped out of the cabin, letting the chatter outside wash over me. My eyes floated instinctively towards Neil’s empty desk.
Of course, he hadn’t shown up. There’s no way he could face me after what he’d done.
twenty-one
The Plot Thickens
Neil
After arriving in Mumbai, Neil had decided to take a day off work claiming he needed it to recover from the shoot, but the truth was he needed it to recover fromher. Mussoorie had been… a lot. But he didn’t bargain for the alternative option, which he had found himself in now. The last thing he wanted to do today was be forced into having lunch with his exhausting dad, who would no doubt criticize everything he said, and his mom, who’d most likely retreat to her room midway through the afternoon.
Which is why he was surprised when his mother began driving the conversation. ‘How was the Mussoorie shoot, Neil?’ Mrs Desai asked, passing him the bowl of rice.
‘Good.’
‘Just good? Tell us more, we want to hear all about it.’ She placed her elbows on the dining table and leaned forward.
Neil wasn’t sure what to make of her sudden interest in him. She usually didn’t ask follow-up questions. He glanced around the living room like he was trying to gauge if something in the decor had somehow caused this change. With its high ceilingsand long corridors, his parents’ house had always felt too large for conversation. He’d never liked the way sound travelled in it.
‘It was a full schedule. The set had many moving parts, so it was a lot to manage.’
He thought about how Kavya had given him the cold shoulder throughout the shoot. And, as if that wasn’t fuckall enough, he also had to watch that light-eyed ex of hers following her around like a damn puppy all day.
He’d written off the entire trip as a trainwreck, so being invited to Kavya’s home for dinner had been a pleasant surprise. The fact that the invitation had come from her older brother, not her, was beside the point. Seeing Kavya in her element, surrounded by her loving family in her beautiful cottage, dancing like an absolute maniac in the middle of the living room, had permanently altered his brain chemistry. He’d made a complete fool of himself, shaking his hips in front of her entire family, but the way her whole face had lit up as she’d watched him had made it worthwhile.
And then he’d gone and ruined it all.
‘What exactly do interns have to manage? The coffee?’ his father asked without looking up from his plate.
His mother opened her mouth to say something, but Neil beat her to it. ‘There wasn’t much time for coffee. I was too busy helping the crew set up the shots, keeping a track of the shot list so we didn’t fall behind, and reworking the sequence to suit the weather and the lighting.’
The older man studied him silently for a few moments, then nodded. ‘Hmm. So, you did learn something.’
‘A lot, in fact.’ Neil sucked in a breath and met his father’s eyes from across the table. In his tailored three-piece suit, he looked less like a man enjoying lunch with his family and more like a wealthy businessman having a meal with his associates. ‘I’m glad you asked me to do this internship, dad. It’s taughtme what all actually goes into starting something of your own.’ He paused for a second, wondering if this was the right time to push his luck. ‘Can I take you over the business proposal for my streetwear label this weekend?’
Mr Desai wiped his mouth with a napkin and placed it neatly on his plate. ‘That’s your problem … you’re always in a rush. Finish the internship first. Then we’ll talk about your label.’
Then, without waiting to hear his son’s response, he answered his buzzing phone and left the table.
‘Right,’ Neil muttered under his breath. ‘I’m the one in a rush.’
His mother glanced towards the corridor he had disappeared down. ‘He’ll come around. Give him some time.’
‘Like I have a choice.’
They ate in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again. ‘So … I bumped into Aarushi’s mom last week. She mentioned you two were trying to sort out your differences?’
Neil set his fork aside and looked up at her. ‘We’re not, mom. It’s over.’
Kavya’s brutal rejection may have left him in pieces, but ithadfuelled him to finally do the right thing. He’d called up Aarushi that night in Mussoorie and told her they needed a clean break. He’d always be there if she needed him, but it was time they both stopped confusing comfort with love. She’d taken it with more grace than he deserved.
It should’ve made him feel lighter, but he couldn’t help but dwell on how it didn’t change the fact that Kavya still wanted nothing to do with him.You know that’s not how it works, right? You don’t get points for cleaning up a mess you should’ve handled ages ago,he reasoned with his stubborn mind.
