The Girl He Left Behind by Shilpa Suraj Read Free Book Online

firm grip on his arm. Looking down, he saw Sia tighten her fingers around his arm. Sliding her hand down, she laced her fingers with his and leaned into him.
    Minty and Adarsh both made varying noises of shock and anger from behind them. Their sputters of outrage were, however, cut off by Sia’s cool, level voice. ‘I don’t believe in judging people by their parents, Aunty. After all, I’m extremely fond of your daughter and look at what a bitch she has for a mother.’
    Mrs. Narayanan let out her breath in a hiss of shock. ‘How dare you talk to me like that?’
    ‘Oh, I dare. I dare quite a bit, Aunty. It’s something you might want to keep in mind before you insult one of my friends again.’
    Gathering what was left of her dignity, she shot a vicious look at Sia before saying ‘I’m not surprised your husband left you. No self-respecting man would want to live with someone like you. Your poor parents don’t deserve the daughter they’ve got.’
    ‘That’s a matter of perception, Aunty. I don’t think your daughter deserves the mother she got.’ Sia shot back.
    While Mrs Narayanan stalked off in high dudgeon, nostrils flaring and nose ring quivering in outrage, Minty and Adarsh burst into loud hoots and cheers behind them. Extremely conscious of the speed with which Sia slipped her fingers free of his, he said ‘You didn’t have to do that.’
    ‘No, I didn’t but I wanted to. Shall we go in?’ With a pang of regret, he saw that she was back to looking everywhere but at him.
    ‘Sure. But before that I just have one question.’ Adarsh said, having gotten over the terror of his ride thanks to all the drama that had ensued.
    The three of them turned to look at him. Smirking, he asked ‘Can I please sit next to Meenakshi?’ He shot an unrepentant grin at Minty when she growled at him.
    ‘Don’t call me that!’ She stabbed a finger at his chest while glowering at him.
    He sauntered past her towards the entrance of the restaurant, calling over his shoulder, ‘Oh, come on. At least it sounds like a name. Minty doesn’t even qualify as one.’
    Putting the unpleasant scene behind them, they settled in for dinner to the accompaniment of Adarsh and Minty good naturedly sniping at each other.

Chapter 6
    Ryan stared out at the rain pelting the city. Cyclonic storms weren’t uncommon this time of the year but the heavens probably opened up at the thought of Sia and him having dinner together, he thought wryly. He turned to face the door of his office as his team filed in and took their seats.
    ‘Good morning. Let’s get this session started. Who wants to go first?’ He wasn’t in the least bit surprised to see Sonia’s hand shoot up. At twenty two, Sonia was fresh out of college and had the earnestness that went with being young and raring to take on the world. She also made him feel like a fifty year old school principal when she raised her hand for permission to speak.
    ‘I’ve read the manuscript Sia gave us and I have to say that it follows the traditional lines of an alpha male and the woman who manages to make a dent in his titanium plated heart. I was wondering if instead of following the traditional print and electronic medium advertising that we do, we could leverage social media and open up interaction with the audience through a competition. Say we ask them to send in their own love stories and then a panel picks the winner who gets to have dinner with the author. From what I’ve heard the author is pretty famous and there should be a lot of women clamouring to have dinner with her.’
    As the conversation around the table picked up, Ryan let his mind sift through their ideas. When the discussion started to wind down, he spoke up again. ‘How many women do you think dream of meeting their Mr. Right under incredibly romantic circumstances?’
    Sonia and the only other woman at the table Tara flashed slightly abashed grins. ‘More or less every single woman in the world. It’s the big