Page 9 of Since You Stole My Heart

‘Is avoiding him and staying away from your home making it easier for you to manage this?’

She looked away. ‘I hoped it would, but not really.’

Kashvi thought she had a foolproof plan, but she hadn’t accounted for how sorely, constantly, miserably she would miss Swayam.

‘In that case, don’t you think it’s time for you to go back home?’ Maithili nudged gently.

Kashvi shook her head insistently. ‘Not just yet. I need a little more time.’

‘You can’t stay away from your own home indefinitely. At some point, you’ll have to face him,’ Maithili pointed out.

She lifted her chin stubbornly. ‘I’ll deal with it when it happens.’

A soft chime rang through the room, and Kashvi glanced at the clock on the wall.

Maithili leaned forward, resting her elbows on the wooden desk. ‘We’re out of time for today. Is there anything else you feel is important to discuss before we end this session?’

With a startled jerk, Kashvi remembered the messages she had been receiving at odd hours of the night from an unknown number. Their flirty undertone made her skin crawl.

But it could be a wrong number, or maybe just a prank.

Kashvi waved off the question, clinging to that logic.

Maithili measured her response for a moment. ‘Alright. We can pick this up next week. In the meantime, happy birthday in advance.’

Kashvi chuckled and acknowledged it with a nod. ‘Thank you.’

‘Your twenty-fifth year is a milestone one, so why don’t you consider taking medication for a week to manage the anxiety before it spirals into seizures again?’

It already has.

Kashvi yearned for relief, but it felt like the easy way out, and she didn’t deserve it. ‘No. I’m good.’

Maithili shot her a familiar, exasperated look. ‘I thought you might say that. For now, I’ll just prescribe a mild SOS dose. Take it if you feel an episode coming on. Okay?’

She was grateful for that anchor in the midst of the storm. ‘That works. Thanks.’

Just then, Kashvi felt her phone buzz in her jeans pocket. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

Luv calling.

She pressed the phone to her ear and quickly said, ‘Hey, yeah, yeah. I’ll be down in a minute.’

‘I thought you weren’t in touch with anyone from your group right now,’ Maithili said after the call ended.

‘I’m not, but my car is in the repair shop, and I needed someone to pick me up. So I asked Luv for a favour.’

As the printer whirred, Maithili studied her closely. ‘Are you experiencing that driving block again, like before?’

Kashvi stood up immediately, trying to sidestep the question. ‘Not at all. Just too tired to drive.’

‘Does he know you’re here for a session?’

‘No. Everyone knows I’m incapable of taking a day off. Kashyap Foundation Trust has a tie-up with your clinic, so I told him I had a date with paperwork.’

A faint crease appeared on Maithili’s forehead. ‘Work on a Sunday? He bought that?’

Kashvi chuckled. ‘Honestly, out of everyone in our group, Luv is the easiest to convince. He has no work-life balance either, so he gets me.’