Mirnda moved out, and Jack’s father and he moved back in. Jack set up his car in the driveway, got it running, and worked on the fine-tuning and cosmetics in his free time from his job.
Rakhi would sit in the driveway reading and studying while watching him work. She liked it when he got hot and sweaty, and she’d seduce him, pretending it was her car he was working on and that she couldn’t afford the bill.
“Is there any other way I could pay?” Rakhi would say and then bring him inside.
Jack’s dad seemed a lot happier too, but Jack knew that he didn’t like him. It was his father who had neglected Mirnda, and Jack couldn’t forget all the bad behavior and attitude his father had toward her when he came back. Jack knew that as soon as he got the chance, he would move away. As for Mirnda, she had moved to another city.
Jack tried to contact her and wanted to apologize to her. He was seeing another girl, but he still felt that what he had done to Mirnda was his fault. He realized that when she left during dinner, he didn’t meet her or even talk to her but went back with Rakhi instead. That was wrong. She had done so much for him, but he had never done anything for her. Never. And when she was sad, he chose to go with Rakhi instead of comforting her.
When Jack realized this, he felt bad and regretted his decision.
Mirnda called him and told him she was sorry for everything she had said about Rakhi. She also apologized to Rakhi for her bad behavior and told her to take care of Jack.
Mirnda admitted to Rakhi that she had been jealous of her and resented her because she had taken Jack away. Mirnda only had Jack as a meaningful connection, and with Rakhi being in his life, she had felt like that was taken away, which had made her mad.
Mirnda also told Jack that she loved him. She explained that the day she wore the black dress, she had been going to meet a guy, but when that guy touched her, she didn’t like it and felt disgusted. That was when she realized that she truly loved Jack and wanted to be with him. However, she said she was happy now that he had a beautiful and good girlfriend, and she hoped they stayed together. She blessed their relationship.
Jack regretted his decisions, knowing he had lost his relationship with Mirnda—not as lovers, but as stepmother and son. She had supported him, taken care of his needs like laundry, food, and even schoolwork he had struggled with. She had taken him out to buy things and been there for him in ways no one else had. Jack missed her, but he knew that choosing to go to Rakhi’s place instead of comforting Mirnda had disappointed her.
She had been living in his house for a few days, but he had never gone to see her, which disappointed her further, and so she left.
They might meet and talk in the future, but Jack knew it wouldn’t be the same as it was before. He regretted this and knew he would for the rest of his life. He just hoped she would live a good and happy life.
One day, when Jack was hanging out with Rakhi, as they did almost every day, he asked her if there was any truth in what Mirnda had said about Rakhi being too good for a lowly mechanic. Rakhi dismissed the idea out of hand.
“Love, you are brilliant, you are beautiful. I love that you’re a real working man. I could never be that, but I don’t put myself above you. And anyway, one day, you’ll own your own business, and you can hire our sons to work for you,” Rakhi said. Then she blushed and hid her face. She really did think of him as a long-term prospect.
A few weeks earlier, Jack had bought her a ring. It wasn’t an engagement ring; it was what he had been told was a promise ring—something to bind them together non-legally, to show that they were committed and faithful. The idea of being with anyone else seemed absurd to him, especially after that episode with Feraa.
Jack raised a finger, ran to get his overnight bag, and produced the ring. He gave it to her. “This just means you’re my girl, and I’m your boy. It doesn’t mean we’re getting married or anything,”
Jack added, wanting to make sure she understood he wasn’t actually proposing. She looked at him sweetly, gave him a kiss, and slipped it on her finger.
“I do,” she whispered and laughed.
