Chapter 36

Nandani would be on a plane to New York the morning after her final exams were done. She would be three weeks in New York, working at the magazine for two weeks, seeing what had happened with the accounts she had worked on, coming up with ideas for next year, catching up with friends she had made in summer, and celebrate New Year's in Times Square. And of course, Mukti would be there for most of it.

Nandani's parents held firm to their notion of not coming to visit. But in return, they had booked her into the hotel for the time she would be there. It was a nice gesture on their part. Especially since she had tried her friend in New York and found out she had moved in with her boyfriend. Though she did want to hang out while Nandani was in NY.

Mukti was going to fly out a few days after her so that she had some time on her own to get established with the magazine again. Two days after that she and Mukti would pitch to Crystal and her friends. Though she had a rough idea of what time they would have the meeting in the afternoon, she had warned them that they might have to be flexible as these things often changed last minute.

Nandani had marked the date with a giant red X in her calendar. She could have tattooed it on her ass because it was the date that would be the start of everything. When they would be on TV five years from now, talking about the keys to our success, we would smile and laugh about that first meeting.

By the next week, final exams were in full swing. That meant two things on campus: studying and partying. Nandani liked to focus on the former and get to the latter only once everything was ticked off. By which point the best parties were usually missed by her, which suited her just fine.

Which was the reason why she was asleep when she heard Mukti's cell ring Saturday night. She looked at the clock beside her bed and saw it was 2:30 a.m.

Nandani picked up the call, she heard Mukti's voice. Though she could not recognize the words as her tone was grumpy. A moment later she heard her shriek. "What?" Then Mukti's alert voice said, "I will be right there."

Nandani stumbled to her door, met Mukti as she was pulling on jeans and walking out of her room. "What is wrong?" she asked Mukti.

"My brother is at the hospital. Can I borrow your car? I need to go pick him up," Mukti replied.

Nandani's stomach leaped into her throat. "Manik? Is he Okay? Do you want me to come with you?"

Mukti brushed it off. "No, he is fine, just had to get a few stitches."

Nandani wanted to scream at her to tell her what had happened. She wanted to call Manik just to hear his voice and know that he was okay. In the end, she settled for walking up and down instead. She and Manik were not together. And he would have called Mukti, not her, for help.

The next half hour she paced in front of the door. Then up and down the stairs. Then back in her room. Twice she pulled out her phone to call Manik or Mukti but put it back down when she reminded herself she was not allowed to be worried about him like this anymore.

But she kept on worrying, what if Manik had been really hurt? She was crazy about him and could not bear the thought of him getting injured and not knowing she had his back.

When Mukti came back she was still wide awake. She tiptoed to the top of the stairs. "Everything okay?" Nandani tried to sound casual.

"Yeah. He just got into it with some guy at a party. They are both fine, apparently, just a little banged up. It is weird though because Manik does not usually fight," Mukti replied.

Thoughts flashed through Nandani's mind. She wanted to ask what had happened but did not. Instead, she forced herself back to bed before she could say or do something stupid.

*******

Emma was waiting in the kitchen to attack Nandani when she got home from an exam on Monday. They hung out occasionally but were not typically that tight. They had been close when she hung out with the football crowd during her Aryaman years. "So a funny thing happened," Emma said.

"What?" Nandani asked.

"My brother said Aryaman came to practice with a black eye and stitches today."

Nandani stared at her. "And?"

Emma went on as if Nandani had not said anything. "My brother saw it happen at a party Saturday. He heard Aryaman with some other guys. Apparently, he was talking about getting back together with you."

Nandani's eyes widened.

Emma continued, "Yeah but it gets weirder. Out of nowhere, Manik Malhotra hit him. They went at it for a few minutes before the guys were able to pull them apart. Both of them ended up in the hospital."

Thoughts were racing in Nandani's head. Either Aryaman was flat-out lying or had severely misinterpreted their conversation last month. Clearly, Manik had overreacted. She was shocked Manik had actually hit him. It took her a minute to realize that Emma was studying her reaction closely.

"Nandani, what is going on?" Emma asked. "Is there something I should know? About you and Aryaman?" She then paused, hesitated. "Or you and Manik? I will not say anything if that is what you are worried about."

Nandani sighed. "Nope. There is really not anything."

************

A few days later Nandani was back at work, and it felt right. Exams had been brutal, but thanks to her sudden lack of social life and newfound study time, she aced them.

Being in the New York office right before Christmas helped to clear away some of the depressing storm clouds she had been in the last few weeks. It reminded her why she was doing all of this, which she had desperately needed.

There was such a buzz around the magazine for the holidays. Though it was Christmas they had been finalizing the February issue and working on vendors as far ahead as June. The office was decked up in fine form with a giant decorated Christmas tree. Nandani's office was a cubicle down the hall from Crystal's office, which was already strewn with garlands and lights by the time she arrived. and working at a lifestyle magazine meant great swag; no red and green kitschy stuff in view. Instead, silver and white tinsel with white lights shaped like tiny pointed stars. Probably handcrafted.

Nandani had a wonderful catch-up with Crystal shortly after landing the day before. Crystal had taken her for dinner at one of her favorite places, an intimate Italian Restaurant L'Angeletto.

Crystal was thirty-five yrs old and was the youngest Director of accounts in the magazine's history. To Nandani, Crystal was everything that she had ever wanted to be; glamorous, smart, and successful. She traveled a lot for work, but no matter where she was based, she gave it her all.

"So tell me about the school," Crystal asked as she twirled a glass of white wine in her hand. "Has it changed anything for you this year?"

"Not at all. If anything I am more committed to the label," Nandani said honestly.

Crystal's eyes narrowed as she studied her closely. "Something about you seems different," she said.

Nandani was not sure what to say to that. "It has been a good year so far. I am learning lots in my courses that should help us in the next year."

"I am glad to hear that. We are looking forward to seeing the collection and the plan, Nandani. I have been hyping it to my friends. So if you don't mind talking a little shop on your first day, maybe we can run through your presentation outline."

"I don't mind at all. That would be fantastic," Nandani replied. And it indeed was.

Back in the hotel room, Nandani almost needed someone to peel her off the ceiling. It was the lone high moment for her in the past few weeks. The one that made it feel like success was so close she could taste it, and like all the blood, sweat, and tears were going to be worthwhile.