“Simple.” Sabina stretched her arms wide. “This. I wanted to take care of this building, to preserve our history, to continue the legacy by caring for my family.”
“And having children to pass it all on.” Meena bit into a sweet, buttery cookie. “What happens when your children inherit your apartments?”
“My eldest doesn’t want to come back to Boston for a while,” Uma said. “She’s happy in Boulder and plans to stay there.”
“My son turned twenty-five last year.” Tanvi rested her chin in her hand. “He wants to stay in New York City, doesn’t want to live here just yet, and that’s fine with me. Our parents went back to India when we inherited, but none of us plan to do that.”
“This feels more like an inquisition than a conversation,” Uma stated.
“Are you doing a story about us?” Tanvi asked. “The women of the Engineer’s House. I would read that.”
“I don’t want any part in it,” Uma grunted.
Meena glanced at Sabina, who raised her eyebrows.
“As you’ve said, this building is a community. I’m trying to get to know you better.” Meena hoped they would be appeased so she could keep digging.
Tanvi reached over and gave Meena a side hug. “We’re happy to be your friends.”
This clearly wasn’t working in terms of finding out who had the secret. Meena changed course. “What are your plans for Valentine’s Day? Are you going to dress up like cherubs and shoot arrows at people walking by?”
Tanvi laughed. “That would be fantastic.”
“We’d get arrested,” Sabina said.
“This is a holiday we celebrate separately,” Tanvi explained. “Date night with our husbands. Pi and I are going to Ostra for seafood and champagne and then a little nightcap. I ordered his present from La Perla, which is really a present for both of us.”
“Vin and I are feasting on chocolate fondue.” Uma winked. “We won’t even make it to the bedroom.”
“I’m glad for soundproofing since you live above me,” Meena said.
“Jiten and I will have a couple’s massage at home,” Sabina added. “A catered dinner, and then we’ll dance to our favorite classical pieces, and we will definitely make it to the bedroom.”
“This building becomes a love den. You better have plans,” Tanvi recommended.
“I do.” Meena finished off her tea. “With Sam.”
Their reactions were all different. Tanvi clapped her hands in excitement. Uma smirked. Sabina’s face was neutral.
“He finally asked you out,” Tanvi said. “I’m so proud of him.”
“I asked him.”
“Good for you.”
“You really are settling in,” Sabina observed.
Meena decided to drop a crumb, reveal a part of herself, share a bit of her truth. “I am. It feels seamless. You’ve all made me feel like I’m part of a giant family. I haven’t had that. Not even when my parents were alive. It was just the three of us. We were close, but there were some gaps, differences in the way we looked, the way others looked at us as a family. I was adopted, and while my parents never made me feel like I wasn’t theirs, there was something missing. Not love, more like grounding. I don’t know if I’m making sense.”
“I had no idea,” Tanvi said.
“I don’t really talk about it.” Meena crossed her arms. “As I was going through Neha’s things, I found out why she left me this apartment. You were right. She knew my parents.”
“Oh my God,” Tanvi said. “What did you find?”
“It’s a little complicated.” Meena was cautious in revealing too much. “Neha wasn’t very direct about it.”
“You’re making assumptions,” Uma argued.
“I’m putting the pieces together,” Meena said. “Did Neha ever mention anything to you?”
“No,” Tanvi whispered.
“Neha probably got distracted and forgot about it,” Uma suggested. “She could be like that.”
“She never mentioned anything about it,” Sabina said.
“That’s too bad.” Meena was disappointed in their excuses and denials. One of them knew the truth. “I was hoping to learn more.”
“Who were your birth parents?” Uma asked.
Meena decided on half truths to avoid direct confrontation. “Neha didn’t leave any names, which makes it hard to research adoption records.”
“What did she say exactly?”
“A few notes here and there confirming that she intended to leave this apartment to me. It makes sense since she didn’t have any children of her own.”
“Leave it to Neha to be so vague,” Tanvi muttered.
“I never thought about searching for my birth parents. I wanted to know more about my ethnic background, but that was all. I loved my parents, and we were a family. I didn’t need to know more.”
“What about after they died?”
“Their death was shocking enough.” She rarely talked about this. She let the grief through instead of reciting an emotionless script. “There was an explosion. Something about an underground gas leak. They were in the house. I was already at school.”
“Oh no.” Tanvi took Meena’s hands. There were tears in her eyes.
“It was a long time ago,” Meena said. “I was barely sixteen, I didn’t realize what it meant to lose all the documents as well. Everything was gone, including any adoption records my parents might have kept.”
“I can’t imagine losing everything like that,” Tanvi said. “In an instant. My heart hurts for you.”
Meena cleared her throat. Tanvi’s kindness made Meena’s loss feel more acute.
“There is nothing left?” Sabina asked. “No link back to your birth?”
“I haven’t really looked. I didn’t know a lot, don’t remember what hospital I was born in or if there was an agency involved. When the social worker helped me get an ID, we went through my school records, but there was no birth certificate as part of it.”
“How can we help?” Uma asked.
Confess. Except only her birth mother knew. The other two were innocent. “I don’t think there is much, unless you remember anything Neha might have said to you.”
“She also was erratic about secrets,” Sabina added. “If she wanted to share, she would. If she didn’t think it was important, she would forget.”
Meena nodded but stayed quiet.