Page 59 of The Art of Taking Second Chances

“My chest hurts,” she said.

I moved closer, and her grip on my hand got tighter.

“Tara, keep looking at me.” She did. “Listen, you’re brilliant. You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone. You are you. You’re the best at what you do.”

She kept her beautiful, dark eyes on my face.

“Have you felt like this before?” I asked. “Is this a panic attack?”

She shook her head and looked down at her hands.

“Keep looking at me.” She lifted her gaze back to me.

“We’ll figure it out, okay? Right now, you need to show the world how brilliant you are. You don’t have to prove it, just show it. Let your work speak for itself.”

She nodded.

“Don’t doubt yourself. You said you trusted me, right? You trust me to tell you the truth? I’m telling you, you’re a marvel. Nothing and no one can take away your genius.” I kept rubbing her palms. “Now breathe. Deep breaths. Keep breathing.”

After what seemed like forever but was only a few minutes, color returned to her face. Her breathing slowed to normal. I dropped beside her on the bench, still holding her hand.

“Growing up, I didn’t have much ground for confidence,” she said slowly, looking into the distance. “The only way I could succeed was by working hard and believing in my abilities.” I rolled my thumb over her hand. She looked at me. “You always admired how strong-willed I was, but it didn’t come naturally. I had to train myself to be that way. To overcome doubt and fear. To take nonsense from no one.”

“Especially from a rich boy like me.”

That brought out a tiny smile. “My confidence is drawn from deep within me, like a well. I draw from it over and over. After a while, the well dries up because I’m asked to prove myself again and again. Opportunities like this help rebuild my confidence, but it also means I need to draw from that well even more. It’s exhausting, until one day all I come up with is sand and grit from the bottom of a dry well. Today is that day.”

I’d never met this side of Tara, and for good reason. She was a trapeze artist without a safety net. She couldn’t falter, and she didn’t. She couldn’t show her vulnerabilities because they would be misconstrued as inherent unworthiness. I stood up and held out my hand. She gripped it with a smile and pulled herself off the bench.

I kissed her forehead. “I’m going to give you a hug now, is that alright?”

She nodded, and I took her in my embrace, breathing her in. Her arms came around me as she sank her head into my neck. For a minute, the world around me faded away, and my resolve weakened. How could I live without her? How could I deny her my love?

“How do you feel?” I asked.

She lifted her head and smiled. “Better.”

“Tara.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “You’re one of the smartest people I know, and I really mean it. Never second-guess yourself.”

As she looked up at me, standing so close I could feel her breath, I saw Sujit coming around the corner. I promptly stepped away and turned to him.

“She wasn’t feeling well,” I said.

His protective arm came swiftly around her. “Hi, darling, are you alright? What happened?”

I began to walk away as she vanished in his embrace, but her eyes stayed on me. They followed me as I disappeared into the claustrophobic crowd. Amar threw me an uneasy look, but I turned my attention to Aarti and Mom.

When Hadden introduced the artists, she gave a special nod to Tara as a guest of the museum and the only non-Texan to be featured in the exhibit. Hadden’s invitation for her to say a few words seemed to take her by surprise, but she eloquently described how she fell in love with the city and its heritage. “I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the museum and to Dr. Hadden for this incredible opportunity to have my name in the same catalog as these stellar artists. I came to this city with a dream in my eyes and hope in my heart. I shall return with stars in my eyes and love in my heart. And for that, I thank you all. I’m grateful for your generosity and warmth. Thank you for coming this evening.” She finished with a luminous smile.

Sujit’s face radiated pride and joy, like he truly cherished and appreciated her. She avoided me for the rest of the evening, while Sujit stayed by her side, and her mother could hardly contain a proud smile. Overall, it was a great day for the Kadam-Rao clan. Another bad one for the Rehanis.

After the event, Aarti decided to spend the night with me. My body heavy with emotional fatigue, I couldn’t think of a convincing way to refuse her. So I took the coward’s way out again and acquiesced. There was always a tomorrow to resolve things.

Around ten that evening, as Aarti and I lounged in the living room watching a movie, my doorbell dinged.

“Are you expecting anyone?” she asked.

I shook my head and dragged myself off the couch to answer the door. Tara stood outside, still in her saree, with a smile on her face and a glimmer in her eyes.

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