Page 33 of Everything She Wanted

I squeeze her shoulder and say, “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“I know.” She winks at me.

I call an Uber, and there’s one just a few minutes away. I walk fast, but don’t run to avoid attracting any attention from the guests milling about. Sneaking away from the reception might send tongues wagging since Eshaan and I aren’t officially engaged. Before you knew it, some crazy story would be circulating that there was trouble in paradise or rumours that I was disrespecting their family by leaving early.

It is exhausting to keep up with. Some family members are open-minded and modern, and others were more traditional, and I’ve given up trying to keep it all straight. I know enough from witnessing my own family drama from a young age not to say much when someone is nice but nosy.

Today was fun but long. I love weddings, the dressing up and the festivities. I especially love that at family functions like this, Shaan’s mom’s icy glare turns into a doting mother-in-law look. We both play our parts perfectly—I try my best to be the gracious soon-to-be daughter-in-law, while she pretends to be the proud mother. Sometimes, I wish it wasn’t an act, that I could do or say something that would make her love me, but somehow, I always end up saying or doing the wrong thing. She never says anything to me about it, of course, but Shaan always fills me in later for some reason. I wish he would keep her rude remarks about me to himself. In front of others, she would never let her quiet disdain show. No, she cares too much about what people think of her.

The other bright part of my day was Eshaan’s Dadi Ji, his dad’s mom. She always welcomes me with open arms, and I love just spending time with her. Today, she whispered conspiratorially to me to get her another sweet, and I know she shouldn’t have too much sugar, but I couldn’t say no to her kind face. We laughed after: It was our little secret.

It’s a long ride from Surrey to the office downtown, but somehow the time flies by and I’m there, ready to face the unknown. I walk to the front doors, swipe my security badge to gain access, and head up the elevator to the twenty-seventh floor.

The doors open, and although I want to get up to speed on everything, I need to change first. I’m shy about going in wearing my full saree, not to mention it’s not the most comfortable to work in.

I stroll down the quiet halls to my office, the dark hallway lighting up with every step. Even though I know I need to get to the boardroom as quickly as possible, I find myself pausing in front of Nick’s door. I don’t expect him to be there, but he turns as I stop and stares at me. He’s turned off the bright overhead lights, and there’s only the soft glow of his desk lamp that creates an inviting warm ambience in his office.

Surprise and then intensity simmer in his gaze as he looks at me. I’m catapulted back to the night we first met when he looked at me just like that. He steps forward, closing the distance between us, and I suddenly forget everything else. I can’t catch my breath. No one else exists in this abyss, and I don’t want to be anywhere else. I take in his black fitted T-shirt and tight jeans, and I can’t help but wonder what the emergency called him away from. I’m not sure I want to know.

“Nisha.”

He drinks me in, gazing at me from head-to-toe. If my brown skin could blush...

“Wow, you look—” He stops himself mid-sentence and the mandatory sexual harassment training flashes through my head: Refrain from telling colleagues, especially those of the opposite sex, that they look nice because commenting on appearances is inappropriate. I want to laugh. Someone saying you look nice isn’t the harassment most women in the workplace are worried about.

“You’re all dressed up,” he says finally.

“I was at a wedding.”

“Whose wedding?”

This is when I should say, “My boyfriend’s cousin’s,” but for some reason, I don’t.

“A friend’s. What’s going on?” I quickly change the subject.

“There’s been a security breach on our main server, and right now they’re trying to determine which data was accessed.”

“Shit.”

“I know.” He runs his hand through his hair, and I can tell he’s stressed. A bigger organization could recover from this, but for us, as a start-up, it could be game over. “We’re meeting in the boardroom in ten.”

“Great. I’m just going to change, and I’ll be right there.” Except I remember I have about a million pins in my outfit, and it would be nearly impossible to get them out all on my own, especially the biggest one on the back.

He sees me hesitate. “What’s up?”

“Oh, um, it’s nothing.”

I can’t ask him to do this, but I also don’t want to be in this outfit all night.

“Are you sure?” he presses.

“Actually, I have a pin on the back of my top, and I was wondering if you could take it out for me? I can’t reach it myself.”

I don’t breathe as I wait for his response.

“Of course, no problem.”

His words are saying one thing, but his eyes are saying another as they blaze at me. His pupils are inky black pools taking over the waves of blue, or maybe it’s just the dim lighting that’s making it seem that way.