45. Vas

45

VAS

I woke up, staring at the plain white ceiling in disbelief. Wait, that was supposed to be orange and rose and brown. I was supposed to hear Adina's laughter in my ears, not the beep of the machine monitoring my vitals. I looked in confusion at the person sitting next to me, who smiled gently.

"Bit of a rough landing, eh?" he asked as he began to detach the IV. "You two were vibing in there, Mr. Singh. Of course, everyone has a good experience, and we make sure of that, but the way your brainwaves synced up was impressive. That's how I know that your match was perfect." He smiled. "I did not expect that since the algorithm didn't match you."

Match?

Right. I was in the Perfect Match Studios, waking up from a virtual adventure I had shared with Adina.

No, with Jenna.

"Is Jenna awake too?" I asked, then cleared my throat.

The tech handed me a bottle of water. "Yes. She's probably being unhooked from the machine right now. I know you two came together, so as soon as you're ready, you can meet in the lobby."

"Thank you." In the time it took me to drink down half the water, the tech got to his feet and left the room with a murmured, "No rush." It was just me, my shoes and jacket, and a thousand new experiences in my head.

I had not written that story.

Yes, I'd written something along those general lines, but for it to evolve the way it had?

The desperate acts, the danger, the passion…I wasn't good enough at writing to get all that down. I didn't feel bad about that, but fuck. This was what I wanted for my company, this level of innovation and creativity. This was what AI had never really managed to deliver. I was going to have to rethink our interface because I had a ton of new ideas and…

You're supposed to go back to India next week, remember? You're moving on to another company, another idea. It's time to go home and let your parents find a new bride for you.

The thought repulsed me. More than ever, I knew now that the fate my family had laid out for me wasn't one I could follow. I just couldn't do it. It wasn't even all about Jenna, although…

I closed my eyes and tamped down firmly on my body's reaction. I was not going to get hard right now. The sex had been…well, phenomenal…but I hadn't had it with Jenna. Adina wasn't Jenna. She was just an aspect of her; she wasn't real. Not any more than James was real.

I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of their happily ever after, though.

You can have that. You can live the life you've always wanted. You can get to know Jenna better, at least—try that much. Give both of you a chance.

I was making a hell of a lot of assumptions right now.

I checked the clock. To my surprise, only three hours had passed, just as we were told. I kind of expected it to have taken longer because so much time had passed in the virtual world.

Right now, I felt more like James than Vas, but I knew that the sensation would pass the moment I got exposed to my daily reality once more.

Was Jenna okay?

Had she enjoyed herself?

Shit, had she been traumatized when that asshole Jeffry had pretended to cut off her head and held a gun on her?

Was she okay with all the sex we'd had?

It hadn't been part of the script, and Jenna hadn't expected that. Would she be angry with me?

I took a bracing breath, then got out of the chair and hunted down my shoes and jacket. I needed to talk to her as Vas, not James, which would be difficult. In my mind and my soul, she was still my wife.

The woman I loved.

I exited the room and walked down the hallway to the lobby. It was nearly abandoned at this hour, with only the receptionist sitting behind her desk, and Jenna.

She was facing away from me, her head slightly bowed, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking, if she was okay.

Stepping closer to her, I brushed my fingertips over her shoulder.

She turned and looked at me, beaming with joy, and so like Adina that for a moment I couldn't breathe.

"Vas," she said softly. "That was incredible."

"I…" What was I going to say?

I'm glad you liked it.

Want to do it again sometime ?

How do you feel about taking a chance on a man who's been living under the expectations of his family for so long he's almost forgotten what it feels like to think for himself?

In the end, I just opened my arms. She came into them easily, folding me up in a hug that felt like the purest form of comfort. I let her hold me and held her back, and my heart finally stopped pounding.

I had no idea how much of this was the residual effect of the Experience we had just shared and how much was simply my reaction to Jenna, or Adina, or both, but I was determined to figure it out. It was time to stop thinking about what my father wanted for me, my companies, and the family. I could and did, serve my family in so many ways.

It was time to make a move for me. And with Jenna, I was finally ready to do it.