by P. G. Van
“Nick, why did it take you eleven months to find me?” I asked and added, “Especially in the world of social media.”
“Ahh, good question, and I knew you would ask,” he said smiling. “After your dad passed away, you guys moved to your grandparents town and were homeschooled for almost a year; after that, when your mom got married to your stepdad, you girls decided to change your last name to Swaminath from Vaasi,” he said smiling at me.
“You were looking for a Sameera Vaasi and found Sameera Swaminath,” I teased.
“Yes, I found my Sameera,” Nick said pulling me into his arms.
“With grocery bags in my hand?” I asked and started laughing and asked, “In what other pathetic outfits did you see me in after the farmers market?”
“Are you sure you want to know everything?” Nick asked teasing me.
“Well, not now, but I need clarification for a few more things,” I said and asked, “How much research did you do on me to make you look like the perfect boyfriend?”
Nick laughed and said, “As soon as I found out that you were single, I knew I was the perfect boyfriend.” He ran his index finger along my cheek and said, “Most guys are intimidated by your intelligence and your strong personality. I thrive.”
“Oh, I don’t intimidate you?” I teased.
“I need the intimidation to keep me grounded,” Nick said laughing.
I laughed and asked, “Why did you take me to the basketball game and did you have anything to do with the Kiss Cam?”
“That was destiny. I had nothing to do with the Kiss Cam,” Nick said smiling and added, “We are a good looking couple, aren’t we?”
“If you knew where I lived, why didn’t you come by and tell me who you were? Why wait and plan it out?” I asked.
“I needed to understand the reason behind the pain I saw, and if my intention was to be a friend or have a casual relationship, I would have done that,” Nick said and took a deep breath. “I knew I wanted to be more than just your friend or a casual boyfriend.”
“It is scary when you say things like that Nick,” I said hugging a pillow.
Nick smiled and asked, “Are you mad at me for what I did?”
“I am, and I am not Nick. It feels a bit odd that someone would go out of their way to find someone they had not seen in years,” I said smiling and added, “I am still processing everything you told me but I am not mad at you.”
“Did everyone in your family know what you were doing?” I asked curiously.
“Yes,” he said and added, “Srini and my family were there to support me on the days I felt miserable about not getting any additional clues.”
“Is that what you were talking to your grandpa about on the day of the ceremony?” I asked him suspecting the connection and he nodded smiling.
Nate and Srini came out of the bedroom holding hands and as Nate walked towards the living area, Nick looked at her and said, “Nethra, please don’t be mad at me,” and added winking at her, “You are the best information goddess anyone could ever have.”
Nate laughed and said, “I can’t be mad at you for long Nick. You know that.” She bent down to hug Nick.
“There is one twist in the story that we need to talk about,” Srini said looking at Nick.
“What twist?” Nate asked with concern in her voice.
“I am sure you guys figured out that the inquiry made about you in August last year was us,” Srini said in a calm voice.
“Who did you send?” I asked.
“One of the guys from school owns a private detective agency in Hyderabad, and he helped us get the details about you guys,” Nick said looking at me.
“Nick, if you guys found us, who else was inquiring about us a few weeks ago?” I asked looking at him suspiciously.
“That is the twist Srini was referring to earlier,” Nick said softly and added, “We called our friend in India to find out if he was still looking for you but confirmed that he had suspended the search last year after the reunion.”
Nick looked at Srini and said, “Srini took the search we were running offline after we realized there was someone else looking for you.”
“Is that what you guys were talking about in the kitchen a few weeks ago?” I asked remembering how Nick was talking to Srini and added, “And you guys disappeared for hours after dinner.”
“Yes,” Nick said smiling and added, “We had to talk to our friend to find out if he was the one who inquired the second time.”
“Who were those people then?” Nate asked sounding worried.
“Nethra, there is nothing to be worried about,” Nick said looking at her.
“Nick, do you know who was looking for us and why?” I asked looking at him.
“It looks like someone from a royal Rajput family from the northern part of India was looking for you; and yes, they are looking to get in touch with someone from your family to get in touch with you and Nethra,” Nick said his voice steady.
“Rajput family?” Nate asked scrunching her nose and declared, “I am pretty sure there is some misunderstanding.”
“Nick, we do not know anyone from that part of the country,” and I paused as I remembered that Nick’s ancestors were from that region and asked, “don’t you actually have family in that area?”
“Yes, but distant relatives that I have never met,” Nick said smiling and added, “I asked my dad to talk to one of his dozen cousins to see if they knew anything, but nothing turned up there.”
“That is so odd,” I said thinking out loud and said giggling, “It’s possible that all the princes of the royal families are looking for us Nate.”
Nate smiled and hugged Srini and said, “Too late. Not interested in those princes anymore.”
“Nick is technically Indian royalty with no palace in India,” Srini teased Nick.
“Oh so all of Nick’s distant relatives are looking for us Nate,” I said laughing and hugged Nick.
“One of my dad’s cousins is into Indian politics so I am going to have my dad talk to him about getting more details,” Nick said stroking my hair.
“How did you guys find out so much about this family?” I asked curiously.
“This family’s representatives apparently announced a high value prize money for all of the private detective agencies to get the information about your family,” Nick said his voice slightly shaky.
Nick tightened his hold around me as he felt my body shudder and pulled me closer to him.
“Nick, is this something we need to be worried about?” I asked looking at Nick.
“Not yet, I got this, love. I’ll make sure no one gets anywhere near you guys,” Nick said as I buried my face in his chest.
A few minutes later, Nick whispered in my ear, “Meera, let’s go home.”
“Nick, it’s too late, it’s not safe to drive all the way to San Francisco now,” I said looking at him.
“Mitch can take us but it is pretty late for him too,” Nick said smiling at me and added, “Let’s go to the family residence.”
“I’ll go pack my stuff,” I whispered brushing my lips to his gently.
“Nate, are you ok?” I asked looking at Nate almost dozing off on the couch with her head on Srini’s shoulder.
“She’ll be fine, Meera,” Srini assured.
I walked over to where Srini was sitting and bent down to give Srini a hug and I said smiling at him, “Thank you for giving Nick to me.”
Srini smiled and looked at Nick and said, “You do realize how lucky you are right, Nick?”
Nick smiled at me and nodded in agreement.
Nick and I left the apartment at midnight and headed to the family residence. I was so tired after a long day and ended up dozing off in the car during the short ride to Nick’s parents’ house.
“Nick, you will hurt your back, put me down,” I said in my groggy voice objecting to him carrying me from the car into the elevator.
“You are too sleepy to walk, and I will be fine,”
Nick said smiling.
“See you on Monday Mitch, say hi to Liz for me,” Nick said to Mitch and I added, “Bye Mitch, you are the best.”
“Good night, Ms. Nick,” Mitch said smiling at us as the elevator doors closed.
“Nick,” I whispered and asked, “Can we sleep outside in the roof garden?”
“How do you come up with such stuff?” Nick asked surprised.
“C’mon it’ll be fun, and we just need one of the outdoor heaters turned on,” I urged.
“Why did you think I would turn down such an awesome offer?” Nick teased.
Nick found extra comforters in the closet using them to form a fluffy bed in the patio and turned on two of the patio heaters.
“Perfect,” I said excited and looked around for my bag for some socks.
“Nick, is my bag in the car?” I asked and he responded winking at me, “Sorry babe, my hands were full.”
“That’s okay, I am so used to wearing your stuff, I no longer find it weird,” I said as I walked into his closet to grab both of us a pair of socks.
Nick laughed and said, “Why do you say it like it’s a bad thing?”
I laughed and grabbed the pillows from the bed and waited as Nick adjusted the comforters.
Nick laughed putting his socks on and asked teasingly, “Why are you standing there hugging those pillows when you can hug me?”
The night sky was clear and the moon was shining brightly as I drifted off to sleep to Nick’s heartbeat against my ear and the cold fresh breeze fanning my face.
Chapter Twenty
The cool morning air tickled my nostrils as I stuck my head out of the cocoon that Nick and I had made with the comforters to stay warm on the patio floor. Nick was in a deep sleep with his breathing soft and steady. I pulled my phone out from under the comforters checking the time, and it was quarter past six. It was way too early for Nick to wake up especially after a twenty-hour day he had between his business trip and the endless conversations last night. I placed my lips on his cheek to kiss him gently and pulled the comforter around him to keep him warm.
I walked around the roof garden for a few minutes and realized that I had not seen the rest of the estate and decided to take a peek. It seemed highly unlikely that anyone would be up at that time on a Saturday morning so I decided to take a quick walk around the massive family home. I slipped on my shoes and went down to the garage in the elevator. I gingerly stepped into the garage to make sure that I didn’t set off any alarms. I noticed that the light on the alarm system was green indicating that it was off. Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened the side door on the garage and peeked outside.
“Perfect,” I murmured to myself and stepped out onto the smaller driveway. I took a left from the side door to check out the backyard of the house. The backyard looked like a landscaping marvel with the perfect color combinations of the flowers and plants to please the eye. The backyard setting was so peaceful with a large water fountain that made the soothing sounds to calm any state of mind. I took a few steps towards the back of the house and stood in the crisp cold morning shell-shocked looking at the space behind the house. Immediately to my left was a beautifully constructed modern multilevel deck with an outdoor kitchen. In the middle of the open area was a strip of formal grounds beautifully sculpted to please the eye. I could see the massive swimming pool from where I was standing surrounded by a stone and concrete seating area. This was no regular house--this was a palace. Nick was royalty after all, and he needed something as big as this I thought, smiling to myself. I walked towards the deck sitting down on the second to last step leaning backwards resting my elbows on the higher steps stretching my legs out and looking at the beautiful clear sky.
A millions things were going around in my head since last night. I was still processing everything Nick told me the night before. I kept wondering why Nick decided to look for me out of the blue. I was glad he did, but it seemed surreal. I had always thought that we got back together by destiny. I felt very strong about our relationship, but I had a nagging feeling about how fast everything was moving.
“I knew I would find you here,” Nick said interrupting my thoughts and making me jump slightly.
“Nick,” I said startled and asked as he sat next to me on the steps of the deck, “Why are you up so early?”
“Good morning,” Nick said bringing my lips to his with his hand under my chin.
“Good morning,” I said against his lips, putting my arms around him. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him and said smiling, “I loved the idea of sleeping in the garden and next time let’s do something more interesting in the garden.”
I smiled and hugged his arm resting my head on his shoulder and said, “The backyard is so beautiful, Nick. I could spend all day here.”
Nick smiled and asked, “Are you mad at me for not telling you everything sooner?”
“I am not,” I said without looking at him and added, “I am wondering how much of the real Nick did I see.”
“I didn’t have to fake anything if that’s what you are asking, and I only took my time to make sure…” Nick said and his voice trailed off as I looked into his eyes.
“Nick,” I prompted when he stopped talking and looked into my eyes.
“Sameera, what is bothering you?” Nick asked concerned.
“Nick, what do you mean?” I asked surprised.
“Sameera, I waited two months before I came to meet you,” he said in a calm voice and added, “I wanted to know what caused the pain in your eyes and wanted to know how I could wipe out all traces of your sadness.”
“I still don’t get it when you say that you saw pain in my eyes. No one ever told me I looked unhappy,” I said objecting to his theory.
“I know how the happy Sameera looked at me, and I saw traces of that sadness in your eyes a few moments ago. What is it, sweetheart?” Nick asked in a soft voice.
I took a deep breath and said, “Nick, I know I wanted to take baby steps with our relationship, but we are doing exactly the opposite. I believed that destiny brought us together and that it was okay for us to move fast if we were meant to be together, but now...” I said shaking my head unable to continue,
“Now that you know that I planned this out, you feel like there is no strength in our relationship?” he asked as if he read my mind and added, “There is no reason to question what we have for each other Sameera. What I did before I came to meet you was to make our relationship work, and I believe in making my own destiny.”
“What did you do those two months, anyways? Stalk me?” I mocked.
Nick laughed and said, “Not really. I did come to see your fusion dance performance with Nethra and Srini.”
“What? You came to my Bollywood performance?” I asked stunned.
“Yes. That’s when I realized why you loved instructing the dance workouts,” Nick said smiling and added planting a kiss on my forehead, “I saw your eyes glow as you performed, and I knew I could get my Sameera back.”
“How did you manage to get so much information from Nate?” I asked knowing that she was his source for a lot of the information.
“I will tell you it wasn’t easy, but Srini was my man,” Nick chuckled.
“I need to tell you something else,” Nick said in a soft voice.
“Now what?” I asked surprised and added, “Are you going to tell me you are an alien?”
Nick laughed and shook his head. He looked at me in silence and said, “I brought you home to see my mom after the photo shoot because I knew my mom would ask you to dance. I wanted you to see for yourself how much it meant to you.”
I looked at him in disbelief and said, “Nick, the only reason I was able to dance that day was because you were in the room. I had attempted to do a classical routine many times and just could not continue.”
Nick nodded and added, “My goal that day was to make you realize the importance of dance in your life and you, in turn, gave us our mom back.”
>
I smiled hugging his arm and did not say anything.
“I feel like I’ve waited for you all my life,” he whispered and pulled away to look at me and said, “Please tell me you are not upset with me.”
I planted a kiss on his cheek and said, “I am not, and I don’t know if I can ever be angry at you.”
Nick laughed and said, “Trust me, it’s coming.”
“Have you ever been angry with me for something I did?” I asked looking up at him.
“Yes,” he said smiling.
“Really?” I asked surprised and added, “When were you angry with me?”
Nick planted a kiss on my forehead and said, “Fifteen minutes ago when I woke up, and you weren’t in my arms. I was angry that I did not wake up kissing these soft lips of yours,” running his thumb on my lower lip.
I smiled and shook my head.
“So you have never been angry with me?” Nick asked surprised.
I shook my head blushing.
“How about when I cancelled our dinner last weekend?” he asked.
“Nope,” I said smiling.
“You are too forgiving, Sameera.” Nick said clasping my hand in his and taking the back of my hand to his lips.
“I am not,” I said and added smiling, “I am in love with you.”
Nick smiled to himself and said, “Srini is right. I am the luckiest guy.”
I laughed and said, “Srini freaked me and Nate out last night with his mystical comments about your activities.”
Nick laughed and said, “I expected you to react like how Nethra did last night, but I am glad you did not.”
“Oh, Nate is the drama queen of the family,” I said laughing and added, “and she had the most ridiculous question last night.”
“What did she ask you?” Nick asked softly, and I almost bit my tongue realizing that I could have completely avoided bringing up that topic.
“Oh just her random ridiculous questions,” I said and decided not to tell him.
“Sameera, what did she want to know?” Nick asked his voice soft and firm.