Page 56 of Pillow Talk
They sat eating silently and when they were done, they automatically started clearing up as if they did it every day together. They worked in sync. Silently.
‘Sen?’
‘Mmm,’ he replied as he put the last glass away.
‘My grandmother was cruel. I watched her order my father around. He didn’t have a voice. She constantly reminded him that the shop was the family legacy that his father had built, and it was his responsibility to continue the legacy. She hated that he had daughters. Shah & Sons would not suffer the humiliation of a Shah not having a son. Nothing was allowed to change. Nothing. The priority was always the shop,’ she said.
He turned to look at her.
Gentle, he reminded himself.
‘But your dad didn’t do that to you?’
‘No, but he also didn’t want things to change,’ she replied.
Sen looked around the kitchen. It was spotless.
‘Let’s talk in the living room,’ he said.
She nodded.
Once they got comfortable on the couch, he turned to her.
‘This could go two ways. I could enjoy you right here on this couch right now, or I could give you advice. While the first option is tempting, I prefer the pillow talk in this situation. What’s it going to be?’
She was about to speak but he cut her off.
‘And I don’t care how complicated or messy it is,’ he added.
Shona’s face crumpled, tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to fall.
‘I’ll take the advice.’
Sen sat forward and took her hands in his. He faced her and gave her a weak smile.
‘Shona, I think you need to speak to your parents. I know it was an unwritten obligation but perhaps you felt a noose around your neck that wasn’t there. Is that a possibility? I’m not saying it is. I’m just suggesting that maybe your parents believed you wanted to work there. That it was your choice and that your veilbusiness was a side hustle.’
Her tears began to fall. Sen let go of her hands and reached out to wipe them away.
‘Thank you, Senthil,’ she whispered.
Sen drew him to her in a gentle, protective embrace. Shona relaxed into his arms and rested her head against his chest. She couldn’t understand it. This man holding her was the boy who’d teased her, hated her bridal talk, and even broken her heart when she was 15. But tonight he’d given her a perspective that she would never have considered.
For close to ten years, she’d been fighting something that wasn’t actually there. Had she sabotaged her own future? When had her father ever given her an ultimatum? Had he ever told her that she would have to choose?
‘Can I ask you a question?’
Shona nodded, reluctantly pulling away so she could look at Sen.
‘How did you start working at the shop after college?’
She sat in silence beside him for a moment, then stood up and walked to the window overlooking the street. She looked out and remembered it like it was yesterday.
‘I found the apartment in Abbott Street before I came home. Dad was not happy. He didn’t want his daughter living in a rundown building with weirdos.’
She turned back to look to Sen. He was sitting back, relaxed as if listening to her spill her life story and inner feelings was the most natural thing to do.
‘I obviously needed to pay rent so Dad told me to come and work in the shop. I agreed because it was what was expected of me.’
