by Nisha Sharma
She sat on her plush couch, looking through a window of her small condo at a sliver of New York sky while she cradled a cup of chai. Despite her perfect Saturday morning setup, which included her faded NYU Law shirt and glowing skin from a sleep mask the night before, she couldn’t relax.
Maybe her restlessness wasn’t because of Hem at all. She still hadn’t found any indication of her uncle’s meddling yet, and that was wearing on her, too. She had a long way to go before writing her final due diligence report regarding WTA’s tender offer. Hopefully, she’d discover the truth about Sanjeev’s mole before she finished.
“There has to be something I’m missing,” she muttered. She looked around her condo, hoping to find a tool that could help her get organized. She’d cleaned her space top to bottom the night before to blow off steam from the week. She’d washed and pressed her laundry like she did every Thursday. Her fridge was stocked since she had her groceries delivered. Maybe she just needed something as simple as a walk.
She got up with every intention of going out for fresh air when her phone buzzed. She walked over to the kitchen counter to read the messages on her screen.
HEMDEEP SINGH: You up yet?
Like her mom used to say whenever a person called who she was thinking about in the moment, Hemdeep Singh had a long life. Who would’ve thought that the man causing her such confusion would be the same one texting her first thing in the morning?
MINA: I’m up. Why are you asking?
HEMDEEP SINGH: I’ll tell you in person. Pick up the phone.
Mina looked at her cell, confused by the last message. When her intercom buzzed, her jaw dropped.
“What the hell?” She answered on the third ring. “George?”
“Ms. Kohli,” George from the front desk said. “I have a Hemdeep Singh here for you. Would you like for me to send him up?”
“Uh.” She looked around at her apartment and then down at the half-empty chai mug in her hand. Her adrenaline spiked. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, send him up.”
She practically threw the receiver against the wall. She started running toward the hallway before she realized she was still holding her mug. She raced back to the kitchen counter and put down the mug before vaulting over furniture and racing to her bedroom closet. She needed a bra before anything else. She pulled one out of her dresser and struggled into it. She then ran to the bathroom and tied her hair up in a messy bun. The doorbell rang just as she finished.
She yanked opened the door to a delicious Hem with day-old scruff, dark jeans, and a thin black button down shirt. His hands were tucked in his pockets and he leaned against her doorjamb.
“Morning.”
“Damn it, Hem.”
He leaned forward and gently pressed a kiss against her pouting mouth. She sighed under the soft brush of his lips and the sharp scent of woodsy soap. So she hadn’t imagined his kisses from the previous weekend.
“I have been waiting to do that for days,” he said.
Mina backed away and opened her door wider so that he could come in. He was too persistent to go away without a debate, and she had to admit she was curious as to why he was at her door. “It’s Saturday.”
“So I’ve heard.” He kicked off his loafers and began a slow perusal of her place. “This is really nice. It looks like you. Elegant and vibrant all at the same time.”
“I’m so glad I have your approval.”
“Oh don’t be like that,” he said when he stepped into her kitchen. He looked at her mug, and after smelling it, he took a sip. “I’ll make you more chai if you need more time getting ready.”
“Where are we going?”
“On a date. I’m taking you out. You know, so we can get to know each other. Beyond the brief meetings and the one-time drunken whiskey night at a club.”
“I thought we were going to keep it professional in the office.”
He moved closer to her, and Mina tensed, as if his presence in her space was enough to spark the arousal. “Like you said, it’s Saturday. We’re not in the office.”
“This is a bad idea.”
He leaned into her touch, closing the distance between them. “I think it’s a great idea. We’re going to get brunch and then go to the planetarium.”
“The . . . Wait, what?”
He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Just because I haven’t brought up our debate about dating doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten your point of view on how we need to keep away from each other. Hurry up, hiriye. We have planets to see.”
She didn’t know why, but after a few more moments of staring, she went to take a shower. Twenty minutes later she was dressed in a maxi dress with a matching cardigan. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders, and she wore ankle boots that were comfortable enough for walking. Instead of wearing a full face of makeup like she usually chose to do for work, Mina kept it simple with eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick.
“I’m ready,” she said, looping her cross-body bag over one shoulder.
Hem held out one of her portable tumblers. “I made more chai as promised.”
“Thanks, bab—I, uh, I mean, Hem.”
His gaze darkened, and her stomach fluttered under his stare.
“Go ahead. Call me your baby.”
“It’s soon, Hem.”
“And look at that. You haven’t forgotten our dating debate, either. Honestly, it’s not fast enough if you ask me. It’s easy with you. Instead of fighting it, how about going with it just for today? See how it feels? This is uncharted territory for me, too, but I won’t lie. I want this. I want you.”
With a sigh, Mina took the tumbler. She wasn’t one for lying, either. “Where are we having brunch?”
“Dosa Hutt.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Hem led her down to his car, which he’d parked in front of the building. He slipped a few large bills in the doorman’s fist before opening her door and then getting behind the wheel.
“So,” he began. “NYU Law, huh?”
“Let me guess. Harvard?”
“Columbia, actually. I wanted to stay in the city.”
“Makes sense to me.”
They talked about their history, and how they survived the first few years out of school. Mina was so surprised to find the number of similarities they shared. Movies to live music. International travel destinations to weekend hot spots. Hem even described his last trip to Manila, and Mina couldn’t help but salivate over the opportunity to engage in cutthroat contract negotiations overseas.
They crossed over into Flushing, Queens, faster than she could’ve imagined, and Mina watched in surprise as Hem navigated through the borough with deft familiarity. He parked in a small lot off Bowne Street and held her hand as they walked to the restaurant. It was a small hole-in-the-wall with cheap wobbling tables and random decor. The scent, however, was mind-numbingly delicious. Spicy and rich all at the same time.
They went to the back of the restaurant and ordered paper dosas, sambaar, and coconut chutney at the counter and then sat at a small table in the corner.
“This is nice,” Mina said. “It’s not every day I get to eat South Indian food with a North Indian man. A Singh brother no less. I wonder if anyone knows that your watch is worth more than most mortgages in this area.”
Hem rolled his eyes. “Like my family’s butler likes to say, don’t obsess over appearances. Good food is good food.”
Mina burst out laughing. It was only natural for her to reach out and lace her fingers with his. “Seriously though, do you take all the girls here to seduce them?”
“Nope. You’re the first person I’ve ever brought to Queens. I was going to take you to Moghul Express, but that would’ve been too obvious. I figured you may like this better.” He tugged on her hand until she leaned in. “You want to know something?”
“Always.”
“My parents lived in Flushing before my father sold his first few patents. They used to bring me and my brothers here
when we were kids. We loved my mom’s cooking, but there was something special about cracking a two-foot-long dosa shell and dipping the fragments into a curried soup.”
Mina smiled at the memory. She could almost picture them as children: Hem with his charm, Ajay with his seriousness, and Zail with his soft heart. “So why bring me here?”
“My father used to say that the best memories he had were of talking to my mom about his dreams and ideas right here in this restaurant. Mom would never tell him that he wanted the impossible. I want to share that with you today, Mina. Nothing is impossible. Not between us anyway.”
She let out a sigh and tried to pull her hand away, but he tightened his grip.
“Talk to me. Please?”
She felt like he was cracking her heart open, and she wasn’t used to being so vulnerable. The speed with which her control was unraveling scared her.
“I’m not used to this, Hem. I go on dates every once in a while just so I don’t fall into a routine, but I don’t date. I think I had one serious relationship in college that I knew wasn’t going anywhere. I always put my career goals first. Men were too much of a distraction.”
“Am I distracting you from your work?”
This time, she did pull away. “Actually, yes. Yes, you are.”
“Is it worth it?”
“I haven’t decided yet, honestly. We were supposed to take things slow and get to know each other while remaining professional. Isn’t that what you promised me? The way you always look at me isn’t professional.”
“I could say the same.”
“I mean it, Hem,” she said. “This job is important. It’s my mother’s legacy, and I—”
She was interrupted when two trays stacked with disposable plates and long, spiral-shaped dosas were placed in front of them. Thank god, she thought. She was on the verge of telling him everything, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. Mina surveyed the food, aware that Hem didn’t look away from her as he thanked the waiter.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” she said when she poked at her dosa to flatten it.
“Don’t change the subject, Mina. You’re not a coward.”
She huffed out a breath. “And don’t interrogate me, counselor. I’m not on the stand. Also, why is this about me? What about you? Didn’t you just get out of a long-term relationship? According to my sources, you were almost at the altar.”
Hem dipped a triangle of dosa into his sambaar and then coconut chutney. Mina watched him chew, his perfect mouth pressed together until he swallowed. His chest expanded with a deep breath.
“Lisa and I broke things off over a year and a half ago. And yes, I was hoping to propose, but it didn’t get that far.”
“What happened?”
“Lisa and I met in school and we kept in touch after we graduated. We ran into each other at a client’s party a while back and a few dates after that, we slid into this easy companionship. Relationship,” he corrected.
Mina continued to eat, waiting for him to tell her the rest.
“Besides a basic attraction, I think we started dating because we had similar career ambitions. She understood where I was headed at my father’s company, and challenged me to always do more. To always want more. I don’t know if she ever truly understood me, though.”
“What makes you say that?”
Hem wiped his hands on a napkin before pushing up one sleeve to reveal a tanned forearm. His kara clanged against the table. “My father gave each of us our karas when we turned twenty-one. Lisa was fascinated by it since I wore it every day, all day and night.”
“Yeah, well, it’s your commitment to god and to your faith so why shouldn’t you?”
His face lit up. “Exactly. She understood when I told her what it meant to me, but she couldn’t comprehend how someone who was as educated, as wealthy, would still be connected to god. To her, religion was for the poor, and the desperate. No matter how many conversations we had, she still didn’t get it. She wouldn’t have understood this place, either. Lisa may have challenged my dreams, but she didn’t necessarily support them.”
Mina remembered the comment he’d made when they’d been in his apartment last weekend about Lisa’s aversion to a T-shirt as a gift. “What about the clothes thing?”
“Pet peeve, I guess. It used to drive me nuts that I couldn’t buy things for her to wear. Jewelry. Clothes. Anything. I loved the idea of seeing her enjoy something that I gave her, something that would make her feel as pretty as I thought she was. Instead, she refused to wear or accept anything I gave her except for the occasional birthday gift. A person is allowed to have boundaries. That wasn’t the part that bothered me so much. It’s why she had those boundaries in the first place. She said that it’s better if our relationship wasn’t on display. I never truly understood why she cared so much if people knew we were dating. The pride in me assumed she was embarrassed to be seen with a Sikh man.”
Yikes. If Mina was dating someone, she’d want everyone to know how happy she was. As for the gifts, Hem was right. A person could have boundaries, and as long as she wasn’t obligated to wear anything a man bought her, she’d be happy with whatever present she received.
“You had so many differences, yet you still wanted to marry her?”
Hem shrugged. “My parents were partners first before they grew to love each other. I figured that’s what Lisa and I would have. We already loved each other, so we’d work out our differences with time. After two years, I introduced her to my parents, and well, they couldn’t wait for my ex to make up her mind, so they pushed for a wedding.”
Mina finished her dosa and tossed her napkin on top of her plate. “Wait. What do you mean when you say that they pushed for a wedding?”
“You know. They saw her, assumed that since I’d dated her so long that we were basically telling them we were going to get married. They started telling their friends that a wedding was coming up. They sent us information about banquet halls and wedding planners. Even when I told them to stop, they kept pushing and pushing. They freaked Lisa out.”
“They’re Indian parents, Hem. You should’ve known better than to introduce your girlfriend to them if you weren’t one hundred percent sure that you were getting married.”
Hem stayed quiet for a long time. A waiter came and cleared their plates away. “There were more issues with my family than just Lisa,” he finally said. “This was around the same time that my father and some of Bharat’s investors wanted the company to go public, which I was vehemently against. My father and I fought. Then Lisa and I started fighting. I thought it was a good time to strike out on my own, but she thought I was making the wrong decision when I voted against the family. In the end, she didn’t support me, my future ambitions, and a future with us together.”
“Oh, Hem. That’s a lot.”
“Let’s just say that I handed in my resignation at Bharat the same day that Lisa told me that we were over.”
Mina wanted to comfort him, to circle the table and crawl into his lap. He looked so reserved, so calm, but Mina could tell that he still hurt over the rejection.
Then it clicked. Her confusion that she was wrestling with that morning finally made sense. She looked around at the bustling restaurant, and then to the man across from her leaning back in his chair. It was a strange place to have a revelation about her feelings, honestly.
Hem was most definitely going to be a part of her life, either as a chapter or something more. She’d have to think about that and make sure she prioritized work at Bharat first to avoid an even bigger conflict of interest, but she’d worry about that later. Not here, not in a place that had so much history for Hem.
“Come on,” she said. She stood and grabbed her purse. “Let’s wash our hands and then get back to Manhattan. I’m ready to see some planets.”
He looked at her warily before rising to his feet, too. “Okay, if you’re ready to go.”
“I’m ready,” she said.
&n
bsp; They went to the bathrooms to clean up first, and met at the front entrance. When they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Mina grabbed Hem’s hand so they could both look up at the restaurant name painted across the awning.
“You know,” Mina said, “I kind of understand why your father remembers this as where your mom believed in his dreams.”
“Oh yeah? Why do you say that?”
“Because, Hemdeep Singh. While we were in there, it was so easy for me to believe in your dreams, too. For the record, anyone who knows you would’ve put their money behind your aspiration of opening up your own firm. It’s going to undoubtably be a success.”
The shadows in his expression faded, and Hem pulled her against his side. He brushed his fingertips on the underside of her chin until she looked up at him and pursed her lips for a quick kiss. They linked their fingers together, a habit that was becoming more and more comfortable for Mina, and started toward the car.
“I can’t believe you kissed me,” he said cheerfully.
“What? You kissed me.”
“There are aunties who probably saw us. Are baap re. So shameless to kiss a sardar on a sidewalk like that. What will your father think?”
Mina was still laughing by the time they reached his car.
Chapter Ten
Mina knew that two weeks wasn’t a long time in a due diligence review, but she was starting to get frustrated by the following Friday. She had yet to find anything on Sanjeev, while compiling evidence that Bharat was indeed worth the purchase price. She hadn’t told Hem or his brothers that yet, but she’d have to soon. She knew that due diligence reviews could take months, even years sometimes, but WTA and the board had her on a deadline. Not to mention, she hated the limbo she was in with Hem because of their work.
She leaned her head back against the train seat and tried to push thoughts of work and Hem out of her head. It was so hard when one of the two made her giddy like a schoolgirl.
After their weekend date to Dosa Hutt and the planetarium, she was more aware of Hem, more cognizant of how they looked together to other people. Meanwhile, Hem acted the same as he always had with her. Every time she was in the office, he made a point to bring her a venti skinny vanilla latte with no foam the minute she walked through the front doors. She thanked him in Punjabi and even called him endearments in her mother’s tongue.