Page 83 of Caper Crush
Saanvi laughs.
“Why did they break up?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Itsuki broke up with him. He was devastated. And it took him a while to get over her. And his feeling like he wasn’t enough. He sometimes argued with Juri, his girlfriend in business school. He broke up with her.”
“Why did he break up with her?” I ask. Is there more to the story than that she wanted to live permanently in Japan? Was Itsuki the one he still loved after they broke up?
“You’re quite interested for someone who’s not his girlfriend,” Saanvi says with a smile.
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I say. “But that’s not to say I’m uninterested in William.”
Saanvi chuckles. “He’s a good catch.”
William and Advik return from the children’s bedroom. I hope he didn’t overhear my confession.
“Thanks so much for looking at my foot,” I say to Advik.
“It’s no problem. It’s great to meet you. And it’s been a while since I’ve seen William. And I finally got to meet Takashi. I’ve heard so much about him,” Advik says. “But you never mentioned his babysitting capabilities.”
“I didn’t know,” William says.
Saanvi shoots me a sly glance. “You should get on that while you can take advantage of it.”
William puts his hands in his pockets. “I’m working on it.”
Is he? With me, or is there someone else?
Saanvi raises an eyebrow at me suggestively. I blush.
“I’m supposed to meet Miju tonight at a club,” I say to William.
“You’ll have to cancel,” he says.
“But …”
“You can’t dance on your foot,” he says.
“I could still talk.”
“Reschedule,” he says firmly. “You have to keep your foot up.”
“I called my clinic around the corner, and they can X-ray it now.” Advik wraps up my ankle firmly, showing me how to do it. “They accept your insurance.”
We thank Advik and Saanvi. Uncle Tony calls for the elevator, and William carries me back into it. This is a disaster.
“How am I going to get up the stairs?”
“At least once you’re there, you’ll be stuck in your apartment and you won’t be able to do any more investigating on your own,” William says.
“Don’t try to contain your joy,” I say.
He smirks. “If I recall correctly, Sherlock Holmes did a lot of thinking at home.”
“He also did field research,” I say. “Anyway, you should be more sympathetic. I’ll have to cancel all my gigs.”
“You’ll still be able to paint.”
“There is that.”
