“I guess.” She looked a bit distracted, her eyes zeroed in on his hands.
“Because itisbad. You’re right, Meghna.”
She shrugged again, and Karthik felt a twinge of annoyance. Who had made her this unsure of herself?
“Would you ever let me read your play?”
Meghna’s eyes shot to his. “No. I mean, maybe. Once it’s done. But it’s not done.”
“What’s the play about?”
She crossed her arms defensively. “What’s with all the questions?”
“I’m just curious.” And he was. He could tell Meghna’s writing was a sensitive topic, but he couldn’t understand why. He was about to ask more, but the expression on her face twisted his heart. She looked like a cornered animal: nervous, uncomfortable, and a little afraid.
“What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?” he asked instead.
Meghna visibly relaxed.
“Just lunch with Ankita. And an appointment this afternoon. But I can ask her to get lunch another day if you want to do something instead.”
“No, that’s okay. I should head to the airport before then.” He refilled his coffee. “What’s the appointment for?”
“A tux fitting.”
“For you?”
She nodded.
“You’re wearing a tux to Seth’s wedding?”
“Yeah. We debated the options, but we landed on a tux so I’llmatch the rest of the guys. But they said they’ll be styling it differently? I don’t know. I guess we’ll see how it turns out.”
An image of Meghna in a tuxedo popped into his head, and he hid a smile. She’d look so cute. He was suddenly tempted to see it for himself.
“What time’s your appointment?”
“Around one.”
Karthik pulled out his phone and checked the flight schedule. There were several flights with vacant seats in the afternoon, but he really didn’thaveto get back right away. It was only Saturday. Even if he took the last flight of the day, he’d still have all of Sunday to figure things out at home.
He thought it over for a minute, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t hide out in Dallas forever. He pressed a few buttons, booking himself on the next available flight.
“Yeah,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “My flight takes off right around that time. So I’m going to go shower, unless you want to go first.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “No, go ahead.”
He made it to the bathroom, hesitated for a second, then backpedaled. Meghna had already moved from the kitchen and was sitting on the couch in the living room, a copy of Seth’s song on her lap and a look of extreme concentration on her face. He watched her for a moment as she crossed something out, mouthed a few words to herself, then pursed her lips. He was again struck by the temptation to delay his flight, just so he could sit here, spend more time with her, and watch her mind at work.
Instead, he walked toward the couch. Her head swung up at the sound of his footsteps.
“Do you need something?” she asked. “There should be new towels in there.”
“I’m sure there are,” he said. He sat down on the arm of the sofa.“But I need something else.” He looked at her lips, doing his best to be as obvious as possible.
Her eyes lit with comprehension. And maybe it was only wishful thinking on his part, but he thought he saw a flicker of interest in them as well.
“Yeah? Hmm. I wonder what that could be.” She smiled and started ticking items off on her fingers. “I have shampoo in there. And conditioner.”
