Page 60 of Pillow Talk
He had their meal set up at the breakfast nook. The table was dark, solid wood and the matching chairs were black leather.
‘It smells really good in here,’ she commented.
Sen smiled and opened the pot that sat on the hot tray.
‘Butter chicken! Sen, I’m impressed,’ she exclaimed.
‘I confess the naan was made by my grandfather’s housekeeper.’
They dished up their food and Sen watched Shona tear off a piece of naan and dip it into the curry on her plate. She closed her eyes as she chewed.
‘Senthil! This is divine. I can’t believe you ate hotdogs and nuggets at my place. I’m so embarrassed,’ she said.
Sen shook his head.
‘I loved it,’ he remarked.
They ate in silence for a few minutes. Sen thought about her rules. They kept breaking them. And he knew that when she realised it she was going to retreat. He had to take advantage of the little that she was giving him.
‘Did you really have a crush on me back then?’
Shona stopped eating.
‘It was so bad, Sen. I drove Anni crazy that summer we turned 15. And then when I went away to college, I always hoped to bump into you in Rally during my breaks. But I never did. In my third year, Anni called to tell me that she met you for lunch and you brought a friend along, who was super cute and asked for her number. By then I’d moved on so I was just excited for her and didn’t ask about you,’ she explained.
‘Moved on?’
She nodded.
‘I was seeing someone,’ she replied.
Sen gritted his teeth.
She chuckled.
‘It was a long time ago. Dheran was a great guy; his parents were not,’ she said.
Sen was very interested in this Dheran.
‘What happened?’
‘Sen, we grew up together, so you know my family. My parents are not religious. My dad was born in Rally and adopted all the town’s traditions. We even celebrate Christmas! At times, we are traditional but not like Dheran’s parents. I have nothing against religious or traditional people, but when they judged my family for not being that, I had to walk away,’ she explained.
‘That makes sense,’ he said.
‘What about you? No serious girlfriends?’
He pondered for a moment. ‘It was out of the question at school because, as you know, I went to an all-boys boarding school. I dated at university but nothing serious. I didn’t fall as hard asSam.’
Shona smiled. He liked the way her eyes lit up.
‘Yeah, Sam and Anni are the real thing.’
They continued to eat silently.
And later, after the meal was over, the kitchen cleaned and Shona in his car on her way home, Sen realised that this was the most serious relationship he’d ever been in. And it didn’t scare him.
Chapter
