Page 20 of Pillow Talk (Rally Romance #1)

S hona beamed as she closed her door. Esha couldn’t get over her altered veil. She thanked Shona far too many times.

Now that the veil was out of her hands, Shona had to deal with the complications in her life.

She dialled Aruna’s cell number. It just rang. She had to speak to her sister. She couldn’t ignore the situation any longer, so she sent a text inviting Aruna for lunch at her apartment during her break. She didn’t receive a reply.

A few hours later, she was ordering fabric online when her doorbell rang. She adjusted her summer T-shirt dress and opened the door.

Aruna stood there looking at her feet.

Shona murmured a greeting.

Her sister nodded.

‘Come in … please.’

‘You said you wanted to see me,’ mumbled Aruna as she entered.

‘Yes, I did. Let me make us some lunch and we can talk,’ Shona replied.

‘No thanks. I’ve already eaten.’

Shona nodded, not knowing how to approach this. After a moment’s hesitation, she stepped forward and said, ‘Let’s sit down and talk.’

Her sister complied. Aruna was so graceful, so beautiful and so aloof.

‘I want to apologise. Last time I saw you, I said some things that may have been harsh. I shouldn’t have,’ Shona said.

Aruna looked up. The surprise on her face made Shona sad. Did her sister really think she was incapable of love, care and apologising?

She continued, ‘I’m sorry, Aruna. I just couldn’t take the shop. And now I see that I boxed myself in there.’

Aruna didn’t say anything.

‘I took out my frustration on you,’ Shona acknowledged.

Aruna shifted in her seat.

‘I’m sorry too. I should have respected your decision to leave,’ she said after a brief hesitation.

‘Can I ask you a question, Aru?’

Her sister nodded.

‘Why did you stop dancing?’

Aruna looked away. Shona regretted asking her; it was clear it was a sore point. Her sister wiped a tear away before turning back to Shona.

‘I didn’t have a choice,’ she said.

Shona was taken aback. Of course she had a choice. Her parents never complained about her dance schedule or even the expensive traditional outfits she had to have.

Aruna sighed. ‘Does it matter now, Shona?’

The sadness on her sister’s face showed that it still mattered.

‘I know you don’t want to talk about it. But Aru, over the last few months, I’ve come to realise that talking can help one heal,’ she encouraged.

Aruna’s shoulders dropped.

‘Dance classes were held in the community centre. You remember? You picked me up a few times when I was younger,’ she said.

Shona nodded.

‘On Thursdays, karate lessons were held in a smaller room in the centre. Dance and karate finished at the same time, so we were bound to bump into the people from the karate class. I made a friend. Zayn. He was also 15. He wasn’t in my school.

We hit it off,’ said Aruna, her tone flat and matter-of-fact.

Shona leaned forward. ‘You left because of a boy?’

Aruna shook her head.

‘No. I left because of our grandmother. She claimed that a friend saw us standing outside the community centre and we looked cosy. She convinced Dad to forbid me to go back to dance classes,’ Aruna explained.

Shona stood up and started to pace. The fury pulsing through her veins was making her ears and neck hot.

‘Dancing was your dream. How dare she? Why did Dad listen to her? What about Mom? I spent most of my summers with Sen. Why was I allowed to be with a boy and you couldn’t even talk to one in public?’

‘Shona, Senthil’s grandfather was and still is the shop’s biggest customer. She probably thought your friendship with Sen was bringing in business,’ her sister replied.

Shona stopped pacing. ‘Aru, do you enjoy working in the shop? Do you want to be there?’

Her sister took a few seconds to reply.

‘Shona, I don’t think anyone enjoys working in that shop.’

‘Dad does,’ she countered.

Aruna began to laugh. Genuinely laugh. When she could catch her breath, she shook her head at the sight of Shona’s serious expression.

‘Shona, Dad hates the shop. Are you blind? You’re dumber than I thought you were.’

‘Hey!’

‘I’m serious, Sho. Dad hates the shop. Sit back and think carefully about it,’ her sister replied.

‘Why does he hate it?’

Aruna stood up.

‘You’ll have to ask him that. I’d better be going,’ she said.

Shona stood dumbstruck.

Her sister turned to her.

‘I want to thank you, Shona. If you hadn’t taken the leap, I also wouldn’t have,’ she said.

‘Huh?’

‘I’m leaving the shop too. Remember that boy, Zayn? From karate? We’ve been dating for a few years and he wants us get to married… and I want to marry him too. He has a job out of town; I’ll be moving with him,’ she said.

Shona was lost for words.

‘I managed to take my dance exam after Grandma died. I started a website where I give out advice and tips to aspiring dancers. The revenue from advertising is even enough for me to move out on my own. But I love Zayn and he loves me. And I want to be his wife,’ she said simply.

Shona reached out and hugged her sister. They were both in tears.

Aruna patted Shona’s back and pulled away.

‘Shona, we were dealt a bad hand with an evil grandmother. Many won’t understand it. But we know what she was like. She was not a nice person and I refuse to respect or acknowledge her. But she’s gone and now there’s no excuse for us not to follow our dreams or love who we want to.’

Long after Aruna had left, Shona was recalling moments from the shop. Dad never smiled. He seemed grumpy. He looked older than he was and his shoulders sagged. His despondency was obvious.

Somehow, she’d missed the signs.

When Sam called Sen to invite him for supper and drinks, he immediately accepted, but then Sam said Anni was bringing a friend, who she thought would hit it off with him.

It was a set-up and Sen couldn’t back out.

He didn’t want to go because, as far as he was concerned, he was in an exclusive arrangement with Shona.

But he couldn’t exactly tell Sam that. Sam made it worse by telling him that Anni had invited Shona too, so her new friend wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

But the friend was aware that the meeting was to really introduce her to Sen.

Did he ask for this? No. But Anni, like many people who were part of a couple, believed everyone else wanted to be in a relationship, so she decided it was time for Sen to be paired off. At least that’s what Sam told him.

He’d tried to call Shona several times since Sam’s call, but her phone went straight to voicemail.

He knew she had back-to-back meetings with Felicity, but he really needed to talk to her so he knew their game plan.

But by the time he arrived at Thirsty’s Pub, he still hadn’t spoken to her and was going in with no plan.

He hated that. Thirsty’s was thankfully not like Scotty’s; it was a restaurant disguised as a pub.

From the outside, it looked every bit the scruffy, cosy watering hole: faded signage; dark wood panels; dim, golden lights spilling through dusty windows. Inside, there was the low hum of conversation, worn leather booths and a bar that stretched along the far wall, cluttered with taps and glasses.

But if you looked a little closer, you’d see that Thirsty’s was just pretending to be a pub.

The bartenders paired craft cocktails with meals and there was even a sommelier on hand.

Far from being greasy pub fare, the menu comprised small dishes that deserved to be served in a five-star restaurant.

For all its advantages, it was the worst place to be on a date with someone you had no interest in.

A normal pub would be rowdy, so Sen could at least ignore his date.

Here, with the soft music and almost romantic ambience, he would be forced to interact.

He pulled off his tie but kept his suit jacket on.

He took a deep breath, entered and caught sight of Sam, Anni, the woman he presumed was his date – and Shona. Let the shit show begin.

Shona’s face hurt because she was trying to appear expressionless.

She couldn’t let her eyes betray her either, so she avoided eye contact.

What had started as a blissful day with easy clients and more business had become a nightmare.

Maybe she was exaggerating, but sitting opposite your friend with benefits while he was on a date was not fun at all!

Anni’s voice filtered through her thoughts just as her friend was saying, ‘…so when Natasha told me that she was a lawyer to content creators, I just knew I had to introduce her to you, Sen.’

Shona sipped her Cosmopolitan and signalled for the waiter to come over. She whispered that she wanted anything with tequila in it and sat back, ready to drink the night away.