Page 93 of The Encore’s Crown

“I wanted to surprise you.”

Mrs. Malhotra touched Radhika’s arm. “He has eaten almost nothing.”

“I’ve been eating continuously since I arrived.”

“See?” her mother said. “Almost nothing.”

Radhika laughed. The sound reached into every exhausted, nervous part of me and pulled it loose. Her father rose from his chair.

“We will continue our conversation later.”

“Looking forward to it,” I said.

Radhika looked between us. “No, you aren't.”

“No,” I admitted. “Not even a little bit.”

Her father’s mouth twitched. Radhika caught it and her eyes widened slightly.

“He likes you.”

“I wouldn't go that far,” her father said.

“His face moved,” she said. “That’s practically an embrace.”

Mr. Malhotra walked away before either of us could enjoy it. Radhika watched him leave, then looked at me.

“I should show you to your room.”

Radhika pulled me toward the staircase. The upper floors were quieter. Long corridors led to doors looking onto the courtyard filled with palms and flowering vines. Every few feet, I passed another painting, another sculpture, another photograph of someone famous standing beside someone even more famous.

“My room is in another country, isn’t it?” I asked.

“The guest wing.”

“You have wings?”

She stopped in front of a carved wooden door and opened it. A huge bed stood beneath a canopy, facing windows that opened onto a private terrace. There was a sitting area, a marble bathroom, fresh flowers, a tray of fruit, and my sad black duffel resting on a bench. I stepped inside.

“This is a room?”

“One of them.”

“How many are there?”

She smiled. “Don’t ask questions you aren’t prepared to hear the answers to.”

The door clicked shut behind her. I turned, finally we were alone. I crossed the room before she could say anything, caught her around the waist, and pulled her against me. She squeaked, like I had never kissed her before in my life. My mouth found hers before the sound had fully escaped. Her hands slapped lightly against my arms.

“What're you doing?”

“Kissing my girlfriend.”

“My parents are downstairs.”

“I met them. Mom's nice, dad hates my guts. I remember.”

“You can't immediately corrupt their home.”