Page 3 of Tiger's Voyage

“Can you move down a bit please?” I asked. “I’d like to have a go at those cheese Danishes before Kishan gets here.”

Ren snapped out of it. “Sure. Sorry.”

He set his plate on the table, and I took the seat across from him. He watched me as he slowly peeled the paper away from a muffin. My face burned slightly from his attention.

“Are you okay?” he began haltingly. “I heard you crying last night.”

“I’m fine.”

He grunted and started eating but kept his eyes on me. When he was half finished, he looked away.

“Are yousure? I’m sorry if I upset you … again. I just don’t remember—”

I stopped him right there by raising my hand. “How you feel is how you feel, Ren.”

“Still, I apologize for hurting your feelings,” he said softly.

I stabbed my melon with a fork. Despite my protestations and my attempt to be nonchalant, I was having a hard time following Mr. Kadam’s advice. My eyes felt hot.

“Which time? On my birthday when you said I’m not attractive or that you can’t stand being in the same room with me or when you said Nilima is beautiful or—”

“Okay, I get the point.”

“Good, because I’d like to drop it.”

After a moment, he elaborated, “By the way, I didn’t say you weren’t attractive. I just said you’re young.”

“So is Nilima byyourstandards. You’re more than three hundred years old!”

“That’s true.” He grinned lopsidedly in an attempt to get me to smile.

“Technically, you should be dating a very old lady.” A tiny smile passed my lips.

He grimaced. “I also want you to know that you’re perfectly easy to be around and very likeable. I’ve never had this reaction to anyone before. I get along with almost everyone. There’s no legitimate reason why I should feel the need to escape when you walk into a room.”

“Other than the pressure to remember, you mean?”

“It’s not the pressure. It’s something … else. But I’ve decided to ignore it.”

“Can you do that?”

“Sure. The longer I stay near you the more intense the response. It’s not talking with you that’s hard; it’s just being in close proximity. We should try talking on the phone and see if that makes a difference. I’ll just work on building up immunity.”

“I see. So your goal is to build up a tolerance for me.” I sighed. “Okay.”

“I’ll keep trying, Kelsey.”

“Don’t strain yourselftoomuch, because it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve decided to just be friends with you.”

He leaned forward and said conspiratorially, “But aren’t you still, you know, in love with me?”

I leaned forward too. “I don’t want to talk about that anymore.”

Ren folded his arms across his chest. “Why not?”

“Because Lois Lane never suffocated Superman.”

“What are you talking about?”