Page 57 of The Love Position

‘Why?’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Because she thinks we all fancy Mohan.’

An unexpected stab of jealousy pierced his chest. ‘Do you?’ The words ran out of his mouth before he could stop them.

‘I can’t speak for the rest of them, but I certainly don’t.’ She crossed her arms. ‘Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I need to go back.’

‘You want to clean toilets?’

‘Of course not! But I doubt it’s top of Grace’s wish list either. And how’s it going to look when people ask how I got out of my shitty job when they can’t get out of theirs?’

Isaac had never seen Sophia so angry before. Part of him was glad. When he’d first met her, she’d been so quiet and unsure about everything.

‘I’m sorry. This is Swami Vishnu’s decision.’

‘Well, I disagree.’

‘You can’t.’

‘Of course not. I forgot what a rules-driven dictatorship this is.’ She let out a deflated sigh and held up a hand. ‘Sorry, that was disrespectful and unnecessary. Okay. What do I have to do?’

Toeing off his flip-flops, Isaac entered the temple, Sophia following.

‘There are lots of jobs, but the main ones each day are sweeping and cleaning the statues,’ he began, moving to the back of the building. ‘There’s a cupboard here with everything you need.’

‘And what are you going to be doing?’

‘Helping.’

‘Why?’

‘Because… Like I said, my guru wants me to.’

Sophia took a tin of brass cleaner and a cloth from the cupboard and strode over to a many-armed statue of Shiva by the entrance to the temple. ‘But what about what you want?’

‘What do you mean?’

Shaking a blob of fluid onto her cloth, she rubbed the sharp brass edges. ‘Look, I apologise for being so belligerent and unpleasant right now, but I’m so tired I want to cry all the time, I’m constantly hungry, and the last thing I want is to be forced to hang out with someone who hates me as much as you do.’

‘What? I don’t—’

‘Yes, you do. If you see me walking towards you, you suddenly veer off in the opposite direction. If I’m nearby, I might as well be invisible, and in class you never look at me or help when I need it. It’s like you’re a completely different person than the one I met in Foxbrooke. What on earth have I done wrong?’

He swallowed. ‘Nothing. You’ve done nothing wrong.’

‘And why did you lie to me?’

‘What?’

She dropped the tin and cloth to the floor and stuck her hands on her hips.

‘I know I don’t know much about yoga, but something happened when I was at your house and you pretended it hadn’t. I’ve spent ten years of my life being lied to and gaslighted by Marcus and I’m not putting up with it anymore from anyone.’

Sitting on the floor with a thump, Sophia sank her head into her hands and burst into tears.

Fuck.

If Isaac had been feeling bad before, now he felt like the lowliest worm ever to crawl the earth.

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