Page 9 of Right Where I Belong

“But I still want to say it,” she said.

“MOM…” he warned, eyes narrowing.

“I told you so,” she said, coolly sipping her tea.

“And so did we,” a cool voice said from behind him.

Aditya turned and looked into the faces of his closest friends, Rithwik Bali, Keya Sehgal, and Raashi Sehgal, all of them looking mighty pleased with themselves. The fools. Their smirks and knowing smiles spoiled his already shitty mood.

“We told him, didn’t we?” Rithwik asked the girls as he dropped into the chair opposite Aditya.

“Of course, we did!” Raashi snatched the toast from Aditya’s hand and took a big bite before taking a seat beside him.

“Not that he ever listens to us,” Keya added, taking a seat as well.

Aditya glared at his mom. “Why did you invite them?”

She laughed. “Taking your case all alone is no fun. It’s better with them around.”

Irritation washed over him. “Sure, have fun at my expense all of you.”

Rithwik splayed a hand. “What can we say?”

“We told you so!” all of them chimed in unison.

Aditya groaned, while everyone around him laughed. His friends had been frequent visitors to his house since their college days. His mom knew them well and was fond of them, as theywere of her. Although now that they were all married, their visits had become less frequent.

Raashi stole another piece of his toast.

Aditya glared at her and signaled to the staff. “Get her breakfast, please, before she finishes mine.”

Once all of his friends had food and beverages in front of them, Aditya said, “News travels really fast in our circles, it seems.”

Rithwik looked at him. “Going to her engagement party was the height of stupidity. I believed Kanika created a grand display for you. Thanks to you, the event is going to be spoken of for days, again, exactly as she intended.”

For this news and this particular information to be passed so quickly meant only one thing.

Aditya frowned. “Who told you this? Sabrina?”

“Sabrina?” Rithwik leaned forward. “Sabrina was there?”

“Who is Sabrina?” his mom asked.

“She’s Aisha’s sister in-law, her brother’s widow,” Aditya explained, feeling a tinge of relief that she hadn’t gossiped about him. Not that it ought to have mattered in any case.

“I don’t know her,” his mother said.

“She runs a catering business,” Keya said. “And she’s a bloody good chef as well.”

Aditya nodded. “She was catering Kanika’s event last night.”

“That makes sense,” Rithwik said. “But she didn’t tell me.”

“There were enough people in attendance there anyway,” Raashi added. “I got the gossip last night itself. You know how Mumbai society works. An acquaintance of mine was in attendance, and she knows you’re my friend. She saw the drama and texted me late at night. I told Keya and Rithwik.”

“Of course, you did,” Aditya muttered. Gossip never stayed with one person in their circle.

“And I found out this morning,” his mother said. “Kanika’s new mother-in-law is in my kitty group. She’d invited me to the party last night. However, unlike you, I was smart enough not to go.”