The Candid Life of Meena Dave(60)

She gave him the truth. “I ran. I let Neha in. Thought she was, well, you know. Then she wasn’t and I ran.” Because that’s who I am. Who I was.

“I get it,” Sam said.

“Can you maybe not be so . . . understanding?”

“I don’t have the right to be upset,” Sam said. “I’m not in your shoes.”

“We were friends. I didn’t treat you like one when I left.”

“Yeah.” Sam paused. “I thought . . .”

Meena waited, but he didn’t finish his sentence.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“Next time, add me to your group chat with the aunties.”

“Are you sure about that? They send racy jokes and not-safe-for-work photos.”

He gave her a soft smile. “In that case, let’s keep things as they are.”

She didn’t like that. “I’ll text you separately. Just the two of us.”

His face lost some of its tension and Meena’s heart sped up. She could feel him, sense that she’d hurt him. It was more than attraction. More than friendship. She refused to be scared off by it. “You can leave Wally with me if you want. I’m going to unpack.”

“He’s almost six months,” Sam said. “You won’t get anything done if he’s here. Wally, come.”

The dog looked up. Stared.

Sam deepened his voice and gave him the same command. This time Wally stood, bone in his mouth, and went to Sam. Sam took Wally by the leash attached to his harness and left. He closed the door behind them.

There was distance between them, but Meena wasn’t daunted. She would figure out how to fix it. She rolled her big suitcase, the one she’d bought to fit more of her London stuff, into the bedroom. She would start here. She had emptied a few drawers for her things during her temporary stay, so she filled up that space. As for the rest of it, she’d keep it in the bag until the remainder of Neha’s things were cleared out.

Meena heard footsteps and went into the living room.

Sabina froze, a tin watering can in hand. “Meena.”

“Hi.”

Sabina regained her composure. “I thought you were still in South Korea.”

“I’m back.”

“I see.”

Meena wouldn’t back down, but she didn’t want to start off confrontational. She didn’t know how Sabina was going to handle her decision to stay. “How are you?”

“Good,” Sabina said. “Everyone is fine. Settling into the New Year.”

“Right. How was your New Year’s Eve party?”

“Fun. As always.”

Meena rubbed her arms. “I adjusted the thermostat, but it’s taking a while to heat up.”

Sabina put the watering can down on a stack of newspapers on the coffee table and moved to the radiator. She crouched down to turn the black knob. “I half closed the valves because no one was here. I wasn’t expecting you back.”

Of course not. “Thank you for taking care of the apartment while I was away.”

“It’s my place to do so.” Sabina rose back up. “This is my building.”

Meena kept quiet instead of reminding her that this was Meena’s apartment. Honey and flies and all that.

“There is a blizzard in the forecast starting later tonight.” Sabina added a few more details about the coming storm. “If you need food or anything, I suggest you go get it now. They’re saying eighteen to twenty-six inches.”

“They mentioned it on the flight in,” Meena said. “I’ll run out to the market. Let me know if you need anything.”

“We’re fine. I’m surprised to see you back so soon. I thought you had work that takes you all over.” Sabina walked around watering the few plants, holdovers from Neha.

“I do need a base, somewhere to keep my things.” Meena tried to keep her voice neutral. She wanted to get along with this woman. “This is a good one. Close to New York, an international airport.”

“I see.”

Meena hoped she did. “Thank you again.”

Sabina finished up and nodded before leaving the apartment.

When Sabina left, Meena locked the door. She knew she’d have to adjust and keep it unlocked . . . at least part of the time. But she wasn’t ready for that. Baby steps.

She bundled up and headed out for storm supplies. As she turned left, she saw Sam walk with Wally down the block. They were on their way back. She switched directions and took the long way around to the small market on Newbury Street.



Neha could have outfitted a fifty-person ugly-sweater party. Meena folded a peacock-green sweater with a giant rooster embellished with glass stones. She’d already filled a box, one of a dozen empties she’d picked up from the corner liquor store during her presnowstorm supply run. She’d done it in four trips back and forth because a blizzard was the perfect time to clean out the apartment.

The wind howled, and she could see snow falling sideways through the french doors. Inside she was warm from the hiss of the radiators and her exertion. After her initial encounters with Sabina, Sam, and Wally, the previous day had been uneventful. No aunties had run into the apartment with a thermos of chai and conversation. Instead she’d sat in her designated chair at the dining table and eaten a solitary bowl of canned soup.