Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) - Sonali Dev Page 0,82
he got a delighted laugh from her.
“You’re so going to win.”
He’d gained another five points. He now had a historically unprecedented lead. “Uncatchable,” the media kept calling it. “This election is yours to lose,” everyone kept telling him.
The morning after leaving India, he’d finally gone back to his campaign office. His staff’s excitement at having him back had made him feel an inch tall. Every one of them had teared up, and he’d realized how unfair he’d been in leaving them to fend for themselves while he licked his wounds.
But you’re back now.
That’s what India would’ve said. Yes, she’d taken to saying things inside his head. All. The. Time.
The past week, he’d gone back to his usual pace of work. Drowned himself in prepping for the debate, and getting caught up with his staff. Their purpose had multiplied manifold. They were raring to win this, to set things straight, to change the world. They’d all been the best in their fields when they’d given up everything to join his campaign.
Nadia had quit her job as a Kaiser surgeon. Xio had let go of her position as employee number six at a pre-IPO start-up. Xilong and Smita had given up hefty paychecks at law firms. Hari had given up partnership in his PR firm. The Fabulous Five, as they called themselves, had been working around the clock toward his victory for a year.
Every one of them had one thing in common. They had come to him and made the case to work on his campaign. They’d told him that they’d been waiting all their lives for someone like him, someone who’d made them believe again when they’d lost faith in the system.
How had he forgotten about them?
They had celebrated his debate performance—spectacular, even if he said so himself—with salted caramel ice cream from Bi-Rite and Bob’s Donuts. The family had all been there too. HRH had hugged every one of the staff and told them he loved them, which was so out of character that it had creeped the hell out of everyone and made Ma laugh until she cried.
Trisha had been in surgery and missed it.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there last night,” she said.
“Don’t apologize for doing your job.”
Abdul did his job. Now you do yours.
Was this going to be his life now? Having India’s voice run in his head all the time?
The week had felt like a year. Her words, her presence, it was all lodged inside him, but all it did was make him feel empty.
She had wrapped her arms around herself as she called him out for cheating on Naina. After the words left her, her long, perfectly sculpted arms unwrapped from around herself and fell to her sides. A letting-go.
Then she’d gone inside, leaving him staring after her, his heart hanging lopsided like a door knocker displaced after a door had been slammed too hard.
He hadn’t been able to move. In the end he’d dropped down on her front step and sat there examining every word she’d said to him from every angle. Unhealed wounds had opened back up as he turned his attention to them for the first time. His own panic and numbness had slowly started to make sense to him. By the time he’d pushed himself off the cold concrete the sun had started to nudge at the sky and he’d known exactly what he had to do.
How are you? He had typed and erased those words to her innumerable times. Like a smitten teenager. Something he’d never been when he was a teenager.
It was easy to assume she was fine, to take her strength for granted. It was what he’d done from the very first time he’d met her.
“What on earth are you eating?” Trisha asked, studying the bowl in front of him.
“Lunch.”
“Yash, is that . . . oatmeal?”
It tasted like throw-up, or maybe pus, and not the nectar kind either. A smile twisted his lips as he pushed it toward Trisha. “Want it?”
Trisha put a spoonful in her mouth. “It’s not bad. Thanks. Should I get you something else?”
“Not really hungry.” But he took a spoonful, because he had to make sure it was as bad as that first bite. True devotion is unconditional and its results are always sweet.
Trisha looked alarmed as she watched him swallow, but instead of commenting on it she turned to the debate. “I did DVR and watch the entire thing after my shift and you’re totally back.”