Page 15 of The Ex Factor

“Of course,” I said and took a step back from her. “I just wanted to ensure you were alright. See you at my office at six?”

“That works.”

“I’ll have my assistant send you the address.”

She nodded. “I must apologize for yesterday,” she added. “I’m not a woman governed by her emotions, and certainly not before someone who’s a business contact.”

We were not just business contacts, but I didn’t contradict her. I was convinced she was reiterating it for her benefit, not mine.

“No harm done. Business or otherwise, you have lost no respect in my eyes, Ms. Bhatia.”

“Yes, but I wanted to clear the air from my end. It was an aberration and completely out of character for me.”

When I returned a silent nod, she pulled in a deep breath. “You know, we’d be having a completely different conversation right now had we not been who we are.”

“Exes’ ex-exes’ exes?” I said, and she looked at me with amusement.

“How much time did you spend coming up with that?”

“Well, there was traffic,” I joked. “If we weren’t who we are, we wouldn’t be having this conversation in this room at all,” I observed and was glad that we were.

She smiled, then pulled her hand over her forehead and ran her fingers down her dark, glossy hair. “Those two have quite literally messed us up, haven’t they?” she cried.

“Not if we don’t let them. We do have our own lives and identities. Our future lies ahead of us, not behind.”

She blinked at my words. “Sorry, but I really need to leave. I do have a meeting. It wasn’t just an excuse.” She slipped me a tiny smile.

“I wouldn’t know,” I teased in return and was treated to a wide smile and a shake of her head.

As I walked back to my car, a blanket of calm surrounded my heart. I felt something I hadn’t in a while now. I was happy. I had no reason to be, but I was.

“See, I told you that you’d fix everything,” Imran said, spying the relief on my face in the rearview mirror.

“Maybe I didn’t fix it this time. Someone else did,” I said and looked out my window.

“Ms. Devi called to ask how long you’ll be.”

“Why didn’t she call me?”

“You left your phone in the car.” He pointed to the seat beside me with his eyes.

“Oh!”

“I said you weren’t ready yet. Didn’t want to tell her where we were.”

“Thank you.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re getting off easy,” he teased with a twinkle in his eye.

Devi ran the place with an iron fist, but she got the work done. If it were up to me, I would’ve happily spent hours tinkering with codes and experimenting with new ideas without taking care of thebusinesspart of my business. She was the one who made sure I didn’t relapse into my nerd mode.

Devi came barging in right behind me as I entered the office. “Where were you?”

“Woke up late.”

“Were you out late last night? Do I need to reschedule your meetings?”

“No.” I removed my coat and hung it on the stand in a corner.

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