Page 32 of The Ex Factor

With a scoff, she threw me anas ifexpression and began escorting me toward her sculptures. “Any other names you’ve butchered since mine?”

“One. Devi’s daughter, Katyayani. That’s too long and inefficient. I call her Kitty. She loves it.”

“Let me guess, Devi hates it and hates you for it.”

“Bingo.”

“I forget why you chose that silly name for me.”

“We didn’t, Bella, you did. Ask Srijan,” I said about my brother. “You bugged us for a whole summer to call you Bella.”

“Of course I did. I was nine!”

“We still love you the same, baby sister.” I gave her a side hug as she pointed at a geometric sculpture of some kind.

I walked around and attempted to study it, but I didn’t have an eye for these things. “I have no idea what it is, but I’m buying it,” I declared.

Padma smiled. “No, you don’t buy something that doesn’t speak to you,” she argued, instantly reminding me of Tara.

Tara used to say the same thing. And there I was again, thinking about her.

“This is beautiful!” A rich, smooth voice behind me caused a pleasant warmth to unfold in my chest. I swiftly turned around with a smile.

“Aarti.”

“Nice to see you again, Sujit.”

I stood stupefied and tongue-tied against her beauty. The black dress was complemented by a pair of solitaire earrings and a statement ring on her middle finger. The red on her lipswas both classic and powerful. I’d never seen her in a perfect red lipstick before. My trance broke when our eyes met, and she blinked.

I cleared my throat, trying to redirect my own thoughts. “Aarti, may I introduce my very talented cousin, Padmaja R?”

Aarti turned to her with an extended hand. “Padmaja, it is wonderful to meet you. You are a phenomenal artist!”

Padmaja shook her hand and gushed, her baby cheeks flushing with color. “Thank you, you are very kind.”

“Padmaja,” I said. “This is Aarti Bhatia. She’s a…business associate.”

Aarti’s eyes spied me with mischief, but her composure remained consummate.

We talked for a bit before Padmaja was called away.

“This is soul-stirring,” Aarti said when we were alone.

“This geometric structure?” I asked, looking at Padma’s creation before me.

She nodded. “See this sort of cage formation here? This is how we are entrenched in different ways. Things we do to ourselves, and things society does to cage us.”

“Hmm…” I walked around it and tried to look at it through Aarti’s eyes. It did make sense what she saw. I would’ve never found meaning in it if she hadn’t shown it to me.

“I especially love how she’s slipped the curves inside the harsh geometric lines.”

“What does that mean?”

Aarti looked at me. “I don’t know how she intended, but to me it suggests there’s fluidity, beauty, and movement inside what seems bulky, unwieldy, and stoic. An allegory for life, don’t you think?”

I closed my gaping mouth. I was definitely buying it.

“How have you been?” I asked and walked around the sculpture to stand beside her.

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