Page 123 of The Rules of Playing with Fire

More silence, then, “Can you meet me? I’ll text you the address on this number. Is that alright?”

“Yes, thank you.”

She hung up, and a minute later, I got an address for a coffee shop in Dadar.

“Aai, I need to go somewhere. It’s a work thing,” I yelled on the way to my room.

In under ten minutes, I was out the door. In another half hour, I would be at the coffee shop. Darn, how would I recognize her? Was it too weird to text I’m wearing a green top?

But I didn’t need to. When I entered the café, I recognized her immediately. Maybe because she was the only one sitting alone, or maybe because her eyes were so familiar—dark onyx with distinctive warmth and power.

She stood as I approached her. “Sona?”

I nodded. “Thank you so much for meeting me.”

“I’m sorry you had to come all this way, but I don’t have a lot of time. It’ll be a quick meeting.” She returned to her chair.

“Yes, of course.” I slipped into the seat across her. On my way here, I’d rehearsed it all in my head. “Mihir just found the letter you wrote him, and he’s here looking for you. We went to Mr. Kamte’s home for information.”

“Kamte bhau passed away.”

I nodded. “Yes, his daughter told us, but she remembered he worked with you. It was a long shot, but…”

“You’re his friend?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you here instead of him?”

That was a very good question. I had rehearsed the answer to that too. “For two reasons. One, I didn’t want his heart broken if it turned out you weren’t his mother. And two, I didn’t want to force you into a meeting.”

She smiled and nodded. “You are kind. In my profession, consent was mostly tenuous. I am glad you gave consideration to my marzi.”

It was a gesture in stark contrast to her self-assured poise, but she extended an open palm. I readily placed it in her outstretched one, and she patted it.

“You are a sweet girl, but it has been a long time, Sona. I’m a different woman now. A different person.”

“I understand.”

She sat upright again. “What does he want? Tell me about him.” Maybe I padded his resume a bit, because she frowned. “When you say you’re his friend, do you mean girlfriend? Lover?”

My eyes lowered on instinct. This was, after all, Mihir’s mother. In another life and under a different set of circumstances, she could’ve been my mother-in-law. “I was. We were together, but we aren’t anymore.”

She nodded and smiled. “I suspected as much. That was a glowing description.”

“None of it is untrue, though. He is smart, successful, and caring. He’s only looking for a part of himself that he’s just found missing. He needs validation and some love, I think.”

She nodded again. “Can I think about it?”

“Of course.”

When she left, sans fanfare or elaborate parting words, I got a coffee and a brownie and sat pondering over my next move.

MIHIR

Acheeky text from Sona was a delightful way to wake up.

Lying in bed with every part of my body yearning for her touch, I typed out my response: What were you doing at 3:54 a.m.? Did you wake up to a dream about me? A naked one?

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