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The door swung open, leaving Reeva face-to-face with Rakesh’s crotch.
“Oh! Hi.” Reeva quickly straightened up, flushing. “I... didn’t realize you’d be here.”
“Yeah, Jaya asked me to come. Close family and all.”
Reeva shook her head imperceptibly. It made no sense to her that Rakesh was part of her family without being a part of her life. “Makes sense.”
Lakshmi waved her hand and pushed past him. “Hi and bye. Sorry to interrupt the awkward hellos but I need to pee. And check the priest waited.”
“Oh, don’t worry, the priest isn’t even here yet.”
“Should have known.” Lakshmi sighed. “Indian timing.” She disappeared in the direction of voices, leaving Reeva standing with Rakesh in the hallway.
“Uh, congratulations on the baby,” said Reeva.
“Thank you,” replied Rakesh. He shuffled awkwardly. “Look, I... I’m sorry, Reeva. I never meant—”
“It’s fine,” interrupted Reeva. “You did all this four years ago. I’ve heard the apology speech. You don’t need to do it again.”
“I know, but we haven’t spoken since, and I’m going to be your brother-in-law. I feel like we should talk.”
Reeva winced. “Can you please not call yourself my brother-in-law?”
“Sorry. Of course.” Rakesh looked expectantly at Reeva. “So... can we talk?”
Reeva had no desire to do this. All she wanted was to walk away from her ex—or say whatever was necessary to make him leave her alone. But just as she was about to reassure Rakesh that everything was fine, she stopped herself. That was her fear. And she was done letting fear rule her life. It was time to let love—love forherself—run the show. She looked directly at Rakesh. “Okay. Well, none of this has been easy for me. You left me in the most brutal way possible—for my sister. It broke me. My entire life fell apart, and I genuinely think the shock of it all traumatized me. It was the worst thing I’ve ever been through, and I still have no idea how I got through it.”
Rakesh hung his head. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“I know, but just saying sorry isn’t actually helpful.”
“Uh, okay.” Rakesh looked taken aback. “What is? Helpful, I mean.”
Reeva thought about it. “Some empathy would be good. Do you knowwhyit broke me so much? I mean, how would you have felt if I’d cheated on you with your brother? And it all came out of the blue.”
“I’d be humiliated,” said Rakesh instantly. “Furious. Betrayed.”
“Sure. But what if you’d thought we’d be together forever and that our happy future was pretty much set in stone? And then suddenly that was taken from you—as well as your brother?”
Rakesh’s shoulders dropped. “I’d be devastated.”
“Yep. So was I. I felt so safe and secure with you, then you did that, and I lost everything. I had to mourn our future. Our unborn kids. All the things we’d talked about doing. And I lost our past, because when you cheated, you took that away too. I didn’teven know who you were anymore. It was like a bereavement. The grief was never-ending.”
“It must have been agony. I... I struggle to think about it, if I’m honest, because it’s just so bad. But I really hate I did that to you.”
“Thanks. Thank you. I hate that you did it too. But you know what? I’m learning to be happy now. Without you. By myself.”
“You do really seem happy. You look great too. Your hair is amazing.”
“My hair? Oh, it’s not mine.” Reeva peeled the wig off and watched his face rapidly transform from admiration to shock, followed by total horror. “This is mine.”
“But... what happened? Are you okay? I...”
“I’m great, thank you,” said Reeva, realizing that she meant it. “And you know what? I do feel better. I guess there were some things I wanted to get off my chest and say to you. Just to have you hear them. Thanks for suggesting it.”
“Uh, you’re... welcome?”
Reeva smiled brightly at Rakesh, dumped her wig on the table, and walked off to find her family.
