Page 56 of Red Flags and Rishtas
‘So, what’s been up?’ I asked after a few beats of silence.
‘Oh, you know. This and that. Nothing as exciting as looking for a life partner to win a bet,’ he said, his tone casual.
Okay, so Aadarhadtold his brother about The Bet. Any doubts I had about their closeness immediately evaporated.
‘To be fair, I’m not looking for a life partner, just a boyfriend,’ I said, allowing myself a small smile.
‘Yes, my brother does seem to have the stiffer end …’ he trailed off as a group of young girls in sundresses and short shorts crossed us, eyeing him flirtatiously.
I stopped walking and turned to face him. I wasn’t in the mood to take shit from someone who enjoyed the attention of teenagers, even if he had just saved me from a distressing situation.
‘I’m not forcing this on him,’ I said.
‘Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming you. I actually love this whole thing,’ he said, taking his hands out of his pockets.
When I just looked at him in confusion, he went on, ‘Apart from the constant entertainment it offers me, the strangerelationship that the two of you share is perhaps the first bond he’s made with anyone in a long time.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s a long story. I don’t want to get you late for your work thing,’ he said.
I knew what he was doing. He wanted to see if I’d take the bait and unfortunately, I was too curious to say no.
‘I really do have to hit that store, like, right now,’ I said, pointing to the designer boutique across from us, ‘but we can grab a quick coffee after that if you’re free?’
‘Sounds like a plan. Meet you at Starbucks in fifteen?’ he asked, and I nodded.
And that’s how, a half hour later, I found myself sitting across the table from my former Tinder match, aka the brother of my former arranged marriage match. It was weird, to say the least. On the whole, Karan was still an insanely attractive man. But I couldn’t detach my focus from his individual features. His eyes, for example, were dark – way darker than his brother’s scotch-flavoured ones. His jawline was sharper, making him seem less approachable. His hair was straight and smooth, like his father’s. Aadar, I knew from the time his family had come to ‘see’ me, had taken after his mother in this regard.
‘My brother … how do I put it?’ Karan said with a pause. ‘He, um, has a hard time making friends.’
‘He is quite disagreeable,’ I couldn’t stop myself from saying.
Karan let out a soft laugh before taking another sip from his cappuccino.
‘It’s kind of a recent development,’ he said.
‘Oh?’
‘Between the two of us, he was always the charmer.’ Karan leaned back, looking into the distance in a way that indicated he’d let himself slip into the past.
I sipped my own coffee, waiting for him to continue.
‘In school, in college, he was always front and centre. Teachers loved him … strangers, friends, relatives, my parents … everyone adored the shit out of him. And the girls … don’t even get me started,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘I used to be so jealous of my older brother.’
He shook his head, a glum smile playing on his lips. ‘I never thought he’d need any help in that department … let alone from my parents.’
‘What happened?’ I asked, placing my mug down on the table.
‘He got his heart broken,’ he said.
‘Oh,’ I said, then added in a low tone, ‘happens to the best of us.’
‘Yep,’ he said, then abruptly added, ‘except she died.’
It took me a few seconds to register what he’d just said. My mind began to race as I took it in, trying to piece this information together with the image of the man I’d known for the last couple of months. I thought back to the photo I’d found on his Instagram of a beautiful girl with no caption. Was that his ex? And had that been before or after …?
When I didn’t say anything out loud, Karan continued, ‘Road accident. Four years ago. It was truly, truly terrible.’
