Page 78 of The Art of Taking Second Chances

“No,” I said in a hushed voice. “I don’t want to be unkind either, Sameer.”

He nodded, and his gaze traveled to the city behind me.

“She invited me too, but I’ll tell her something’s come up. I can’t imagine going to her party, drinking her wine, and eating her food after having slept with her boyfriend.” I pulled my hands over my face. “Am I a horrible person, Sameer?”

“Neither of us expected this to happen today, but I’ve waited for it too long to let myself be bogged down in guilt and shame. I only want to feel happiness now. And you give me that.”

I lifted my head to look at his face, happy and relaxed. I wanted it for him, and I wanted it for me, too. I held my hand out to him, and he grabbed it to pull me onto his lap. “I’m going to let you in on something, but you can’t laugh.”

“You know I will when you ask me not to,” I said, and he gripped my earlobe between his teeth.

“I’m going to dance with Aarti at the party. But it’s not just us. It’s this whole choreographed thing with her parents and us, and her brother and his wife, and her parents.”

“I see. You don’t have a problem wiggling your hips for her, but you pout when I ask you to do it!”

“There’s no hip-wiggling, I promise,” he said, placing a kiss on my cheek. “I just want to get it over with, so I can finally talk to Aarti.”

“Are you going to tell her about us, about today?”

“I’m not sure. I was going to end it anyway, so why put her through more hurt?”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure what the right course of action was either. It wasn’t like we had extensive experience cheating on our partners.

I tapped his chest and got off. “I’ll have a quick shower before the food gets here.”

I left the room feeling a heaviness settle around my shoulders.

Chapter 24

Tara

Tempted as I was to spend the rest of the weekend with Sameer, I knew I couldn’t do it unless I had a chance to talk with Sujit.

“It’s not right,” I said at Sameer’s sulking.

“But why are we hiding it, and from whom?”

I raised my brows. “Really? Are you forgetting you have to play the doting boyfriend until Saturday?”

He grumbled.

“And what if Aarti decides to drop by and finds me here? Just one more week, my jaan. I’ll talk to Sujit at the first chance I get, and after Saturday you can tell Aarti. We can start over after that.”

“Did you just call me Jaan?”

“You don’t like it?”

“I love it. You’re also my life, my jaan.” He held me close, and I hoped it would be enough for us to survive on until the next weekend.

But the euphoria of reconnecting with Sameer did little to ease the guilt of having cheated on Sujit. A dark echo from my past returned. I had chosen to put myself first again, ahead of my career, my family, and Sujit. The last time I did that, I lost a tiny bit of myself. And yet I craved the happiness that only Sameer seemed to give me. The thrill, the surge of energy coursing through me when I was with him was unlike anything I had ever experienced with anyone else.

Just one more week, I reminded myself when Sameer dropped me back that evening. My first instinct was to call Sona, but I couldn’t tell her what had happened until I had spoken to Sujit. She was truly fond of him, and I felt like I had betrayed them both.

I texted Amar about the development, even though I suspected he would’ve already heard.

I know! Are you happy? he texted back.

Very happy ?

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