Reena fidgeted with her chopsticks, scraping the rough wood with her fingernails. “This isn’t my first…I’ve been downsized twice. Last time Mum kept saying ‘how could you let this happen to you?’ And Dad kept saying ‘now’s the time to join the family business.’”
“And you don’t want to do that.”
“No.” She pressed her eyes closed a moment. “I’m thirty-one. I can afford to live alone only because my parents own this building and charge me a fraction of what the average Toronto rent is. It’s still hard to stay afloat. As soon as things start going well and I start to think,there, I’ve done it, I am an adult now, boom. Downsized again. Don’t get me wrong, I know it could be worse, but I wish their help didn’t come with so many damn strings. Telling me where to work. What to eat. Where to live. Who to marry.”
Nadim sat silently for a while. Reena wondered if she had said too much. Delved too deep into serious talk. Not to mention that the marriage comment didn’t shine too brightly on him.
He finally spoke. “I’m sorry, Reena. I…I’m sorry you’re going through this. A part of me wants to say you should be happy your parents care enough to interfere. But that’s not right, either. There should be a middle ground, yeah?”
His parents didn’t care enough to interfere? Reena tensed. “I’m sure your parents care.”
He smiled sadly. “Let’s just say my father didn’t send me to school in England only for the quality of education. Out of sight, out of mind.”
“Nadim, that’s…I’m sorry. That’s messed.”
He sighed. “Yeah. Messed. I was such a cliché…screwing up to get noticed. And when he had no choice but to notice my mistakes, I wasn’t left with many options.” He absently glanced out the window.
There it was. A little hint he had a past he regretted. But how exactly had he screwed up? Should she ask now?
No. Not now. Not while he looked at her with warm, concerned eyes. He put his hand over hers, which were still clutching her chopsticks. “Enough about me and my past, though. I amsosorry about your job. If you need any help at all with your search, please count on me. I can look at your CV or practice interviews. I’ll keep your secret for as long as you need. Have you found any good job leads?”
“Yeah, some. My employment counselor is optimistic. I’ll be okay.”
“Keep your chin up, yeah? Let me clean up dinner, and then maybe a cup of tea? Or something stronger?”
She sighed. “I have to wash my hair. The lice stuff.”
“Right. I’ll make tea while you’re in the shower. You can drink it while I’m combing you.”
“Okay.” She got up from the table slowly, straining not to meet his eyes. She couldn’t bear to see pity in them.
“Reena.” He held her arm as she started to walk away. “I’m glad you told me. I won’t tell your parents, you have my word.”
Later, after he helped her rub the noxious chemicals into her scalp, she sat alone on the edge of her tub, letting the bug killer do its thing. She decided then that this could very well be the absolute lowest point in her life.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I’m definitely not finding anything,” Nadim said. They were both on the couch in her living room, sitting sideways. Her wet hair was pulled into sections, which he combed through.
Hallelujah. Duncan was right. “Yay.” She deadpanned, before sipping the tea Nadim had spiked with bourbon. Good man, this one.
“Sorry again to have to put you through this,” he said.
She chuckled. “You’re coming along nicely in your Canadian assimilation. Step up your apologies a bit more, and start ordering your coffee double-double and you’re there.”
He laughed. “I’m doing my best. Eh.”
He combed silently for a while as Reena considered how to get the conversation to steer toward his past again.
“You know,” he said, doing her work for her, “years ago, I had a dream of moving to Canada. It’s a little surprising it’s actually happened.”
“Really? When?”
“As a boy. Before England. Once I got there, I figured I’d end up staying in London.”
“Then whydidyou come to Canada?”
He didn’t answer right away, but without being able to see his face, she couldn’t guess what he was thinking. “I told you. My father invested with your father and arranged this opportunity for me to learn from him.” He paused. “I’d admired your father’s reputation as a successful real estate developer. I’d heard he was like the Muslim Donald Tr—”
