Secrets & Saris by Shoma Narayanan

and she was training in Hindustani classical as well as jazz.’
    ‘I thought you couldn’t learn both together?’ Shefali said, frowning. ‘They’re very different styles of music.’
    ‘Reema was always the queen of having her cake and eating it too.’ Neil’s voice was light, but there was undertone of anger. ‘Except when it came to being a wife and mother. Because when we found out that she was pregnant all she wanted to do was get rid of the baby and get on with her life.’
    Shefali was scandalised, and she knew it showed on her face. She didn’t know a single person who’d got pregnant out of wedlock.
    ‘That was Nina?’ she asked, hoping she didn’t sound either fake or judgmental.
    ‘That was Nina,’ he agreed. ‘I wasn’t going to have any baby of mine done away with. We’d been careless, and the way I saw it we had to live with the consequences. My mother was the only one who backed me up, but I got Reema to marry me and have the baby. After Nina was born I couldn’t force her to stay—and, honestly, by then I didn’t want to be with her either. So when Nina was six months old we called it a day, and Reema left for New York to complete her studies.’
    ‘And you had to bring up Nina alone?’
    ‘My sister offered to adopt her,’ Neil said. ‘She’s some years older than me, and her son is the same age as Nina—she said she could take care of both of them. I didn’t want that though.’
    Shefali frowned. She could understand his scruples about Reema undergoing an abortion—however she couldn’t understand why a twenty-four-year-old single man would want to bring up a baby by himself when he had another option. ‘Why?’ she asked. ‘Wouldn’t that have been the best solution for both Nina and you?’
    It was obvious that it wasn’t the first time he’d been asked the question, but she got the feeling that he’d never really answered it before.
    ‘It didn’t seem right,’ he said hesitatingly. ‘Reema had already left her. My sister would have looked after her well, but Nina would have grown up with the idea that neither of her parents wanted her.’ He flushed. ‘I couldn’t do that to her. I might have been young and inexperienced and unemployed, but I was still her dad.’
    Incredibly touched by the admission, Shefali reached out and squeezed his hand. ‘You’ve had it tough,’ she said.
    Neil shook his head. ‘Not really. I could have married again, of course, but after the whole thing with Reema I didn’t want to risk it. It wouldn’t be fair to Nina if I got messed up over a woman again. We’re better off on our own.’
    Shefali was about to reply when all conversation was rendered impossible by the DJ turning up the music and loudly exhorting everyone to get onto the dance floor. Neil raised an eyebrow at Shefali, but she shook her head. She’d had enough of the party, and dancing with a bunch of uncoordinated strangers wasn’t really her thing.
    Neil took her hand and led her out of the hotel where the reception was being held. The atmosphere had changed with his confession, and Shefali was acutely conscious of the hard length of his body as he walked next to her. And he wasn’t treating her like a buddy either—the look he’d given her when they’d left the party showed that he was as conscious of the attraction sizzling between them as she was.
    ‘What next?’ he asked as they got into his car. ‘We’ve missed dinner—do you want to stop somewhere on the way home?’
    ‘No,’ she said. ‘I had heaps of samosas and chicken tikkas. I won’t be able to eat a bite.’
    Neil grinned across at her. ‘Then I guess you won’t have space for ice cream either, will you?’
    ‘There’s always space for ice cream,’ she said, trying to sound as dignified as she could and failing miserably.
    He laughed outright and they drove to the nearest ice cream parlour. It was crowded with college students, and Neil stepped out and got them two cones. ‘Don’t