Page 30 of Pillow Talk (Rally Romance #1)

‘One of my clients is looking to fund a social responsibility project. He’s interested in workshops for young people but wants them to be engaging rather than just talk sessions.

I asked Kaavi if she could run a few makeup workshops for the girls, and I plan to involve Sam for a sports workshop with the boys.

I was hoping you could help me arrange and coordinate everything,’ Anni said.

‘You’re not here to talk about Sen?’

‘Why would we be here to talk about Sen? Is there something you want to tell us?’

She knew it! Anni wasn’t only there about the workshops. It was a trap.

‘You’re just going to pretend to forget what happened at Sam’s birthday party?’

Kaavi held up her hand. ‘I wasn’t there so I have nothing to pretend about.’

Shona turned away for a moment and looked out the window. Before Anni could talk, she decided to get it over and done with.

‘Listen Anni, I didn’t want to hide it from you but it just seemed easier,’ she said.

‘You didn’t do a good job of hiding it. I figured it out ages ago. You really think I wanted Sen to end up with Natasha? I’d hoped that would make you two come to your senses, but I can’t get through to either of you,’ Anni said.

Shona opened her mouth to say something but closed it again.

‘Sen’s pretty stupid too at times,’ his cousin added.

‘So you slept with Sen. Fifteen-year-old Shona would be pretty chuffed,’ said Anni. She was beyond treading on eggshells. ‘How was it?’

Kaavi covered her ears.

‘Yuck. I don’t want to hear this.’

Shona chuckled as she reached over and pulled both Kaavi’s hands away from her ears.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to spill the beans. But let me put the kettle on for some tea and we can discuss the workshops,’ Shona said.

‘We can talk about the workshops later. I want to know if you’re going to take Sen back?’ Anni asked.

‘I thought you said you didn’t come here to talk about Sen!’

Anni kicked off her low heels. ‘I won’t leave until you tell me everything.’

‘But not the part about sleeping with my cousin, please,’ Kaavi added.

Shona sighed.

‘Sen broke up with me. He wanted out. Not me. There’s not much I can do,’ she said.

Anni and Kaavi exchanged sympathetic looks and then pulled Shona into a group hug.

Long after they were gone, Shona was relieved that the two hadn’t pushed too much about Sen.

They eventually spoke about the workshops and Kaavi wanted to know all about her shop.

Occasionally she caught Anni looking at her through sympathetic eyes, but her friend held herself back from quizzing her because Anni knew her too well: Shona was stubborn… and complicated.

Sen missed Shona. He couldn’t focus on work. He just needed to get his head right, but his heart kept going back to her. Complicated Shona Shah was not a no-strings-attached arrangement. She wasn’t someone you walked away from… So much for self-preservation!

Sen was trying to concentrate on an email when Sam strolled into his office.

‘So this is what stupidity looks like,’ he said, taking a seat on the chair in front of Sen’s desk.

‘Shouldn’t you be out having lunch with your friend the pharmacist?’ Sen shot back.

Sam chuckled.

‘Nope. This is more fun,’ he replied.

Sen ignored him and opened another email.

‘Did you really think you could have a casual relationship with Shona?’

Sen continued to ignore him.

‘You spent all those summers with two girls but when you got back to school, you only spoke about one. The same girl who’s been in your heart for years, but you’re too stubborn to acknowledge it,’ Sam continued.

‘Marriage has made you soppy.’

Ignoring the jibe, Sam continued, ‘When Anni told me that she suspected you and Shona were secretly seeing each other, I said no way. Because the Sen I know makes plans and is sensible. But then I remembered how I was when I met Anni.’

Sen moved away from his computer and looked at his friend.

‘If you were me, what would you do?’

‘Is this your roundabout way of asking me for advice?’

Sen grunted.

Sam sat back.

‘I would start by admitting to myself that I’m in love with her and then admit it to her,’ he said.

‘If it was that easy, don’t you think I would have done it already?’

Sam shook his head and leaned forward, looking Sen straight in the eye.

‘Sen, you always say Shona is complicated but both of you are. You’ve been in a relationship with her for almost 10 months.

You two were so fixated on calling it casual that you didn’t notice it was a real relationship.

You both complicated everything. You can’t walk away at the first sign of trouble, and you certainly can’t follow rules in love. ’

Sen didn’t respond.

‘Sen, you’re my best friend. And as your best friend, I’m telling you to get real. Shona has always been the one. Do something. You can’t sit back waiting for the miserable feeling after a breakup to go away, because buddy, in this case it’ll never go away,’ Sam said seriously.

It was Drake’s first day as the manager of Shahs. Yes, Shahs. Shona’s dad was in the process of renaming the store. Finally, he’d declared that he had daughters – daughters whom he loved and respected, which meant there was no need for ‘sons’ on his signboard.

Shona’s parents had driven in to Durban that morning for lunch and a tour of the landmarks. Her dad had joked that they would pass her shop as it was the most important landmark of all.

Shona’s family life had improved immeasurably. She was no longer shackled to the shop and her business was booming. But she still felt empty.

She missed Sen. She didn’t realise just how much she wanted to be with him until he was gone. He said they would hurt each other if he stayed. But they’d already hurt each other. And Shona didn’t know how to pull herself out of it.

At around midday, she shut the door to her workroom and decided to call it a day. She just couldn’t focus on the task at hand. She was about to start making lunch when her doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting any visitors and she wasn’t up for company, but she put on a smile to answer the door.

‘Sen!’

‘Put on your shoes,’ he said.

She raised an eyebrow.

‘Please put on your shoes. I want to show you something,’ he added.

‘Okay,’ was all that she could say.

She put on her shoes, grabbed her handbag and shut her door. She followed him to his car and when he opened her door, their eyes met. Sen had a five o’clock shadow and he looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. He nodded and she got in.

They didn’t speak in the car. She didn’t ask where they were going.

The route began to look familiar – she’d walked it a hundred times with Sen. The lake. He parked the car in the small, makeshift parking lot, and held out his hand for her when they got out of the car.

She looked at it for a moment and then took it. They walked without saying a word until they were under the shade of a tall tree with vibrant green leaves.

Shona let go of his hand and looked around. She knew exactly where they were. The scrawny tree that they’d wished on every summer was now this majestic beauty.

A memory popped up: she was 15 and standing next to the once-scrawny tree.

‘This is lame. We’re old enough to know that The Wishing Tree isn’t real,’ she’d whined.

But Anni had pulled her closer, insisting, ‘When has it ever let us down? You want Sen, right? Make your wish.’

Shona had shaken her head.

‘Seize the day, Shona. I read that in a diary MrsWilton gave me last year. Do it. Seize the day. Come on, Shona. You can’t be shy. All I ever hear you talk about is Sen. Just tell the tree what you tell me,’ Anni had urged.

‘Fine. Just give me a moment.’

Shona had taken a deep breath and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans.

‘Wishing Tree, I wish for Senthil Aiyer to love me as much as I love him.’

When she’d looked around, Anni was jumping up and down, clapping and cheering Shona.

‘Do you remember the fortune cookies?’ Sen interrupted Shona’s thoughts, bringing her sharply back to the present.

She turned to look at him and merely nodded, still reeling from the memory and how it had inserted itself into the reality of standing beside him now, so many years later, at the foot of the very same tree.

‘Mine said “do it scared”. I didn’t know what it meant at the time but now I do. Because I stand here terrified. I’m scared, Shona. But I have to do this…I want to do this,’ he said with more certainty.

‘I don’t understand,’ she said quietly.

He took a step closer and turned to look up at the tree.

‘I’m here to make a wish at The Wishing Tree,’ he declared.

Shona looked up too.

‘Wishing Tree, I wish Shona Shah would love me as much as I love her,’ he said.

Shona gasped.

He turned to her.

‘Shona, I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you for a while now and I don’t want a casual arrangement. I want it all…with you… because I love you,’ he said.

Shona’s eyes misted up. At that exact moment she realised she’d been waiting to hear those words from Sen for years.

‘Shona?’

‘The Wishing Tree always grants wishes. You know that. Of course your wish will be granted. I love you too,’ she said, beaming.

He pulled her towards him.

‘Kiss me like you mean it,’ he said.

But she pressed her finger to his lips.

‘Sen, I’ve always kissed you like I meant it…like I love you. Because I’ve loved you…for the longest time.’

He gently took her hand and didn’t let it go.

‘I should feel foolish, maybe even angry that we wasted so much time pretending we didn’t feel this. But honestly? I think it all happened the way it was meant to – in its own time. And I’m okay with that. We can’t control everything.’

The corners of her mouth turned up in a subtle smile.

‘Is this the same guy who wanted to start a map club? Where’s Sen and what have you done with him?’

‘I don’t mind being without a map on any journey with you.’

She tugged her hand free and gave him a playful punch.

‘So cheesy.’