Page 86 of The Art of Taking Second Chances

My mouth dropped.

“On the other hand, if you won’t, why should I waste my anger on you?” She faced me with fierce eyes, hands on her waist. “You need to figure out how to fix this mess. Don’t expect me to cry and wait for you. I won’t. Not this time,” she said, still in her power posture.

Ah, this was the Tara I was looking for.

She blinked. “Let me ask you something. How many tears did you shed for me? How many nights of sleep did you lose after you disappeared from my life? I cannot be the one to cry every time, Sameer.”

“Tara—”

“I’m sad, but I’m done shedding tears. My tears are precious, just like my love. You must earn them, deserve them. Go away, Sameer. Go spend the night with your fiancée or spend it alone. Go fix your messes, then come back and earn my love and my tears.”

I stood rooted to the spot, looking at her. “I’m not leaving,” I repeated for a third time.

She pulled in a deep breath. “Can you handle the heat after you end it with Aarti? Are you strong enough? Can you come to terms with the fact that our passionate dispositions make us explosive, that we’ll always be at loggerheads? Can you accept that I’m just as fierce and hotheaded as you, and will fight dirty for what is mine? If you claim to be mine, I’ll fight for you. Every single time. I’ll stand against the world for you. But I need to know you’ll fight for me too. I came to you the night of the opening, and you pushed me away yet again. You seem to give up on us at the slightest hint of tension. Why would I expect today to be any different? You’ve been pegged into a relationship in the presence of family and friends, all those social contacts that are so important to you. You’ve been handed the keys to the kingdom. How am I to assume you’re ready to give it all up for me? When did you ever give me an indication that you’re willing to fight for me? Fight for me, Sameer. If you think you deserve me in your life, fight for me. Show me how much I mean to you.”

I removed the ring from my finger, put it on the dresser, and stood before her. She hugged her clothes to her chest and turned toward the bathroom.

“No Tara, don’t walk away.” She stopped and stood with her back to me. “I heard you out. Now you’ve got to listen to me, babe.” She remained unmoving. “Look at me. I need you to look me in the eye.” She turned and met my eyes with grit. I stepped up. “I’m here. I’m already fighting for you, can you see that? I’m here when the woman I just got engaged to wants me in her arms tonight. You want me to be invested in this relationship, but I already am. I’m devastated and distraught by what happened this evening. I expected you to be sad, not because I want your life to revolve around me, but because I know how much I mean to you. I’m not demanding your tears, Tara. I deserve them because I love you so fiercely. I need you to feel about us the way I do.

“I made a mistake by not coming clean with Aarti sooner, and I regret it. I regret hesitating the night of the party and the night of your opening. I was afraid, but no more, babe. I said I’m ready to give up Aarti and everything that comes with it, and I haven’t changed my mind. But I can’t do this alone. I need you. I need your strength. You said you trusted me? I need you to believe it. Trust me to do right by us.”

She blinked.

“Now, do you want me to leave?”

She responded with a shake of her head.

“Come here, babe.” I threw my arms out. She tossed her clothes on the bed and rushed into them. “I know I haven’t given you a good reason to trust me in the past, but I’m here now. And you’re right, it is my turn to fight for you.”

She lifted my chin with her forefinger and placed a light, reassuring kiss on my lips. My body slacked down to her bed.

“What do we do now?” she asked and sat beside me.

I fell back, my legs dangling off the side of the bed. She laid down, turned on her side, and placed a gentle hand on my chest. I covered it with mine. “Nothing has changed. I’ll talk to Aarti tomorrow. It will be tough, but I never expected it to be easy, so a mere ring on my finger is not changing anything for us.”

“Will you hold a grudge against me for getting in the way of your ultimate goal?”

“My goal was to return happiness to Mom’s life, and I think you’ve already done that. I saw how happy she was the other day. Everything else was my folly.”

“I’m thinking of making a quick trip to New York to see Sujit.”

I kissed her hand. “You’re wrong about one thing, though. I did cry for you. I’ve cried and hurt for all these years.”

She let out a choppy breath, then her eyes glazed. “Did you lock the door?”

I shrugged.

“Go check,” she said, and I pulled myself up.

“Yup, all locked up and safe,” I said as I returned and laid down by her side.

I loved it. It felt normal, domestic. Something couples do.

Chapter 27

Sameer

She pulled her knees into her stomach and placed a hand on my heart. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

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