Page 28 of Always? Forever.
“Yes?” The hostess said
“I am a guest who might have a reservation under the name of Mrs.Kapadia," I said politely. The last thing I need is Mrs.Kapadia thinking I’m some snob.
She checked me out as if I was some trash who didn’t belong here, I barely managed to control my anger but that went down the drain when she spoke, “No I can’t let you in because Mrs.Kapadia is a regular here and she wouldn’t want to meetyou.” She said,you,with such disdain and disbelief as if it wasn’t possible.
“I highly doubt that”
I hear a deep voice speak behind me. The voice was followed by this 6 feet tall guy, guy? No man. He was a man alright. He came up behind me and put his arm around my waist. I looked up at him and we had eye contact, and he winked at me! I took a deep breath of relief.
Chapter 21
Kartik
The hostess was being a bitch to myfiancée. It was still weird to call her myfiancée. But it’s a good feeling. I slipped my arm to her waist and winked at her. Her mouth fell agape in astonishment. She looked so beautiful, it took me a moment to recover when I found her at the hostess stand in the restaurant. She was dressed in jeans and a basic white top, she was wearing those circle earrings, I think she calls them hoops. I caught a couple of men checking her out, but she was unaware as usual. A fiery possessiveness flared in me,she is mine, it said. But a surge of happiness and a proud feeling rushed through me that this beautiful woman, even for a time being, was mine. Knowing that there were men checking her out, I had to let them know that she was taken. As I got closer, I heard the woman, probably barely thirty, snap at Samaira for absolutely no reason. She was probably just jealous that Samaira couldlook pretty effortlessly and she was here in an expensive restaurant.
I was in a meeting when I received Samaira’s texts. I had left my phone in my office, it was 5 when I saw my phone, she was asking for my help with my grandmother. The unexpected turn of events involved Samaira, and we were utterly unprepared for the nature of my grandmother’s request. Swiftly, I verified the meeting details and reservation timing with my mother's assistant. Without delay, I made my way to Lotte Palace, deeming it a more effective approach than a mere text response. Honestly, not texting her back and seeing her reaction in person was a hundred percent worth it.
The hostess’s smile dropped instantly as she recognized me. I came often to this restaurant with my grandmother and mother.
“Mr.Kapadia…I’m so sorry, I had no idea she was with you. Your grandmother is already seated, please come with me” The hostess looked terrified that she may be fired. I hid a smile. Samaira still had an astonished look on her face.
As we followed the hostess, I leaned down so I could whisper to her, “Did she say anything else demeaning to you?” I was prepared to ask the manager to fire her. Nobody talks to anyone like that. Nobody talks tomy girllike that. Samaira’s head snapped towards me in a flash, her eyes wide. “Are you crazy?” she whispered. “She didn’t say anything to me that was demeaning. She was doing her job and she might as well be right, I don’t belong here…” She stopped speaking as I shot her a furious look. “Geez,what I meant was, I don’t belong here in these clothes. I am wearing jeans and a basic white top. So no one exactly belongs here in these clothes.” She ends her sentence with an exasperated tone. I look at her infuriated at the fact that she can even think she doesn’t belong here even whenshe’s looking so fantastic. “You really don’t see it, do you?” I ask her.
She looks at me irritated before she shakes her head, “We can talk about that later, right now we need to convince your grandmother, so if you’ll stop being a grump, we can get you your inheritance.” she says before she dangles her arm with mine. I instinctively connect our fingers, lightly brushing my thumb over the back of her hand. She tightens our fingers and I don’t even try to suppress the smile forming on my face. We reach the table my grandmother is seated at. She is one classy lady, she doesn’t dress like her age, she believes that clothes play an important role in the way people perceive our age.
Samaira
As we approach Kartik’s grandmother, I take her in. She looks super polished and sophisticated. She was wearing a kurti and cotton bell-bottom pants, she looked comfortable wearing them as well as rich as she was. She was already drinking some coffee. Her right eyebrow went up as she noticed her grandson walking besides me. If at all she opposed it or minded that our hands were intertwined, she didn't show it. Neither did she get up to greet us as wereached the table. Karik let go of my hand and I instantly felt anxious, more than I was before. More anxious as I liked holding his hand which wasn't necessarily a good thing. “Hey, nani” Kartik greets her. He bent down at his waist and kissed his grandmother on her forehead, which instantly put a smile on her face. She clearly adored her grandson. It was obvious that she loved him but what I didn’t understand was why the inheritance clause. Kartik was…attractive. It was a hard pill to swallow for me admitting I found him attractive but dare if I said that out loud. First Aria would kill me, second, mixing feelings into this already chaotic mess wasn’t a good idea. Especially not when I knew I could easily fall in love and there was no one to catch me.
“I didn’t invite you” she responds with her eyes narrowed at me. Kartik pulls a chair opposite his grandmother for me to sit. I mumble a quick thanks before sitting. He sits next to me so technically he is sitting in the middle of me and his grandmother. I gulped at the subtle hint of a“you went behind my back and called my grandson to play a mediator” tone. I open my mouth to answer but Kartik beats me to it.
“Well neither did she. I wouldn’t get my inheritance if you scare her.” He says in a manner that states he’s speaking the truth, which he was but it came across as joking. The next thing he says makes my heart beat faster than usual. His voice drops down to a whisper, “To be honest,Nani, I actually really like her, so I don’t want to scare her away, she might be my only chance at finding a wife.” he winks at me as he finishes his sentence.
His grandmother’s eyes soften when he says it, jokingly. Or what I thought was a joke.
“So you love him?” she questions me suddenly dragging me out of the trance.
I didn’t even realize I was tapping my foot until I felt Kartik’s hand on my thigh, trying to calm me down as if he just knew how anxious I was. It surprised me that he wasn’t anxious. If he was, he did a splendid job at hiding it.
Kartik
Samaira took a deep breath before she started speaking and she left me speechless with what she said. “I have never loved anyone in my life before apart from my family and friends. I had always believed that there is someone for everyone in this world. After a while I had given up the hope of finding…that someone for me. I had stopped believing that there could be someone who could be there for me in every way I would want him to be. I may not have known Kartik for the longest time…” she paused as she made eye contact with me for the first time as she answered nani and I felt like my world stopped. The amount of raw emotion I saw in her eyes made me feel that I wasn’t the only one having second thoughts about keeping this thing fake anymore. But I knew I had to be sure before I took any step or I would have my heart broken for sure.
“But I’m not gonna be cliche and say sometimes when you know, you just know. No, him being himself makes it easier to know him, Kartik is annoying and irritating, he’s a littlecrazy but he’s also charming, adorable, utterly intelligent, and chivalrous, he’s also caring, protective, and loves his family and friends fiercely and that makes me love him a little more every day.”
When I thought my world had stopped previously, now it wasn’t going ahead, it was just going to keep rewinding to this moment right here. The sincerity she said made me think she was halfway there to falling for me but then again we were putting on an act for my grandmother. We still had to sell it to her parents, although I didn’t think it would be difficult considering I was halfway in love with this gorgeous woman. Wait what! Where did that thought come from?! Gosh. I was falling for her and that’s not what we had planned. At this moment I really didn’t care about the plan. As she finished speaking there was a soft smile on her face and I couldn’t help but lean in and give her a kiss on her forehead. Pulling back I saw a blush covering her cheeks, I bit back a smile. My grandmother took a sip of her coffee, she sat her cup down and looked at Samaira with an impressed look. I think not preparing for this sit-down had made the whole interaction seem genuine.
“I’m glad we had this conversation, Kartik, I approve.” my grandmother finally said after moments of silence.
Samaira released a breath of sigh I didn’t realize she had been holding. What I didn’t understand was why she was nervous about this so much that she actually wanted to impress my nani. Samaira gave a nervous smile to her as she finally called the waiter to take our orders. The rest of the tea or whatever it was went smoothly as Nani andSamaira started bonding. It made me feel things I shouldn’t be feeling.
Chapter 22
Samaira
The meeting with Kartik’s grandmother went better than I had expected it to go. I was half expecting her to kick me out of Kartik’s life and fire me from my job, I don’t think she could technically do that but let’s not get there. Kartik and I decided to walk from the hotel to my apartment because he insisted on coming with me as I had to change to something nice for dinner with his parents. We were going over to their place for dinner as his mom found out that Taani Kapadia had summoned me.
Kartik briefed me about how he was closer to his dad and that he shared everything with him. My closet was a mess and I got tired. So I did what anyone would, I sat down in the middle of the mess. It was 5 seconds later that I heard a knock. I groaned. “Come in” I shouted, still sitting.
