“No. Well…kind of? Karthik, it wasmyidea to pull over. And if there was any ‘mauling’ here, it was completely mutual.”
She expected him to smile at that, or to at least acknowledge her words, but he just looked away, avoiding her gaze. He took a deep breath, but otherwise remained silent.
“Hey,” she said softly. “What’s going on?” She placed her hand on his jaw and turned his face back to hers, shocked to see genuine panic in his eyes.
He swallowed. “I…I don’t want to turn into my father. I remember him always being the way he was, but my mother said he didn’t start that way. I want to think that I can choose to be different. That I can choose to be better. But a part of me…a part of me thinks I can’t stop from becoming more like him. I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want you…anyone…to go through what my mother did. You deserve better than that. You deserve better thanme.”
Meghna let out a breath, something finally clicking. As if the last puzzle piece had slid into place. She’d been staring at these crooked, jagged, disconnected pieces for so long. Holding them in her hands. Moving them around, lining them up. Trying to make them fit. Trying to make sense of them. But now she could see the full picture. She could finally see him.
“There’s no guarantee you won’t hurt me,” she said. “Or that I won’t hurt you. We’re not perfect. We’re going to hurt each other’s feelings. And when we do, we’ll apologize. And do our best to not do it again. But I’m not going to hurt you the way your dad hurt you. And you won’t hurt me that way, either. You’re not your father.”
Karthik started to speak, but Meghna placed her fingers over his lips.
“I know you don’t believe that. And I don’t blame you. After everything you’ve seen. And experienced. I’m not going to try to convince you otherwise, but let’s just take it a day at a time. You don’tneed to figure all of it out right now. I don’t have it all figured out right now. But let’s just try. Try to put in the work. With me.”
Karthik nodded, his face solemn but tender. He leaned forward and kissed her, brushing his lips lightly against her own. Meghna closed her eyes. This kiss felt like a promise. An intention. A commitment.
Now all they needed was time.
He pulled back, and they looked at each other for several seconds.
“Are you ready to go home?” he asked, his voice cutting through the silence.
She nodded, and Karthik’s hands tightened around her waist. Almost as if he wanted to keep her there. As if he didn’t want to let her go. But after a moment, he lifted her, helping her scramble back into the driver’s seat.
Meghna smiled, then turned the car back on and started driving the two of them home.
—
As Karthik followed Meghna into her apartment, his mind started playing a tune. He concentrated, but no words popped into his head. Just the same tune. Over and over.
It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. And he recognized the tune as one he’d heard before. It had played in his head the first time he’d visited Meghna’s apartment. It was a soft melody. Subtle and sweet. And it made him feelsomething. The way a well-scored scene in a movie brought up all the right emotions. He just couldn’t put his finger on what that emotion was. He felt lighter, maybe?
Meghna dropped her purse on the couch, then went into the kitchen. The electric kettle clicked loudly.
“I’m making tea,” she called out. “Want any?”
He smiled, unbuttoning his shirt cuffs and rolling the sleeves up slightly. They’d had endless cups of chai at her parents’ house whenthey’d all been playing cards, but obviously that hadn’t been enough for Meghna. He tucked that piece of information away, adding to his ever-growing file on Meghna’s likes and dislikes, and took a seat on the couch.
“No, I’m fine,” he replied. He put his feet up on the ottoman and leaned back. He didn’t realize he’d closed his eyes until cool fingers brushed his hair off his forehead.
Meghna stood in front of him, a curious expression on her face and a mug of tea in one hand.
“Hey,” she said softly, her fingers still playing in his hair. “You okay?”
He closed his eyes again, enjoying her soothing touch. He felt fine. Ecstatic, really. But the last few hours had been an emotional whirlwind, and he was still taking it all in. He told her as much and she nodded, sitting down next to him.
“I feel the same way.” She swung her feet up onto the couch, tucking them beneath her. “It’s a little overwhelming. There’s so much to talk about. So much to square away. Like, what happens next? I still live in Dallas and your job is—”
“I started job searching in Dallas,” Karthik blurted out. “I made a list of jobs I might apply to. I haven’t looked at it in a while, but some of them looked pretty interesting, so…”
Meghna’s eyes went wide. “But what about your promotion? Wasn’t your interview supposed to be today? What…what happened?”
He shrugged, adopting a casual tone. “I got demoted.”
“What?” Meghna’s jaw dropped.
Karthik grinned. “I asked for it. I told the panel that I wanted a chance to work on the biomedical team more than I wanted a promotion. I’m not starting from scratch or anything, but it’s definitely a step down. But it means I’ll get to work on cutting-edge technology. Things that really help people. You know, one of the teams is working on arobotics project? It’s designed to assist during surgery, cutting down on errors and bad outcomes. It seems amazing and I…” He shook his head, a bit bemused. “Are you laughing?”
