Leena kept her vigil outside the study. She started to walk in, but paused for a moment. She was unsure if she wanted to do this just now. She walked in, and found Kevin at the computer, fingers pounding away at the keyboard, staring intently at the screen. It was obvious he was working again.

  "Kevin," she began. When he straightened up and turned his gaze to her. "About this afternoon……I need to explain," she said in a small voice. Leena walked slowly over to the desk and paused near Kevin, her head lowered. She was nervous and afraid of how Kevin might react, so she didn't dare raise her head and look at him.

  "Okay. Go ahead. I'm listening." Kevin set some papers down on the desk, and then leaned back in the chair. He stared at Leena's pretty face with an intrigued glint in his eyes. He was very curious what she was going to say. She had his undivided attention.

  "Well, I'm sorry that I didn't tell my friend that I'm married. But it's not because that I'm ashamed of you, not at all! It's just that our marriage was kind of sudden, and I don't want my friend to worry about me. I was waiting for the right time, and it never came. So I didn't say a word to her. I am really sorry that I ignored your feelings and kept you a secret. Besides, how was I supposed to know she'd fix me up with some guy? She said the blind date was for her!" Leena explained all this timidly, in a small voice like a kid who was caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. She knew she was wrong for hiding the marriage, and worried about what Kevin might do.

  "Nana, come here." Kevin put out a hand and reached for her, beckoning her to come forward. Yes, he was angry when he found out that Leena's friend didn't know about him. But he was mad only for a moment. Once he calmed down, how could he ever really blame her? Her explanation made perfect sense, and how was she to know her friend was setting her up? So now, after h

  nd collected as her, at least she could make herself look more mature and sophisticated. Maybe Kevin would like that.

  "Who told you that I like girls that are more mature?" Kevin was very confused. Where did she come up with that? It seemed that they really needed to talk more. Everyone changed, and they grew. You had to either accept what the other person became, or dump them and move on. 'They grew apart, ' their friends would say. If one of them changed, Kevin would prefer to work through it.

  "But you like Daisy, don't you? And she's a mature girl," Leena said in a small voice. She lowered her head again as well. Right now her face reflected all of her insecurities, in plain view for Kevin to see.

  "Okay, let's say you're right. Let's say you did your best to imitate Daisy so I'd like you more. But what if I really didn't like you? What if, despite your best efforts, you ended up a pale shadow of Daisy, and I still didn't like how you changed? And what if you lost yourself in the process, so you had no idea how to be you anymore?" He knew he sounded cruel, but she needed to understand. There was no point in changing her personality for him. What he really wanted was Leena. Not some fake Daisy, not some fake person. Just Leena. He liked her for who she was.