“If you want dinner and drinks, it’ll have to cost you something,” Kareena said. “After this is over, let’s leave before my sister and Dadi come back. The tailor they went to is in North Brunswick, and they’ve already been gone for two hours. They should be home soon.”
“I’m surprised you’re here, too,” Bobbi said. She wiggled her eyebrows. “Didn’t your boy toy say something about meeting up again this weekend?”
“He did,” Kareena said. And she couldn’t stop thinking about it. The elephant in their room was getting bigger and bigger as her sister’s engagement party closed in on them.
“Are you going to tell him how you feel?” Bobbi asked.
Kareena shook her head. Damn her best friend for knowing exactly what was on her mind. “I don’t think he’ll react . . . positively. Prem has been nothing but honest about what he thinks of romance from the very beginning.”
Bobbi and Veera looked at each other, then busied themselves with the tent cards.
“Oh my god, I hate when you two do that. It drives me insane.”
“Honey, if you don’t tell him how you feel, then are you two really being honest with each other at the start of your relationship?” Bobbi asked.
“He doesn’t think love sustains a relationship. I think it’s partially to do with his past, but also, I don’t know, maybe his parents? How am I supposed to argue against that?”
“You can only blame your parents for so long before you start making decisions on your own and using them as an excuse,” Bobbi said.
“Bobbi!”
“What?” she said with a shrug. “I learned that from therapy, girl. And we’re talking about Prem’s view on love. If he’s sleeping with you now and asking you to put your future reputation on the line for him, then it’s only fair that he’s honest, too.”
“Which means you have to be honest with him, too,” Veera added.
Kareena folded her arms and leaned against the table. “You know how some South Asian families aren’t that expressive? They just bring you a bowl of fruit when they want to say ‘sorry’ or ‘I love you’？ Maybe Prem’s kidnapping attempt was just that. An act of service.”
Bobbi threw her hands in the air and got out of her chair. Veera groaned and dropped her forehead to the desk.
“What? What did I say?”
“Kareena,” Bobbi said as she leaned across the table. “The biggest mistake you can make is trying to interpret someone’s actions in a way that fits your definition for love! If he doesn’t tell you, then he doesn’t love you. That simple!”
“And trust me,” Veera said. “We’ve met him and his friends. They’re all the ‘say what you mean’ type.”
“You’re telling me,” Bobbi muttered.
Their words circled in Kareena’s head as her dark thoughts bubbled and spread like rain clouds. At the shore, he’d thrown her with the news about his fiancée, and why he started his community center. It wasn’t until later when he dropped her off at home that she was able to dissect all their conversations over the weekend.
Damn it, her friends were right. She was interpreting something in a way to make herself feel better.
The front door opened, and a flurry of voices came through the entrance.
“We’re too late,” Veera whispered.
“And there is more than one,” Bobbi added.
Before Kareena could dive under the table and hide, the aunties poured into the room with Bindu and her grandmother behind them.
“Hi, aunties,” Bobbi, Veera, and Kareena said in unison.
“Hello, beautiful betas,” Mona Aunty said. She put her small purse on the kitchen counter and held open her arms and accepted a brief hug from each of them.
“Are you done yet?” Bindu said when she looked at the cards on the table. She held two shopping bags in each hand. “This was supposed to be finished by now.”
“Honey pie, I’d be careful the way you talk to me,” Bobbi said to her, crossing her arms over her chest. “You pay me just enough to plan your events, not to take disrespect.”
Bindi stepped back, and even though she had a look of irritation on her face, she didn’t respond. Damn, Kareena really needed to learn that trick.
“Are you here to help with the planning?” Veera asked the aunties.
“Bindu called us to see her final outfit selections,” Sonali Aunty said. “Loken should be here soon to try on his clothes so we can give the final approval for the sagai.”