“Hey, Ishu, funny running into you here. Who’s your friend?” The girl’s voice is cheery in a way that feels insincere.
“Um. This is Humaira. A girl from my school. What are you doing here?” Ishu’s voice is determined, but she’s shifting from one foot to the other, and not holding this girl’s—Nik’s—gaze.
“Hi!” I abandon my efforts to open my umbrella—it was useless anyway—and stick my hand out. “You can call me Hani. That’s my dak nam.”
“I’m Nikhita—or Nik. I’m Ishu’s sister.” She takes my hand and gives it a firm shake.
“Right.” When I take her in properly, she looks distinctly familiar. Not just because of the similarities with Ishu—the big eyes and sharp jaw—but because I’ve seen her around school and at Bengali dawats. She was a few years above us and must have graduated at least two years ago.
“This is Rakesh.” Nik points to the man beside her, who holds up a hand in acknowledgement. “He’s my fiancé.”
“Wow! Congratulations!” I exclaim. I can now see the gleaming engagement ring on her finger. I don’t know how I missed it before. I bump Ishu on the shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me your sister was getting married?”
Ishu just produces a guttural sound that doesn’t sound fully human, and crosses her arms over her chest.
“You know, I think we were in the booth right next to yours in there. The food was really good, right?” Nik is wearing a smile and sounds pleasant, but there’s an undertone to her words that I can’t quite comprehend.
“I really liked it, yeah,” I offer, even though Ishu is currently glaring daggers at her sister.
“We should go,” Ishu says, and before I can say any more, she grabs my hand and leads me right out into the pouring rain.
Both of us are soaked within the space of about five minutes. And not soaked like our clothes are wet. Soaked like I can feel water inside my socks and my hands are already going numb from the freezing rainwater.
“What the hell, Ishu?” I have to shout to be heard over the rain against the pavement. Ishu just waves her hand over her head to acknowledge she’s heard me and keeps walking.
“There’s a café we can duck into here, and then I’ll explain.”
“You better have a good explanation,” I mumble, more to myself then Ishu since she probably can’t hear me.
The café is buzzing with people. Probably people who also ducked in to avoid the onslaught of rain. Still, Ishu and I manage to find a free table at the corner, facing the street.
Ishu, at least, has the decency to buy us both hot chocolates. As soon as they arrive, I wrap my hands around the mug, reveling in the comfort of its heat.
“Okay, don’t have a fucking orgasm from that hot chocolate.”
I shoot her the worst glare I can muster and she actually looks down at the table and mumbles, “I’m sorry.”
“Can you explain why we had to flee from your sister and her fiancé?”
Ishu takes a long sip of her hot chocolate before setting it down on the table between us and clearing her throat. “Nik said she was in the booth next to us.”
“So?”
“So …” Ishu’s voice is thick with frustration. “That means she heard … something. She knows something. And she’s going to use it against me.”
I have to think back to our time at the restaurant. It’s not as if we were talking about our deceptive plans constantly. Or talking about being in a relationship much at all, really. And why would her sister use it against her?
I shake my head. “I don’t understand. You think she knows about our plans? You think she knows you’re queer? Why would she use it against you?”
“You don’t have siblings, do you?” Ishu looks at me like I can’t possibly understand the struggle of having siblings.
“I have two brothers. That’s one more sibling than you.” My voice is more defensive than I intend it to be. “I think …” I add as an afterthought.
She tilts her head to the side to consider me. “And your two brothers have never … held something against you? Tried to one-up you? Bullied you?”
I shrug. “They’re quite a lot older than me. They’re married and living abroad and—”
“That explains it.” Ishu cuts me off with a roll of her eyes. “Nik is only a few years older than me. Unfortunately, we’ve spent our entire lives together and it hasn’t exactly warmed us to each other.”