Vegas to Varanasi (Fortytude Series Book 1) (19 page)

“What are you gonna do when you kill someone’s family because you were driving like this? Huh? It’s a big deal, David!”

“Where did you say Carly is?”

Kiran comes back down the hallway. Meeting him, I am so close to having a meltdown. “I’m going to text the kids and tell them to stay with their dad tonight. Then I’m gonna set up the sofa for him in the office.”

He pulls me toward him and kisses the top of my head. “Okay.”

While I linger hidden in the hallway, sending my text, I overhear them talking. “I really need to talk to Carly. See, I’m like a second dad to her, and she’s the only one in this family who gives a rat’s ass about me anyway.”

“That’s not true.” Kiran’s voice is calm. “Anna’s very worried about you. And from everything I’ve heard and seen, she has reason to be, my friend.”

“She talks about me?”

“Of course. Hand me your cup and I’ll warm that up.”

I swallow hard and pull some blankets from the linen closet.

Just as I finish laying out the bedding and a pillow for David, Kiran stands in the doorway of the office. “He’s passed out.”

I hurry into his arms and hug him, burying my face in his chest. “Thank you for being so nice to him. That was really above and beyond.”

He wraps his arms around my shoulders and rests his face on top of my head. “Let’s put him to bed so we can go to sleep.”

We head back to the living room where David is asleep on the couch. “Should we just let him stay there?” I ask.

“Who knows when he’ll come to? I’m sure he won’t want to wake up to everyone staring at him.” He drapes David’s arm around him and hoists him from the sofa. “And what if your kids come home?”

I move to the other side of David and help drag him back to the office. Luckily, he wakes long enough to stumble along with us, so that he’s not dead weight. Kiran pulls him onto the couch, then I take off his shoes and cover him up.

After I change my clothes, we climb into bed, and I tuck myself inside Kiran’s arm. Nothing like the ex showing up, doing Fat Bastard impressions to kill the mood. I lay as close to him as possible while he skims my shoulder with his fingertips.

Quietly, I rub the tears from my eyes. Kiran pulls away and lifts my chin, looking into my face. “I’m sure he’s going to be okay, Anna.”

I roll over and Kiran curls up against me. His hand slides up my tank top, cupping my breast as he nuzzles into me, leaving a kiss on my shoulder. Oh, to stay here, just like this. Complete and utter bliss, aside from the train wreck in the other room.

“Where did you come from?” I whisper.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“Nothing.”

***

I wake at three in the morning to light tapping on the bedroom door. I pull on my shorts, and when I open it, David is leaning against the wall in the hallway, avoiding my eyes. “Can I please have my keys?”

“Sure.” I retrieve them from the dresser and walk back to the doorway. He holds out his hand, but I won’t hand them over yet. “David, let me find a therapist for you, an AA group, something. I’ll even take you myself.”

He meets my gaze. “You would do that?”

When all this started, I wouldn’t have, but he is seriously messed up. “Yeah, I would.”

He shakes his head. “You don’t have to. It means a lot that you offered. This was bad, Anna. Really bad. I’m gonna get some help.”

“Really?”

He nods. “I’m sorry. Can I have my keys now?”

I pull him into a hug, but his arms remain hanging at his sides. Taking his hand, I place his keys in it. “Text me when you get home, okay?”

He gives me a swift kiss on the cheek. “Tell Kiran I’m sorry.”

Thirty-One

The next morning, Kiran and I finish what we started the night before. Though the sex is thoroughly pleasurable, a distinct shadow looms over us. I can’t help but wonder what Kiran is feeling about everything that happened last night. Just as I had feared, picking up where we left off in India would be no walk in the park.

Afterward, we lie in bed, quiet, trying to act like everything is normal, and exchange obliging smiles. It’s a Saturday, and we haven’t really discussed plans, except for joining his parents for dinner tonight. “I suppose I should go. You probably have things to do today.”

I take his hand. “I don’t want you to go anywhere until we talk about the elephant in the room. I need to know what you’re thinking.”

Running a hand through his hair, he sighs. “I’m not sure there’s really anything to say about it, Anna. He’s still your friend, and he needs your help.”

But why does the help have to come from
me?

I sit up and touch his leg. “Is that how you really feel?” I ask gently. “Or are you just saying that because you think that’s how you
should
feel, or what I want to hear?”

He swipes his hands over his face, then lays an arm across his eyes. “I don’t know.”

I pull his arm away. “If you don’t know, then that’s not how you really feel, and that’s okay. You were amazing last night. I don’t know anyone who would have handled the situation as well as you did.”

He rolls onto his side and leans on an elbow. “I don’t want to put demands on you. You’re in a difficult spot. I can’t ask you to have nothing to do with him, when clearly, he’s in trouble. You can’t slam the door in his face when he feels like you’re the only family he’s got.”

Bloody hell! Is he for real?
I shake my head with a slight smile.

“What?”

“I just can’t believe this. How did you get this way?”

“What way?” He narrows his eyes. “You would do the same. I know you. Are you going to tell me if it was the other way around, you would forbid me contact with someone I shared five years with, who was self-destructing before my eyes?”

“Well, no, of course not. But I wouldn’t like it.”

“I
don’t
like it, Anna!” he says with a controlled laugh. “I hate it!” His face contorts into a grimace. “What am I supposed to do? Say it’s him or me, and then the guy drinks himself into a coma, or worse, kills someone behind the wheel, leaving you feeling like there was something you could have done?”

I take a deep breath and close my eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“No.” I shake my head. “There’s
nothing
for you to be sorry about!”

He sits up and touches my face, his voice softening. “You told me you don’t love him. That you love
me
. If you’re telling me the truth, that’s going to have to be enough for now.”

“And what about later? What if he just keeps pushing his way in? When am I allowed to say it’s enough?”

He presses his forehead to mine, his hand on the back of my neck. “You said he’s going to get help. Let’s hope he does.”

I push his hair back and look into his eyes. This guy is the real deal, and I’m scared to death David is going to screw things up for me by not getting the help he needs. “I love you,” I say.

Kiran takes my hand and kisses it. “I love you, too.”

I lie back down, flat on the bed, and he leans over me. “Who is Fat Bastard?”

Smiling, I’m taken off guard by his change in topic. “You’ve never seen
Austin Powers
?”

“Should I have?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you shouldn’t. We’re back to the crude humor again, which I don’t really see you appreciating in a movie.” I run my fingers over his chest. “You’re far too dignified.”

“Really?” His tone implies I shouldn’t be so sure about that. “I know Austin Powers, of course, but who is Fat Bastard?”

“He’s one of the characters Mike Myers plays. He’s this grotesquely fat Scottish guy. That’s why David was talking in that stupid accent.” Before I finish the last sentence, Kiran lowers his eyes for a split second.

Aww, crap!
I said grotesquely fat!

“I’m sorry! That was so insensitive of me. I didn’t mean to sound like just because someone’s overweight, they’re grotesque. It’s just, if you saw Fat Bastard, that’s the way
he
was, always farting and talking about his bowel movements, doing all these disgusting things.”
Shut u-u-u-u-u-p, you shithead!

I stop myself and cover my eyes in embarrassment.

Kiran says nothing, and when I open my eyes, he’s smirking at me.

“Why are you smiling?” I frown.

“Because you
make
me smile.”

I release a short, relieved breath. “Does it offend you, when people make jokes? Is it hurtful?”

He becomes pensive. “The jokes themselves aren’t hurtful. People joke about the most inappropriate things. That game was a perfect example, and you can’t take anything like that personally.” His features are expressionless, his voice low. “It’s just that any kind of fat reference takes me back to a miserable life.”

My heart aches for him. “After so many years, how did you finally find a way to do it? To lose the weight?”

He looks away and hesitates a long while, as if considering his words.

“We don’t have to talk about this,” I say.

Turning back toward me, his eyes reflect painful memories. “It was Christine.”

I don’t know what he means by that. Did he do it in hopes of getting her back? Or was it an attempt to prevent anyone from damaging him like that again?

I nod.

If he wanted to tell me, he would.

***

Later that morning, after Kiran leaves, I immediately start combing the Internet for highly rated therapists and AA groups in the area. I don’t intend to let David’s willingness to get help grow cold. The time is now. Actually, the time has long since passed.

After a couple of hours, I’ve located a few names and numbers, and send them in an e-mail to David. I’ve also managed to hunt down the name and e-mail address of his agent.

I contemplate whether or not I want to take things this far by contacting his agent. It might be overstepping, but if he was here the night when David came to see Carly, surely he knows David needs some help. I have no idea what his relationship with this Trevor guy is, so I’m not sure it’s the best plan. I could try reaching out to his mother, but that might upset David more than speaking with his agent, especially since she’s still grieving over his father.

I rest my forehead in my palms. I don’t know what to do.

Picking up the phone, I dial Luke.

“I’ve been waiting to hear from you,” he says. “What the hell happened last night? The kids said David showed after everyone left.”

“They haven’t been waiting on me, have they?”

“Nah, they didn’t come in ’til late. They’re not even up yet. What happened?”

I groan. “It was bad.”

“He and Kiran didn’t get into it, did they?”

“No, no, it wasn’t like that.” I relay every last detail of the story to him.

“My God... I can’t believe he did that.” He pauses, then I hear him chuckle softly on the other end of the line.

“Why are you laughing? It’s not funny!”

“No, you’re right.” He sobers. “It’s not funny at all, but I can’t stop picturing him rubbing Kiran’s stomach while doing a Fat Bastard impression.”

After a couple of seconds, I laugh, too, despite myself.

“C’mon, Anna. You have to laugh a little at these things, or you’ll just go nuts.”

I sigh heavily. “I guess so.” After shutting down my laptop, I head for my room and lie on my side in the spot where Kiran slept. I can still smell his lingering cologne.

“I need your advice,” I say. “I’m thinking about contacting David’s agent, give him a heads up so maybe he can keep an eye on him. Do you think it’s a bad idea?”

“Ah, man. That’s a hard call. You don’t wanna do anything that might throw a wrench into his career. Maybe you should just sit on it for a while.”

“I know, but if no one is following up on him, he’s not gonna do anything.”

“He’s not your responsibility! You sent him the info, now he has to make a move. You can’t make him if he doesn’t want to, no matter what you say.”

I close my eyes. I know he’s not my responsibility, but why can’t I shake the feeling that he is? “You’re right. Thanks.”

“Anytime, sweetheart.”

Thirty-Two

The following week, Carly invites Kiran and me to one of Jason’s symphony performances at Artemis Ham Hall, so we can meet him following the show.

I sit between Kiran and Carly, and after the curtain rises, she points him out to me in a hushed voice. We’re not way up in the balcony, but somewhere in the middle rows of the main floor. I’ve never had to wear contacts or glasses, but my vision isn’t what it used to be, and I know I’ll have to give in soon. All I can really tell is that he has dark hair. I just smile at her and nod.

As a rule, I’ve never been a huge fan of symphony music, however, when it’s live, I have a much greater appreciation. I particularly enjoy this concert because it consists of musical scores from the cinema, many from my favorite movies.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pirates of the Caribbean,
and
Harry Potter
, just to name a few.

During intermission, Carly and I use the restroom while Kiran visits the bar in the lobby to buy each of us a drink.

“How do you like it so far?” Carly asks as we emerge from the restroom into the lobby.

“It’s great! Much better than I was expecting.”

I spot Kiran near the bar, no drinks yet, speaking to someone. Her back is toward us, but I can see his face plain as day, and he is visibly shaken.

“What’s the matter?” Carly asks when I stop in my tracks. “Kiran’s right there.”

His eyes meet mine from across the room, and he looks pale. I’ve never seen Kiran look pale.

“Mom...”

I’m not sure if he wants us to come over, so I wait. A second later, he lifts his chin, indicating for us to join them. The woman turns around to look at us, and I link my arm in Carly’s as we approach. I have no idea what’s going on, but Kiran’s behavior has me jittery.

The woman smiles, and she is lovely. Huge, expressive, brown eyes, full lips. She’s a little bit heavy, but very curvy, so she wears it well. Her short, dark hair falls in loose curls around her face.

Kiran immediately takes my hand. “Anna... this is Christine.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Christine.” For some reason, it doesn’t occur to me that she’s
the
Christine. Then something about the tension of the moment clues me in, my eyes flit to Kiran, and like a dumb ass, I add, “Oh,
Christine!
... I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Oy.

She lowers her eyes and swallows, while Carly looks utterly lost.

“And this is her daughter, Carly,” Kiran continues.

“Nice to meet you both,” Christine says. “Well, I guess I should probably get back to my sister.” She looks at Kiran, her head down slightly, and lightly touches his arm. “It was good to see you, Kiran. Take care.”

He meets her eyes for a brief moment and nods.

The lights in the lobby go down, indicating intermission is almost over, and we head back to our seats.

Once the performance resumes, I don’t bother asking Kiran if he’s okay. It’s not like we can talk about it now anyway, so I just look at him and hold his hand, squeezing it. He gives me a small smile.

After the concert concludes, we wait in the lobby for Jason. Carly grins at me nervously, and it’s cute to see her so excited about a guy. Kiran, on the other hand, looks as if he can’t get out of here fast enough. I’m pretty sure he’s keeping his head down, in hopes of not seeing Christine a second time.

“Can I get you something at the bar?” I ask. “Since we didn’t get anything at intermission?” Maybe a drink will calm his nerves.

“No, I’m fine. Unless you want something?”

“I’m good.”

Finally, Jason comes out wearing his street clothes, and Carly rushes to meet him, then purposely slows, as if she doesn’t want to appear too eager. He’s very tall and thin, possibly a foot taller than Carly, with dark, moppy hair. She would kill me for saying so, but he could easily be a member of One Direction. He bends down to kiss her cheek, and she absolutely glows as she grabs his arm and leads him over.

“Jason, this is my mom, Anna, and her boyfriend, Kiran.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” he says, shaking our hands.

“The show was wonderful,” I say. “We really enjoyed it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” He drapes his arm around Carly. “Carly and I were gonna grab a bite. Do you wanna join us?”

I look to Carly to see if she wants us butting in on her date, and she raises her eyebrows expectantly. Then I turn to Kiran. “Do you feel up to joining them?”

“Of course!” He frowns, as if he’s not sure why I would think otherwise.

“Okay,” Jason says. “Meet us at the Hard Rock then?”

***

On the car drive over, Kiran is quiet and he turns up the music on the stereo. I take this as a sign that he doesn’t want to talk about running into her.

“How did you like the concert?” I ask.

“I loved it,” he says enthusiastically. “What about you?”

“It was great. Loved all the movie music.”

“They didn’t happen to play the
Austin Powers
theme, did they?” he jokes.

I give him a closed-mouth grin and shake my head. “No.”

“Carly seems to really like her new guy.”

“
Yeah
, she does.”

He begins fixating on the stereo, obsessively changing the stations before we can even hear what’s on them. Turning the volume down, I ask gently, “Are you okay?”

He throws a quick glance my way. “I’m fine.”

“So... did everything go okay with Christine tonight?”

“It was fine.”

I look out the window, and he covers my hand with his. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay? Let’s just enjoy dinner.”

Conflicted, I’m not going to force him into a conversation he wants no part of, but I don’t want him thinking I’d easily disregard the event like it was nothing. “Sure.”

I haven’t been to the Hard Rock Café in years and had forgotten how noisy it is, making it necessary to raise our voices at dinner. Knowing that Jason is a senior, I’m curious to learn what his plans are after graduation, but I’m going to make an effort not to be the stereotypical mom of the girlfriend.

“How long have you been playing the violin?” I ask.

“Since I was six.”

“Wow, that’s some dedication!” I pluck a potato skin from the appetizer plate we ordered. “I suppose most musicians start pretty early. You’ll have to treat us to a solo sometime.”

“Sure!”

Carly eyes him with affection. “He’s very talented. I never really cared about the violin, but the first time he played for me...” She turns to Kiran and me. “I was impressed.”

Kiran and I exchange smirks.

“How did you guys meet?” Kiran asks.

“Oh, it was in the student union,” Jason says shyly. “Took one look at those blue eyes, and I was done for.”

This guy is good. The two of them gaze at each other all moony-eyed, and I am not at all used to this. I have never seen Carly act so, I don’t know,
girly
. She’s got it bad.

“Carly told me you guys recently went to India. That must have been amazing.”

“It was.” I put my hand on the inside of Kiran’s upper thigh. “In fact, I kinda wish we were still there.”

He grins to himself, and then at me, before draping his arm around my chair.

Good
. I at least got a genuine smile out of him.

And tonight I intend to remove all thoughts of Christine.