Page 60 of The Art of Taking Second Chances

“Who’s it, Sameer?” Aarti called from inside, and Tara’s smile dropped instantly as she hung her head and tugged at the edge of her saree.

“It’s Tara,” I said and let her in.

“I’m so sorry to barge in like this,” she said with tiny beads of sweat on her forehead.

“Oh, not at all,” Aarti said. “Come in.”

Tara took a few steps inside. “I just came by to thank you both for coming today. It meant a lot to me.”

“Come share a drink,” said Aarti. “It was such a fantastic day, you deserve a toast. Yes, Sameer?”

“Yes,” I said meekly, and excused myself to grab whatever sparkling drink I had. I never bought champagne—I hated it. But Aarti enjoyed a sparkling white wine. I brought it out with three flutes. We drank to Tara’s success, but she was jumpy and rose to leave immediately after.

“I’ll go drop her off,” I announced.

“No, it’s alright,” Tara objected. “It’s a pleasant night to walk.”

“Actually, it might rain. There’s a storm passing through,” Aarti said. “Sameer, go drop her off, please?”

She smiled at us, and I grabbed my keys off the counter.

“Where’s Sujit?” I asked as we pulled out of the garage.

“They flew back,” she said in a low voice. “He has an important meeting tomorrow, and Aai didn’t want to fly back alone.”

I let several deliberate minutes pass in silence before I asked, “Why did you come, Tara?”

With a feeble attempt to conceal her labored breath, she replied, “I wanted to thank you for talking me through my crisis of confidence today.”

I glanced at her. She was lying, but I didn’t push. When we arrived at her apartment, she unbuckled her seatbelt but didn’t exit the car. We sat in silence.

“I watched you with Sujit today,” I said.

Her tired, dark eyes regarded me with curiosity.

“It looks like he makes you happy. And you make him unbelievably happy,” I said with a smile. “You two are good together, Tara, and I was selfish to thrust myself back into your life. I’m sorry. It’s time for you and Sujit. You deserve to be happy.”

She continued staring at me as I kept my eyes on my hands. Finally, she pulled in a deep breath. “Thank you.”

Somewhere beyond the horizon, an angry bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and struck hard. Wild winds jabbed at the trees. We sat quietly as two drops of rain splattered on the windshield, then quickly turned into a heavy downpour.

“We can still be friends,” I said with a deliberate inflection in my voice.

She stared at the water pelting the window and nodded. “Yes. While I’m here,” she said, shutting down multiple doors simultaneously. “Thank you for the ride.”

I pulled the car beneath the covered entrance of her building. “Good thing I came to drop you. You’d have been completely drenched if you had walked,” I said gently to diffuse the tension.

“Yes, sometimes things work out for the best. Good night, Sameer.”

I watched her walk into the building, her graceful figure slightly slumped.

As I pulled out of the complex, Mom’s number flashed on the dashboard.

“Hi Ma,” I said.

“Are you okay?” she asked with urgency in her voice. “I’ve been trying to call you since we left.”

“Oh, sorry. I’d put my phone on silent and forgot.”

---