Page 53 of The Rules of Their Red-Hot Reunion

CHAPTER TWELVE

THENEXTDAY, in her cottage, Aisha yanked a bottle of wine out of her fridge and held the cool bottle to her forehead. Lowering it, she squinted at the bottle, saw it was nearly empty, and cursed. She lived in one of the premier wine areas of the world and all she had to drink, after a fairly crappy day, was a few gulps of wine.

Oh, well, it was better than nothing. Dashing the minuscule amount into a glass, she considered what she could eat for supper, realised she still hadn’t bought any food, and decided she wasn’t hungry.

Well, she was hungry for junk food...she could murder a packet of fries, slam down a huge bar of chocolate. Emotional eating, Aisha?

Sure, she was allowed since she was feeling so damn emotional!

Taking her wine back to the living area of her cottage, she curled up into the corner of the couch and started scrolling through her social media accounts. Her oldest nephew was a chess champion; Hema had been invited to speak at a conference in Germany; Reyka posted a photo of her and her husband.

They looked pretty and perfect and she didn’t care. For the first time in a long time, she could shake off the feelings of insecurity and stop judging her life by her sisters’ accomplishments and milestones. She had an amazing career, she did good work and her boss valued her. There was a good chance she’d still get the promotion she so wanted. But unlike her siblings, she was nearly thirty and not married, a big black mark.

No, stop! Not being married wasn’t a problem, nor a sin. It was perfectly okay for her to be single...

And apparently, so was confronting her mother. That awful telephonic conversation a week or so ago had actually resulted in her and her parents sitting down for a one-on-one meal two nights ago. It had been awkward and uncomfortable, but they’d tried and for that Aisha couldn’t be more grateful. She was sure their next get-together would be easier and, in time, maybe she could even reboot her relationships with her sisters. She would never match their intellectual brilliance, but she no longer felt the need to; she was Aisha and she had value.

Her relationship with Reyka was beyond repair and she was okay with letting it go or, in the interest of family unity, being polite but having as little to do with her as possible.

Aisha scrolled through more social media posts, stopping when she saw a photo posted by Ro an hour before.

She sat in a hospital bed, looking tired and pale, her hair a mess, but her eyes glowing with happiness. She held a baby wrapped in a blue blanket in each arm, and her smile could power a nuclear plant. Aisha lifted her hand to her mouth, tears stinging her eyes. She tapped her screen and saw more photos, Muzi kissing her forehead, his eyes closed, a tear on his cheek. Muzi holding his boys, his eyes dancing with excitement. Another picture of Muzi showing his boys to the Tempest-Vanes and other people she didn’t know. Aisha stared at the photograph, looking for Pasco. He wasn’t in the photograph...

Why not? Pasco was Muzi’s best and oldest friend, and he’d never miss the birth of the twins. Was he okay? Why wasn’t he there?

He’d probably just stepped out of the room and missed the photo op. Aisha enlarged the photograph of the twins and smiled at their chubby cheeks, curly hair, and rosebud mouths. Both had Muzi’s deep, brown-black eyes.

Aisha placed her hand on her heart, her throat tight with emotion. She was so happy for Ro. And Muzi. Happy for their friends, the clan she saw on the screen. Because that was what they looked to be, a group who were each other’s safety net and support structure. They were wealthy, sure, stupidly so, but they had something money couldn’t buy: they were a tribe, a family, knitted together by love.

She wanted a clan like that, a place where she fitted in. A place where she didn’t need a PhD, to present academic papers or to save lives. Somewhere she could just be herself...

She needed friends, a community and, when her heart stopped aching and breaking, in a couple of years or decades, she might even look for a man. She didn’t expect to experience a wild and intense love affair again—Pasco was a once-in-a-lifetime force of nature—but maybe she could find a companion, friendship with a man she didn’t mind seeing naked.

But the thought of living her life, of being with anyone but Pasco made her feel a little, no, a lot, queasy.

It’s just a thought, Shetty, not a stone-carved commandment! Jeez...

In the meantime, she’d work, get St Urban up and running and tomorrow she’d brief Kendall, who’d flown into Cape Town this afternoon, on Ro’s restaurant project. Miles had all but told her the promotion was hers, so she’d start looking for a little house, probably in Johannesburg so she could be closer to Priya, a place to call her own. She’d keep herself busy and, in time, her battered and shattered heart would piece itself together.

Everything passed, eventually. She just had to hang on until the pain eased, until her tears stopped, until the sun started shining again.

Aisha felt her stomach rumble and told herself she should eat. She didn’t want to, but she needed fuel, almost as much as she needed sleep. Both had been in short supply lately. Forcing herself to rise, she wrinkled her nose, wondering what she could push down her tight throat.

In the kitchen, she pulled open her fridge door and scowled at the empty shelves. Cheese, yoghurt...wilted salad.Ugh.

A gentle rap on her door had her turning and, grateful for the distraction, she walked back into the lounge, expecting to see Kendall on her doorstep, as her colleague had said she might stop by this evening to say hello.

She pulled the door open and stared into a long-sleeved, navy-blue T-shirt. She dropped her eyes to see the edges of a leather jacket, long legs covered in jeans, and trendy trainers. She tipped her head back, her eyes slamming into his, deep and forest green.

‘You’re not at the hospital. You’re here,’ Aisha said, trying to wrap her head around the fact that Pasco stood outside her front door. Why wasn’t he with his best friends and their babies?

She tipped her head to the side. ‘Uh, why aren’t you at the hospital?’

‘After I landed, I popped in, met the twins, and then came straight here.’

‘Uh...okay. Why? Everyone you love is there.’

‘Except the person I love the most,’ he said, lifting one big shoulder. ‘It’s freezing out here—shall we go inside?’

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