The Five-Day Reunion by Mona Shroff

Author:Mona Shroff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-10-28T22:56:49+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The table resumed normal chatter after Dada’s little visit, so Nikhil relaxed a bit. He should have expected these questions, but he hadn’t been prepared for that little trip down memory lane.

Nikhil had taken Anita out to dinner that night, and it was their first official date. He had already fallen for her over the course of their after-class meetings during the semester. His writing had also drastically improved, but he chalked that up to the fact that he wanted to impress her in every way possible.

He wasn’t sure exactly when it had happened, but he had fallen for her as they sat and drank chai after class in the classroom. At first they discussed his writing and how to improve it. But that quickly morphed into conversations about anything and everything. She had told him about her parents and how she and Amar were surviving, leaning on each other. Nikhil had been in awe of her strength and positivity.

Nikhil and his siblings had certainly leaned on each other when they lost their father, but they had been much younger. Nikhil and Tina had been there for each other as their mother channeled her grief into JFL, and Rocky pulled back from them, becoming more serious and focused in school.

Where Anita had remained focused and positive, Nikhil had frequently found himself in detention. His method of problem-solving had usually involved fists, which led to more than one suspension.

Before she even went back to his place that night, he knew she was the one. But when she confirmed that she felt the same way, Nikhil felt that his life was turning around. This was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He had known it in his soul.

Dinner was served, and Nikhil picked at his food and simply watched Anita. She teased Meeta and kept an eye on Easha. She patted Rocky’s hand from time to time, and laughed heartily at Hiral’s antics, all the while trying to include Nitin in the craziness. In that instant he was struck with a solid fact. Anita Virani was his family, more than anyone else at this table, more than anyone else in this room. She was his home, and he was the idiot that had let her walk out of his life.

He was still in love with her. Which basically meant he was screwed, because she had been the one to leave, and he had no idea how to get her back.

He had been so caught up in what he might lose, and how he might lose it, he hadn’t ever seen what he really had. And what he’d had was this woman’s love. Was it still there?

He continued to watch her, and every so often, she turned her head toward him and gave him a smile that weakened him. It was that secret special smile that was just for him, because it said I’m thinking about you right now.

Maybe. Maybe it was still there. Though he hardly deserved her.

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