Accidentally Engaged(83)
“No, of course not. Honestly, until the shit hit the fan on Sunday I didn’t know your father even knew the Shahs. My father made me swear never to tell anyone I had worked with Salim because of all the negative attention the Shah hotel project was getting.”
“Nadim, tell me your side of the story. From the beginning.”
So, he told her the story. As she sat in the tiny hallway on the first floor of her father’s building, Nadim told her how hard he worked to please his father and how he usually fell short. He finally moved to London to distance himself and quickly got involved with Jasmine, the free-spirited woman whose purpose, he thought, was to teach him that life could be more than his father’s narrow definition.
“I got caught up in a world that didn’t really fit. And I knew it didn’t fit, but things just kind of got out of hand. Jasmine had these grandiose plans of being an influencer. The London hotel was her idea.”
“And the mismanagement?”
“I can’t pretend to be innocent there. I wasn’t really…invested. I didn’t care. I was partying, taking shortcuts, and just coasting.”
“I saw pictures of you on a yacht.”
“There were many yachts. Jasmine wanted the best of everything. In the business, too. High-end fixtures, materials. She was inexperienced, and it was a disaster. I have so many regrets for how I handled things with that hotel.”
“Didn’t Jasmine care about her father’s company?”
He shrugged. “I know what you’re thinking. That she’s just a superficial, spoiled snob. But…Jasmine is a complicated person. You think you and I have difficult parents? Salim is a good businessman, but an awful father. Not just neglectful, but downright abusive. She honestly tried. She wanted to succeed—she cared about it more than I did. But she didn’t see the big picture and focused on insignificant details. I shouldn’t have let any of it, the business or the relationship, go so far.”
“And then you abandoned her in Egypt?”
He huffed a laugh. “No. She abandoned me. We were there on holiday and she decided we should open a hotel there, too. I knew we were in over our heads with the London one, and when I tried to dissuade her, we had a huge fight. I put my foot down and quit my position with Shah Enterprises on the spot, and she took off, leaving me alone in Cairo. She took my passport. Dad had to have an emergency one couriered to me so I could get back to Tanzania.”
“That sounds awfully dramatic.” Like a Bollywood revenge story.
He snorted. “Yeah. We brought out the worst in each other. That’s why you scared me.”
“What? What’s scary about me?”
“Really?” he scoffed, smiling, and for a fleeting moment, the dimple appeared. “You’re terrifying, Reena Manji, because you did the opposite. You brought out the best in me right from the beginning.”
She turned and their eyes met. This was a lot to take in. She needed more answers before getting sucked into his gaze.
“Why didn’t you call me this week?” she asked. “If you’re not engaged why did you let me think you were?” True, he had texted her, and she’d ignored him, but he could have phoned if he really cared.
“You didn’t respond to my texts, so I figured you wanted to be left alone. Plus, my phone service went dead, and they haven’t been able to figure out why.”
Reena smiled. Ashraf. Her family had her back.
“I took it as a sign from above not to call you,” Nadim said. “I should have come by, though. I’m sorry. Avoiding you after everything that happened wasn’t fair to either of us. Actually, nothing I’ve done has been fair to you.”
“You regret this? Us?”
“No,” he whispered. “Never. But we should have been honest to our families. And to each other.”
That only sounded like regret with a coat of paint. Reena looked away, blinking.
It seemed old Nadim was the same as old Reena. Adapting to whatever others were doing, not taking what he really wanted seriously, and avoiding confrontation until he just couldn’t do it anymore. This was so different from the Nadim she knew now, the Nadim in the contest videos—caring, sentimental, and passionate about his interests. She’d thought it was an act, but maybe neither iteration of the man was fake. He’d just left that old him behind, come here, and found a home. And the new home brought out the absolute best in him.
“So, you really did want to move here? You weren’t forced?”
“I did. I conceded that I have terrible judgment both in business and in women, and my father agreed to help me start over.”
“A new job, a new country, and a new wife.”
“Yup. Facilitated marriage has worked well for many. If I didn’t like who he picked, I would deal with that, but I wanted to give this option a chance.” He smiled warmly. “Of course, I ended up liking who he picked a little too much.”
Reena couldn’t help but snort-laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“It was supposed to be Saira.”
“What?”
“Saira. My father offered my sister to your father, not me. It happened right after she caught her fiancé banging his Dutch cousin in their condo, so she needed to clean up her image. I was juggling two guys from Tinder back then, so I wasn’t the good, pure woman for you, either.”