“Right. Thanks,” she said, her eyes glued to the guy as he stroked the back of her hand.
I breathed harder. I wanted to knock his hand out of the way, maybe even let him know that Liya was out of his league.
In the end, a trace of rationality seeped into my brain and slapped some sense back into me. Liya was not my type. Liya and I didn’t even like each other.
I clenched my jaw, unreasonably pissed, and left. She could date whomever she wanted. She wasn’t my girl.
Chapter Five
Liya
Reema yanked open my front door to let Preeti inside, and the hugs commenced. Preeti waltzed in wearing her usual slacks and blouse. She had four gears: sweats, saris, scrubs, and slacks. One of these days, I vowed to get her into a dress or skirt. And high heels. They were the bane of her existence.
I blew her a kiss from across the open space. She shrugged off her jacket, and everyone joined me in the kitchen. We hovered around the granite island where I finished putting the last touches on a giant cheese tray.
“Voilà! Ladies…” I bowed my head to the side and everyone oohed and ahed over the rectangular plate. I pointed to each group of goodies and explained, “Here we have the cheeses: cheddar, Brie, pecorino, Gouda, Manchego, and a lavender-and-herb goat cheese spread. Honey-glazed pecans, roasted almonds, dried figs, olives, apple and pear slices, grapes, crackers, and a mound of chocolate shavings.”
“Looks fancy,” Sana commented.
“We have red and white wine, and for the impeccably pure Sana, lemonade. Although I do urge you to allow me to mash up some mint leaves and pretend that you’re drinking a mojito.”
I pouted, and she waved her hand, caving in. “Oh, fine!”
“Really? After all these years you’re finally pretending to drink? I am definitely rubbing off on you.”
She carried the platter to the glass coffee table in the living room while I plucked a few mint leaves from my herb garden on the patio, washed, tore, and dumped them into a flute. I added lemonade and handed her the specialty drink.
Nibbling on chocolate, I sat on the couch, tucked my feet beneath me, and toasted, “To my girls. May fate never tear us apart. Thank you for supporting me through life in general.”
The ladies raised their glasses, and Reema added, “You know we love you. Thanks for letting us mess up your immaculate place for girls’ night.”
I went on. “Well, we are celebrating me, so it seems fitting.”
“How’s the new job?”
“Frustrating. The last person left a mess, and I have the pressure of organizing it. I only have one quarter to show improvements. No one told me this during the interview. Or when they offered the job. Sort of thrown in, sink-or-swim style.”
“You’re definitely the woman for the job,” Sana said before grabbing some almonds.
I blew out a breath and added, “And remember the guy my parents tried to match me up with?”
The girls nodded as Sana mentioned, “The cute one from mandir?”
I shook my head. “Ugh. Sure. He’s the lawyer my company hired to stave off some lawsuits, another thing no one bothered to mention during interviews. So I now have to contend with him on a weekly basis as he tries to ride my butt as if any of this corporate mess is my fault.”
“And if I’m not mistaken, you have pics of him on your phone?” Preeti teased.
I groaned. Biodata.
Both Preeti and Sana made gimme motions with their hands like a pair of toddlers. I pulled up Jay’s pictures, even though I hadn’t looked at them before. But now, those pictures, both professionally taken ones for work and action shots taken by family or with family, were quite stunning. I handed Preeti the phone, and she and Sana giggled over the pictures as if we were in high school crushing on some hot football player.
“He is so handsome,” Sana reiterated.
“Until he opened his arrogant mouth. Within two seconds of meeting him it was clear that he expected me to flounder at his feet just because he smiled at me.”
“I almost did…” Sana giggled.
“I don’t like guys like that. And then he called me out in my first upper management meeting. Should’ve thrown my phone at him.”
“So a guy has actually gotten under your skin?” Reema asked. “Hmm, interesting. Wish I’d been there to see it!”
“Why?”
“Guys don’t usually do that to you.”
“Well, what can I say? There’s just something about his upturned chin and conceited smile that makes me want to punch him.”
The girls stared at me. I shrugged and added, “Not that I would. I just…I dunno.”
“Rohan mentioned Jay and his brother the other day,” Reema said. “Don’t worry, I didn’t bring up anything regarding the dinner. Rohan said the family was super nice.”
I mumbled, “Rohan gets along with everyone.”
“He said Jay asked about you…”
My eyes flashed at her. “And?”
“Hmm, methinks you must be somewhat interested in him.”
“Why?” I scoffed.
“Just look at how quick you were to ask what Jay asked about you.”
Sana and Preeti concurred.
“Do you know him?” I asked Reema, seeing that her fiancé seemed to be friends with Jay.
“I know of him,” she replied. “I’ve seen him around mandir and met him a handful of times when Rohan was with him. But I have never hung out with Jay.”
“So what did Jay ask about?” I nonchalantly checked my nails as if I didn’t care.
“Mainly why’d you run off the way you did.”
“I didn’t want to meet him. I was manipulated by my dad. So I left.”
“You literally ran into him. Knocked him over and just left without apologizing. Did you at least apologize at mandir?”
I grimaced. “Why should I?”
Sana and Preeti stared wide-eyed.
“Come on. I’m not a horrible person.”
“Why didn’t you just meet him and his mother and say that you had to leave, or apologize that it was a misunderstanding and you weren’t ready to meet someone yet?” Sana asked.
“Are you serious? I’m not apologizing to him for anything. I was the one who was manipulated.”
“Still, there was a better way of handling the situation.”
“I suppose, but I did what I did. I think he expected me to apologize at mandir, which I didn’t…I’m sure my non-apology is why he embarrassed me at the meeting in front of my coworkers.” My face burned from anger.
“Maybe that wasn’t why.”
“It has to be. Unless he truly is a giant ass.”
Reema twisted her lips as she contemplated which was the worst of two evils, but she apparently came up short and shrugged.
“So, that’s that. The added drama to my already miserable existence at my new job. But on to happier things. Preeti.” I turned to her. “Did you say the other night that your parents wanted you to meet a guy?”
She nodded. “Yes. I’m not sure about him. But he is…you know?”