by P. G. Van
“I need another thirty minutes Nick, but if you need to go, go ahead. I will take the train and you can come get me from the station,” I said continuing to type away looking at my screen.
Nick did not say anything immediately, but I heard him take in a deep breath as if he was trying to calm himself. When he spoke, his voice was firm enough for me to stop typing and listen to him.
“You taking the train is no longer an option, and you will not suggest something as ridiculous as you just did one more time. Is that clear, baby?” he said in his commanding voice.
“Yes,” I said and did not attempt to object. I knew there were a few things that Nick would not budge on, and transportation was one of them. It was one of the reasons that I let Nate have the Mini Cooper.
“I will come get you around seven. Please do not step out of the building until I call you,” Nick instructed as usual.
“Got it,” I teased and hung up.
Nick pulled up in front of my office building almost an hour later and looked extremely weary.
“Nick, you look so tired. Do you want me to drive?” I asked as I got into the passenger seat.
“I am fine, Sameera,” he said almost sounding curt.
I sat quietly as he maneuvered through the busy streets of San Francisco and wondered what was going on that was bugging him so much. It was killing me that he wouldn’t share it with me.
“Nick,” I said almost in a whisper and continued in a calm but stern voice, “There is no point in me being in your life if you cannot share your worries with me.”
“Sameera, it’s not that I don’t want to share things with you, but I don’t want you worrying about stuff that eventually will get resolved,” he said in a casual tone as he looked at the road ahead.
“For example?” I encouraged.
“The reporting system migration is huge for our marketing department. It is scheduled to go live next week, and I am stressed about it,” Nick said looking at me briefly and added chuckling, “I know everything will be fine, but I just can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Okay good. You can stress about it all you want, but you need to talk about it just so you get a sense of the priority. You need to force rank on all of your stress-causing items,” I said confidently.
“Who are you and what did you do with my wife?” Nick mocked.
“Really?” I snarled and added, “I am trying to be helpful, and you are snubbing me?”
“I am kidding, sweetheart. Your input was very valuable the last couple of times I had stuff to resolve,” Nick said smiling.
“Thank you, Nick,” I said cheerfully.
Nick smiled and teased, “Could you please clear out your calendar tomorrow so you can provide some feedback to the board as well?”
“Stop it Nick, what’s next?” I asked encouraging him to keep talking.
“Hmm, I don’t know,” Nick said refusing to continue.
“I think I might know one of them,” I said hesitantly.
He looked away from the highway to look at me for a second and asked, “Do you?”
“Well, I know why you were upset with Sam,” I said looking at him and saw his jaw tighten immediately, but I continued in a calm voice, “He wasn’t wrong in suggesting that you get a pre-nup, and you know I would’ve been totally fine with it.”
“Who told you about that?” Nick grumbled.
“Nick, you need to stop being mad at Sam and be thankful that he is watching out for you,” I said sternly and added, “and I am not giving up my source.”
Nick laughed completely surprising me and said, “I think I know who your source is, and I am going to throw them into the pool for sure.”
“What?” I asked completely taken back with this sudden shift in mood and looked at him with confusion.
“If I am not mistaken, my darling sister is your source. She is definitely getting thrown into the pool as soon as we get home,” Nick declared.
I sat in shock wondering how he knew it was Ann who had told me about the pre-nup because there were at least two others that knew about the pre-nup.
“Okay, I won’t throw her in the pool because I know how persistent you can be when it comes to extracting all the information you need,” he teased and added in a serious tone, “I was upset with Sam and the rest of the gang for not realizing that I don’t value anything more than you in this world.”
I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart and said, “I love you too, Nick.”
Nick smiled looking at the road and asked, “Are you thrilled to be twenty-four in a few hours?”
I laughed and said, “I am excited about my first birthday with you, but the age factor is not bugging me as much.”
“Well, it’s technically not the first one because you have spent a couple of your teen birthdays with me,” Nick reminded.
“Gosh, how could I have forgotten those cake-being-smashed-in-my-face days,” I said laughing out loud and added, “One year I literally begged my mom and dad not to get a cake because I was terrified of you smashing it on my face.”
“Sorry about traumatizing your teen birthdays,” Nick laughed out loud with mockery in his voice and added immediately, “I take that back. I am not sorry,” and continued to laugh hysterically.
“Whatever,” I whined and asked, “What is it with you and the things you do to traumatize everyone?”
“Correction, I only cause trauma to the people I love,” he said totally enjoying himself. I sat in silence sulking as he continued to talk about all of the times he had smashed the entire cake on my face when we were at a friend’s birthday party.
*****
“Happy Birthday, baby!!” Nick said kissing me awake later that night as midnight struck.
“Nick, I am sleepy,” I whined, as I was tired after a long day at the office.
“I know, but I need you to open your eyes just for one minute,” Nick said running his lips along the length of my jawline, and I put my arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
“Sameera,” he whispered and the fondness in his voice pulled me out of my sleep. I squinted my eyes to look at him as he pulled himself up.
“Why are you still up, baby? We have to wake up early for our ceremony tomorrow morning,” I reminded him.
“Sameera, look at me sweetheart,” Nick insisted and when I made eye contact with him, he pointed to the chain that was around his neck and asked, “What is this?”
“Nick…” I started to object and he said in a soft voice, “shhhhhh….just respond to my question.”
I took a deep breath sitting up in bed and put my arms around him, and said, “That was my waist chain, Nick.”
“Yes, and do you know how much I miss you not having your waist chain on?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
“Nick, no. I am not taking it back. It’s yours and you need to wear it,” I said fully awake.
“Yes, and I will not part with it no matter what, but I had another idea,” Nick said with a mischievous expression bubbling to the surface.
“Now what?” I asked smiling at him.
He reached into his pocket and as I looked in amazement, he pulled out a chain that looked exactly like the one that he was wearing, just a tad bit brighter.
“Oh wow, where did you find a twin for my waist chain?” I asked as he reached around me to put it on around my waist. I struggled to contain my excitement as he clipped on the chain securely.
“Custom made for my beautiful wife and her sexy waist,” Nick said making me turn crimson.
I looked at it and realized how much I had missed wearing it. For Nick to get it for me for my birthday was just a stellar idea.
“Thank you, Nick,” I said and buried my face in his chest.
“One more cool thing is that the jewelry design is copyrighted. That makes the chain design exclusive to us and our kids,” Nick said with pride in his voice.
“Seriously? I had no idea you could do that with jewelry,” I said in surprise.
Nick gently pushed me back on to the bed and slowly took his lips to my waist for a quick kiss, and then came up to lie down next to me and whispered, “One more reason for having this one made is so when we have two girls, there is no contest over who gets the chain.”
I was pretty sure I had forgotten to breathe for a few minutes after he said that and when my lungs finally rattled for air, I took in a deep breath and said smiling, “You are very sneaky Nick. We are not talking about kids until Sam gets married.”
Nick laughed as he put his arms around me and lulled me back to sleep.
Chapter Fifteen
“Happy Birthday, Meera!!” My mom said cheerfully over the phone.
“Thank you, Ma,” I said looking at Nick as I sat next to him in the back seat of the Range Rover on my way to work.
“What are you guys doing today?” she asked with excitement in her voice.
‘I am on my way to work, Ma,” I said and she responded, “I took the day off for your birthday, and you are going to work?”
I laughed out loud and asked, “What are you planning to do, Ma?”
“Well, I am making your favorite biryani. Dad and I are going to enjoy that while we talk about you,” my mom said giggling.
“Ma, that’s just brutal,” I whined.
“You should ask your husband for some Hyderabadi biryani,” my mom teased, and I laughed but did not say anything.
“Did you talk to Nethra today? Is she coming to see you?” my mom asked casually.
“I haven’t talked to her in almost two days Ma, and she is busy at work. I will probably catch up with her over the weekend,” I said to my mom.
“What? It’s your birthday and she hasn’t called you yet?” my mom said sounding disappointed.
“Ma, it’s okay. I know she’ll call me as soon as she has a moment,” I said and wondered why I had not heard from Nate.
Nate was always the first one to wish me a happy birthday, and it was Nick this year. I was thrilled about that and the gift he gave me at midnight. Nick’s parents gifted me the chain that I replaced the yellow thread with earlier that morning.
“Ok, Ma I got to go. Give daddy my love,” I said to my mom and hung up the phone.
“Are you upset that Nethra hasn’t called you yet?” Nick asked taking me by surprise.
“No, I am just surprised, because she usually is the first one to wish me on my birthday with the cake and candle setup. I’ll call her later. She is probably busy too as she got back to work recently,” I said casually.
“What do you want to do tonight, love?” Nick asked in a cool voice.
“I am not sure,” I said feeling a sense of disconnect for various reasons. One being that Nate had not called, and the other being that I was not able to hear the voice of my stepdad. Wednesday was his surgery day, and he is in back-to-back surgeries all day.
I leaned over to my side to rest my head on Nick’s shoulder and said, “I want to have a quiet night with you, Nick. Can we just go home after work?”
Nick put his phone away, and put his arm around me planting a kiss on my forehead and said, “Whatever you want to do, baby. You will let me know if you change your mind right?”
“I will,” I said smiling weakly.
*****
Nick came to pick me up around five o’clock, and I was looking forward to a quiet night at home. Nick’s parents were going to be away for a dinner event so I knew we would be going to an almost empty house that night.
“Nick, I am really worried that Nate has not called me all day. When was the last time you talked to Srini?” I asked worried.
“I talked to Srini an hour ago, and he was on his way to pick up Nethra from work. Don’t worry, she is fine,” he said and I was relieved to hear that she was okay and was just being a bad sister.
“What do you feel like eating for dinner?” Nick asked placing his palm on my cheek.
“I want to eat my mom’s biryani Nick,” I whined.
“Wow, you are being a real birthday baby now,” Nick teased and added, “Let me see what I can do.”
“Nick, I am just feeling crappy that I have not talked to Nate and my dad but bear with me for another ten minutes while I sulk,” I said smiling at him.
“How come you have not talked to Dr. Naidu?” he asked sounding surprised.
“It’s his surgery day today so a lot of hospital hopping and stop calling him Dr. Naidu, he is your father-in-law now,” I said laughing.
Nick laughed and said, “I don’t know what else to say to address him.”
“Figure it out, I did with your mom and dad,” I challenged him.
“It’s easier for women to call their in-laws as mom and dad but it’s different for men,” Nick explained.
“What do you think Mitch?” I asked leaning over and the way Mitch jumped, I was sure I had startled him.
“Sorry, Ms. Nick. I did not catch that,” Mitch said apologetically.
Nick burst out laughing and said, “You are asking the guy who address you as Ms. Nick about how I should address your mom and dad?”
“Good point. You guys are horrible,” I grumbled.
Almost an hour later, Mitch pulled into the driveway but instead of parking in Nick’s garage, he drove past the main entrance and parked the Range Rover in Nick’s dad’s garage.
“Nick, this car and garage arrangement is driving me nuts. You need to tell me ahead of time tomorrow morning which car and which garage so I can plan ahead,” I teased.
“Yes, ma’am,” Nick mocked.
“Happy birthday, Ms. Nick. Enjoy your evening,” Mitch said in a polite tone as we stepped into the elevator.
“Thank you, Mitch. Good night,” I called out as the elevator doors closed.
I put my arms around Nick in the elevator and said, “I love you Nick. You’ve made this birthday very special.”
Nick laughed and kissed me on my cheek and said, “Really? You’re in for a treat then.”
I looked at him in surprise as the elevator doors opened to the main floor of the house, and I looked straight into Nate’s sparkling eyes.
“Happy birthday, Meera!!” Nate said her face glowing in the candle flame. She stood a few feet from the elevator doors in the dimly-lit foyer holding a cake with a candle on it.
“Nate, thank you. I thought you forgot,” I said fighting back tears. A few seconds later, the lights came on, and I heard loud cheering from the living area.
I turned around to look at Nick and asked, “Nick, Did you…?”
“Happy birthday, sweetheart!!” he said as I put my arms around him with tears of joy rolling down my cheeks.
We walked through the short foyer hand-in-hand with Nate leading the way. At the end of the foyer, I turned to look at the crowd that had gathered for my birthday celebration. It took me just one second to spot my mom and stepdad in the group.
“Daddy,” I cried out like a little girl and ran into his arms.
I heard people cheering as my stepdad wiped the tears from my cheeks and said, “Happy birthday, Meera.”
“Ma, why didn’t you tell me you guys were in the area?” I complained as I hugged my mom.
“This was part of Nick’s plan,” Nate chimed in and added looking at Nick, “I had to give up my number one birthday wishing spot to him.”
I looked at Nick as he chatted with Srini and Sam on the other side of the room and felt my heart swell with joy and love.
“Did you know mom and dad flew in on the private jet last night?” Nate exclaimed.
“Nice,” I giggled hugging my stepdad and added looking at Nate and my mom, “I am going to go around and talk to everyone.”
I walked around the large living room to chat with everyone that was there for my birthday celebration.
“Ma, you actually made the biryani for me?” I said hugging my mom as we were getting ready to eat dinner.
“Nick’s instructions, Meera,” my mom teased looking at Nick at the far end of the la
rge living area.
“Ma, hold on. I will be right back. You guys get started with dinner,” I said to everyone gathered in the dining area and went looking for Nick.
Nick was on the phone, and he hung up when he saw me approach him and smiled at me.
I ran straight into his arms and buried my face in his chest and said, “Nick…I don’t know what to say.”
“You can say, I love you,” Nick teased, tightening his arms around me.
I looked up at him and asked, “Can I talk to you for a few minutes?”
“Absolutely,” he said smiling and I said, “We shouldn’t be gone for too long. Let’s step into the garage.”
Nick chuckled and asked, “Seriously?”
“Nick, I said I wanted to talk in the garage,” I said winking at him as we went down the short flight of stairs from one end of the living area. Nick stopped at the door leading to the garage and pulled me close to him.
He brushed his lips on mine and said, “You should tell me what you want to say before we step into the garage.”
I put my arms around him tracing the shirt opening at his neck with the tip of my tongue and traced upwards towards the base of his neck. I took a deep breath of his masculinity and felt his pulse quicken against my lips.
“You like that huh?” I asked in a husky voice against his neck and when I heard his breath hiss in my ear, I reached for the tight muscle on his shoulder, and took a crisp bite into his skin and heard him groan loudly.
“My love for you grows every second. I think I know what it means to love a person endlessly,” I said in a ragged voice.
Nick called out my name and tightened his grip in my hair.
He pulled back slightly as he cupped my face in his palms and planted a kiss on the tip of my nose, “I have one more thing for you, and I am terrified to show it to you. Promise me you will not be mad and that you will give me a chance to make my case.”
“Nick?” I asked suspicious that he was up to something.
“I was going to show it to you later, but since it was your idea to go to the garage, we should go now,” Nick said totally confusing me.
I pushed open the door to the garage that opened only from the inside and stood looking into the dark garage. I saw Nick’s Porsche from the light streaming through the door. Nick took a step forward and turned on a switch and the garage lit up so brightly that I squinted slightly. My eyes widened to what I saw parked right next to the Porsche. It was a white Mercedes SUV with a huge red bow on the hood.
