Nights Like This by Divya Sood Read Free Book Online

visible on Anjali’s skin long thereafter. My phone rang.
    â€œYes?”
    â€œAre you okay?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œMaybe we can do dinner?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhy are you being like that?”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œLike that ?”
    â€œI’m fine. I’m just a little tired with all this studying.”
    â€œReally? That’s really funny since you left your MCAT book and your journal on the table.”
    â€œPlease don’t read the journal,” I said foolishly.
    â€œThat’s what you’re worried about? Seriously, Jess.”
    She hung up.
    I stood staring at my phone. It wasn’t so much that I had lied to Anjali. It was more that she had let me know that she had caught me. I debated calling her back. I decided I had nothing to say.
    I scrolled through my phone again. I stopped at the Ts and scrolled more slowly until I read “Tiffany.” My thumb hovered over the send button. Send…don’t send…send. I pressed the button and held my breath.
    â€œHello?”
    â€œHey, it’s me,” I said.
    â€œJess?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œWhat can I do for you?”
    â€œWould you want to meet up for a drink?”
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œEr…now. If you can’t, it’s cool.” I said.
    â€œAnything specific you want to talk about?”
    â€œNo.”
    Silence.
    I envisioned her tossing her blonde hair to the side, biting her lip in apprehension and making what seemed like the biggest decision of her life.
    â€œSure…where?”
    â€œI’m at Central Park.”
    â€œThat’s doable. I’m actually just five minutes away.”
    â€œAll right. I’m going to wait for you at the fountain we used to go to.”
    â€œSome things never change, Jess. I’ll see you soon.”
    â€œAll right.”
    I went back to the fountain and sat cross-legged on the pavement, watching the movements of the water. I listened for the musician who had played “Pachelbel’s Canon” the night before but even he was not there. Neither was the Spiderman kite. And I didn’t have Tracy Chapman in my pocket. In the course of a day, everything had changed. Even me, I thought.
    But it wasn’t me who had changed; life did. I was the same Jess that had come to the fountain when Tiffany and I were in a blissful relationship and then again when she had cheated on me. I was the Jess that took time off work to come ponder flowing water. And now, again, I was here pondering the fate of my life. And for all my pondering, I decided that I did love Anjali and I hated Ish Mehra.
    Why then had I deflected Anjali’s unspoken proposal? I didn’t fully understand. Why I had called Tiffany of all people I didn’t understand either. And then there was the nameless photographer I had decided was the fate of my life. What was I doing?
    I rose from the ground and walked circles around the fountain. My phone rang.
    â€œJess?”
    â€œTiffany?”
    â€œI’m here.”
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Chapter Five
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    We were halfway through our second round when Tiffany asked the question.
    â€œWhat’s going on with the novel?”
    â€œI don’t work on it much,” I said.
    I shied away from her gaze, believing that if she looked in my eyes, she could see through me.
    She sat in silence as did I, the murmur of voices around us a welcome distraction.
    â€œWhy aren’t you writing?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    Tiffany sighed. “I think you know Jess. Hell, even I know.”
    â€œThen why the fuck did you ask?”
    â€œI thought you might want to talk about it.”
    â€œI don’t,” I said.
    â€œWhat are you so scared of?”
    â€œI said I don’t want to talk about it.”
    â€œThen why did you call me?”
    â€œYou’re full of questions, aren’t you? I called you because I wanted to see you.”
    Tiffany tilted her head