I found myself grinning and delighted all the way home.
And when I slipped into my pajamas, poured a glass of wine, and made popcorn, I subconsciously checked my phone every three minutes. Half a movie later, Jay texted. Simply put, he had a good time.
I didn’t realize until the end of the week that Jay and I had actually been on more than just the one date. It had been a build of very cautious, innocent moments. I needed someone to lean on about the situation the company had left me in, and he’d been there. Somehow, those little moments turned into borderline dates and a relationship of some kind. Well, some kind of something that didn’t make me want to walk away.
Every morning, he brought a latte with breakfast and we ate in my office before the day started. He pulled me away from a hectic workplace for lunches across the street. When I stayed late, he stayed with me. Sometimes we ate dinners in the lab when my team came up short. Sometimes we ate them on the floor of my office, which sounded disgusting, but was quite comfortable and relaxed when I leaned against the wall and ended the night by resting my feet on his lap. He even gave me foot rubs.
He listened to me talk about my day then talked about his.
When I looked at it that way, we’d actually been on numerous “dates” and had been “dating” for a while now—not that I wanted that information brought to light.
But Jay hadn’t mentioned real date plans again, so when Friday ended, I asked him, “What’s next?”
“Looking forward to spending more time with me?” he asked, his face lighting up.
“I see you all day, every day.”
“Just until either this company goes down or gets rid of its legal issues. Then you’ll never see me around here unless we’re still seeing each other. And you didn’t answer my question.”
“Think you’re going to last that long, huh?”
“You might be in for a rude awakening if you doubt it. Tomorrow evening. Same time. Same dress code. We’re going to the lake.”
“Oooh, are we going fishing?” I mocked.
“Yes.”
“Ew.”
He grinned. When had his smile turned from something I had assumed he flashed at all of the girls to something I knew was sincere and meant only for me?
All those days until our next official date left enough time to fill in Preeti, Sana, and Reema. Those women pried like no one’s business.
We met at Reema’s apartment for wedding stuff. I was glad to see Momma here, out and about with women, away from Dad. She was a different person. Dad made her insecure, quiet, a shadow. With Reema’s and Preeti’s moms, she was herself. Free and cheerful and at ease.
The older women sat on the floor and stitched murals of Ganesh for Reema’s place, which she would share with Rohan after the wedding. The girls had already stuffed nuts and raisins into gold mesh pouches with gold ties. We were to set one on every seat for the wedding as a snack, seeing how long and tedious a Hindu wedding ceremony could get. Reema placed the last handful of pouches into a box beside the front door.
I sat on the couch behind Momma as she chirped away. I couldn’t resist playing with her hair. She always had it in a braid, but it was intensely frizzy. I absolutely had to fix it for her.
Reema’s and Preeti’s moms were not like the other aunties. They didn’t seem to care much about my past or my wayward attitudes about life. It was nice to sit with them and laugh about how hard they tried to get the traditional details down. We seriously needed a how-to book for Indian weddings.
“I heard you had dinner with Jay and his family,” Momma said hopefully.
I replied, “Yes. I’m sure you also heard that it went well and I behaved after a big argument with Jay?”
She sighed. “Always arguing.”
“He’s easy to argue with.”
“His mother says you’ve been spending some time together at work?”
One by one, everyone in the room glanced at me with knowing, arched brows. I groaned. “Yes. He’s helpful at work.”
“Isn’t he a nice boy?”
“Sometimes.”
The aunties laughed, but before Momma could delve deeper into the details, which I was sure would be requested via a private phone call tonight, Preeti’s mom mentioned how Preeti’s intended looked similar to Jay. This I had to see for myself, but something about Preeti’s shrugged shoulders and indifferent expression told me that Yuvan didn’t make her feel the way Jay made me feel. She was still hung up on her first love and I felt it.
Once the moms left, the girls and I sat around the coffee table and stuffed small gift boxes with assorted gourmet chocolates. These were to be placed at each reception setting.
As much as I actually wanted to discuss Jay, we immediately moved the conversation to Preeti.
“So, what’s wrong with him?” Reema asked.
“Yuvan seems like a nice guy,” Sana added, always the optimist. She was the most easygoing of us all. I was, by far, the least easygoing. Reema had strong traits, too, that Rohan matched perfectly. And then there was Preeti.
As a doctor, she was intelligent and independent. But she was also tied down to tradition with enough weights to drown her.
She forced a smile and said, “He’s fine.”
“Fine is not great,” I replied. “Something is obviously amiss.”
“He’s perfect on paper, but we don’t have a connection.” She slumped a little. “Is that really important?”
“Yes,” Reema and I said together, while Sana answered, “No.”
We looked to her as she explained, “Connections can be made later. Love can come later. And anyway, both things can fade. His other traits won’t fade, or at least not easily or soon.”
Logical Sana.
“You’re right,” Preeti replied. “I put too much emphasis on how I expect to feel that maybe that’s why I’m not feeling it. I just thought…that I’d be in love with my fiancé-to-be.”
Granted, while many of our friends were either “arranged” or had their spouses approved by their families, most of them were in love when they decided to marry. It wasn’t too much to ask for.
Reema and I glanced at one another as Preeti busied herself with boxes. We knew. We knew that once Preeti had fallen in love, she would always try to measure all other guys against the one who got away. I bit my lip because I wanted to ask…
“Just so you remember, Brandy and her brother will be at the wedding,” Reema said.
“I know.” Preeti smiled big. “I can’t wait to see her.”
Yet we all tensed at the idea of Preeti seeing he who couldn’t be named. She was still in love with her ex. That was the real reason she couldn’t scrounge up any feelings for Yuvan. As great as Yuvan probably was, he was not Daniel Thompson.
My phone rang. I dug through my purse before it went to voicemail. I hadn’t expected to hear from Shilpa.
“How are things with Jay?” she asked over the phone as I finished the last of the chocolate gift boxes with a perfectly tied bow.
“Calm. Why? What did you hear?” I asked.
She giggled. “Wanted to make sure that whatever you guys had been fighting about is okay.”