“Dadi,” Kareena interrupted. “I don’t think this is the time to—”
“You know Bindu got Kareena a massager for her neck for tension?” Dadi continued. “It’s a good gift! Maybe if she relaxes, she’d smile more, and people will see how beautiful she is. This girl doesn’t want it, which is good for me, because I think I need the massager now more than she does! I have all this tension. I’m old now, ready to die, and this massager is the only thing that helps me.”
She pulled open the kitchen drawer filled with spatulas and ladles to pull out the Asian Sensation clit stimulator vibrator.
“Oh my god,” Kareena gasped. She glanced around, hoping none of the uncles or her father could see this. Where was Bindu?
Kareena had no idea what she did in her past life to deserve this.
“Dadi, I don’t think you should—”
Dadi placed it on her neck and pressed a button. “See? I keep it in the kitchen so I can relax while cooking. It has twelve different speeds and patterns.”
Farah Aunty laughed. “I have that, too! Except I use it to massage other things.”
Kareena knew her grandmother was going to ask a follow-up, and the aunties weren’t going to hold back. “Something’s burning,” she blurted out.
It was like she dropped an atomic bomb in the kitchen. Everyone hustled to the stove, the oven, and the microwave.
“It’s not the daal, is it?” Sonali Aunty asked. “Something smells.”
“Maybe it’s your frozen samosas,” Farah Aunty replied.
“They aren’t frozen, they’re fresh!”
“Ha,” Falguni Aunty said. “You’ve never made a fresh samosa in your life, Sonali.”
In the midst of their distraction, Kareena rushed her grandmother, snatched the vibrator out of her hand, and tossed it into the drawer before slamming it closed.
“Kareena, what is this bakawaas you say?” Dadi hissed. “That’s my vibrator!”
“Exactly,” Kareena whispered back. “It’s a vibrator. You can’t use it in public!”
“I’m here!” Bindu’s voice boomed from the front entrance. She walked in decked out from head to toe in jewelry and sparkling clothes. Loken, an expression of exhaustion on his face, followed closely behind. “Happy birthday, Dinesh Uncle!” she shouted.
For the first time in her life, Bindu’s entrance was right on time. Everyone gravitated toward her like moths to a flame.
And when she heard a buzz coming from the drawer she’d just slammed, Kareena knew she’d reached the end of her rope. Scanning the kitchen, then the living room, she spotted Veera first and tried to catch her attention. Her bestie was still engrossed in a conversation. Bobbi was still nowhere to be found, and Prem was speaking with Mona Aunty’s husband in a corner.
No one would care if she left, Kareena realized.
She backed out of the sliding doors leading onto the deck and closed it behind her. She needed a moment with her car, with her memories, away from everyone. Especially Dr. Dil.
Chapter Fourteen
Prem
Mom: You’re kissing a woman in public, Prem.
Prem: Yes, I’ve heard from the family WhatsApp chat this week.
Mom: Now you have to marry her.
Prem: Please tell me you’re joking.
Mom: You ruin all my fun.
Prem: If my life is your only source of entertainment, you need better hobbies.
Mom: I do, but your father doesn’t like anything I want to do.
Prem: Your hobbies shouldn’t be attached to Dad’s.
Mom: He gets sad if I do things on my own.
Mom: Is there something between you two?
Prem: No, Mom. I’m leaving.
Mom: Fine. But just know that if you don’t visit soon, your father and I will.
Prem: Noted.
Deepak: Hey, have you seen Bunty?
Prem: What? No. Why do you ask?
Deepak: I haven’t seen him, that’s all.
Prem: Is Rina’s friend boring you?
Deepak: No, she’s awesome. But if Bunty makes this uncomfortable for all of us by doing something stupid, then we’re going to be SOL. He has the car keys.
Prem knew that the party was going to be a setup. He was willing to chance it because he was desperate to see Rina again. He hadn’t been all-consumed like this with a woman ever.
Their second kiss changed everything. It meant that the first time he tasted her wasn’t a dream, because he could replicate the feeling of being with her. Now he was hooked. Her mouth was the only thing that he could think about since their Met Museum date. Between patients, late nights while he was lying in bed, during his workouts in his building’s gym.