by P. G. Van
"Ram, why do you have to go?” she said looking very unhappy.
"I need to do this to secure our families’ future. I will be back before you realize I was gone,” he said confidently.
The woman was clearly fighting back tears of fear and sadness but put on a brave face as she sent her husband away. He stepped out of the house and looked at his son and said, "No matter what happens, never let this chain go.”
He looked at his loving wife with deep pain in his eyes and left with a smile on his face. His wife dropped to the floor right after he left, and the kids ran to her with concern in their eyes. She lay on the floor motionless.
"The chain!!” I said as my eyes shot open, and I sat up in bed in the middle of the night.
"Sameera, are you okay?” Nick asked with concern in his voice.
I took a deep breath to calm my beating heart wiping the beads of sweat that had broken on my forehead and turned to look at him.
"Have I been talking in my sleep again?” I asked wondering if that's what had woken him up.
"Yes, baby. It's a sign that you are worried and I know why,” he said gently pulling me to him. I placed my cheek on his chest and said my voice trembling, "Nick, I think I saw RajaRam and Jasleen in my dreams. It was so sad.”
"Sameera, just go back to sleep, we can talk in the morning,” Nick said tightening his hold around me.
"Nick, it was so sad. Jasleen...” My voice trailed off, as I could not get my voice to get past the lump that had formed in my throat.
"Baby, please go back to sleep,” Nick said reaching for the water bottle from the end table and handed me the bottle. I took a few sips of the water and put the bottle away.
"Nick, we need to find out what happened to RajaRam Vaasi. Jasleen passed away with a broken heart when she realized that it was more likely RajaRam abandoned her, but my heart tells me he did not,” I said my voice almost inaudible.
"I know, baby,” Nick said hugging me with care and added, "You need to sleep and stop worrying about what happened.”
"I know, but what happened today...” My voice trailed off as Nick brought his lips to mine with tenderness and love in his touch.
"I am here now, and I promise to never put you through something like that again,” Nick said softly.
"Nick, I know what was odd about the incident today,” I said looking at him my voice surprisingly steady and added, "If these guys were after the car, what was the need for them to grab you from behind?”
"Wait, what?” Nick asked in a puzzled voice and reached to out to turn on the bed lamp on his side.
I squinted my eyes at the sudden stream of light and asked, "If they followed us around for a week, they should have figured out that Mitch has the car keys, so why would they touch you to begin with?”
Nick looked at me in silence with a confused look on his face and I continued, "Based on what you told me, the bad guys got to you first and Mitch came to your rescue.”
Nick laughed and said, "You make me look pretty lame when you say it that way but yes, they did get to me first.”
"They were after the chain around your neck,” I declared with confidence.
Nick shook his head and said, “That is borderline ridiculous," and added touching the chain around his neck, "I had a collared shirt on and there is no way for them to even know I had it on.”
"What if they knew you had it on?” I asked looking at him and added, "I am sure they would have noticed the thick yellow gold around your neck at some point.”
"Okay, maybe they wanted to snatch it as a bonus along with the car,” Nick said rolling his eyes.
"Nick, I have a bad feeling about this. Please stop wearing the chain,” I pleaded looking at him.
"Not happening, love,” Nick said lying down on the bed and added, "Sleep tight.”
I looked at his adamant face and said, "I saw RajaRam giving the chain to his son and asking him to guard it with his life. Why would he say something like that?”
"Sameera, it's a dream and not a reality. You don't know what he said to his son,” Nick pointed out.
"I need to confirm that for myself,” I said reaching for my nightshirt that was on the floor and reached for my phone.
"Who are you going to call at two in the morning?” Nick asked surprised.
"My grandpa, it's late afternoon in India,” I said smirking at him.
"I don't understand why you are so obsessed with the events that happened decades ago,” Nick said sounding annoyed.
"That's because I strongly believe that our destiny started then, and we were tasked to do something. I am trying to figure out what that is,” I said dialing the long India phone number.
"Hi, Meera,” my grandma said with excitement that I could feel through the phone line and asked, "Why are you up so late?”
"Well, Nick and I were talking about something, and I need a clarification from thatha. Is he around?” I asked sticking my tongue out at Nick when I saw him shaking his head.
He laughed and rolled to his side to look at me and lay in bed listening to my conversation with my grandpa.
"Meera, what do you want to talk about sweetie?” My grandpa asked.
"Thatha, you might have told me this before, but what did your grandpa tell your dad when he was leaving for that business trip, especially about the chain?” I asked in a calm voice.
"You know that chain belonged to my grandma and when he was leaving on the trip, he asked my father to never lose the chain. He even told him never to sell it even if they were in very bad financial situation,” he said in a gentle voice and asked, "Why are you asking about the chain now, Meera?”
"Thatha, I had a dream and in that dream I think I saw RajaRam Vaasi and his family. I saw him leave on that fateful business trip to never return,” I said in a voice saddened by the pain of their separation and added, "and in my dream I saw your grandpa tell your dad to guard the chain with his life.”
"How lucky, Meera. I wish I could see them in my dreams,” my grandpa said with excitement in his voice.
"It was very sad, thatha. I saw the pain in the couple’s eyes, and I saw your grandma Jasleen collapse to the floor as soon as her husband left,” I said in a calm voice and looked at Nick.
Nick pulled on his sleep shorts and got out of bed to come stand next to me, as I continued to talk to my grandpa.
"How was my grandma? Is she as beautiful as people used to say she was?” he asked curiously.
"She was beautiful, but I can't remember her face now,” I said struggling to remember how she looked. I added, "What I saw in my dreams is essentially my imagination of how they would be, but the pain I saw in their eyes was beyond my imagination, thatha,” I said trying to swallow the familiar lump that formed in my throat again. Nick tightened his arms around me and planted a kiss on my forehead.
"I got to go, thatha. I will call you guys in the morning,” I said and hung up abruptly.
“Nick, why aren’t we able to get any information about RajaRam?” I said disappointed because Nick’s friend in India could not find anything further.
"Sweetheart, please don’t look so dejected,” Nick whispered nuzzling my ear and added, “I will have a team assembled first thing on Monday morning.”
I wrapped my arms around Nick’s neck as he swept my feet off the floor and carried me back to bed.
Chapter Nineteen
"Sameera, your phone is ringing baby,” Nick said in his sleep soft voice against my ear and added, "Do you want to get it?”
"What time is it?” I said dragging myself out of bed in the darkness to look at my phone. Ann's name flashed on the caller ID of my phone.
"Ann, is everything okay?” I asked wondering why she was calling me.
"Meera, so sorry to wake you. I need your help. Can you meet me in the study?” Ann said sounding anxious.
"Is Ann okay, baby?” Nick asked looking at me in the dim light from the night lamp.
"Yes, she is fine. She is in the study,”
I said to Nick and asked Ann, "Do you need Nick to go with me?”
"No, please, no. Just you!!” Ann said sounding agitated.
"Ok, I will see you in a few minutes,” I said and looked around for my clothes that I had lost earlier that night. I checked the time and it was ten minutes past eleven on Sunday night. Nick moaned in his sleep as I planted a kiss on his lips and said, “I’ll be right back, baby.”
I went downstairs a few minutes later to find Ann on a conference call and looked extremely tensed.
"Ann, what is going on?” I asked in a soft voice.
"We are in the middle of a reporting deployment, and the lead that was supposed to drive the deployment was taken to the hospital for an emergency appendicitis surgery. My team is having all kinds of issues with the deployment. I know you are good with trouble shooting, and I am hoping you can guide them through this,” Ann said almost out of breath.
"You have too much confidence in me Ann. I have no idea about the project but let me see what I can do,” I said comforting her.
Ann unmuted herself on the phone and said smiling at me, "Hey guys, I was able to get in touch with a consultant who can assist with the troubleshooting. Could one of you walk Sameera through the issues?”
One of the guys from Ann's team walked me through the issues, and as I walked them through the standard checks around user permissions and component deployment sequence, they were able to tie the loose ends together and were able to get the jobs to start.
Thirty minutes later, most of the issues were resolved except for a timeout issue and the team checked everything end-to-end with no luck.
"Guys this is a shot in the dark, but could you please delete the old log file and try again,” I said as a last resort.
"That wasn’t entirely a shot in the dark, Sameera. The log file was too big, and it was timing out because it was taking too long to open the file,” one of the guys on the phone announced deleting the large file and restarted the system. I immediately heard cheering on the call as they saw the data loading into the new system.
"I knew you could do this,” Ann said jumping out of her chair to hug me and added holding me tightly, "Thank you, Meera.”
"You are welcome, Ann. I am glad I was able to help,” I said smiling.
Ann muted her phone while the team continued the validation and said, "You saved my ass big time tonight. I owe you a million spa days for interrupting your sleep.”
I laughed and said, "C’mon Ann, you don't owe me anything.”
"Ann, do we still have the consultant on the call,” a female voice on the phone interrupted our conversation.
Ann unmuted and said, "Yes, Sameera is still on the call. You can talk to her Suzi.”
"Hi, Sameera. I am Suzi, the program manager, and I would like your email address. I need to send you a non-disclosure agreement for you to sign,” the woman said in a professional voice.
"Sure, Suzi…” I said and stopped as Ann interrupted me and said, "Suzi, an NDA will not be necessary for Sameera.”
"Ann, vendor management team was instructed by Nick to have an NDA in place for every consultant even if the engagement was for an hour,” Suzi said without backing down.
I almost burst out laughing and bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. I realized that the team had no clue that I was sitting right next to Ann and was part of the family. I saw a similar expression on Ann's face and she spoke into the phone smiling at me, "Suzi, tell Nick that Sameera was the consultant, and I am sure he will be okay.”
"Ann, we still need to follow the process,” Suzi interrupted.
"Suzi, here is the fact--between Sameera and her husband they own the biggest share of the company. It is in her best interest not to publish company confidential information on the Internet,” Ann said with authority in her voice.
There was utter silence on the call and Suzi finally spoke up and said, "I don't understand.”
Ann smiled at me and said, "Please say hi to Sameera Vaasi Swaminath Bhatia, Nick's wife and an amazing sister who rescued us tonight.” I could feel everyone on the call hold their breath in shock, and I said smiling at Ann, "Great job tonight, everyone. Congratulations on a successful migration.”
Nothing on the phone and finally Suzi was the one to break the silence, "Thank you Mrs. Bhatia for your help.”
"Suzi, please call me Sameera, and it is my pleasure to work on the deployment tonight. I had a lot of fun,” I said in a soft tone and added, "and I am impressed at how well you follow the process. I am more than happy to sign the NDA if you need it for audit purposes.”
“Thank you Sameera,” Suzi said and added, “I am ready for your email address.”
“Suzi, don’t worry about it. Just send the NDA to Nick's email address since he was the one who wanted one,” Ann interjected winking at me with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Thank you Sameera and Ann. I think I can take it from here as we are just pending for another thirty minutes of validation,” Suzi said on the phone.
"Sounds good, Suzi. Please call me if you need anything,” Ann said and disconnected the call. She burst out laughing and said, "I cannot imagine Nick's expression when he sees an NDA for you in his inbox tomorrow.”
I laughed and said, "The woman was trying to do the right thing, and you had to drop the ‘Nick's wife’ bombshell on her.”
"Oh c'mon Meera. You don't need a NDA, plus I needed people to know the woman my brother married,” Ann said with pride in her eyes.
I laughed and shook my head. Ann looked at me and said, "Thanks again, Meera.”
"You are welcome, and it was very sweet of you to introduce me as your sister,” I said smiling and asked when I saw Ann massaging her chest, "Ann, when was the last time you had your period?”
Ann almost fell off her chair at the sudden shift in the topic and asked, "What? Why?”
"Ann, you have been touching your boobs every second from the time I came downstairs and you are paler than usual. What's going on?” I asked looking at her.
Ann smiled and said, “I was going to tell you tomorrow at our workout session,” and added, "We found out just a few days ago and I wasn't ready to announce until after the project deployment.”
I shrieked and got out of my chair to hug Ann and said, "I knew you were pregnant. Congrats, Ann. I am so happy for you.”
"Thank you, Meera. We haven't shared the news with anyone, and Paul wants to make a grand announcement with both sides of the family gathered,” Ann said blushing.
"Your precious secret is safe with me,” I assured her and added, "Nick is going to be thrilled to be an uncle, and you know he is the kind to spoil your kids,” I said with tears of joy in my eyes. Ann nodded with tears in her eyes.
“I can’t wait to hold your baby in my arms,” I said hugging myself.
“You will make a great aunt, Meera,” Ann said and asked, “Please tell me you guys are not thinking of kids already.”
I laughed and said, “We talked about kids, but I know it is going to be a while before we have kids.”
Ann looked at me in surprise and asked, “Why do you say that?”
“Well, I have serious issues with my monthly cycle and have been on hormones for almost a year now. I know it will be hard for us to conceive, but I am prepared for the wait.”
“You will be fine, Meera. Don’t think too much about it,” Ann said smiling at me.
I gave her a hug one last time that night and went back upstairs. I crawled back into bed around one in the morning and snuggled next to Nick.
"Why did you put on your clothes baby?” Nick mumbled in his sleep putting his arm around my waist. I giggled to myself when I realized that he had forgotten that Ann had called me earlier that night.
I dozed off thinking of the family's future addition and the endless joy Ann’s baby was going to bring to everyone's life.
******
"Where did you disappear to last night?” Nick asked when I was getting ready for work the next m
orning.
"Ann needed help,” I said without sharing too much detail.
"She needed help with her online shopping?” Nick teased shaking his head and added, "I am going downstairs to talk to Ann at breakfast. Will you join me when you are done?”
"Yes, I will see you downstairs in five,” I said smiling at him in the mirror. He reached forward and planted a kiss on my cheek while he held the gaze in the mirror.
I went downstairs for breakfast to find Ann and Nick in a serious business discussion. I went straight to the kitchen were Rahul was working on making breakfast for everyone.
“Good morning Meera. What do you feel like eating?” he asked smiling at me.
“Good morning Rahul, I am going to make a smoothie,” I said smiling at him and grabbed the fruits from the counter.
“Please let me unless you want Nick to fire me,” he teased and added, “I will make you a smoothie for the car, but I will bring you an omelet.”
I smiled at Rahul and went into the dining area. Ann was walking him through the deployment and other details from the previous night. When she was finished giving him the details, Nick asked Ann, in a surprised tone, "Why do I have an email from Suzi Smith entitled reporting deployment and an NDA attached to it?”
I suppressed my sudden urge to burst out laughing and bit into my lip looking at Ann who was having a similar reaction as mine. She managed to find her voice and said, "The NDA is for the consultant who worked on the deployment last night.”
"Why is it in my inbox?” Nick asked with authority as he took a bite of his spinach omelet.
"I asked Suzi to send it to your email address,” Ann said looking at me with mischief in her eyes.
Nick put his fork down looking at Ann and said with irritation building up in his voice, "What are you talking about? What you just said makes no sense.”
"Nick the consultant that needs to sign the NDA is Sameera. She worked on the deployment last night,” Ann said smiling at him.
"What?” Nick asked in disbelief.
I could no longer contain my laughter and burst out laughing as Ann did almost at the same time and we both looked at Nick. He had his enigmatic business expression on his face and held it briefly but eventually gave in to our contagious laughter and said smiling, "You two are just unbelievable.”