by Van,P. G.
“Kris thanks for the offer, but I’ll be fine.”
“I know you think you will be fine, but I am not taking a risk with my superstar,” her boss said indirectly insisting that she hitch a ride with Kris.
She had no energy to argue and agreed. “Where do you live, Kris? Are you sure it is not out of your way?”
“Sunnyvale,” he said continuing to maintain his calm and cool tone while she had a tornedo rip through her with every breath she took of his spicy cologne.
“Oh okay. I hope it’s not too much trouble,” she said gathering her strength to speak.
“Absolutely not,” Kris said and added, “Looks like you are all set to go. I just need to go grab my computer bag from my office. I will meet you in the lobby in two minutes.”
As Kris left to grab his bag, she turned to look at Jack and said, “Thanks, Jack. I will see you tomorrow.”
Varsha stepped into the lobby from the elevator and saw Kris approaching her at the same time. He smiled at her and looked stunning in a dark sports jacket and a white shirt casually paired with dark wash jeans.
She smiled back casually. “I had no idea you lived in the South Bay. Most of the people I work with live in the East Bay as it is more convenient.”
“Yeah, but I like the Sunnyvale area,” Kris said smiling and added, “I moved from the East Coast a few months ago and have been in Sunnyvale since then.”
“Wow, we are technically neighbors,” she said as they got into the elevator in her attempt to be extremely nonchalant and asked, “What part of Sunnyvale are you in currently in?”
“I live very close to the Sunnyvale library,” he said in a calm voice.
“Seriously? I am in that area too,” she said surprised. They walked in silence towards the parking lot.
“I am parked around the corner. Why don’t you wait here, and I will come get you in a second,” Kris said walking away from her.
“Thanks, Kris.” She put away the empty boxes in her car trunk that might tempt amateur burglars to break in and disappoint themselves when they realized they were empty.
She stood by her car for about a minute texting her nanny she was on her way home when she heard a car approach her. She looked up to see a sexy fire red Maserati that she could not peel her eyes away from.
She stood shell shocked as the car came closer to her and memories of her conversation with Kris from the night three months ago came surging.
“If I had the money, I would get the screaming red Maserati with the Ferrari V8 engine.” She laughed kicking off her heels settling into the plush chair on the roof garden.
“Why wouldn’t you buy a Ferrari?”
“Ferraris are for the racetrack, and the Maserati is the street cousin.” She winked.
“I agree. Will you go on another date with me if I came to get you in your dream car?” he asked without letting go.
“Oh Kris…it’s too bad I am not shallow. I will probably take you out when I buy the car myself,” she mocked.
“Nice, I’d love that,” he said so with much intensity her body felt the chill in spite of sitting right under the heat lamp.
Her mouth went dry at the realization and wondered if she should get into the car with him. She shivered internally as she tried to link every piece of their conversation from that night and the events from the past few days together but managed to stay composed. She stood staring at her reflection on the passenger side window.
She saw the woman who morphed into a new person after spending a night with Kris, but now he was right in front of her and she didn’t want him. It was not part of the plan to have loose ends and just at the speculation of where that car ride would take her caused a lot of internal turmoil.
“Ready to go?” He had rolled down the window and was looking at her. She needed to look at those eyes to get the confidence to get into the passenger seat of the ultra luxurious car.
He pulled out of the parking lot and steered the sleek machine through the busy city traffic. She sat in silence unable to control her thoughts that were triggered by being in the same car with Kris. He had not given her any cues for her to think he was being unprofessional, but she was picking up the hints he was dropping to tell her he hadn’t forgotten anything from the night; she could not figure out what he wanted.
He made her let go and bring her guard down that night, and she sat next to him struggling to be resolute. She closed her eyes to shut out the memories as her mind raced uncontrollably.
She heard the deep voice address her as she floated on the most comfortable bed and the tenderness on her cheek gracefully lifted her out of the deepest state of bliss. Her eyes fluttered open to look into dark penetrating eyes that were looking at her with concern. She was caressed back to reality by the soft palm on her cheek.
“Are you okay, Varsha?” Kris asked looking at her from the driver’s seat.
She sat up from the passenger seat and looked at him trying to remember what had happened and wondered what she was doing next to him. She blinked at him as she remembered the last thing before she slept and said in a coarse voice, “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Jack told me you were up all night and stayed back at work. I was a little worried when you didn’t wake up when I called your name a few times.” His voice was smooth but flat.
“I am okay.” She looked out and realized he was stopped a few feet away from her garage in her townhouse community.
“Sorry, I didn’t even bother giving you the address. Did Jack give you my address?” she asked getting out of the car.
Kris looked up from the driver’s seat and was about to say something but looked past her. She turned to find her nanny approach her with an overly hyper baby in her arms.
“Hello, Krishna. How are you?” the nanny said as she handed Myra to Varsha.
Varsha listened to her nanny and Kris converse as if they were long lost friends. She was convinced it was some kind of dream.
“Pammi, how do you know Kris?” she finally asked unable to contain her curiosity.
“He is your new neighbor, and he goes to the same library. He recently moved into Jen’s house,” the nanny said coolly sending shock waves through Varsha’s mind. She knew she looked like a deer in front of the headlights, but all she could think about was the safety of her baby. Something didn’t add up, and she needed to get back into the comfort of her home.
“Thank you so much for the ride,” she said interrupting the conversation and turned away from the car holding her baby tightly.
“Would you like to come in for some Chai?” the nanny offered and Varsha didn’t need to turn around to know his face lit up, and she heard him say, “Absolutely, Pammi!!”
She stopped at the entrance of her garage and heard the garage next door open and Kris’s car slide into the two-car garage. She was pissed at her nanny for inviting him indoors, but there was nothing she could do to control the situation. She knew she had to confront him sooner than later and lay out the ground rules, but she was out of energy to tackle it that particular day.
Kris walked towards her with a smug look on his face.
“I can’t imagine you driving that car,” he said looking at her seven-seater SUV. She waited for her nanny to go indoors before she responded to him.
He whispered before she could say anything. “I know you have a lot of questions and concerns. I am not going in if you don’t want me to.”
She looked away from him without responding to look at the baby in her arms and said, “This is my daughter, Myra.”
“Hi Myra, how are you?” he asked looking at Varsha taking Myra’s tiny palm into his.
“Myra, when will you be able to say ‘I’m fine’?” she said looking at her daughter. Her baby was staring at Kris. “Myra, it’s rude to stare. Say hi to Kris.” Varsha laughed.
Myra looked at Kris for one more second and reached her arms out asking him to carry her. Varsha was completely taken by surprise as her daughter had never wanted to go to a stra
nger, especially when she was holding her. Kris laughed and asked, “May I?”
“Oh…yes,” Varsha stuttered and Kris swooped the baby from her with ease and said looking at Myra, “I know, I like you, too.”
Myra giggled and babbled as Kris cooed to her and all Varsha could do was watch in awe at how well Kris handled her. It was the last thing she expected to see.
“The Chai is almost ready,” the nanny called out from the kitchen.
“Kris, I need to check my email. Be right back,” she said heading up the stairs.”
Ten minutes later, she went downstairs to an empty family room. There was no one in sight but saw two mugs of steaming liquid set on the dining table.
She heard Myra giggle at a distance and realized she was outside in the small yard. She opened the sliding door and peeked outside and saw her baby in Kris’s arms as he tickled her with a tiny leaf and she was laughing uncontrollably.
The nanny was standing by the fence, and Kris and Myra were on the other side in his yard. Her heart sank when she realized the nanny had shown Kris the door in the fence with the hinges and lock on her side. She had the door installed when she and her neighbor became good friends. She made a mental note to either put a permanent lock on the door or replace the door with fence.
She stood by the entrance to the yard and observed Kris as he made her daughter giggle. Kris looked up as if he sensed her presence and their eyes met, his smile froze as he caught his breath. His reaction tingled her spine. She wasn’t sure what she would do with him being her immediate neighbor when she thought she had ended all connections from their night together two days ago.
She had always turned a blind eye to any admiration from men, but the slightest attention from Kris caused all kinds of commotion inside her.
“Look, mommy,” he said looking at Varsha and added laughing, “I am so jealous you have so much fun after work.”
“Yes, it is a lot of fun,” she said softly and added looking at the nanny, “It’s getting late, you should go, Pammi.”
Her nanny smiled at her and said looking at Kris who was still on the other side of the fence in his yard, “You should have your Chai before it goes cold.”
Pammi reached to take Myra from Kris’s arms, and she refused to go into the nanny’s arms. She looked surprised as the nanny taunted Myra playfully for ignoring her and opened the gate to let Kris back into her yard.
The nanny walked past her to go back into the house and when Kris approached her holding Myra, Varsha reached out inviting Myra into her arms and for the first time since she was born, Myra refused to go to her and turned away from her mother indicating she wanted to be held by Kris.
“Myra. What is going on baby?” Varsha asked looking at her baby turning away from her. She fought back the pangs of pain unable to handle the fact that her baby did not want her. When she tried taking her from Kris forcibly, to Varsha’s utter shock, she started to wail clinging to his neck.
“Myra,” Kris said in a firm voice and to Varsha’s surprise, she stopped wailing and looked at him. In his firm, yet soft voice, he continued to talk to her, “You don’t behave that way with mommy, and you need to go to her now.”
Myra stopped wailing and looked at him smiling.
Holy crap. Is he a baby whisperer?
She stood shell-shocked as Myra spread her arms to come to her. She took her from his arms in a daze and walked back to the dining area to sit at the table.
“Kris, your Chai,” the nanny said pointing at the mugs on the table.
Varsha sat across from Kris at the dining table as they sipped their drinks. Myra made her way back to Kris’s arms and continued playing with the leaf that Kris had found her in the yard.
They sat in awkward silence as her nanny prepped for dinner. She observed him as he chatted away with Myra.
He finished his drink and smiled. “Varsha, thank you so much for the awesome Chai.”
“Shouldn’t you be thanking Pammi?” she mocked and added, “Thanks for keeping Myra company.”
“My pleasure. We had a lot of fun with that tiny leaf she found in the backyard.” He stood up holding Myra in his arms.
As if Myra sensed him leaving, she clung to him and refused to look at her mother. Varsha realized that the drama queen in her was evolving and getting stronger everyday.
Kris laughed and said, “She’s got some drama queen phase going on, huh?”
Varsha let out an uncontrollable chuckle. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Here you go.” Kris handed her the clingy baby that would not let go of him and as Myra started wailing again, she looked at Kris and said, “She will be fine in a minute Kris. Go ahead.”
“Okay. Does seven in the morning work for you tomorrow morning?” Kris asked and she looked at him confused and distracted by Myra jumping uncontrollably as she held her, and he added, “To go back to work.”
“Yes, sorry, I forgot you were my ride tomorrow morning,” she stuttered. She looked at Myra and said sternly, “Kris needs to go now, and I need you to behave.”
Kris left abruptly and closed the door that led to the garage as she attempted to distract Myra. Her baby, who was not temperamental at all, was having a meltdown for being away from a stranger. The nanny tried to distract her as Varsha continued to fight back the looming need to curl up in the sofa and sleep.
She took her baby into her arms in an effort to calm her down and wondered, feeling sick to her stomach, if her child was trying to say something. Was she not giving her enough attention?
Chapter Five
“Easy, Myra. Mommy is right here,” the nanny said to the sobbing baby to calm her down right after Kris left. Myra continued to wail and push her towards the door to the garage. She took her to the door and opened it to show her that Kris had left but to her surprise, he was in the garage leaning against her car with his back to them.
He heard the door open and turned to look at them with tenderness in his eyes. “Sorry Varsha, I couldn’t get myself to leave with her crying like that.”
He took a few steps with his long lean legs to take Myra back into his arms.
Varsha sat on the steps at the door leading to the garage and watched a stranger calm her baby. Myra had stopped crying but was sniffling from her episode. She took in deep breaths in an attempt to subside the worry that was building up about how she would handle episodes like these in the future by herself.
Kris was pacing just outside the garage holding Myra who had calmed down and was responding to whatever Kris was saying in his soft voice. He turned to look at her and smiled as she sat on the steps in a daze from being sleep deprived and overwhelmed with the sequence of events that happened in the last thirty minutes. She returned a blank stare to him forcing herself back to reality as he walked towards her.
“I would like to stick around if you don’t mind,” Kris declared. She knew it was a bad idea and her first instinct was to object, but realized she didn’t have the energy to deal with another meltdown.
“Sure,” she said opening the door to let him back in and closed the main garage door.
Myra looked at her from Kris’s arms as she walked behind him and smiled but did not show any indication that she wanted to be held by her mother.
He played with Myra in the family room as she prepped for her dinner with the nanny. The nanny insisted she stay longer that day, and Varsha could not be more relieved. Myra usually played on the kitchen floor while she fixed dinner but she chose to hang out with Kris that evening.
“Kris, please go if you need to,” she said from the kitchen.
“I am going to take off as soon as her majesty says I can go,” he said smiling looking at her from the family room.
“After all that drama, I am not really sure when you will get your orders so please go, I am serious. Pammi stayed back just in case I passed out.” She laughed nudging her nanny.
Kris got up from the floor and walked towards the kitchen with Myra followin
g him like a duckling. He came into the kitchen and stood a few feet away from her leaning on the island and whispered, “Can’t get rid of me soon enough, eh?”
She laughed surprisingly at ease and said, “I am not, Kris.”
“You are a rockstar at work, but Myra kicks your butt at home,” Kris teased.
“I barely survive,” she chuckled.
Kris knew she was the subject matter expert for many systems and led a solid engineering team. She strived for excellence and knew it wasn’t easy for one person to do everything, but Varsha took it on tirelessly.
He looked around the family room and noticed the books and toys that Myra played with, and he knew they were not just random toys a parent buys a kid. Every book had a purpose for specific information Varsha wanted Myra to know, every toy had its purpose of either building a child’s motor or cognitive skills.
He had spent time around his friend’s kid when they worked on a project together right out of college. Andy and Candy had a surprise baby and were paranoid parents who didn’t trust anyone with their precious baby. He had initially just watched the little baby sleep peacefully when he was on a break and eventually got to holding the baby when she was six months old.
“Ready to eat, baby?” she asked looking at Myra who was playing on the kitchen floor right next to where Kris was standing.
“I think she is,” Kris said as he bent down to pick her up and took her to the high chair right next to the dining table. He pulled one of the dining chairs closer and sat next to Myra.
Varsha sat in front of Myra’s high chair and wasn’t thrilled to be a foot away from him.
“It’s been a while since I was around little kids.”
“Oh.” Varsha bit her tongue before she asked him if he had kids.
“My friends from college, Andy and Candy, fun couple. They had a baby senior year of college and when we worked on our first project out of college, they would bring their baby to work.”
“Is that allowed?”
He laughed shaking his head. “Startup mode. You do what it takes to get the work done and on days where the parents were drowning in endless lines of code, I watched their kid. It was freaky but fun.”