She sat on the bed with a small shake of her head. “Life in India can be hard, right?”
I was surprised by her supportive tone. “Sometimes. But some things are better than I remembered.”
“It is these things that made me want to leave in the first place. I didn’t want my children to be under this microscope . . . the way I was,” Mom said.
I chewed on my lower lip while I contemplated her statement. Growing up in Illinois, I’d been more of a tomboy and had gravitated toward male friends. In fact, prior to meeting Carrie, for as long as I could remember, my best friend had always been a guy. If Mom and Dad had stayed in India, friendships with boys would have been forbidden.
“I never realized how interconnected everyone is in this city,” I said.
“In Ahmedabad, everyone knows everyone and everything. That is why I wanted to stay with you kids—to make sure you did not get caught in these traps. I know it is important for you to have friends here. Be discreet when you spend time with Tushar, and be considerate of Biren. Our families are very close.” She patted my leg and then said, “Dinner will be ready soon.”
I couldn’t handle the awkwardness of a family meal after the conversation we’d just had.
“Biren and I had talked about going out to dinner,” I said. “Is that still okay?”
She smiled and nodded. I, again, ignored the hypocrisy and texted Biren that it was an emergency and he needed to meet me for dinner.
27
Biren sauntered up to me in jeans and a blue plaid button-down shirt, and it was hard to ignore how attractive he was with his broad shoulders and trim body. Maybe my family was right, and it wouldn’t hurt to consider him as something other than a friend. It would certainly be simpler that way.
“So, what’s the emergency?” he said.
“Family drama,” I said, shaking my head. “I needed to get out of there for a bit. Sometimes that huge house feels very small with everyone in it.”
He laughed. “I’m sure it does. Privacy is hard to come by.”
I nodded.
He held open the door to the dosa restaurant he had chosen and gestured for me to pass.
“That’s a brilliant top.” He complimented the flowing red tunic I wore over a pair of skinny jeans.
“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself,” I said, already feeling lighter with the easy banter.
The smells of dosa cooking with ghee and spicy sambar wafting through the crowded restaurant were heavenly. My stomach growled the second we sat down. We ordered our food, him opting for a masala dosa and me going for a classic paper one. They arrived quickly, and the waiters showed up with pitchers of sambar and trays of chutneys in a colorful array of red, white, and green. We dived into our food, and the conversation with my family felt much further away.
He was a perfect biodata match, and I wondered if this could feel as comfortable and familiar as I had with Alex. Neel and Dipti had turned a biodata match into a Western love affair, so I knew it was possible to have both. Biren was the guy my parents and relatives wanted me to end up with, probably had since we were little kids. He was what was expected of me, and I enjoyed spending time with him. Perhaps a common background could take the place of the nebulous spark that growing up in America had led me to believe was love. Perhaps the spark would come later.
“What are Aussie girls like?” I said, trying to sound nonchalant.
He shrugged. “Same as any other girls, really.”
I’d tried to get information out of him about his dating history, but it seemed he didn’t have much of one, or what he did have, he wasn’t willing to share with me.
As we continued to talk and laugh, I couldn’t help but think about how easily I’d been able to open up to him from the start. His family was great, and would welcome me without reservation, just as mine would him. A classic “suggestion marriage.”
The restaurant was not too far from Lakshmi, so I suggested walking home rather than hailing a ricksha. I was in no rush to get back to the bungalow and the judging eyes. The cool night air felt refreshing against my skin. When we got to the entrance of my subdivision, two cows were standing in front of it, sniffing through some garbage lying along the outer wall.
We stood outside, casually chatting. I’m not sure if it was the darkness, or the random cows, or the fact that I’d just had a great conversation with him, or just that for the first time in weeks we were alone with no one watching us, but I looked at him, captivated by his full lips. I rose to my tiptoes and leaned in to kiss him. Maybe learning Alex had moved on was the last thing I needed to finally leave that pain behind and move toward something good, toward someone like Biren.