by P. G. Van
“Nick, I am not following,” I said shaking my head.
“My major in college was material science engineering, and I worked on creating a glass that was as strong as steel and offered better soundproofing,” he said in a calm voice.
“Wow, that’s amazing, Nick,” I said smiling at him.
“I would have never thought of it if you had not suggested the project back in school, Sameera,” he smiled.
“You would have. Don’t give me credit for something that you worked hard for,” I said smiling at him and added, “So why did you merge your company?”
“Well, my plan was to use that glass for automobiles and planes and continued to work independently. My dad wasn’t very thrilled as he wanted me to join the family-owned company, and I wanted to continue in my direction,” Nick said looking at the Bay Bridge through the glass wall.
“Our family is into commercial construction and saw great use for the glass, and they made me an offer I could not refuse so I merged the company,” Nick said smiling.
‘Very impressive, Nick,” I said smiling at him and added suspiciously, “I still think you are messing with me. How could you have added me as a partner when you didn’t know where I was?”
“Totally possible, especially when you have a good legal team,” Nick said pulling me into his arms and added, “I will show you the merger document one of these days.”
Nick looked at my puzzled expression and added, “Breathe, sweetheart.”
“Nick, no,” I said and pulling away from him. I took a deep breath to calm the agitation that was building up in me.
“What is it, Sameera?” Nick asked gently touching my cheek.
“I cannot believe I blocked you out of my life with everyone else, and you have kept every memory of us alive all these years. Why?” I said my thoughts haywire.
“I added your name as a silent partner when I formed the company purely based on instincts. I know why now,” he said kissing my palm.
I sat on the chaise unable to speak, as I was overwhelmed with what Nick had just told me. I wondered why anyone would want someone who was no longer in their life be listed as a partner.
“Sameera, please look at me,” Nick said his voice firm and commanding, and when I looked at him with my mind swirling around the same questions, he added, “Don’t give it too much thought. What matters now is that we are together.”
“Nick, I...” I said and paused as Nick put his index finger on my lips and stopped me from saying anything further related to the topic we were discussing.
“Look at the Bay Bridge, love,” Nick said turning my chin to make me look at the engineering marvel.
I looked at the bridge with the small lights flickering and Nick said, “Now look at the glass through which you are looking at the view,” and added when I turned to look at him, “That’s the glass that we invented.”
I stood up to look at the frame around the glass noticing how thin the glass was and was surprised. I looked around the bedroom and wondered if the single layer of glass was what made the view that much better.
“Nick, this is amazing,” I said looking around the bedroom with the wall-to-wall glass windows and asked, “So is the glass being used for automobiles?”
“Well, it is hard to get into the automobile industry with something like this, and that was one of the reasons I took the offer for using it in commercial and residential structures,” Nick smiled.
“Do you no longer work on your inventions?” I asked curiously.
“I do and that’s the department that Srini leads,” Nick clarified and added, “Our products are mostly software now.”
“You did good Nick. I am proud of you,” I smiled.
Nick smiled and immediately changed the topic completely and asked, “Enough about that. Can I go to the photo shoot with you on Saturday?”
I smiled faintly nodding and said finally finding my voice, “but it is not fun waiting while I change and pile on makeup and take pictures.”
“What can be more fun that watching you looking beautiful?” he said smiling at me.
*****
“Happy, happy Monday,” I said to Nick kissing him out of his sleep.
“Wow you sure are excited about Monday mornings,” Nick said in his sexy sleepy voice.
“I want to make you breakfast,” I said with excitement.
“Sameera, I get it that you are excited, and I am glad to see you bouncing around like this,” Nick said laughing.
“What would you like to eat?” I asked putting my ear to his bare chest.
“I will eat whatever you feed me,” Nick said kissing my lips and getting out of bed.
“Okay, I will be right back,” I said as I put on my robe over my one-piece nightgown. I went downstairs to check on what we could eat for breakfast. Satisfied with the ingredients in the pantry and the fridge, I made coffee and carried the steaming mugs of coffee upstairs. Nick was in the bathroom brushing his teeth. I set the coffee mugs on the vast bathroom counter and sat on the counter next to where Nick was standing.
“Nick, your coffee is here,” I said pointing to his mug as I took a sip of my coffee. Nick finished his brushing and walked over to where I was sitting. He slowly put one arm around my waist and with the other hand, he wrapped his fingers over my fingers that were holding the coffee mug and took a sip from it. I blushed as he took the coffee mug from my hands and set it back on the counter.
“I love you Sameera,” he said against my lips as his hands reached for the knot on my robe and pushed my robe aside. He slipped his palm in to cup my warm and soft breast over the soft satin gown. I took in a deep breath as my heart rate went from zero to whatever in no time. I put my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around him. He moaned against my mouth as I tightened my grip around him wrapping my legs around his waist pulling him closer to me.
“I love these little surprises,” he said smiling in a hoarse and deep voice.
I blushed and said looking into his eyes, “I love you, Nick,” and added smiling, “Can I have my coffee back?”
“You can have both cups of coffee, all I needed was that sip that tasted like you,” he said and made me turn crimson.
Nick and I left for work together that morning, and he drove me to work and said he would pick me up after work. I waited all day to see him again, looking forward to our time together on a workday. As planned, I cooked dinner for the two of us and enjoyed a peaceful dinner.
I got into bed next to Nick as he finished some work on his laptop.
“Nick, I am sleepy,” I said stretching out next to him.
“I will be done in ten minutes,” Nick said smiling at me.
I eventually dozed off hearing Nick type rapidly on his computer and watching him look intently at the screen as he typed.
*****
“This is Sameera,” I said into the phone in my sleepy voice.
“Sameera, sorry to wake you, this is Eric from the services team. We just finished the deployment, but the system is rejecting the data. Could you please check?” Eric asked apologetically.
“Did you restart all the jobs?” I asked as Nick opened his eyes to look at me with a million questions in his eyes.
“Yes, we did,” Eric said, and I responded, “Okay, I will check and call you back,” and hung up the phone.
“So sorry, go back to sleep,” I said to Nick planting a kiss on his cheek and added, “I need to check something.”
I put on my robe and went into the guest bedroom. I fired up my computer and started checking the system that was reported to have issues.
A few minutes later, Nick walked into the guest room sitting down on the pullout sofa and asked rubbing his eyes, “Everything okay?”
“Sorry I woke you. Please go back to bed,” I said looking at Nick as he settled into the sofa.
“I am spoiled now. I can’t sleep without you in my arms,” he said smiling and lay down on the sofa facing me.
I smiled at him an
d said, “I will be quick.”
“Take your time, baby,” Nick said coolly.
Five hours later, I got off the conference call after the issue was resolved. I turned away from my computer and looked at Nick sleeping on the sofa a few feet away from me. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. I sat for a few minutes debating if I should wake him up or let him sleep here. I couldn’t think of leaving him in the guest bedroom and sleeping in the other room all by myself. Feeling guilty about what I was about to do, I slowly walked over to the sofa and knelt down on the floor so my face was at the same level as Nick. From where I was kneeling, Nick’s face was turned towards me. I slowly took my index finger and ran it along his jawline. Nick was still fast asleep. I thought again about letting him sleep on the sofa, and then decided to give it one more try to wake him up. I gently put my palm on his cheek to tap him but on impulse, took my lips to his and started running my tongue along his lips. Exactly two seconds into my tongue tracing, Nick’s eyes flew open and his eyes smiled at me even with the sudden awakening. His hand immediately went to the nape of my neck pulling me closer to him, and with his other hand pulled me on to the sofa to be on top of him.
He took his lips to my neck and whispered in a hoarse voice, “I told you it’s hard to sleep by yourself.”
I laughed feeling his hardness against me and said in a teasing tone, “You are right, sometimes.”
Nick laughed out loud and looked into my eyes with lust-filled eyes as he toyed with my hair.
“Let’ go sleep. I don’t want you dozing off in board meetings tomorrow,” I said taking Nick’s hand.
“Sameera, I want you to get enough sleep so I am not going to wake you up when I get up tomorrow morning,” Nick declared as I climbed into the bed next to Nick.
“Okay, I will see you after work,” I said and put my arm around his chest and closed my eyes.
*****
A few hours later, I heard a distant buzz that just would not go away. It did not sound like my phone, what else could it be? It was the intercom system going off, and I scrambled to reach for the receiver and said in my half awakened voice, “Yes.”
“Hi there, this is Ray from the front desk. You have a few visitors in the lobby,” he said politely and added, “You have your privacy mode on. I wanted to make sure it’s okay for them to come in.” I smiled to myself at the fancy privacy mode.
“Who are my visitors?” I asked the man and he said, “The weekly cleaning crew ma’am.”
“Ohh, okay. Could you please give me five minutes before you send them upstairs?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” he said and hung up.
“Nick,” I called out as I wasn’t sure if he was around. I checked my phone, and it was just a few minutes past eleven. I saw a few messages on my phone sent to me at seven thirty this morning.
Nick: I am heading to work. Call me when you are up.
I slept for four hours, but I still felt so tired. I managed to pull on some yoga pants and a longer than usual t-shirt and went downstairs adjusting my hair. The elevator door opened as I was half way down the stairs, and four ladies walked into the entry and looked up at me smiling. The women had large grocery bags, and they wheeled in a large icebox.
“Hello,” I said looking at the elderly woman who was probably in her late fifties and the other women seemed to be in their early thirties.
“Hello, Ms. Sameera,” said the elderly woman taking me by surprise.
“Hi, sorry if we met, and I don’t remember,” I said apologetically.
“No miss, I saw you at the Bhatia’s ceremony a few weeks ago,” she said and added, “I am part of the estate staff, and my name is Pammi.”
“Nice to meet you Pammi, sorry we did not get a chance to talk on the day of the ceremony,” I said to her smiling.
“Thank you Ms. Sameera,” Pammi said in a soft voice.
“Meera, please,” I said smiling at her.
“Okay,” she said smiling and introduced the other women she was with, and as soon as we were done with introductions, the women went to work. One girl went upstairs to tackle the bathrooms, while the other girls started cleaning the first level of the home. Pammi started loading the stuff from the icebox and in the grocery bags into the fridge and the pantry.
I replied to Nick’s message as I went upstairs to the office room.
Me: I am up Nick. Pammi and her team are here.
Nick: Good morning babe
Me: I am not going into the office today. Will login later today. When will I see you?
Nick: Anytime you want..
Me: I will call you after the ladies leave..
I decided to work in the living room to stay out of the women’s way and settled into the sectional on one side. I sent out a note to my team that I was going to be offline for a few more hours and that I would be working remotely the rest of the day. I looked through my emails and responded to the ones that needed immediate attention, and as I was finishing my last email, Pammi walked over to me with a cup of steaming Indian tea, Chai.
“For you Ms. Sameera,” she said smiling and added looking at the surprised expression on my face “Nick told me you like Chai.”
I blushed and said, “Thank you.”
As Pammi went back into the kitchen, every sip I took of the spiced tea reminded me of the tea that I had at Nick’s parents’ place the night after the ceremony. It hit me at that point that she was probably the one that made me Chai a few weeks ago.
With the teacup in my hand, I walked over to where Pammi was and said, “This tea is just amazing, and this is exactly what I needed this morning. Thank you so much for making Chai for me.”
“My pleasure,” she said smiling and added, “I just made the tea, but it was Nick who asked me to make it for you.”
I smiled at her trying really hard not to blush and changed the topic and asked, “Do you live on the estate?”
“Yes, we do,” she responded continuing to check the items in the pantry and adding stuff from the grocery bags.
“Oh, are you Raj’s mom?” I asked.
It was Pammi’s turn to look at me with surprise and asked, “Yes, have you met him?”
“I am yet to meet him, but Nick tells me that they are very good friends,” I said smiling at her.
“Yes, Nick and Raj are almost the same age, and they spent a lot of time together,” Pammi said smiling to herself.
“How long have you guys known Nick’s family?” I asked curiously.
“For almost thirty years now,” Pammi said thinking back down memory lane.
Pammi continued to talk as she went on with her work. She cooked and cleaned up in the kitchen, and checked on the other women as they made the things in the apartment sparkle. Pammi told me that she normally came to take care of Nick’s place twice a week and stocked up the pantry and fridge, ran his laundry, and took care of everything Nick needed for the week including buying fresh fruits and vegetables from the farmers market near the Ferry Building. She went on to tell me how Nick’s mother pays close attention to her child that no longer lives with them and how she instructs Pammi what to buy and cook for Nick. I smiled to myself thinking of Nick’s mother. She is a supportive mother that let her son do what he wanted to do and yet had figured out a way to take care of his stuff. Mothers can be very innovative. Pammi went on to say that Nick’s mom helped her start her cleaning service business, and Nick’s family helped her older son start his catering business. I listened to Pammi talk about Nick’s family with utmost respect and deep appreciation for what they have done for her and her family.
“Congratulations,” I said with excitement in my voice when she said that her older son was getting married soon. She went on to say her future daughter-in-law has an accounting background and she would working for Nick’s family business.
After much internal debate, I decided to ask Pammi a few questions about Nick.
“How often does Nick go back to his parents place?” I asked in a calm
voice.
“Nick actually was at the estate until he got this apartment and spends most of his weekends at the estate,” she said smiling.
“It must be nice to see his parents once a week,” I said thinking of my mom and stepdad. I have not talked to them in over a week.
“Where are your parents, Ms. Meera?” Pammi asked.
“They are in Dallas, and I don’t get to see them as often as I would like to,” I said making a sad face.
Pammi smiled gently and asked, “What would you like to eat for lunch?”
“Ohh no, don’t worry about lunch, I will make a salad or a sandwich,” I said to her smiling.
“I am going to cook anyways for you for the rest of the week, so I will start with whatever you feel like now so it will be ready for lunch, Pammi said completely dismissing my objection.
“Pammi you remind me of my mom,” I said smiling and challenged her, “Surprise me. I will eat anything you give me.”
We both laughed, and I excused myself to take a shower so I could get back to work.
When I went back downstairs, all the women were in the kitchen finishing up, had the table set for two, and were ready to leave.
“You guys are fast,” I said walking towards them and added, “Please join me for lunch.”
“Thank you Ms. Sameera”, Pammi said and added, “We have to get back to the estate.”
“Thank you so much for lunch,” I said giving Pammi a hug.
“Ohh, it is our pleasure,” she said sounding emotional as she hugged me back.
“Thank you ladies, hope to see you soon,” I said as they walked into the elevator with the empty grocery bags and the icebox.
As the elevator doors closed, I walked over to the dining table set for two people and called Nick.
Nick answered within the first ring and asked, “Miss me already?”
I laughed and said, “Not really,” teasing him back.
“So, what’s for lunch?” Nick asked.