Chapter 9
“They are such a cute couple,” Mantra said waving at the departing car after spending an hour with his sister and her husband. It reminded her of what her sister did not have in her relationship and wished it wasn’t so strained.
“What’s that look?” His question shook her out of her thoughts.
“What?”
“You were thinking about something… something unpleasant.”
She suppressed her surprise and shook her head. Was she so transparent or was he that good at reading her?
They stood by his SUV outside the burned-down coffee shop. “
“Gaurav is okay, Sona can be annoying at times.”
“Don’t say that. She is so nice,” she objected.
“So nice you wanted to buy her and her husband coffee?”
“Yeah, it’s coffee.” She shrugged.
He took a small step toward her. “You were supposed to buy me coffee, not my sister and her husband.”
“Whatever, I’m not buying next time. Your offer for free coffee has expired since you didn’t let me pay,” she teased stepping away from him and moving closer to the vehicle.
“You’re still not off the hook for messing with my reputation. You are going with me and do all the sweet-talking at the fundraiser this weekend.”
“Whiner!” She wasn’t sure why he was so annoyed or was it just faked annoyance to get her to go.
His voice was gruff when he finally spoke. “You agreed to be my date last night because you lost the bet.”
It wasn’t blackmail but a form of it, and she wasn’t entirely opposed to going to the fundraiser. She didn’t mind his company but just wasn’t sure about herself when he was around. She felt a constant jitter run through her body, and her skin tingled at his proximity to her. His cologne gave her a high causing her dirty mind to run wild.
“Fine!” She pretended to be unhappy when she was looking forward to the event. She knew he was bad news and needed to avoid him, but something about him intrigued her. He was capable of making her want to claw his face and dig her nails to dent the rock-hard muscles all at the same time.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” his voice interrupted her thoughts. He was walking away from her as she blankly stared at him.
“Hey,” she objected making him stop.
“What?”
“Are you kidding me? You drove me all the way here, so you need to drive me back,” she fumed.
“Really? Was that the deal?”
“Are you some kind of a…” Her words drifted off when he smiled flashing a sexy dimple her way. He had never smiled like that in the few weeks she had known him.
“Not a psychopath… just a dick.” He winked making her want to hide her face.
She overreacted, always did with him around. It was the high she felt every time he was less than ten feet from her. Her reaction to him was that of a teenage girl, and her specialized education didn’t come in handy to help her. He always hit the right or wrong spots with her.
“Whatever.” She didn’t want to prolong the conversation.
“Did you like the coffee?” His voice was smooth.
“It was good. Different.”
“Mr. Singh has a special process for brewing his coffee. I need to get that patented.” His eyes were locked on the road as they pulled out of the parking lot.
“Are you going to own the patent?” she asked unable to believe his ears.
“Why would I own it? It’s his process.” His words sent relief through her body.
“Good.” She told herself he wasn’t an asshole either, just different.
“What time do you get off work on Friday?” he asked without looking at her.
“Why?”
“What time?”
“I’ll be done at The Red Room by ten… why?”
“I have to take care of something before we go to the fundraiser on Saturday evening, and we need to leave early that morning. You can stay over at my place if you don’t want to wake up that early and drive.” He sounded very casual, but the thought made her twitch in her folds.
“I can come by in the morning… how early do we need to leave?”
“Four.”
“Why so early?”
“Because I need to talk to someone about how to fix my car that you ran into the other day.” The way he said it screamed blackmail.
“Fine, I will be there.”
“You better be.” It was a warning.
*****
Later in the week, Mantra sat in her professor’s office looking nervously at the elderly woman as she reviewed the updates to her thesis. The woman who usually looked away from the document within a minute was still looking at the screen.
Her professor continued to read for a few more minutes and pressed her lips together before looking at Mantra. “It is an improvement over the last one.”
Mantra wanted to jump out of her chair and dance but settled for a smile. “Thank you!”
The Red Room research was helping. Over the past few weeks, she had tried a few different things in the dining area, studied the couples, their behavior, the food they ordered and made notes.
“How many patients are you working with now?”
“I have three patients from the place I work.”
“Do you have anyone you are working with who is not associated with the clinic?”
She knew she couldn’t avoid helping her sister, but she wasn’t going to bring her family into her work. “No.”
“This is good progress, but you need to find someone you know so you can show you are able to treat someone you know personally.”
“Got it. Thank you, Dr. Gitlin.”
Mantra left the room with mixed feelings. She was happy her professor didn’t trash her work, but the very memory of her sister’s misery made her sick to her stomach.
She pulled out her phone and dialed her sister’s number.
“Sloka, which day are you off this week?” Her sister worked crazy hours and got a day off every other week, and Mantra wondered if her schedule made her situation worse.
“I don’t have a day off this week, but we can catch up for lunch sometime. What’s up?”
“I will do my best to help you and Rajeev… but I’m in no way certified…”
Her sister didn’t let her finish. “Thank you, Mantra.”
“I won’t be able to see you until next week, but I want you to think real hard about what I’m about to tell you.” Mantra took a deep breath.
“What?”
“Mom and dad will tell you that you are crazy to do this, but this may help save your marriage.” She felt her stomach twist.
“What is it?”
“You need to get out of your crazy schedule and stick to a regular schedule and not work as many hours as you do now.”
“I don’t work crazy hours… I’m…” Her sister sounded defensive and didn’t let her finish.
“Sloka… I’m not saying you shouldn’t work or have a career, but when things are not working well, something has to change. If you want things to get better, you need to let go of a few things… at least for a short time.”
“I hear you. I will think about it.”
“Come home over the weekend. We can talk.”
“I’m going out of town this weekend. Are you off on Wednesday next week?”
“Where are you going?”
“Out.”
“Where are you going?” Sloka insisted.
“I am going to a fundraiser with a friend.”
“Boyfriend?”
“I said friend, Sloka… friend.”
Her sister laughed at her annoyance. “A friend who is a boy?”
“A man, yes.”
“I knew it… who is this man?”
“Someone I work with… are you off next Wednesday?” She couldn’t let her sister get carried away.
“Yes, I am off, and I want to talk about this man.”
“No… we will talk about you. Meet me at Red Jack’s for drinks,” Mantra said.
“Oh no, I’m off, but I’m in Monterey for a conference.”
“Sloka… do you see what the problem is here? Rajeev is not the only reason for this situation.” Mantra couldn’t help but point out.
“Okay… okay… can you meet me in Monterey? You can stay over with me at the hotel.”
Mantra wasn’t sure if she wanted to drive for two hours to see her sister but knew she had to start working with her. “Okay, send me the details. I will see you next Wednesday.”
She hung up the phone and stared blankly thinking about Yash. He was not her type, but something about him got her excited.
She may have been bullied into going to the fundraiser, but she was looking forward to the event. She was going as his date and didn’t know what to expect.
She needed to put some reins on the undeniable attraction she felt for him and manage to get through the weekend.