by Shilpa Suraj
‘Nisha, how are you?’ Smiling his greeting, Ryan started to propel her away from all the avid stares. He could still feel the eyes boring into his back as they left the floor and headed towards the bank of elevators.
‘I’m doing great. I was hoping I’d run into you so we could have a cup of coffee together. We didn’t get much of a chance to talk during that meeting.’
It was going to be really hard to delude himself about the invitation in her eyes. Groaning inwardly, he plastered a smile on his face before looking down at her. ‘Coffee sounds great. Why don’t you order and settle in at a table at the cafeteria? I just need to drop by my office and send a few emails. I’ll be there in about ten minutes?’
After seeing her to the door of the cafeteria, he backtracked to his cabin. Dumping his laptop there, he hurried across to Minty’s cabin looking to be rescued. Minty looked up startled when he burst into her room with a slightly crazed look in his eye.
‘Do you remember the time that guy at college was hassling you about that hideous outfit you were wearing?’
‘Umm yes but polka dots were in fashion then and I thought it was a very pretty outfit.’ Minty replied defensively.
‘Polka dots and frills? Nothing can make that combination pretty! Anyway, do you remember me rescuing you from his snide remarks?’
‘If you’re bringing it up just to make fun of me today, I don’t think it’s very heroic.’ She grumbled.
‘I’m calling in that favour. Come have coffee with me now.’
‘What’s the catch? Coffee with you wouldn’t be calling in the favour.’
‘Nisha is at the cafeteria right now waiting for me to have coffee with her and I don’t want it to be just the two of us. So you’re coming with me.’
‘Oh! Poor you! It must be so hard to go through life with pretty women chasing after you. I wonder how you manage to suffer through it.’
Sarcasm was something both Minty and Sia could make a career out of, Ryan reflected. It was no wonder they’d stayed fast friends.
‘Either you come with me now or I will have a conversation with your fiancé where I relate every single embarrassing moment of your life. Speaking as someone who has been there for a lot of those embarrassing moments, I have quite a repertoire.’ He broke off as he saw the smirk fade from Minty’s face.
‘Let’s not keep your date waiting then.’ Eyes averted, she grabbed her purse from the desk and got up.
‘Min, is everything okay with you and the fiancé?’ He stepped in front of her to stop her headlong dash for the door.
‘I don’t know. Right now I just don’t want to think about any of it.’
‘Want me to beat him up for you? Is he skinny or built?’ Hoping to coax her smile into reappearing, he continued ‘I could probably take him even if he is all muscular and everything but I sort of like my face the way it is. Having it rearranged would be a little inconvenient.’ He had an arm around her and was looking down at her when they walked into the cafeteria which is why he missed all the signs of the potential disaster coming up until they were at the table.
Minty’s murmured ‘Ryan’ had him looking up and over at where Nisha was sitting. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sitting on her own. Sia and she seemed to be in the midst of an animated conversation.
‘There he is!’ Nisha exclaimed, making Sia look up and at them. Minty, the traitor, slipped into the seat next to her leaving him the seat next to Nisha. ‘Sia was just telling me that your team will be giving us your ideas for my book promotion very soon.’
‘Actually, the book promotion is more Minty’s end. We’re just looking at a broader view of romantic fiction in the market and your book is definitely part of it. Since you brought it up and we have all the key players around this table, I may as well run you guys through an idea the team had today.’
‘Nisha just mentioned that she had a coffee date with you. Why don’t Minty and I leave you guys to that and we can have the work conversation another time? I can book a conference room if everyone lets me know what a good date and time is for them.’ Sia levelled a cool look at him that had his blood start a slow simmer. This ice maiden act she had going was really starting to get to him.
Ryan sat back in his seat and let the women figure out the logistics of the meeting.
‘Does Monday morning, at nine thirty, work for you Ryan?’ Sia waited for his reply with the same distant expression on her face.
‘Can we make it Tuesday? I was hoping Nisha would have dinner with me Sunday night.’ Loading as much innuendo as he could into the smile he flashed at Nisha, he continued ‘I’d rather not have an early morning meeting on Monday.’
With barely a hitch in her rhythm, Sia made the changes in her Blackberry and stood up. ‘Done. Minty, will you be coming with me? We should leave these two to their coffee now that we have work out of the way.’
Shrugging helplessly when Ryan glowered at her, Minty said her goodbyes as well and walked out with Sia. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Minty spoke up. ‘What was that all about?’
Deciding that feigning ignorance wasn’t going to work when you’ve known someone all your life, Sia sighed. ‘Before you guys came in to the cafeteria, Nisha was talking to me about what high hopes she has for this meeting with Ryan. Apparently she felt this spark when she met him and now wants to see where it goes. So, I figured we should leave them to it.’
When Minty didn’t say anything to that, Sia slid a sideways glance at her and noticed for the first time the lines of strain etched on her friends face. ‘Min, is everything okay?’ When she still didn’t get a response, Sia put a hand on Minty’s arm to stop her from moving forward. ‘What’s going on? Is it work or problems at home?’
‘Neither actually.’ Minty had a rather strange smile on her face.
‘Pre-wedding jitters?’ Sia hazarded a guess though she doubted that could be it, Vikas and Minty were pretty good together. Or so she’d always thought. To her complete surprise, Minty dissolved into tears. Looking around quickly, Sia steered her into the nearest empty conference room, locked the door and held her while she cried. When Minty finally calmed enough to blow her nose and wipe her face, Sia went out and got her a glass of water and sat down. ‘Do you want to talk about it? Or shall we just go out after work and do some random shopping and clubbing?’
Managing a watery laugh, Minty said ‘I don’t think shopping and clubbing is going to help this time. Do you remember what I told you when I decided that Vikas was the guy for me?’
‘Refresh my memory, hon.’ Sia said gently ‘We had a lot of conversations about him. Girl talk, remember?’
‘I told you that part of being in a relationship with someone who loved me more than I loved him would be that there were less chances of me getting hurt.’
‘Oh right! The men who are popular are jack asses conversation.’ Sia recalled.
‘Turns out I was an idiot. It’s not just men who are popular that cheat on you but apparently even the nerds who on the surface of it seem completely in love with you end up scoring with women behind your back.’
Sia sat in silence for a few minutes after this bitter proclamation before venturing, ‘Vikas cheated on you? Is this speculation or do you know for sure?’
‘I walked in on them in bed last night. I dropped by his place after we all had dinner last night. I was in a good mood and wanted to surprise him. Thought we could grab a late night coffee at one of the hotels. He’s certainly very acrobatic in bed with her from the glimpse I got last night.’
‘What did he say when you confronted him?’ Sia asked, placing her hand over Minty’s in silent support.
‘The usual, it was a mistake, an accident, he didn’t mean to, it’s all pre-wedding nerves, once we’re married it will be different.’ Minty let her head drop into her folded arms with an exhausted sigh.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before she raised her head and looked at Sia. ‘Aren’t you going to ask me what I’m going to do now?’
‘That sounds like a fun plan. Can I tag along?’
Minty and Sia looked up in surprise at Ryan standing inside the room. Damn, Sia thought, she’d forgotten to lock the door.
‘I figured something was wrong when you guys didn’t emerge from this room for a while so I came to check. Who’s the guy we hate?’ Ryan asked though he was pretty sure he knew from Minty’s tear stained face. When Minty just stood up and walked into Ryan’s arms for a hug, he met Sia’s gaze over her head. At her nod, he sighed and tightened his hold on Minty. He felt her shoulders shudder with silent sobs as she held on just as tightly. Sia walked over and laid her hand gently on Minty’s back. ‘Min, I have an idea. Let’s take the rest of the day off. I can clear my calendar in about fifteen minutes and meet you downstairs. Let’s just get out of here. It’s almost two in the afternoon anyway so it won’t really matter.’
When Minty nodded, she looked over at Ryan and realized Minty still had him in a death grip. Time to be a grown up, Sia, she thought wryly before saying ‘What about you Ryan? Would you be able to blow off work and join us?’
At the invitation, Ryan felt something unclench inside him. ‘Of course, as long as I can skip the being hit on by hot men part of the evening.’ He grinned ‘I’m my own boss. I can blow off work whenever I want to. I’ll meet you guys at reception in fifteen minutes.’ Gently prying Minty out of his arms and tipping her head back with a hand on her chin, he said softly ‘We’ll fix it, Min. You need me to do or say something, you consider it done. Want me to twist his dick into a knot?’
‘It’s not long enough.’ Minty’s low mutter had both of them grinning.
‘I can be very creative.’ When that coaxed a small smile from her, he stepped back, satisfied. ‘I’ll see you ladies in reception.’ He held the door open before he turned back and said ‘If he doesn’t realize what he has in you, Min, he’s either blind or insane.’
As the door shut behind him, Minty turned to Sia. ‘Thanks, hon. I know how much that cost you.’ Propelling her towards the door, Sia replied ‘I love you so nothing can cost me so much that I wouldn’t do it to make you smile and also, it’s time the trinity did something fun together again, don’t you think?’
* * *
All loose ends at work wrapped up, they left the office with no specific plan in mind. They ended up at Sia’s place, with Chinese food and rented DVD’s to pass the afternoon. Steering clear of all the romances, they chose mindless blood and gore to keep them entertained. They were halfway through the second movie, when Ryan looked over and noticed that Minty had gone to sleep on the couch. Placing his finger on his lips, he motioned to Sia to turn the movie off. Covering Minty with a comforter, they tiptoed out of the living room and went into the hall. Unfortunately, this left them with only two options. Sia groaned inwardly realizing they either went into the kitchen where there was no seating or into one of the bedrooms where there was the bed of course. Understanding the problem, Ryan led the way into the kitchen and settled down on the floor with his glass next to him. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the cabinet behind him. Sia bustled around for a bit putting things away and then realizing she was being ridiculous she just simply sat down next to him in silence.
After a moment with his eyes still closed, he asked ‘Did you think he had it in him?’
‘I think everyone has it in them, it’s just a question of whether they want to act on it or not.’ She added, ‘He’s always had a bit of an inferiority complex around Min.’
‘Really?’ Not waiting for a reply, he continued, ‘What happens next?’
‘We’ll talk to her parents and take it from there. The wedding’s in two weeks so we need to do that quickly.’
She chanced a quick look at Ryan’s profile. Realizing he still had his eyes closed, she used the opportunity to stare at him to her heart’s content. Visually tracing his profile, she accepted for the first time since he’d come back into her life that there was a part of her that would always love him. She could spend the rest of her life trying but neither time nor distance could erase the hold he had on her heart. The years had been good to him. Those familiar much loved features of his had matured well. There wasn’t much left of the boy she’d known in the sophisticated, urbane stranger sitting next to her. The boy she’d loved with all her heart had become a man she didn’t know how to reach out to. She had to swallow past a lump in her throat when she realized that all she wanted to do at that moment was rest her head on his shoulder and curl up next to him the way she used to.
‘Do I have something on my face?’ His quiet murmur snapped her out of the nostalgic trance she’d slipped into and back into the present. Flushing with embarrassment, she got to her feet and started clearing up the used dishes scattered around the kitchen.
Slowly getting to his feet, Ryan took a small sip of his wine, waiting. Acutely conscious of the fact that her kitchen wasn’t very big and he was standing very close, Sia tried to keep her thoughts from scattering. ‘You’ve changed.’
‘Haven’t we all?’ The quiet question had her hands stilling.
‘Yes.’ Moving towards the kitchen sink to put some distance between them, Sia kept her back to him as she spoke. ‘You wear success well, Ryan. You must be so proud of yourself with all that you’ve achieved.’
A grim smile touched his lips as he slowly rolled the stem of his wine glass between his palms. This was what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? This recognition of what he’d achieved. To have people look at him as a success rather than the wild boy from the poorer side of town. For some reason, his triumph in the moment felt a little hollow.
‘Are you?’ The edge in his voice had Sia looking up warily from the dish she was scrubbing so industriously.
‘Am I what?’
‘Proud of me for all that I’ve achieved?’
The doorbell pealed suddenly saving her from having to answer the question immediately. Wiping her hand distractedly on a hand towel, she walked into the foyer, her mind in turmoil.
Opening the door to Vikas, she stared for a split second before shutting it again without saying a word. She had a brief glimpse of him opening his mouth before the door slammed shut in his face. Walking into the living room, she saw that Ryan had come in and was sitting across from Minty on the centre table facing her sofa. One look at her set expression told Sia she knew exactly who was at the door. Taking Minty’s cold hands in her own, she said ‘Tell me what you want to say and I’ll say it. You don’t have to talk to him now. I can handle it.’
‘I don’t know what I want to say.’ Wearily, Minty pushed herself up from her prone position.
Ignoring the doorbell pealing, Sia stood ‘I’ll come with you. We’ll handle him first and then I’ll drive you home.’ Walking around the drawing room, Sia started her perennial hunt for her car keys. Minty and Ryan watched as she quickly rifled through the clutter on all the visible counters. Spotting the key chain peeping out from under the centre table, she bent to retrieve it. On her hands and knees, with one hand under the table trying to fish out her car keys, she was quite unaware that Ryan’s gaze was transfixed by the view she presented. Feeling a genuine smile curve her lips for the first time that day, Minty said ‘Sia, I think I should handle it.’
‘Why?’ Sia looked over at Minty perplexed. She sat back on her haunches and looked up at her. ‘Don’t you think I would be of some help?’
Ryan could only thank his stars he wasn’t still staring at her bottom. He decided to stare at a point above her while he composed himself.
‘You’d be a world of help but I think I need to do this on my own.’
‘How will you get home? Your c
ar is still at the office. Take my car. You can pick me up on the way to work tomorrow.’ Bending over again to tug at the keys that seemed to have gotten stuck under the table, she pulled as hard as she could. Startled by Ryan’s sudden muffled imprecation, she found herself being forcibly removed and dumped on the couch. With one hard pull, he yanked the keys out, tossed them at her and stalked out of the room.
Handing the keys over to Minty, Sia avoided her amused glance. ‘Don’t start. You have your own idiot to deal with outside.’
‘True. I’ll talk to the two of you tomorrow.’ Taking a deep breath, she gave Sia a quick hug as Ryan came back into the room. Stepping up to hug him too, Minty smiled and whispered into his ear, ‘Some things never change.’
‘Minty, are you sure?’ Sia’s quiet question had the smile on her face dying.
‘It’s my mess. It’s only fitting that I should handle it alone.’ Squaring her shoulders, she stepped around Ryan and headed out the front door.
Acutely conscious of the fact that she was alone with Ryan in the house, Sia watched as the door closed behind Minty with a decisive snap. She was right. You had to clean up your own mess. Avoiding it didn’t make it go away. Meeting Ryan’s eyes, she waited a beat before saying, ‘Apparently success also makes you an ass.’
Ryan blinked. It took a minute for the blood flow to stop pooling in his pants and make the trek back to his brain so it could unscramble itself and realize she was continuing the conversation they’d started in the kitchen.
She continued before he could speak. ‘There was a time in my life when you just had to exist for me to be proud of you. Of course, that was before you dropped me like a hot brick and moved on with your life. The only person standing in this room who thought less of you when we were younger, Ryan, is you.’ Not waiting for a response, she walked around him to the door and opened it. ‘Please leave now. I think we did what we needed to today, for Minty. Now, I would like you to leave, for me.’ They stared at each other for a few seconds without moving.
Breath clogging in her throat, she found herself unable to look away as he walked over and reached behind her shutting the door again. The heat in his eyes telegraphed his intent a lot more clearly than words could have.
