“Is there an issue?” I asked James and then eyed Mike.
“Just making sure this man found his way out,” James replied.
“Mike, right?” I asked.
Mike nodded.
I gave James a thankful glance, and he retreated into the building, behind the glass doors and translucent wall to the lobby. He watched us from behind the security desk.
“You recognize me?” I asked, my voice stony.
Mike squinted in the harsh midday light. “Oh, yeah, I guess I’ve seen you around.”
“I was with Liya at the café when you asked her out. I heard you’ve been spreading rumors about her.”
He straightened up. “You her brother or something?”
“Yeah, because there are only a billion Indians in the world and we’re all related.”
“You all look the same to me.” He sneered.
“And I wonder why in the world Liya ever agreed to go out with you.”
“If you heard the rumors, then you know why. She wanted a piece of this and I gave it to her.”
I ground out carefully, “Don’t lie. I’m not one of your groveling minions you can impress with your BS stories.”
“You’re some big shot. I get it.”
“I want you to straighten out the rumors and then leave Liya alone.”
“Rumors are rumors. Sometimes they’re true, sometimes they’re not. They get passed around and then forgotten about. Who said I started any of them?” he asked defensively.
“Let’s not play games. I have meetings to get to and work to do.”
“So who’s stopping you?”
“Here’s what you’re going to do, Mike.”
He glared at me.
“Before the end of the day, you’re going to go up to every person you bragged to and set the story straight. You can start with your two buddies at the restaurant over there who are watching us right now. Then you’re going to go across the street, buy the biggest floral arrangement you can find, and march your useless self to Liya’s office, security-escorted of course, get on your knees, and grovel for her forgiveness in front of anyone present. Then, I don’t want to ever see you in or near this building, or near Liya, again.”
He laughed. “Are you smoking something?”
“Do you know why you’re going to do this?” I narrowed my eyes.
“I know why I’m not doing that.”
“You’re going to do this out of the kindness of your heart because you realize what you did was wrong.”
He laughed. “Thanks for the joke.”
“Legal threats probably don’t work for you.”
He laughed again. “Get out of my face, man.”
“Because Liya has every right to press charges, to get a restraining order against you.”
“Don’t threaten me.”
“It’s not a threat. There are cameras everywhere. Whatever you claim you didn’t do, just remember there’s most likely evidence to the contrary. Our security officer friend on the other side of this wall is probably looking through footage right now. Even if all you did was say something, that’s considered harassment. Actions have consequences. You get me, Mike?”
“Yes,” he stuttered, his gaze darting between me and the security desk in the lobby.
“Now what are you going to do?” I asked, my voice low.
“Straighten out the rumors, get the flowers, and beg Liya.”
“Are we going to have any issues?”
“No.” He took a few steps backward, nearly bumping into a passerby.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I swear, man, I swear.”
I watched him until he crossed the street and disappeared into the restaurant where his friends had been watching our interaction.
I walked into the building and toward the security desk. “Thanks for handling that, James.”
“It’s what I’m here for. Is there anything I should know about that guy?” he asked.
“His name is Mike. There’s a tiny chance he might come by later today with flowers asking for Liya. Can you call me immediately if he does?” I asked as I wrote down my cell phone number for James, although he already had my detailed information in his database.
“Sure thing.”
Chapter Twelve
Liya
The day could not end fast enough. Between the extra workload and this killer pain in my inflamed ankle, crumpling into my leather chair with an ice pack hugged against my foot was by far the best thing that happened today.
As I sat in the tranquility of my office, I answered a call from Momma.
“It was good to see you at mandir,” she said in her sweet, soft voice.
My heart swelled and broke at the same time. How was that possible, to love someone so much it hurt? “You, too. Is everything…okay?”
“Of course.”
“Dad isn’t being a giant ass—”
“Liya!” she hissed.
“Is he still upset?”
“A bit. He’s trying very hard, you know? To secure a man for you, and you just walk away?”
“I don’t want to get married.”
“Because of your dad?”
“He’s certainly a reason.” Although my dad had never been a leading example of a wonderful Indian husband, I of course saw them around. Rohan would be one. Jahn certainly appeared to be one. There were quite a number who doted on their wives and kids at mandir, those who went all out on romantic nonsense on social media, and those who ran the gossip circuit of having done this simple little gesture or that extraordinary thing.
Momma went on, “He’s a good man most of the time. And not all men are like him. Jay is much nicer.”
“No, thank you.”
“If not now, then when? Men don’t want to marry a woman over thirty.”
I laughed. “Women these days go to college, sometimes for many, many years. They work and have careers and pursue other interests and then get married, well into their thirties. It’s fine.”
“Well into their thirties? And when are they going to have children?”
How could I explain to my mother that I could not commit to one person to save my life? That I abhorred being tied down by someone? That I loathed the idea of answering to a man? That I…was too broken to be wifey material anyway?
She went on with hope lighting her words, “I saw you speaking with Jay’s mom.”
“I apologized to her. She needed to know my intention wasn’t to embarrass anyone and it wasn’t anything against her.”
“And you were speaking to Jay?”
“Arguing,” I corrected.
“Liya!”
I rolled my eyes but somehow ended up grinning at the same time. “Well…he’s easy to argue with.”
“You say that about all men.”
“Sounds like their problem, not mine. Don’t get hung up on this idea of marrying me off to anyone, least of all Jay.”
“He’s handsome, no?”
“Sure.”
“And educated, intelligent.”
I checked my nails before adjusting the ice on my ankle. “Mm-hmm.”