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“Of course. I felt bad I hadn’t spoken to you at the prayers or anything. I know you and my dad were close.”
Leela’s face lit up. “Really? He... spoke about me?”
“Uh... yes.” It suddenly felt important to Reeva to make Leela feel special. “He... always said how great you were.”
Leela pursed her lips and sniffed. “Sorry. I can’t believe I’m crying in front of you. I just really miss him.”
Reeva pulled out a tissue from her bag—her clients often needed one—and handed it to her. “Please don’t feel bad. He would have, uh, wanted us to speak.”
Leela dabbed her eyes with the tissue. “Thank you. I always wanted to meet you. But I know Hemant was very private, so, well... it never happened.”
Reeva nodded slowly. So Leela didn’t know that Hemant hadn’t been in his daughters’ lives. She felt strangely disappointed—she’d hoped that her dad had felt close enough to someone in his life to share his burden. Whatever it was. “Have you known my dad a long time?”
“Oh, years! We’ve been close since university. We studied together in London. Before he married your mum.”
“I... didn’t know that,” said Reeva. “So, you must know a lot about him. Did he... ever tell youwhyhe and my mum split up?”
Leela fidgeted awkwardly with her glasses. “Not in so many words. I know how different they were. Though it’s not my place to speak about your mother.”
“But what was the thing that made them break up?” persisted Reeva. “What happened when I was five?” Leela took a step back and Reeva realized she was scaring her. “Sorry. It’s just my mumnever speaks about these things, and with Dad dying, it’s all coming up. I think having some answers would really help us.”
“I’m sorry. Your dad was so private. He hardly ever spoke about you three, and you’re his daughters!”
Reeva sighed. This was useless. Her dad hadn’t told Leela anything. Unless her sisters were right and Leela was the cause of it all. “Leela, I’m... I’m sorry to ask something so personal. But... were you and my dad ever...”
Leela blushed. “We were very good friends.”
“Okay. But, um, like...”
“Good friends,” repeated Leela. “Just good friends.”
“Good friends,” repeated Reeva. “Cool! Sorry. I... yeah. And have you been, um, good friends ever since university?”
“Oh yes,” said Leela. “Verygood friends.”
—
Reeva closed thedoor behind her and sat in her car. This was not good. Leela and her dad dating recently was one thing. But them being “good friends” since before his marriage was another thing entirely. Could her sisters be right? Reeva shook her head. No. There was still no firm proof.Good friendscould mean anything. Though she doubted her sisters would see it that way. She groaned loudly. The last thing she wanted to do was go back home and hear them triumphantly proclaim that their dad had ruined his family by having an affair with an optometrist. Or hear their warped rationale that Reeva should do the eulogy because she was the one who got paid six figures a year to speak in court (they refused to accept she was a solicitor, not a barrister), and could she please just sort out the flowers and the funeral car while she was at it?
But Reeva didn’t have to go back to her dad’s house and deal with her sisters. There were still five hours before prayers. She could go and do something else. Like hang out with the one member of her family who didn’t make her feel like she was undergoing a root canal.
—
“Rose petal andginseng tea,” said Satya Auntie, placing a delicate teacup in front of Reeva. She inhaled the fragrant scent and felt a sense of calmness descend over her that she hadn’t felt since... she couldn’t even remember. That couldn’t be a good sign. “Thank you. This is exactly what I need. And this place is gorgeous!” It really was. The decor of the Ayurvedic spa was simple—bright wood and pale lemon walls with green plants and warm lighting—but the final effect was one of pure, luxurious tranquility. “It must be amazing working here every day. I feel so relaxed already. And Ineverfeel relaxed.”
Her aunt—dressed in a soft cream jumper and light blue jeans—nodded sagely. “I know. So few people in the West are ever actually relaxed, and I think it’s worse for women. I once heard a woman on the radio saying that she’d never met a truly relaxed woman, and that it was her goal in life to become one. It’s one of the best life goals I’ve ever heard.”
Reeva sighed longingly. “Can you imagine? I didn’t even know that was possible. None of my girlfriends are relaxed either. It’s all so stressful—work, relationships, raising kids, or just getting your eyebrows done and logging your period on your phone. I mean, sure, you can be relaxed for a week or so on holiday. But permanently? That feels impossible. Especially if you’ve got my—well, our—family.”
“It’s the society we live in,” agreed Satya Auntie. “It makesit so hard. It was a lot easier when I was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nuns, where the only source of stress was a wayward goat. But even then, I would get moments of anxiety.”
“Really, what about? The lack of people? Or, wait—did they have bad food? I always imagine monasteries would have terrible food, but maybe that’s just because I’m still thinking of the medieval ones we learned about at school.”
Her aunt laughed. “You really are Hemant’s daughter. He thought about food the whole time as well.” Reeva smiled as she mentally added this to the slowly growing list of facts about her dad. They already had so much more in common than she did with her mum—Saraswati ate only to live. “The problem wasn’t the food—one of the nuns was French, so we ate well. It was my mind, as always. Thoughts. About the family I’d left behind, the disappointment I felt at how they’d reacted, then disappointment about howI’dreacted, and eventually regret.”
“Did you really regret it? I know it must have been so hard to lose your family, but the life you’ve lived is soyou.I can’t imagine you staying in India and marrying someone normal.” She flushed. “Sorry, I can’t believe I said that. I mean—”
But Satya Auntie just laughed. “No, you’re right; I definitely couldn’t have done that. But it’s not easy disappointing people you love. It took me a long time to truly make peace with my life choice.”
