Page 30 of The Ex Factor

“Why do you say that?”

“Did you hear a word I said this evening?”

“Every single one.” I smiled. “You are thirty-one. You have a lifetime ahead of you.”

“On that note, how old are you, Sujit?”

“Old.”

“Oh, come on, I don’t see any grays at the temples, so it's safe to say you are under fifty.” She shot me a teasing grin.

“Funny. You’re funny.”

“Are you ashamed of your age? I didn’t think men worried about their age. I thought that’s the burden women are made to carry.”

“I’m not ashamed. I’m thirty-six, will turn thirty-seven soon.”

“Oh! No wonder you feel old,” she teased. “Youareold!”

I smiled. Her tall body was sprawled out on the chair in comfort and delight, yet she looked the epitome of beauty and grace.

“Alright, I’m off now. I hope you get to bed too,” I said, offering her my hand. “Don’t stay up too late.”

She put her supple hand with the magnificently slender fingers in mine and pulled herself off the chair.

“Save the rest of this bottle for me,” I said as I gathered my coat.

“Of course. Who else am I going to offer a drink in my room?”

“Well, I’ve heard you’ve started dating again, so…” I teased with a grin.

She rolled her eyes as I stepped out the door.

“Good night, sweet girl,” I said.

“Good night,” she whispered and stayed at the door until I turned the corner toward the elevator bank.

SUJIT

“What are you smiling at?” Devi asked as she rushed into my office.

She could always tell from the look on my face when she could come in and when it wasn’t wise to bother me.

I hadn’t realized I was smiling. My mind had momentarily wandered off toward Aarti and the expression on her face when she thought I was about to spill the secrets of my love life. I cleared my throat.

Devi narrowed her eyes and tapped her pen on the planner in her hand. “You have been uncharacteristically upbeat the last few days.”

“And that’s bad because?” I asked, looking over the rim of my glasses.

“It’s not,” she emphasized. “Butwhyare you happy?” She cast me a suspicious look again.

I removed my glasses and placed them on the desk. “For months now, you all have hounded me to emerge out of mygloom and despair, your words. And now that you think I’ve found some illusory happiness, you’re skeptical about the reason?”

“Hmmm…” The tapping of her pen grew rapid and intense. “The question still remains. Whatisthe reason behind this happiness? And now that you broached the subject, I wonder if it’s someone new in your life.”

I frowned. I had given it away too easily. “Why, so you can go tell Cathy and Amma about it?”

“That’s always an option,” she said, teasing me with a pensive look, although I completely trusted her. She hadn’t divulged my relationship with Tara even though she’d visited me at the office long before I broke the news to my family.

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