by P. G. Van
“I feel bad that I blurted out about Reetu,” Ann said covering her face in her palms.
“Ann, I know you and Paul wanted to do a grand reveal about the baby, but this is the time. Get Paul into the room and tell mom you are expecting, and she will start bouncing off the walls,” I urged.
When Ann didn’t say anything, I took her by her hand and took her to the living room and on my way I looked at Nick and said, “You stay put, don’t move.”
“Paul, come here,” I whispered.
Paul walked up to Ann and me and asked, “How is she doing?”
“Paul, I need to ask you two a huge favor for mom’s sake. She needs to be distracted with something for her to stop mulling over Sam’s episode over and over again,” I paused when I saw the puzzled expression on Paul’s face and said, “I know about the baby, and I want you guys to reveal the news now.”
“Ann, if you want to do it, let’s do it baby,” Paul said looking at Ann.
Ann took a deep breath and said, “I thought about how we were going to reveal the news to see everyone’s expression, but it’s too bad I have to do it this way.”
“Ann, I got this. We can still make it memorable. Follow my lead,” I said with excitement.
“Hey, guys in the living room can you come join us in the bedroom and come stand to this side please?” I announced in a flat voice.
“Mitch, here. Take a video please,” I whispered to Mitch throwing my phone at him.
“Sameera, what is going on?” Nick asked and I whispered, “Ann and Paul are doing the baby reveal.”
Mitch went to one side of the room and started recording as I sat next to Nick’s mom on the bed and said, “Hey Ann, come here. You gave mom some information, but left out the important piece.”
Ann and Paul walked hand-in-hand towards the bed and stood a foot away from Nick’s mom. Nick’s dad was sitting at the foot of the bed and closer to where Paul was standing.
As instructed, Ann took her mom’s hand, Paul took Nick’s dad’s hand, and they both placed their palms on Ann’s belly and held them there.
I looked at everybody’s puzzled expression and said, “The million dollar question is if Ann and Paul are going to have a boy or a girl!”
I could hear the crickets outside for a second, and then the room burst into an uproar of laughter and cheer as Nick’s mom and dad hugged their beautiful daughter and cried tears of joy. Mitch went around the room capturing everyone’s expressions and comments about the baby reveal for Ann and Paul to treasure the memory.
Nick pulled me to him, as I was moving around the room chatting away with every one and said, “You convinced Ann and Paul to do the reveal to distract mom from Sam’s stuff?”
“Yes, you are not the only one who knows how to create a distraction,” I said taunting him and putting my arms around him.
“You’re such a riot and you are on a roll today,” Nick said bringing his lips to mine and added against my lips, “I am so proud of you.”
“Nick, let Meera go, we need her here,” Ann said giggling.
Nick laughed releasing me, and I joined Ann and Paul for a picture with my face painted crimson.
“Ann, is that why you have not been drinking wine?” Nick’s dad asked and she responded with a wink.
“This weekend has turned out to be something else,” Nick’s mom said hugging her daughter over and over again.
“We have another announcement,” Ann said trying to speak over everyone’s conversation and added smiling at Nick and me, “Paul and I have decided that Nick is going to be the godfather of the baby and Meera is going to be the godmother.”
I put my arms around Nick and cried out, “Thank you for giving me another sister, Nick.”
Nick chuckled and said, “And you gave me everyone and everything that I ever needed.”
*****
I sat up in bed in the dark later that night and noticed that my breathing was heavy.
“Sameera, are you ok?” Nick asked in a sleepy voice.
“Nick, I am scared,” I said cuddling next to him.
“Sweetheart there is nothing to be scared about,” Nick said running his fingers through my hair as he pushed it away from my face.
“It is normal to have nightmares when you experience something like what you experienced first thing in the morning,” Nick said comforting me.
“Nick, I got the same dream I got when you were attacked in your office parking lot a few months ago. I saw RajaRam Vaasi give the chain to his son and disappear,” I said in a shaky voice and added, “I am starting to wonder if both these attacks are related.”
I felt the shudder that ran through his body as I continued, “I am scared about the safety of everyone including Ann’s unborn baby.”
Nick sat up in bed turning on the night lamp looking at me through squinted eyes and said, “I will make sure everyone is safe. I need you to stop looking so worried because I cannot function normally when you are all wound up like this.”
I ran my palm over Nick’s chest feeling the chain around his neck through the soft material of his t-shirt and said, “This chain is causing all the trouble. Take it off, Nick.”
“Sameera, you know I am not going to do that,” Nick said in a stern voice and added, “I don’t see any link between the office attack and the one earlier today.”
“Logically, I don’t see the link either but something tells me everything is linked,” I declared.
“I am sure the last thing Reetu wanted was the chain when she could have taken off with all the jewelry that mom bought for her if she had shown up to the wedding,” Nick challenged.
“She was pretty desperate for the chain claiming she wanted to make a replica for Sam,” I thought out loud.
“If she chose to move away from Sam’s life by not showing up at the wedding, why would she want the chain?” Nick asked as he ran his fingers through his beard and asked, “Have you mentioned the situation from this morning to anyone else?”
I shook my head and said, “I realized when I saw mom this morning that we needed to stay tight lipped about this as we still need to deal with Reetu.”
Nick nodded and said in a soft voice, “Mitch, you, and I are the only ones that know Reetu is linked to the incident from this morning. Let’s keep it that way and see if we can lure Reetu to give us anything more.”
“Are you going to meet Reetu?” I asked in shock and Nick shook his head and said, “I want you to go meet her.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Good Morning, Ms. Nick,” Mitch said smiling at me as he held the door of the Range Rover open for me.
“Good Morning, Mitch. Did you punch the guy who let the thugs get to Nick or do I need to do that myself?” I asked smiling at him as I got into the back seat to go to work on Monday morning.
“Mitch is a nice guy and does not punch people unless they are attacking me,” Nick said smiling at me as he got into the back seat with me.
“Why are you guys going to work? You guys got married on Saturday and newlyweds go on something called a honeymoon,” Mitch teased as he got into the driver’s seat.
Nick burst out laughing and said, “That sounds like a good idea Mitch. Who do you think I should take with me when I go on my honeymoon,” and asked as I glared at him, “Should I take the girl next door or the warrior princess or the Sherlock Holmes or the peacemaker?”
“Who is the peacemaker?” I asked curiously.
“The woman who made my mom happy again yesterday,” Nick said leaning over to poke my cheek with his tongue.
“Nick, can we talk about the strategy with Reetu?” I asked in a firm tone.
“Yes, dear,” Nick taunted and added looking at Mitch, “I think we should have Sameera go meet with Reetu. What do you think, Mitch?”
“Nick, did you hear what you just said?” Mitch asked rhetorically and added, “It’s too dangerous.”
“I know. I see what you are saying, but we don’t have anyone else other th
an us that she tried to reach out to on Saturday,” Nick said in a cool voice.
“What about Dr. Mishra?” Mitch suggested and Nick shook his head and said, “Mishra has been vacationing outside the country for the past few weeks.”
“Help me understand what the end goal is here for this Reetu mission,” Mitch asked sounding confused.
“Mitch, Reetu doesn’t know that little Ms. Holmes here has figured out that she was involved in the attack yesterday morning so we need to leverage that to understand what she really wanted,” Nick said looking at me.
“Is it possible that she just wanted to talk and wanted her cousin to bring you to her?” Mitch offered.
“That’s a possibility,” Nick agreed.
“Not a chance. If she wanted to talk to you, she would have kept calling you until you answered like how she did on Saturday afternoon. She wanted something else and I have a theory,” I said looking at Nick.
Nick rolled his eyes and said, “The theory from the middle of the night?”
“Yes,” I said and did not elaborate.
“Do you mind sharing that with me, Ms. Nick?” Mitch asked in a soft voice.
“Mitch, I think everything is linked to the chain that Nick is wearing around his neck,” I declared.
“I am not following, Ms. Nick,” Mitch said with confusion in his voice.
“Exactly my point, Mitch!!” Nick mocked.
“Nick, if you don’t mind, I would like to hear what she has to say,” Mitch said in a firm tone.
“Thanks Mitch,” I said glaring at Nick and added, “I have a strong a feeling that both the attacks, the one in the parking lot and the one yesterday, are linked. I just don’t know how Reetu was involved in the first attack, but they wanted something specifically from Nick and the only thing I can think about is the chain around his neck.”
“There is a very remote chance that the attacks maybe linked, and we just have not figured out the link,” Mitch said deep in thought.
“Mitch, please don’t add fuel to the fire,” Nick said shaking his head.
“Even if they are not linked, we have no confirmation that they are not linked,” I said in a firm voice.
“You are absolutely right, Ms. Nick. I will work on checking up that side of the story and see if we can get more information on the carjackers’ local contacts,” Mitch said with anxiety.
“The more and more I think about it, I have a strong feeling that Reetu’s cousin and his partner came for the chain because she wanted it so badly and used Sam as a pretext to get a replica made,” I said softly.
“Ms. Nick, I know that the chain is a family heirloom but is there an extremely high monetary value to the chain?” Mitch asked curiously.
I shook my head and Nick said, “Even if it did, it’s nothing compared to the value of the jewelry that she would have worn at the wedding.”
“Is there something Reetu knows that we don’t know about the chain?” I asked abruptly.
“Not a chance,” Nick said confidently.
I looked at Nick in silence as I thought of all the times I had interacted with Reetu, and I realized that she had asked me about the story of RajaRam and Jasleen numerous times, and it never seemed to make her wonder why RajaRam left his family.
“What are you thinking about, babe?” Nick said breaking the silence. I smiled when I realized that I was staring at him, as I played back my conversations with Reetu.
I smiled and said, “Have you heard about the story behind the chain, Mitch?”
“I have not, Ms. Nick. Mitch said and added in a teasing tone, “Nick barely talks to me anymore.”
Nick and I burst out laughing at Mitch’s comment, and I said in a teasing tone, “I am sorry Mitch. I am sure it’s because of me.”
Nick and I shared the story of RajaRam and Jasleen and that RajaRam left on a business trip handing the chain to his teenage son before he left. I closed the story by the most recent events about the Rajput family’s belief that a girl child will be born into the family if a Vaasi girl were to be married into the Bhatia family signifying the return of Jasleen and thus, lifting the curse. The family believed Jasleen cast the curse blaming her brother and family for RajaRam’s disappearance.
“Okay, but the Rajput head confirmed the family had nothing to do with the guy disappearing,” Mitch stated.
“Yes. That is correct,” I said in a soft voice.
“Why did the guy leave his family and what happened to him?” Mitch asked curiously and added, “It almost feels like he knew he was going somewhere and was not entirely sure if he would return.”
“Yes,” I said victoriously looking at Nick.
“Ms. Nick, do you know why he left?” Mitch asked again.
“Excellent question, Mitch. That’s the answer I want to find out, but I realized something else from our conversation,” I declared with excitement. When Mitch gave me a puzzled look in the rear view mirror, I said in a slow and steady pace, “Everyone that has heard the story had the same question at the end, except for Reetu. She never once asked or wondered out loud about why RajaRam left and what happened to him.”
Nick and Mitch did not say anything and I said confidently cutting through the silence, “Reetu knows exactly what happened to RajaRam, and I want to know what she knows.”
“Nick, Ms. Nick has a point. I think we need to look at the events that happened in the last few months at a whole new angle,” Mitch said in a low voice.
“Yes, and we need to talk to Sam about Reetu’s behavior after we got married,” I said and added clarifying, “She saw the chain around your neck for the first time the day we got back from India.”
Mitch let out a low whistle and said, “Nick, I am not going to wait for your approval to start the research on this.”
Nick shook his head in disbelief looking at me.
“Nick, I am not saying my theory is correct, but I just want to know,” I said smiling at him and asked, “When do I get to meet with Reetu?”
“I changed my mind, Sameera. I can’t take the risk of you meeting Reetu,” Nick said looking at me.
“Nick, we need to find out, and I am okay to give the chain to her if she tells us what happened to RajaRam,” I said in a flat voice.
“Sweetheart, it’s not yours to give,” Nick mocked and added smiling, “anymore.”
“Really?” I said as I took my fingertips to his cheeks and started running my fingertips in his beard and teased, “If you are mine, everything of yours is mine too.”
“Yes,” he said his voice shaky as I continued to run my fingertips in a circular motion on his cheeks watching him rejoice the feeling of my fingertips in his facial hair and added, “I feel like your pet dog now, and I am fluttering with happiness.”
I giggled and put my arm around his neck and whispered, “I will shave your beard tonight,” he groaned at the seduction in my voice as he brought his lips to mine.
*****
“Rhea, talk to me girl. How was your weekend?” I asked Rhea later that day when I called her during lunchtime.
“I didn’t get married over the weekend so not as interesting as yours, Sam,” she teased.
“Thanks again for making my wedding extra special. I loved the multitier head piece,” I said cheerfully.
“Anytime girl plus customers like your husband are very good for business,” she said giggling and asked, “How is Samraat doing?”
“Samraat, huh?” I teased.
“Well it was odd for me to call you Sam and him Sam too so he told me I could call him Samraat,” she said laughing.
“Very interesting,” I said in a cool voice and asked, “What did you guys talk about till two in the morning.”
“Shit, Samraat told you?” she said sounding surprised.
“No, you just did. I took a shot in the dark and you fell for it,” I mocked.
“Sam, you are as evil as your husband,” she teased.
“Really and how do you know how evil my husband is?”
I asked in a teasing tone.
“Well, Samraat and I talked about you guys because you guys are the only common thing between us,” Rhea said softly.
“Rhea, he is a good guy, but you need to give him some space before you make any advances on him,” I said in a flat tone.
“Sam, stop it,” Rhea whined and added, “You are being ridiculous now.”
I laughed and asked, “Do you think he is cute?”
“Sam, where are you going with this?” she asked annoyed.
“I was just asking so I can pass on the information,” I said in a cool voice.
“Samraat talked to you about me?” she asked sounding excited.
“Not yet, but now I know I can initiate some matchmaking because you definitely find him interesting,” I said laughing.
“I hate you Sam,” she said laughing and added, “You know I have a thing for hot lawyers.”
“I know. I got this girl,” I assured Rhea and hung up with the widest grin on my face.
I couldn’t wait to tell Nick about my conversation with Rhea.
*****
“I am waiting for my updates, Mitch?” I said cheerfully as I slid into the back seat next to Nick who was looking at his computer screen.
“Hey, I won’t pet you if you ignore me,” I teased and heard his breath hiss as he brought his lips to mine.
“Sorry love. I just need to respond to this email,” Nick said smiling and turned to look at the computer screen.
“Mitch, I know you started the research. What did you find out?” I asked leaning forward in my seat.
“I don’t really have anything except for the background check on Ms. Reetu that we ran when she started dating Sam,” Mitch said in a casual tone.
“Mitch,” Nick’s voice cut through the cool tone.
“Sorry, Nick,” Mitch said apologetically.
“Nick, what are you mad at Mitch for?” I asked and added, “I would run background checks on the girl dating my brother if I had one.”
“Sameera, I need you to stop obsessing over the Reetu situation,” Nick commanded.