Our eyes met for a millisecond before we both quicklylooked away.
The flush spread from my face to my neck and chest. I had nothing to be embarrassed about. It wasn’t like we’d done anything wrong. We were working, and we fell asleep. End of story.
I faced my grandmother again. “What are you doing here, Nani?” I asked, attempting to take my mind off Sebastian’s proximity. “You never come into the office.”
“I’m meeting a friend for breakfast, and I was in the area. I thought I’d come by to see whether your father’s terrible taste in decor has improved. It hasn’t.” My grandmother’s eyebrows rose. “It’s a good thing he wasn’t the one who found you two here. It’s frowned upon to fornicate at work.”
“What?No!”
“We weren’t—”
“We didn’t—”
Sebastian and I stumbled all over each other trying to deny her accusation.
“We weren’t fornicating,” I said. “We’re fully dressed. Does it look like we were doing anything inappropriate?” I gestured at our clothes.
My grandmother’s gaze traveled between us. “It looks likesomething,” she said. “Perhaps if you fornicated more, you’d have given me great-grandchildren by now.”
“Nani!”
Beside me, Sebastian’s face turned the color of ripe strawberries. I would’ve enjoyed his discomfort more had flames of mortification not engulfed my own cheeks.
For an eighty-year-old, my grandmother was extremely open about sex. I wished she wasn’t.
“It’s the truth.” She harrumphed. “If you—”
“Please don’t say the word ‘fornicate’ again.” Normally, I’d never interrupt an elder, but I wasthisclose to dying fromhumiliation, and I had so much left to accomplish before I accepted death’s embrace.
Though to be honest, getting struck by lightning sounded really good right now.
“I wasn’t going to.” My grandmother’s gold bangles jangled as she smoothed the front of her coat. “What I wasgoingto say was, I’m not getting any younger. I don’t want to die before my favorite granddaughter walks down the aisle.”
Ha! I knew I was her favorite.Take that, Neha.
“You’re not going to die,” I said. “I mean, not anytime soon. You’re one of the healthiest people I know.”
“Yes, well, that doesn’t mean anything. I could fall off a cliff or get hit by a car.” She sounded unbothered by the thought. “Anyway, I’ve taken up enough of your time. The sooner you finish this project, the sooner you can work on my great-grandchildren.” She waggled her fingers at us and sailed toward the exit. “More working, less sleeping together,” she added over her shoulder. “Save that for a hotel!”
The door slammed shut behind her.
Silence rang in her wake. Sebastian and I stood stock still until voices outside the hall snapped us out of our trance. It was almost eight, which meant people were trickling into work.
“I should—”
“I need to—”
We bumped into each other as we rushed to grab our belongings. We mumbled our apologies before swiftly exiting the room.
I took the elevator; he took the stairs. For once, neither of us had anything snarky to say.
I didn’t know where I was going, but I had to get away from him ASAP.
It’s just Sebastian. The elevator doors pinged open.You’ve known him your whole life. Nothing’s changed.
By the time I crossed the lobby and stepped outside, I’d almost convinced myself that was true.
“Hello? Earth to Maya.” Vivian waved her hand in front of my face.