Page 98 of The Art of Taking Second Chances

“Then what happened? Why are you crying?”

“She has been with Sameer, and feels guilty about cheating on Sujit,” Aai said.

“What?” I gaped at Aai.

“What?” Sona’s head snapped back to her.

“You think I don’t understand these things?” Aai asked with a haughty sniff.

“What’s she talking about?” Sona asked me in English.

“I slept with Sameer,” I whispered. “I don’t know how she knows.”

“I knows. And I speak English little bit,” Aai teased, forcing me to smile.

I gave Sona the CliffsNotes version while Aai made tea with cardamom, no ginger. Sona hated ginger in her tea. When we settled at the dining table with tea and cookies, Aai kept stealing concerned looks at me.

“Let it go, Rani,” she said finally, returning her empty teacup to the table.

“What?”

“This burden of obligation that is weighing you down—to me, to your Baba, to Aditya, to Amar, to Sujit. Yes, we made some things possible, but it’s your life. Live it according to your rules. Your dreams. I tried to give you the life that I wanted to live, yet you’re living the life I settled for. Release yourself. You’ve repaid us all with what you are, who you are.”

When I began to sob again, Aai put her arm around me. Sona put her cup down and took my hand in hers.

“There’s no reason for tears, Tara. I’m actually relieved that you, what’s that word you used, slept?”

Sona nodded.

“Yes, that you slept Sameer, because you chose it for yourself. You believed in your own happiness to break out of this cycle of obligations.”

The doorbell buzzed, and Aai walked to the door again. “It’s Sujit,” she said, looking through the peephole. I rushed to the bathroom to clean up the evidence of tears from my face, but one look in the mirror told me it was a lost cause. I heard his voice outside and decided to brave it, red eyes, swollen face, and all. He took a startled step back when he saw me.

He looked between the three of us. “What’s wrong, Tara?”

“You both talk,” Aai said in English. “Tell him, Rani,” she said to me in Marathi and placed a light pat on my arm.

“What?” Sujit asked.

“She’ll tell you,” Sona said to Sujit, then accompanied Aai to her room.

The door closed behind them.

“What happened, Tara?” Sujit stepped toward me, his face contorted with anxiety and concern.

“Sit.” I lowered myself to the couch while he hovered over the edge of an armchair facing me. “I need to tell you something important.”

“Why are you crying? Did I do something?”

“No, this has nothing to do with you.” Fresh tears coursed down my face as I took a shaky breath. “Do you remember Sameer? You met him at the opening night in Dallas.”

His frown ironed out instantly, and he released a knowing sigh. He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Sameer is not just an old friend. He’s my ex. We reconnected over the past few weeks.”

Sujit stayed silent, waiting for me to continue.

“I want to give us—Sameer and me—another chance. But I don’t want you to think I’m being ungrateful. I owe you so much for helping me with Aai. If it wasn’t for you, I couldn’t have brought her over so quickly. I’m not worried about her being alone here anymore.”

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