“Still, it seems like it would be nice to have someone to fightwith. And play with. And share things with. My house was so quiet.”
“Weren’t there kids in the neighborhood? Or cousins?”
“I had friends at school, but they didn’t really come over. And all of my cousins are in India. My parents are the only ones here.”
“That sounds lonely.”
He gave her a look she couldn’t quite read. “It wasn’t,” he said stiffly. “I had plenty to keep me occupied.” His tone stung, but she wanted to know what he meant by that. She almost asked, but something stopped her. A sense of foreboding. Like she was about to cross some invisible trip wire. She decided to change the subject.
“I think you’ll like my brother,” she said. “He’s a little wild, but hilarious. Way more outgoing than me.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting him,” he said politely.
The car came to a stop, breaking the tension that had been growing between them, though a different sort of tension was building in Meghna’s chest. This was their first outing as an engaged couple.Their first time seeing whether they had any chance of pulling this off. She waited a second, took a deep, fortifying breath, then followed Karthik out of the car.
—
Karthik pulled at his collar, trying to subtly loosen his tie. He felt like it was closing in on his neck. At least, that’s what he told himself. His difficulty breathing had to be from the tie. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was attending a large party with all of Meghna’s friends and family. There was no logical reason why that should make him nervous.
He opened the heavy door to the building, holding it in place so Meghna could enter. He followed her, taking a few steps inside before coming to a sudden stop, his senses overloaded by their surroundings. Silks in bright pink and yellow and orange covered the walls. Flower garlands were strung up in the entryway and along the ceiling, perfuming the room with the scent of jasmine. Ornate mirrors made the room seem never-ending, and the loud, pulsing beat of Bollywood music filled the air. To his right a group of uncles was already gathered on the dance floor, shaking their shoulders and pointing their fingers toward the ceiling. He watched everything, a bit stunned, until a hand wrapped around his arm.
“Let’s find Ankita and Rishi,” Meghna yelled over the music. “Do you want a drink?” A waiter passed by at that moment, holding a tray of brightly colored cocktails, and Karthik grabbed one, still gawking at everything around him. He’d attended lavish and elaborate Desi weddings in the past, but nothing like this. This seemed more like a Mumbai nightclub than the reserved, stately functions he’d gone to before. And it wasn’t even the wedding.
“What is this place?” he shouted, completely bewildered.
“Ankita’s parents’ restaurant. They tend to go a bit overboard,” she said, still holding on to his arm as she expertly navigated them through the crowd. People called out greetings as they passed, andthough Meghna stopped to give a hug or two, she neatly evaded their efforts to draw her into conversation, promising that she would return in a moment. He followed her blindly through the maze until they stopped in front of a woman in a bright red, heavily jeweled outfit and a gangly man with glasses. Meghna threw her arms around the woman and hugged her fiercely.
“Everything looks beautiful,” Meghna said loudly.
The woman, who must have been Ankita, laughed and shook her head. “It looks gaudy. We tried to rein Mom in, but…” She gestured wildly at the room around them. “It was just easier to let her do what she wanted.”
Karthik shook Rishi’s hand. “Congratulations,” he said. “I’m Meghna’s fiancé.” As the words came out, he realized it was the first time he’d ever said that out loud. A strange rush of warmth spread through his chest. Rishi congratulated him in return and Karthik turned to greet Ankita, surprised to see a wary, almost hostile expression on her face.
He stretched out an arm to shake her hand as well, but she enveloped him in a hug.
“I know everything,” she whispered. A jolt of surprise went through him. “If this ends up hurting her, I’m going to blame you.” She ended the hug and shot him a look before returning to her conversation with Meghna. Just a moment later, the two of them were speaking rapidly to each other, and it was clear he and Rishi were not invited to participate.
“They’re always like this,” Rishi told him. “Sometimes it feels like they’re speaking their own language.”
Karthik chuckled. Though Rishi sounded put out, he was watching Ankita with a fond expression, clearly not upset at all. Karthik asked the standard, obligatory, polite questions that were expected in situations like this. Where did Rishi work? How did he meet Ankita? How was wedding planning going?
Once they’d exhausted all suitable topics of conversation, Karthikglanced at Meghna and Ankita, checking to see whether they were almost finished. Unfortunately for him, they were still going and didn’t seem close to running out of fuel. Thankfully, one of his many efforts to catch Meghna’s eye was successful, and she turned to him with a warm smile.
“Do you want to go get something to eat?” she asked.
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
They said their goodbyes to Ankita and Rishi and walked toward the buffet.
“I’m sorry, I know we can get carried away,” Meghna said as she grabbed a clean plate and handed it to him. “And you’re probably tired. We can just meet my family quickly, finish dinner, and leave after that.”
It was kind of her to offer to leave early, and he wanted nothing more than to escape to his quiet hotel room, but he reassured her that they should stay. She and Ankita were obviously close, and he didn’t want Meghna to have to leave the party early just for him.
After they filled their plates, they spotted her family sitting at the table farthest from the dance floor and went over to join them. Karthik greeted Meghna’s parents and met her brother, Samir, for the first time. He looked a lot like Meghna, except Samir wore his curly hair cropped short, and his wide smile was slightly crooked compared to hers.
“Mom says you’re an engineer?” Samir asked.
“I am,” Karthik replied.
