Naina had expected no different. Embarrassment had been an integral part of Naina’s life. This feeling of being naked in public, she should have been used to it by now. But she still felt scraped raw by the incident. She couldn’t believe she’d let Vansh see her like that, the pathetic girl with a mother whose arm was in a sling.

But she’d had to tell him only once. Once. About why Mummy behaved the way she did. And he’d understood.

Maybe Naina was wrong that his wanting to fix things was about control. Maybe it was that he was able to empathize in this way, with connection rather than sympathy. Maybe that was what made him such a magnet for the Haris, and Nainas, and even Chandnis of this world. For the many friends he had across the globe.

She tried not to think about how she couldn’t even hold on to the few connections she did have. She hadn’t spoken to Yash, really spoken to him, in years. And Mina Auntie’s reaction had crushed something inside her. Mina Auntie without her warmth tilted something about the world off its axis.

Vansh hadn’t told Naina the part about modeling her mother’s shirts. Naina had overheard Sid Dashwood and Vansh talking. Sid had been so amused by the story—and Vansh’s new wardrobe—that he had offered to take pictures of Vansh in the shirts. Naturally, she’d been wrong about Sid too. The photographer had obviously also fallen prey to Vansh’s charms. She’d admitted to Vansh that she’d been wrong and that Sid had not, in fact, had ulterior motives in making friends with him.

“I think you’ve atoned enough, Vansh. You can stop wearing the shirts now,” Naina said, such warmth burning in her heart that she pressed a hand into it.

The way he looked at her told her that his wearing the shirts definitely had nothing to do with atonement and everything to do with her.

“Are you telling me to take my shirt off, Ms. Kohli?” Vansh said. “I think that’s somewhat inappropriate in a work setting.”

Hari giggled.

This seemed to ease some of the guilt obviously deeply lodged inside Vansh about what he’d put Hari through, and the two high-fived.

“The workday is almost done,” Naina said, and Vansh whooped and Hari blushed.

Makayla was in Nepal and Sadiya had left for the day. Mariel was the only one who was a direct Omnivore employee, and she was the only one still going into Mehta’s office.