The Singles Table, page 20
“Actually, we’ve put the deal on—”
“Seriously?” Rick interrupted with a bark of disapproval. “Jay, you gotta man up. You’re missing out on a great thing. She’s the real deal. How many women like Days of Our Lives and musicals and are smart enough to be a lawyer? I’ll tell you from experience, there aren’t many out there.”
Zara gave a light laugh. “It’s a mutual decision. We’re having a good time just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company but it doesn’t mean anything. Isn’t that right, Jay?”
No, it wasn’t right. But clearly he’d misinterpreted the pause in their arrangement. Zara just wanted a good time. He’d been hoping it was something more.
“Yes,” he said firmly. “That’s right. Neither of us has time right now to get involved in anything serious.” He sipped his wine but didn’t taste it, looking everywhere except at his mother. He didn’t think he could stand seeing the sympathy in her eyes. She knew him too well.
“Maybe Padma should start telling stories about when Jay was young,” Rick suggested. “Or pull out an old photo album to really embarrass him.”
Jay’s mother laughed. “I’ve never had a chance to do that before. Next time I’ll come prepared.”
Next time. He looked around the table, at his mother and Zara laughing together, at Rick looking up Days of Our Lives facts on his phone, at the way they had filled his apartment with warmth and light and the delicious scents of his mother’s cooking. He wanted a next time so desperately an ache bloomed in his chest. A next time with Zara sitting by his side, smiling at his mom, and squeezing his leg under the table every time Rick threw out a little nugget about his pre-biker days.
Jay couldn’t deny it. He had feelings for Zara. Feelings so strong they threatened to crack the walls he’d built to keep himself safe. He hadn’t had feelings for a woman in—never. But they were feelings she didn’t share.
• 19 •
Instead of going directly to the table for her mother’s birthday dinner, Zara went to the restaurant restroom. She had five minutes before her mother was expecting her, and she needed to get everything under control. There could be no accidents tonight. No falls, spills, breaks, or burns. She couldn’t jump up from the table if she saw someone, or wave, shout, smile, or gesture. Even though it was an Indian restaurant, she would have to use her fork and knife instead of tearing her naan to scoop up her dal, and crunchy pappadams were out of the question.
She couldn’t imagine a greater contrast to the dinner she’d shared with Jay’s mom only two nights ago. So much laughter. So much warmth. They’d talked musicals and soap operas, swapped recipes, and shared stories. She’d been able to relax and be herself without worrying about what to say or how to act or what disaster was going to happen next. Drinks spilled and they cleaned them up. Rick overturned a dish of biryani and no one batted an eye. If not for the awkward moment when she told them she and Jay weren’t really together, she could have stayed there all night. She was falling for him and nothing had ever scared her more.
Taking a deep breath, she smoothed her hair in the mirror. Parvati had helped her straighten out the wayward waves and curls and now her hair hung in a smooth, glossy curtain around her shoulders. To complete the business-professional look, she’d worn a shell pink blouse over black jeans and her favorite black boots. Parvati had lent her an authentic Gucci bag and she’d accessorized with a pearl necklace and a pink watch. No bursts of color. No fancy scarves or intriguing patterns. And not a sparkle in sight. Except for the boots, she was as close to corporate perfection as she could get. Hopefully it would be enough.
Forcing her lips into a smile, she pushed open the restroom door. Breathing in the familiar scents of sweet cinnamon, pungent turmeric, and smoky cumin, she made her way past the abstract paintings, gold metallic walls, and saffron-colored booths to the table where her mother waited with her longtime partner, Peter Roberts.
She greeted her mother with a kiss to the cheek and gave Peter a nod before sitting down. Her mother couldn’t fault her appearance tonight, and yet looking at her with her dark hair pinned up in her signature twist and an elegant scarf draped over her chic black dress, Zara still felt awkward and unkempt.
“What a lovely surprise. You made it on time.” Her mother glanced over at Peter and lifted her eyebrows as if she’d told him to expect Zara to be late. A lean man with a weathered face and graying hair, Peter was an anesthetist at the hospital where Parvati worked. He was easygoing and generally a nice guy who was happiest spending an evening at home cooking and watching detective shows on TV. To his credit, he never got involved in Zara’s spats with her mother. Instead, he would excuse himself and return when the dust had settled.
Zara kept her hands in her lap so as not to accidentally knock over a glass, drop a fork, or drum her fingers on the table. After they ordered their food, she smiled politely as her mother told her about her new cases, the firm’s planned expansion, the birthday breakfast Peter had prepared, and the cake her colleagues had brought to her office.
“It’s too bad Hari can’t be here,” her mother said after the food had arrived. “He said his flight was delayed by bad weather at the airport.”
Zara suspected the delay was less about weather and more about the fact that Hari hated the annual birthday dinner and had finally decided to give up even the pretense of wanting to be part of the family. Even so, he was her mother’s favorite and usually provided a buffer on social occasions.
“I might have my first class action lawsuit,” Zara said quickly when she saw her mother’s lips thin. Hari’s absence was just the kind of thing that could set off a chain reaction that would start with her perfect older brother and end with the disaster of her career. “I handed out my business cards at Tarun’s wedding and some aunties came to see me.”
Between bites of flavorful spinach poriyal, chicken masala, and podi dosa, she told them about the case without divulging which aunties were involved.
“What does it have to do with entertainment law?” Her mother dabbed her lips with a napkin. She was a master of subtle criticism.
“I’ve moved on from that dream.” She spoke deliberately, meeting her mother’s gaze as an equal even though she trembled inside. She’d said these words to Jay. Why shouldn’t she say them to the person who needed to hear them most? “I’m happy where I am. I can make a real difference at Cruz & Lovitt helping real people instead of big companies. I’m hoping that this case will be so big they’ll have no choice but to make my one-year contract permanent.”
“Your potential causes of action aren’t very strong,” her mother said dismissively. “How do you quantify the damages? Someone spoke unkindly to your clients. They turned off the camera and returned it to the store. How did they suffer?”
“A stranger talked to my client’s kids.” Zara’s voice rose in frustration. “He made racial slurs and told them to do terrible things. She didn’t feel safe in her own home. And as for causes of action, what about negligence, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Unfair Competition Law? It’s a good case and Tony is letting me run with it. I thought you’d be proud of me.”
“It sounds very interesting,” Peter said quietly. “I have lots of friends who have installed security cameras in their homes. I’m sure they would be appalled to hear about this.”
“She needs to be realistic.” Her mother shot Peter a withering look. “If she wants to get back into a big-city firm, she can’t get involved in something that’s certain to fail. If she wants to do entertainment law she needs industry clients.”
“Weren’t you listening to me?” Zara threw her napkin on the table. “I don’t want to get back into a big-city firm. I want to stay at Cruz & Lovitt.”
“Darling . . .” Her mother sighed. “They advertise with a tiger. That does not scream professional.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be that kind of professional,” Zara shot back. “We have name recognition. We have loyal and happy clients who refer their friends and family to us. And we have a great track record of success. We’re the number one personal injury firm in the Bay Area.”
“Are you sure they’re going to make your position permanent?” Her mother shared a look with Peter. “I’ve heard they’re struggling to bring in clients and their profits are down fifty percent. They haven’t had a big settlement in over two years. You can’t run a law firm on slips and falls. There is a lot more competition in the personal injury market than there was even five years ago.”
A sudden coldness hit at Zara’s core. “How do you know all that?”
“The legal world isn’t that big, and I like to know what is going on with my daughter’s firm. I also know that you bumped into Lucia the other day. She said her offer to join her corporate litigation department is still open. I know you prefer a more relaxed atmosphere, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
Zara’s mouth went dry. Why hadn’t Tony told her the firm was in trouble? Why hadn’t he given her a heads-up that they might not be able to keep her on? “It might not be true,” she said, more to reassure herself than to challenge her mother. “I’ll talk to Tony tomorrow.”
“Tony is not going to tell you anything different.” Her mother sipped her wine. “You have a problem accepting that bad things sometimes happen, darling. When we told you about the divorce, you stood on the side of the road for hours screaming for your dad to come back, and then for weeks you pretended he was just away at a conference. I had to pack up all his things and repurpose the studio just so you would understand that we had to move on. When he finally got his own place, you pretended he was house-sitting for a friend. It went on and on. Really, it became rather tedious.”
“It sounds to me like she was in a lot of pain,” Peter said gently. “She was only what? Ten or eleven? That’s a hard age to have your life upended.”
“It was hard for everyone but we all got over it,” her mother snapped. “I expected her to do the same.”
Except she hadn’t gotten over it. She still expected every fight to end a relationship and every relationship to end. Her deepest fear was losing the people she loved. It was the same kind of worry, the same fear that Jay had shared with her. That one day the person she cared about most would be gone.
“I have to get going.” She couldn’t stay here any longer, couldn’t listen to her mother coldly dissect one of the worst nights of her life. She wished Jay had been here with his strong arms, warm hugs, and quiet understanding. Jay didn’t judge. He liked her for who she was. So why had she told Rick they weren’t together? Her words had hurt him. She’d seen it in his face, in the way his hand had tightened around his glass, in the speed with which he’d called her a cab when the night was done. And she’d felt it. Because when he’d agreed with her, she’d hurt, too.
* * *
• • •
“Let’s have a toast to a long and fruitful business partnership.”
Jay and Elias clinked glasses with Thomas and Brittany in the upscale French restaurant Thomas had booked for their celebration. With the Triplogix lawsuit out of the way, Thomas had assured them that board approval of their international financing was all but guaranteed.
“That was the best call I’ve had all week,” Thomas said. “To be honest, I was worried you wouldn’t be able to get the lawsuit dismissed. The optics were pretty bad, given you are a security firm.”
“We’ve put new procedures in place to ensure our clients are fully protected from disgruntled employees in the digital space,” Elias said. “It’s actually opened up a possible new area of business for us. Digital security is the next big thing.”
“Delighted to hear it,” Thomas said. “Brittany has a particular interest in digital security.”
“I wrote a paper on it while I was doing my MBA.” She smiled at Jay. She had been doing a lot of smiling at him across the table and he was picking up an uncomfortable vibe.
“It will give you two a lot to talk about when you’re traveling,” Thomas said. “Once we’ve got all the approvals, I’m planning to send Brittany with you when you open each of the international offices. We need eyes on the ground for our investment.”
“We’ll be spending a lot of time together.” Brittany’s smile widened. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Jay felt something brush his pant leg. Christ. Was she seriously playing footsie under the table with her father right there? And what about Elias, who had been staring at her for the entire dinner? The dude was totally smitten, but Brittany didn’t seem to know he existed.
“Excuse me.” Jay got up and walked to the restroom to get away from Brittany and her under-the-table activities. How was he going to get out of this situation? One wrong step and he could blow the whole deal.
Five minutes later he exited the restroom only to find Brittany waiting in the hall. He should have known “Daddy’s girl” wouldn’t be denied.
“Fancy bumping into you here.” She took a step closer, smoothing down her fitted black dress. “I was thinking we should get to know each other better since we’ll be spending a lot of time traveling to the new offices. Maybe dinner at my place on Friday?”
Six weeks ago, he would have accepted her offer. She was in a position to make sure the deal happened, to bring him closer to his goal. But there was only one woman he wanted even if she didn’t feel the same way about him. “I’m flattered, Brittany, but I’m seeing someone.” He didn’t want to lie. He hated lying. But Brittany wasn’t the kind of woman who was easily put off, and a girlfriend was the simplest option.
“Elias said you were single.”
“It’s recent.”
She gave him a calculating smile that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. “I would love to meet her. Maybe you both could join us next weekend at a celebrity charity event. The bank is the sponsor.”
“I’ll see if she’s available.” He felt like the hallway was closing in on him and had to fight the desperate, urgent need to escape.
“If not, you must still come.” She put a hand on his arm, the seemingly casual touch making his stomach clench. “I’ll send over some tickets for you.”
“And Elias.” No way was he going into the lion’s den alone.
“Yes, of course. Elias.” She tossed her hair and laughed. “I almost forgot about him.”
Jay was damn sure she hadn’t forgotten about Elias at all. “I should get back to the table.” He moved to leave but she blocked his way.
“I’m so glad we’ll be working closely together,” she said, fingering his tie. “Daddy thinks the world of you.”
“I respect his work.” Sweat beaded on his forehead and his nerves went into overdrive.
“We’re very close,” she said. “If I’m unhappy, he’s unhappy.”
Jesus Christ. Was she threatening him? Even after he’d told her he was with someone? Elias needed to get his head in the game. “We’ll do our best to keep you happy, Brittany.”
Her smiled widened until he could see every one of her pearly white teeth. “I’m so glad to hear it.”
* * *
• • •
Zara tried to take in everything at once when she walked into the office after a long day of negotiations. She was half an hour late to meet Parvati for their shopping trip. But what she hadn’t expected was that the more eccentric members of the firm would come out in force to keep her friend entertained.
“Sorry I’m late.” She gave Parvati a quick peck on the cheek as she dodged Tony’s lightsaber. “I was negotiating a contract for a stuntman who was afraid of heights, high speeds, loud noises, flying, water, fire, smoke, spiders, and scorpions and camels. It took forever.”
“No problem,” Parvati said. “Faroz and Tony have been educating me in proper fencing technique.”
“It’s all in the wrist.” Tony’s lightsaber made a sweeping arc, stopping only a few inches from Parvati’s neck. To her credit, Parvati didn’t move.
“Impressive,” muttered Faroz, perched on the edge of Janice’s desk. “You didn’t even flinch.”
“He’s wearing a Yoda hat and swinging a toy sword,” Parvati said dryly. “I didn’t think he was a real threat.”
“This isn’t a toy.” Tony stared at her aghast. “It’s a custom-crafted fully functioning piece of art. Michael Murphy created this lightsaber from the same vintage Graflex camera flashes used to create the real prop, complete with a sophisticated sound board, advanced motion tracking, custom chassis, and crystal chamber that hews to the official source material.”
Parvati yawned. “Can it kill me?”
Faroz pushed away from the desk. “Hit someone over the head hard enough with any solid material and you can do some serious damage. I saw a man killed with a plastic toy pail at the beach when I was in Guam.”
“What were you doing in Guam?” Parvati studied him with interest. Zara made a mental note to pick up some earplugs on the drive home. No doubt Faroz would be spending the night.
“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.”
Parvati snorted. “You wouldn’t be killing me with a plastic toy pail. It’s not physically possible.”
“It was full of rocks.”
“Then he was killed by the rocks and not the pail.”
“The pail held them together.” Faroz grabbed a few decorative stones from the plant display along the wall and dropped them into his paper cup by way of demonstration. “He wouldn’t have died if someone had thrown the rocks at him one at a time. So, therefore, he was killed by the pail.”
“If you throw one of those rocks at me, I’ll show you ways to die you never even imagined,” Parvati warned.
