Page 35 of The Promise of a Traitor

Kimi: I make brilliant omelettes.

Rehaan: I CAN FUCKING BAKE

Kimi: I beg your pardon???

Rehaan: Cakes, brownies, tarts, tiramisu, pavlova, souffles, you name it…I can make it.

Vikram: So, um, Adi, apparently, Reh can help.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Aastha

The headache was now a migraine, a slow throb of pain inside her skull. Her life as she knew it was a bigger mess than it normally was. The duty doctor came in on evening rounds, checking on Amyra and looking satisfied with her progress.

No luck yet.

Rohan’s message had her hunching her shoulders again as stress piled on. The Willy Wonka event at her café drew larger than normal crowds and it was a big night for them, revenue wise. With the medical bills piling up, she couldn’t afford to take a hit in her income. But three hands short…it was a nightmare. She wouldn’t be able to pull it off even if she cloned herself.

Maybe they could make some of the more preservable stuff earlier and freeze it? But was her deep freeze going to be able to accommodate that with their regular load?

Three days. She had three days to come up with a solution or to figure out cloning. Maybe the tech genius sitting beside her could do that…

“What do you know about cloning techniques?” she blurted out, startling him into removing his headphones and shutting his laptop. The man had been working nonstop except for the aborted poker game. His perfect office formals were crumpled and a little stained from the cup of coffee he’d been squishing like a stress ball earlier.

And yet, for some inexplicable reason, he was still here. And she was bloody grateful for it.

“Cloning techniques?” he asked now. “Who are you planning to clone?”

“Myself?” She sighed, leaning her head against the wall behind her. “I can’t pull this event off without my team. And I need…” She caught herself, uncomfortably aware of how close she was to revealing more than she wanted to.

Advik cleared his throat, looking a little uncomfortable. “About that,” he started.

But before he could finish the sentence, the door opened again and Dr. Amay walked in followed by his team.

“All good in here?” he asked, with a smile.

Aastha thought she heard Advik mutter, “Would be better if you weren’t here.” But when she glanced over at him, he had his headphones back on and the laptop open.

“The doctor said she was doing better.” Aastha watched as Amay checked a rosy cheeked Amyra. She fought a smile as she watched her sister try to pat her hair down. It was no secret that Amyra had a crush on the good looking doctor, a fact that Amay handled with tact and kindness. He’d been the first doctor she’d seen when she’d been wheeled in from that horrific car crash and though over the years her doctors had changed, he was the only one Amyra trusted. Secretly, Aastha admitted that was true of her too.

“Dr. Sen said that she would be changing one of Amu’s seizure medications.” Aastha pulled out the strip of new medication and held it out to him.

“I saw that in her file,” Amay said, gesturing to a nurse to bring him the latest set of reports. He flipped through them. “Dr. Sen has been very thorough.” He smiled at Amyra. “You’re going to start feeling a lot better soon. I think you guys could even go home tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Dr. Amay,” Aastha said gratefully. “We really appreciate the fact that you’re taking time out of your busy schedule to check on us.”

“Anything for my favourite patient,” Amay replied, grinning at Amyra who was now slowly turning fire engine red with embarrassed pleasure.

A disgruntled snort came from the attender’s bed. Aastha glared at Advik’s bent head but he didn’t give her the satisfaction of meeting her gaze. With an amused smile and a short nod in farewell, Amay left, his devoted team trotting along behind him.

“What’s your problem?” Aastha asked the minute the door shut behind Amay.

Advik just readjusted his headphones and ignored her. She was about to say something more when his phone rang. He muttered something inaudible, answered it and left the room.

“He’s a real ray of sunshine, isn’t he?” Amyra drawled from the bed.

Aastha glowered at the door he’d disappeared through. “I don’t know what his problem is and why he’s being so rude to Dr. Amay.”