There's Something About Sweetie(73)

He was running downstairs to meet Sweetie outside—her car had just pulled up—when his cell phone pinged.

He pulled it from his pocket and checked the screen. It was Celia.

You told me to tell you when I was in Atherton next. I’ll be there on Thursday. Seemed important. Wanna meet up?

Ashish stared at the words for a long minute. Yes, he typed quickly, an idea taking root. I have a thing that night though. Meet at 9:30?

The response came immediately. K, Bedwell?

Bedwell Bayfront Park was where Ashish and Celia had had their three-month anniversary date. It was where … well, where a significant turning point in their relationship was reached. He took a deep breath. Sounds good.

Then he put his phone away, squashed the guilt churning in his stomach at keeping this from Sweetie, and walked out the front door. This is good, Ash, he told himself firmly. It’s time.

Seeing Sweetie smiling up at him through her windshield felt like standing in a hot shower right after getting soaked in cold rain. It was blissful; it solidified his resolve about what he needed to do Thursday night. When she turned off her car, he opened her door and pulled her out gently by her arm. Then he enveloped her in a giant hug and sniffed the top of her head. “Ahhhh. Just what I needed. Peppermint shampoo.”

She laughed and batted him away. “Okay, that’s not weird at all.”

“It’s like crack. It’s my Sweetie crack. It’s Swack!” Ashish pulled her to him again and inhaled deeply.

She was laughing so hard now, she couldn’t catch her breath. Watching her like that, Ashish began to laugh too. Finally they pulled apart, and he stood there, smiling at her. “Okay. You ready to get this show on the road?”

She nodded. “Let’s do it.”

They walked to the garage together, hand in hand, and he opened the passenger-side door to the Porsche. Then he paused. “Hey.”

She looked up at him quizzically.

“You want to drive?”

Her eyes got wide and a smile began to seep slowly across her lovely face. Ashish could watch that forever. On time lapse. “Seriously? You’d let me drive your Porsche?”

He rolled his eyes to distract from how much he loved just staring at her like a creeper. “I don’t think we’re in any danger of the Porsche getting wrapped around a tree at the rate you go, let’s be honest. I’m more worried we’ll run out of gas before you get us there.” He tossed her the keys. “It’s a push button, but you can hold on to those. They’ll make you feel more legit.”

“Oh my God,” she breathed, walking over to the driver’s side. “I cannot believe I’m holding the keys to a freaking Porsche in my hand. Or that I’m going to be driving one.”

Ashish laughed as Sweetie climbed into the driver’s seat, gawking at the onboard navigation system and the sleek seats.

Sliding into the passenger side, Ashish reached over and kissed her cheek. “Ready to drive your first Porsche?”

“Absolutely.”

He watched her as she backed out of the garage, feeling little pinpricks of guilt about the text he’d sent earlier. Ashish hated keeping this from Sweetie. But this was for the greater good. He had a course of action. Meet up with Celia, say his piece, hopefully get some peace.

Was he certain that would happen? That he wouldn’t, once he saw Celia, suddenly become a blithering high school man-baby? No, he wasn’t sure of those things at all. In fact, he was fairly terrified that he’d see Celia and realize, Hey, forget getting closure, I could never even hope to orbit around closure’s atmosphere. But that didn’t matter. He still had to try.

“So, does this Gita Kaki have any kids of her own?” Sweetie asked once they were on Highway 82.

“No, and that probably explains why she’s constantly confusing Rishi and me,” Ashish said. “Actually, I stand corrected: She thinks both Rishi and I are Rishi. Clearly, she has a favorite.”

Sweetie laughed. “No way. How could anyone like Rishi over you?”

Ashish pretended to preen. “Hey, a guy could get used to flattery like that. Especially since pretty much everyone in my family prefers Rishi over me.”

Sweetie darted a sideways glance at him. “You wanna know what I’m thinking?”

“You’re thinking how this Porsche is the sweetest, smoothest ride you’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering,” Ashish said.

Sweetie rolled her eyes. “Actually, I was thinking how you say Rishi’s the golden child and people prefer him over you lightly and kind of sarcastically, but it seems like it bothers you more than you let on.” She paused. “Do you … do you think it’s true? That he’s better than you somehow?”

Ashish looked out the window for a moment. Sweetie had a way of doing that, just getting to the core of things. It unbalanced him somewhat. Ashish liked to think he had the world by its throat. He was always one step ahead. Some people preferred Rishi—yeah, that was true, but it was okay because Ashish already knew it and expected it. But Sweetie … she said things in her soft, observant way. It made him feel like there was an empty part of him waiting to be filled, and he didn’t even know with what or how he was supposed to feel about that.

He cleared his throat. “I guess. But it doesn’t bother me.”

Sweetie didn’t say anything. She just reached over and put one hand on his knee.