Page 27 of Pillow Talk (Rally Romance #1)

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 me tonight?

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.

Sen had his life planned out. He’d probably even created a map of the route his life would take and Shona was pretty sure she didn’t feature.

It wasn’t self-pity because she knew she was good enough for Sen – or any other man – but she knew they were different and that she’d misinterpreted their relationship.

It was sex. No pillow talk. That’s what she wanted.

At least that’s what she thought she wanted.

Instead, she’d fallen for him again. Harder than when she was 15.

If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she’d never fallen out of love with him.

She’d admit that it was more than a teenage crush.

She genuinely loved Senthil Aiyer and she doubted that she was ever going to stop.

Enough moping, Shona, you need to get out of here.

She went to her bedroom and stood in front of her full-length mirror.

She was in jeans, a pink cotton shirt with embroidered flowers on the collar and the sleeves.

She slipped on the gold sandals that she’d finally found after having searched for weeks and said ‘to hell with it’ when she remembered that it was going to rain soon.

She pulled her hair into a messy bun and dabbed cherry gloss on her lips.

She found her handbag and quickly typed a message on her phone.

She waited impatiently for the reply and, when her phone eventually vibrated in her hand, she left the apartment.

Aruna was waiting for her at a small coffee shop around the corner. Come in Carmen was always busy, but Aruna had managed to find them a table near a window overlooking the town’s main street.

The coffee shop was nothing like those cosy ones in books or romantic movies.

It was more like a farm stall or even an old-fashioned general dealer’s store, with very little decor to suggest it was a coffee shop.

The walls were bare and the floor was covered in old vinyl tiles.

The tables were crammed together and didn’t even have tablecloths on them.

But this coffee shop served the best cakes and pies in town, so no one complained about its ambience – or lack of it.

The shop itself had a cute history. During its incarnation as a general store a long time ago, the owner’s son was madly in love with a young woman named Carmen.

She would walk by daily on her way to work at the newly built school.

He would wait at the entrance of the shop and every morning for about a year he would say, ‘Come in Carmen.’ She would blush and shake her head.

Everyone in town started calling the store Come in Carmen.

One day Carmen did go in. They married a couple of years later and now their grandchildren ran the ‘coffee shop’.

Aruna waved her sister over and Shona squeezed past chairs and tables to get to her. Surprisingly, she jumped up and hugged Shona tightly. Shona held on a little longer than a normal, casual hug. When she finally let go, they sat down.

‘Did Marcus send you the plan?’ It warmed Shona’s heart to see Aruna so excited about her shop. She smiled at her sister. She’d initially expected bitterness but Aruna was anything but bitter; instead she was excited and enthusiastic from the moment Shona had told her about it.

‘He did and it’s exactly what I want. I’ll forward you a picture of it later,’ she said.

The waitress came over and Shona ordered a slice of chocolate cake and coffee and Aruna opted for a strawberry smoothie.

‘We should do this more often,’ Aruna murmured.

Shona nodded.

‘So what’s going on? You were very quiet on the drive back from the city and Mom seemed to know that something was off,’ Aruna asked.

‘I think I’m in love with Senthil Aiyer,’ she replied without hesitation.

‘You think? Shona, you’ve been in love with Senthil Aiyer for most of your life.’

‘Oh God, do you think he knows? Have I been that obvious?’ Shona’s eyes were wide with panic.

‘Have you been that obvious? Both of you have been that obvious,’ Aruna replied.

‘You got that part all wrong. Sen is not in love with me. In lust, yes, but not in love.’

Her sister shook her head. ‘Both of you are fools.’

‘I’m serious, Aruna. I don’t know what to do. I’m completely heartbroken over Sen. I don’t know how to deal with this. What do I do?’

Aruna reached out and covered her hand on the table. ‘Why don’t you start by talking to him?’

‘It’s not that simple,’ Shona replied.

‘Why not?’

‘We’re in this no-strings-attached arrangement, so I don’t think I was meant to fall in love with him,’ Shona explained.

Aruna threw up her hands, wordlessly declaring Shona and Sen complete fools.

‘Let me get things straight: you and Sen have been sleeping together and pretending not to love each other?’

‘No. We agreed it would be just friends with benefits and then I saw him kissing some woman yesterday and I’m completely heartbroken.’

‘And you won’t talk to him about it?’

‘How can I? I changed the dynamics of our relationship, not him,’ Shona said.

Aruna shook her head in exasperation. ‘So you’re not going to talk to him about this? What are you going to do then? Be heartbroken for life? …Because every bride dreams of wearing a dress designed by a heartbroken designer. Get real Shona. You’re in the love business.’

‘I won’t be heartbroken at work,’ Shona said confidently.

Her sister sighed deeply. It was obvious she wasn’t getting through to Shona.

‘So what happens when Sen pops by…let’s say tonight, for some action? What are you going to do?’

‘I’m going to ghost him.’

Aruna groaned and shook her head again.

Shona looked away, a little ashamed that her baby sister was better at navigating romantic relationships than she was.

‘So you’re going to ghost Senthil Aiyer forever?’

Shona nodded.

Aruna threw her hands up in the air again.

‘And you don’t see anything wrong with that plan?’

‘Aruna, what could go wrong? If he approached me, I would just say I’d decided to end our arrangement.’

‘And Senthil will just accept that without wanting an explanation? Are we talking about the same Senthil? Because the one I know would call bullshit.’

‘Sen doesn’t like complications, Aruna. I’m complicated,’ Shona muttered.

‘But don’t you get it? You’re making it complicated. All of this could be solved with one conversation,’ Aruna urged.

‘I’ll stick to ghosting him. Now where’s my chocolate cake?’

Aruna sat back and looked at Shona, a gaze mixed with disbelief, frustration and sympathy.