Ankita made a sound of exasperation.
Meghna grinned. She’d never had any intention of keeping the truth from her best friend, but she hadn’t been able to resist giving her a hard time. “Look, I’ll explain. But you can’t tell anyone. Not your parents, not Rishi, not…”
“Fine! Just tell me.”
“We’re not really engaged. We’re just sort of engaged. Fake-engaged.”
“Fake-engaged,” Ankita repeated dully. “And that means…”
“That we’re not going to actually get married. We’re just pretending.”
“Riiiiight. Sure. Of course. Makes perfect sense. A totally normal thing to do. No need to explain any further.”
“Glad you get it.”
“Meghna!” Ankita grappled for the remote and muted the show, frustration clear on her face. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Meghna sighed and tossed her pizza slice back into the box. She wouldn’t be able to finish it while they were discussing this.
“So, remember how Seth asked me to be his best man?”
“Yes, but…Oh,” Ankita said, realization dawning on her face. “Ohno.No, no, no. Seth never should have asked that of you, and you never should have agreed to it, butthisis not the answer. I mean, does he know?”
“Seth? No, I haven’t told him that I’m engaged yet.”
“No. Karthik. Does Karthik know you’re using him?”
“I’m not using him!” Meghna said indignantly. “And if I am, he’s using me too. It’s mutual. We’re using each other. And this was all his idea.”
“Of course. That makes it all just fine then. I’m sure you won’t have any issues keeping the truth from Seth. Or from Karthik’s parents. Or from yours.”
Meghna swallowed, pushing down a twinge of discomfort. She’d tried not to think about this part too hard. Sure, she and her parents didn’t see eye to eye on everything, but she loved them. And she didn’twantto lie to them. But pretending to be engaged for a little while would make her life so much easier. And if everything worked the way it was supposed to, her parents would be none the wiser. They wouldn’t discover that any of it was a lie. They wouldn’t have a reason to be disappointed in her. Again.
Meghna shrugged, trying to adopt a nonchalant air. “I told my parents last night. They’re happy for me.”
Ankita frowned. “You don’t think they’ll be hurt when they find out?”
“They’re not going to find out. At least not from me.”
“And not from me, either. But how far are y’all going to take this? Won’t they get suspicious when you keep putting off the wedding?”
“We’re not going to let it get that far. We’ll tell them that we’re doing a long engagement. That we’re still getting to know each other. And after Seth’s wedding we’re going to break it off.” Meghna lifted a shoulder. “They’ll feel bad for me, but they’ll be fine.”
Ankita slowly shook her head. “I don’t think you’ve fully thoughtthis through. And I can’t keep secrets from my fiancé. I have to at least tell Rishi.”
Meghna groaned. “I really wish you wouldn’t. I don’t want him to act all weird around Karthik at your party.”
“He’s coming to our engagement party?”
“I haven’t asked him yet, but I think he has to come. Our families will think it’s weird if I show up without my fiancé.”
Ankita picked up her wineglass and took a long sip. She was quiet for a while, but Meghna knew she wasn’t done just yet.
“This is a lot to digest,” Ankita finally said, an amused glint in her eye. “We can probably stop watchingThe Bachelorettenow since your life has more than enough drama to entertain us.”
“Ha. Very funny.”
“I’m serious.”
