The Girl He Left Behind by Shilpa Suraj Page B

lump in her throat when she realized that all she wanted to do at that moment was rest her head on his shoulder and curl up next to him the way she used to.
    ‘Do I have something on my face?’ His quiet murmur snapped her out of the nostalgic trance she’d slipped into andback into the present. Flushing with embarrassment, she got to her feet and started clearing up the used dishes scattered around the kitchen.
    Slowly getting to his feet, Ryan took a small sip of his wine, waiting. Acutely conscious of the fact that her kitchen wasn’t very big and he was standing very close, Sia tried to keep her thoughts from scattering. ‘You’ve changed.’
    ‘Haven’t we all?’ The quiet question had her hands stilling.
    ‘Yes.’ Moving towards the kitchen sink to put some distance between them, Sia kept her back to him as she spoke. ‘You wear success well, Ryan. You must be so proud of yourself with all that you’ve achieved.’
    A grim smile touched his lips as he slowly rolled the stem of his wine glass between his palms. This was what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? This recognition of what he’d achieved. To have people look at him as a success rather than the wild boy from the poorer side of town. For some reason, his triumph in the moment felt a little hollow.
    ‘Are you?’ The edge in his voice had Sia looking up warily from the dish she was scrubbing so industriously.
    ‘Am I what?’
    ‘Proud of me for all that I’ve achieved?’
    The doorbell pealed suddenly saving her from having to answer the question immediately. Wiping her hand distractedly on a hand towel, she walked into the foyer, her mind in turmoil.
    Opening the door to Vikas, she stared for a split second before shutting it again without saying a word. She had a brief glimpse of him opening his mouth before the door slammed shut in his face. Walking into the living room, she saw that Ryan had come in and was sitting across from Minty on the centre table facing her sofa. One look at her set expression told Sia she knew exactly who was at the door. Taking Minty’s cold hands in herown, she said ‘Tell me what you want to say and I’ll say it. You don’t have to talk to him now. I can handle it.’
    ‘I don’t know what I want to say.’ Wearily, Minty pushed herself up from her prone position.
    Ignoring the doorbell pealing, Sia stood ‘I’ll come with you. We’ll handle him first and then I’ll drive you home.’ Walking around the drawing room, Sia started her perennial hunt for her car keys. Minty and Ryan watched as she quickly rifled through the clutter on all the visible counters. Spotting the key chain peeping out from under the centre table, she bent to retrieve it. On her hands and knees, with one hand under the table trying to fish out her car keys, she was quite unaware that Ryan’s gaze was transfixed by the view she presented. Feeling a genuine smile curve her lips for the first time that day, Minty said ‘Sia, I think I should handle it.’
    ‘Why?’ Sia looked over at Minty perplexed. She sat back on her haunches and looked up at her. ‘Don’t you think I would be of some help?’
    Ryan could only thank his stars he wasn’t still staring at her bottom. He decided to stare at a point above her while he composed himself.
    ‘You’d be a world of help but I think I need to do this on my own.’
    ‘How will you get home? Your car is still at the office. Take my car. You can pick me up on the way to work tomorrow.’ Bending over again to tug at the keys that seemed to have gotten stuck under the table, she pulled as hard as she could. Startled by Ryan’s sudden muffled imprecation, she found herself being forcibly removed and dumped on the couch. With one hard pull, he yanked the keys out, tossed them at her and stalked out of the room.
    Handing the keys over to Minty, Sia avoided her amused glance. ‘Don’t start. You have your own idiot to deal with outside.’
    ‘True. I’ll talk to the two of you tomorrow.’