They had two hours for lunch and then court would resume with Kareem’s testimony. Annika met her family in the hall of the courthouse, her father and brother sheepish and red-faced, her uncle oblivious as usual.
Her mother was the only one with something to say and jerked her aside to speak privately. “Annika, what is Kareem going to say on the stand today?” she asked with the same intensity of a woman on trial for murder.
“I don’t know. He’ll probably lie like everyone else.”
Sonia Bashir tightened her grip on her daughter’s arm and leaned in closely. “You haven’t lied, have you? You and Kareem—you didn’t, did you? Your—our family’s reputation will be in shambles!” she exclaimed.
It was then that Annika was hit with an epiphany of some sort. She spied Kareem on his cell phone outside the courthouse. If this was about pride, and she had injured his, couldn’t she restore it? She had been selfish and impulsive when she broke up with him. She had only thought of herself and newfound happiness. What if she can have a do-over? Say the things to him she should have said before?
First, she needed to calm down her mother.
“Mom, of course I would never sleep with a man before marriage. You raised me better than that.” The lie floated off her lips like a soft exhale. There was no one she lied to more often than her mother. It was like breathing.
Her mother lessened her grip and relaxed. “Maybe he was just talking about the way you used to hold hands…and the hugs you used to give him. That’s the physical part he was referring to, right?”
It was at that point that Annika realized her mother wasn’t interested in the truth at all; she wanted to hear her pretty little lies. This was their deal.
“Yeah, that’s what he was talking about,” Annika answered quickly, and then extricated herself away. “I have to go do something. You know you don’t have to come back to court, mom. I don’t need you here.”
“We’ll be here,” her mother answered.
Crap. Now she had no choice.
Annika busted through the doors and headed for Kareem.
With a plan.
“What do you mean you want to go talk, Annika? Don’t you think it’s a little too late for that? I know you’re easily distracted, but we’re in the middle of a lawsuit,” Kareem sneered, as he looked her up and down like a deer he wanted to shoot and then consume, assessing the most tender parts on her frame.
She swore he even licked his lips.
“Kareem, this has gone on too far. I want to talk to you privately and see if we can’t find a better way.”
Something got across to him. He relaxed, even smiled. “My apartment is just a block from here. As you know.”
Annika tried not to jump up and down on the cement steps, but she was overjoyed that this man was giving her a chance. Maybe he wasn’t an evil, wretched monster—which is exactly what she called him in the discovery process during the lawsuit; maybe he was just a frail human being trying to protect his pride.
Just like she was.
Kareem’s modern high-rise apartment hadn’t changed much since the last time she’d been there. “You still have the cashmere throw I got you,” Annika remarked, sitting on his dark grey mid-century couch. She had picked that out, too.
Kareem headed for the kitchen. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“No thanks. Let’s just talk, if you don’t mind.”
He came back into the living room with a shot of scotch over ice.
Annika looked at him curiously. “You don’t drink.”
Kareem took a sip, and then he sat down. “I got a taste for it after you broke off our engagement.”
“Oh. About that, I really want to back up and explain what happened.”
He leaned back on his matching dark gray armchair and crossed his arms. “I’m pretty clear on what happened. His name is Kiran Patil and apparently he has more money than I do. You better-dealed me, darling.”
Annika shook her head. “No, that’s not true. I thought that what we had was all there was to love. It wasn’t my fault. You have to admit you felt the same. You can’t say that you loved me the way a man should love a woman. Can you?”
He flinched. She hit the nail on the head.
“I was perfectly happy to marry you, Annika. I thought you felt the same.”
“I did. But it wasn’t real love. Maybe one day you’ll understand.”
“Is this what you wanted to say to me?” He glanced at his shiny Rolex. “We have to get back to court soon,” he added, shifting in his seat, looking restless.
Annika needed to cut to the chase. Fast.
She spoke quickly. “No. I want to say I’m sorry. I was selfish and unkind and I didn’t end things properly. I should have returned the ring, but it’s gone now and probably has fed hundreds of starving Indian children.”
Then Annika stood up, overcome with emotion. “I want to say I was a jerk and I deserve this lawsuit, but I want you to drop it. Please. My parents are watching!”
She checked Kareem for his reaction to see if she was getting anywhere with him. He looked…amused, a sick smile on his face.
Was he checking out her chest? She looked down and noticed that the top three buttons on her blouse had come undone. As she quickly buttoned them, he stood up and moved closer to her.
She recognized that look in his eyes.
Lust.
He grabbed her hands and stared into her eyes. Then he made his proposal, his voice low and quiet and cocky. “You’re afraid of what I’ll say on the stand, that your family will finally find out that I wasn’t just helping you arrange the furniture in your bedroom all those times.”
What else could she say? “Yes. My mother will kill me. They can’t know…”
“But Annika, it’s a court of law. I have no choice. I swore to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.”
“You could drop the lawsuit. Please.”
He squeezed her hands and moved closer. She couldn’t back up—the couch was stopping her.
It felt strangely similar to her nightmare.
Kareem leaned in close to her ear, his hot breath scented with cinnamon Tic-Tacs and fine single malt Scotch. “I’ll make you a deal, Annika. One last time in the bedroom and I’ll drop the lawsuit today. Just like that.”
It took a moment for Annika to process what he was suggesting. She moved away from him but there was no where to go. She fell back onto the couch. “You want to have sex with me?”
He trapped her on the couch like a predator. “Just once. We used to do it all the time, Annika. I think it’s a small price to pay to make a five million dollar lawsuit go away, not to mention the shame you’ll feel when your parents find out what you did to me in the car in their driveway on our fifth date. I had to take my pants to the cleaners to get the lipstick stains off the zipper.”
“You wouldn’t mention that! Would you?”
The callous look in his dead, shark-like eyes said he would. He had planned to humiliate her on the stand. He was an evil, wretched monster!
“Of course I will, Annika. And you can put a stop to all of it. Let’s just take off this pretty blouse and I’ll call my lawyer right away.”
For two seconds Annika considered it.
Just one time with Kareem.
And it would all go away.
I could close my eyes and make believe it’s Kiran, she told herself. And then she thought about Kiran—how she loved him so much. How could she give herself to another man ever again? It would be like trying to choke down a Twinkie when you’ve been accustomed to the finest crème brulee.
Then Kareem kissed her.
No, no, no! She could not choke down Kareem’s thin, tight lips even if she wanted to. Annika pushed his chest away and slid to the end of the couch where she could finally get free of him.
She ran for the door, leaving him with a few words before slamming it shut. “I wouldn’t sleep with you again for all the money in the world—even if you presented my mother with a framed photograph of me giving you a blowjob in the driveway! See you in court.”
“You can be assured she’ll know about it, Annika,” he shouted.
In the elevator, her fingers shaking, she dialed her mother’s cell phone to beg her not to be there.
No answer.
What did she just do?
Damn hornet’s nest. Couldn’t she ever just stay away from them?