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Reeva sighed. She really should go down. She’d already missed the previous night. But... the twins needed her. And if she was honest, she’d much rather curl up with them than go downstairs and wait for Leela. Even if it was all innocent, she knew her sisters would find a way to make it sound anything but.
“All right,” she conceded. “I’ll just stay for a little while. But not long, okay?”
CHAPTER 8
Day 5
Reeva stifled ayawn as she walked through the city center, past familiar brand names and endless Indian restaurants. She really had no right to yawn after falling asleep at seven p.m. with the twins. Her sisters had been furious she’d avoided yet another night of prayers, especially because they hadn’t found this mystery Leela. But Reeva had been subjected to another night full of nightmares. And this time she could remember something. A cat. She couldn’t recall the details, but seeing as it was a nightmare, something bad must have happened. To the cat. And Reeva had woken in a cold sweat. She presumed it must be linked to her anxiety about leaving FP alone. But considering all the things Reeva currently felt anxious about, she had no idea why her subconscious had chosen her cat. Especially when the photos Lakshmi sent her suggested that FP was having the time of her life without her.
She still hadn’t managed to speak to Nick since the Incident either. She’d tried to call—again, it was always her—and he’d replied with aSorry Reevs. I know I’m being shit but work isreally busy right now. Sending hugs. Promise I’ll call soon! xxx.It was sweet, but Reeva’s abandonment fears were in overdrive. She wished she was more like Lakshmi. Her confidence levels were out of this world. She always assumed every man she dated was into her, unless explicitly told otherwise. And even then, she interpreted their rejections as proof they were “going through something.” She never took it personally or attached her self-worth to what a man thought about her, which was probably why she was so mentally stable.
Reeva was not. Her patch was at 7.7 centimeters and seemed to be growing by the minute. It didn’t help that the three sisters could barely spend ten minutes alone together without arguing. They’d never been this bad before. Even in their twenties, when their lives were completely different, they’d always had fun together whenever they’d been forced into attending their mum’s latest premiere. Reeva remembered the time they’d snuck out of an event to go to a club in Mumbai and danced till six a.m. Or the time they’d left to hang out in McDonald’s and eat all the food they’d never been allowed growing up. But since their mum’s wedding, everything had changed. The tension was so intense that they bickered nonstop. The only way they were going to get through this fortnight was with someone there to help them. And by someone, Reeva meant Saraswati. She was furious at their mum for being AWOL. Not only had she lied to them for their whole lives, she’d disappeared right when they needed her. Again.
Reeva remembered the first time she’d done it—twenty-three years ago. Eleven-year-old Reeva had been so excited for her mum to watch her flute solo in the school concert. She’d spent hours practicing. Only, of course, her mum had never turned up. Deep down, Reeva had always known on some levelthat Saraswati would miss the end-of-term concert—but she’d never imagined she’d also miss the actual end of term. It turned out she’d gotten the day wrong, so while Sita and Jaya were still at day school in London with the nanny, Reeva had been forced to spend a night entirely alone at boarding school with only the math teacher for company. Her mum had turned up the next day, full of empty apologies and boxes of Ladurée macarons, as though that made up for what Reeva had gone through. Reeva had never played the flute again.
That was an objectively bad memory, but what her mum was doing now was even worse. Reeva was so angry that she was tempted to jump on a flight to Mumbai to confront her mother in person. Only she knew she’d never really do it. If it came down to winning a case for one of her clients, she’d be straight on that flight. But not for personal family drama. She’d never been able to confront her family, and over the years she’d decided this was for the best. They were all so unreasonable that she’d never be able to get through to them anyway. It was best to just continue taking the higher ground, avoid their constant baiting, and take her therapist’s advice to breathe very, very deeply.
Reeva kept walking and realized there were cafés all around her with blackboards advertising matcha lattes and vegan lasagnas. She’d walked into the gentrified bit of Leicester—and she was into it. She wandered into one of the cafés to buy herself an oat milk flat white and began paying more attention to her surroundings, with the cobblestone streets and Tudoresque buildings. Leicester was starting to grow on her. Maybe she should take the girls to go and see the sights one day—they’d love the story of King Richard III’s skeleton being found under a local car park. Suddenly she stopped. She’d found it. The place she was looking for.
Specsavers.
“Excuse me, can I help you?” A smiling blond employee stuck her head out the door.
Reeva jerked. “Uh. Um. Yes. I mean, no. Can I just... browse?”
“Of course!” she beamed. “We love browsers. We’re not like those fancy shops that make you feel you have to buy. You’re more than welcome to try on every single pair of glasses in here and leave without spending a penny.”
“Uh... thanks?”
Reeva followed the woman into the shop and looked around. This was it. Her dad’s place of work. A very normal-looking optometry office with rows of glasses, big posters featuring diverse families in glasses, and worn brown doors that led into private examination rooms. Reeva realized just how surreal it was that her dad had worked there while her mum had lived a life of five-star luxury. And he’d denied himself every possible luxury available—all for his daughters.
Reeva turned back to the blond lady with a renewed sense of purpose. “Excuse me, does a Leela work here?”
“Leela? Of course! She’s just with a customer now, but she’ll be out shortly. Unless it’s urgent and you need me to rush in there?” Her eyes glowed as if she’d love nothing more.
“It’s cool, I can wait,” said Reeva. “Um, and did a... Hemant Mehta work here? I... think I used to know him.”
The lady stopped smiling. Reeva squinted (she probably could do with an eye test herself) to read her name badge—Meg. She sniffed loudly and then cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. He did. It’s just, well, he... he passed away. Recently.”
“I’m so sorry. Did you know him well?”
“Oh, everyone knows Hemant! He worked here for years, sothe whole high street knew him. He was so funny—he’d say the most outrageous things. No filters at all. Just hilarious.”
“Really?” Reeva had no idea her dad had been funny. “What kind of things?”
“He had a real thing about making sure we’d all eaten our five a day. And he was always going on about the health benefits of mackerel. He had this pot of fish oil tablets in his office he’d try and give us.” Meg shook her head, laughing. “Such a funny guy. We all loved him—he was like the granddad of our team—but for some reason, he’d never come out to the pub with us. He was very boundaried like that. Ooh, Leela!” Meg called out to someone behind her. “There’s someone here to see you. Sorry, I didn’t get your name?”
Reeva turned around slowly and then blinked in surprise. It was the woman in pink lipstick who’d been at her dad’s prayers the first night. She’d been expecting another Saraswati. Not this old woman with a tight bun, black rectangular glasses, and a faded pink jumper. She looked sonormal.
“Reeva,” said Leela in surprise. “You’re here.”
“Uh, yes,” said Reeva. “Sorry. To just turn up. I wondered if we could have a little chat?”
“Of course,” said Leela seriously. “Let me finish up here, and we can pop outside.”
Reeva nodded and realized she’d been wrong to call her old. Up close, Leela must be in her late fifties. It was just that her clothes made her look older. She was actually quite pretty. And she had kind eyes. Reeva found herself hoping that Leela and her dadhadbeen more than friends. Not while he’d been married. But he’d spent almost thirty years alone afterward—he deserved some love and company in his life. Especially if it was with someone who looked so kind.
“Sorry about that,” said Leela, walking out of the shop to meet Reeva. “It’s nice of you to come.”
