Page 78 of Pillow Talk
Now her stepfather was making his life miserable: Sen was having to correct all the errors the jackass’s previous lawyers had made and it was exhausting.
He hadn’t seen Shona since the morning after the wedding and he missed her. Really missed her. He switched off his computer and got ready to leave. It was too late to stop at her place – he’d see her tomorrow. But he didn’t because he had to be in a court. An investor had brought an urgent application against Lawrence the jackass.
‘Shona, I can’t believe how elegant this is,’ her mother beamed.
Felicity smiled approvingly.
‘I love it too, MrsShah. I can actually see Shona working here. The location is perfect,’ the wedding planner said.
Aruna walked to the store window.
‘The lighting is also perfect,’ she commented.
Shona had invited her mom and sister to accompany her to Durban to look at a rental space that an estate agent had contacted her about.
‘I think this is the one,’ she said.
The estate agent smiled. ‘I’ll send over the papers. You can sign them and have them back to me by the end of the week.’
Shona nodded and Felicity let out a squeal of delight. Her office was just one block away.
The estate agent locked up and the four women made their wayback to Felicity’s office, while the estate agent went off in the opposite direction. They rounded the corner when Aruna said, ‘Look, there’s Senthil Aiyer.’
Shona gaze followed her sister’s pointed finger.
Sen had just stepped out of a restaurant and a woman he was with grabbed his collar and kissed him.
Shona stopped in her tracks. She felt sick to her stomach. Her mother put her arm around her.
‘Come, it’s getting late. Let’s head back to Rally,’ she said.
Shona nodded, not giving Sen a second glance.
When she got home that evening, she threw herself into designing the traditional bridal outfits that had been ordered. She also posted an advertisement for a seamstress.
Then she got into bed and cried herself to sleep.
Sen was furious. He drove to his office and as soon as he got there, he called Lawrence Jackard to tell him he was dropping him as a client. Lawrence took it quite well; he was probably used to lawyers dropping him. Sen then spoke to his father about his concerns and his dad applauded him for doing the right thing.
Earlier Lawrence had asked him to meet at a restaurant to discuss the latest court case. Sen had assumed it was a working lunch, but Tamira was there with her stepfather. A few minutes into the meeting, Lawrence got a phone call and said he urgently needed to head back to the office, leaving Sen and Tamira alone. Sen told her he also had to leave and paid the bill. But when they got outside, Tamira grabbed him and kissed him. He pushed her away and told her that he expected their paths never to cross again. Later that evening he drove to Rally. He stoppedat Shona’s apartment, but she didn’t answer the door. He tried calling her, but her phone went straight to voicemail.
Over the next few days he texted and called but couldn’t get hold of Shona.
What was going on?
Shona looked over the shopfitter’s plan again. When she’d told him what she wanted, she hadn’t really expected that he would see her vision too.
His plan perfectly reflected everything she’d ever dreamed of: soaring ceilings, gleaming white walls, endless rails of breathtaking wedding gowns, a central pedestal surrounded by elegant leather couches, luxurious yet sophisticated and user-friendly fitting rooms tucked away at the back, and dedicated spaces for veils and traditional bridal attire.
She should have been excited. She’d been dreaming about this from when she was a little girl. It was all she’d thought about. And now it was becoming a reality but she couldn’t feel excited when her heart was broken.
When she was 15 and got home from the bonfire, she’d vowed she would never cry over a boy again. Anni had stayed over and they’d made a solemn pact to swear off boys. Of course, that pact didn’t last long, so naturally the vow to never cry over a boy was eventually broken too. Now, more than a decade later, she was crying over the same boy – the boy she’d loved from before she even knew what real love was.
She had several missed calls from Sen but she wasn’t ready to speak to him. What exactly would she say to him? I saw you kissing a gorgeous woman after what looked like a cosy lunch date, but I’d be cool with it if you came over and banged metonight?
She really had no one to talk to about this because now, more than ever, Anni could not know that she and Sen had secretly been sleeping together. She put the plan back into its plastic folder and walked to the window. The weather matched her mood. It was still humid but the rain clouds had gathered and, by the look of it, a thunderstorm was going to hit soon.
But no matter what was brewing, she needed to get out of this apartment because everything reminded her of Sen. Even her sewing room, where she stood right now, brought back memories. She recalled him encouraging her, feeling proud of her, and even making love to her against the door in this very room. Making love. It was the first time she’d even thought of it like that. Sen didn’t want complications. Sen didn’t want chaotic Shona. And she’d foolishly let her heart get involved.
