Karthik: Did you send me a picture? I didn’t get one.
Meghna: Because I’m not going to actually send you a picture of my feet, you creep!
Karthik let out a loud laugh.
Karthik: Fair enough.
Meghna: ;)
Meghna: I’m going to get ready for bed. Good night, Karthik.
Karthik: Good night, Meghna.
Karthik turned back to the computer. He pulled up the documents and spreadsheets he had initially gathered to prepare for his interview. He needed to review everything again before his meeting with Jim on Monday. He skimmed for a while, but his attention wandered until he finally opened the web browser and entered something in the search bar: “mechanical engineering positions in Dallas.”
Out of all the results, only a few caught his eye. He emailed the links to those open positions to himself, then went back to reviewing his materials for the interview. He wasn’t seriously looking at other jobs. He just did this every now and then. The way people searched for homes on real estate websites and saved their favorites without anyintention of ever buying them. It was good to know what was out there. To have an idea of what the market looked like.
After reviewing the spreadsheets for an hour, he closed out of them. Relief rolled through him as he realized all the facts and figures he’d studied the first time were still in his memory. He was about to shut down the computer and go to sleep when a thought took him by surprise.
He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought about it sooner. It was a serious oversight. If he and Meghna wanted to really make people believe their engagement was real, they had to take care of this. People were bound to ask about it eventually.
He opened the browser back up and did one final search before going to bed: “what to look for when buying an engagement ring.”
Meghna’s thumb hovered over Seth’s contact in her phone. She’d started and deleted several emails and text messages over the past few days, but hadn’t been able to properly put what she had to tell him into words. After struggling to come up with some kind of feedback for Seth, Meghna had finally reached the conclusion that Karthik had been right. Seth’s song was unsalvageable.
She just wasn’t sure how to tell him that. He’d never had this issue before. Sure, not everything he’d written had been perfect from the first draft, but none of them had ever beenthishorrible. Meghna took a deep breath and pressed the call button before she could change her mind. He answered almost immediately.
“Meg? Hey! We were just talking about you.”
“You were?”
“Yeah, Jules is here too. I’m passing the phone to her. Say hi, Julie!”
“Hi, Meghna!” Julie’s voice, bright and clear, came over the line. “It’s nice to meet you. Well, meet you over the phone. But I’m excited to meet you in person soon. Seth’s told me so much about you!”
Meghna paused, her stomach twisting. She hadn’t expected to have to talk to Julie until the wedding. Besides the picture and meet-cute story on their wedding website, she didn’t know much about her.
According to the story, Seth and Julie had met at an industry party in Nashville. Julie was an up-and-coming singer-songwriter new to the city, and Seth had promised to show her around. A few months later, Julie’s profile skyrocketed after a single she released online went viral. She was still pretty new on the scene, but everyone recognized that she was a star on the rise. Some major outlets had even drawn comparisons between her and Taylor Swift. Shortly after Julie’s viral success, Seth had proposed to her in Centennial Park, and now they were getting married there.
“Hey, Julie, it’s nice to meet you too.”
“My maid of honor and I were just talking about how good everyone’s dresses turned out, but then Seth sent us that picture of your tux and we were floored. Beth—that’s my maid of honor—is so mad at me now. She thinks she should get to wear one too, and honestly, I have to agree with her. It looks incredible. But we’ve already ordered her dress, so she’s stuck with it! But really, it looks so good on you.”
“Thanks,” Meghna said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She appreciated Julie’s kind words, but couldn’t help but feel awkward. “I’m happy with how it turned out too.”
“Anyway, I have to run so I’ll hop off now, but just wanted to say hello!”
“Bye, Julie. Look forward to meeting you soon.”
There was a quiet shuffling noise as the phone was passed to Seth. His voice came on the line, giving Meghna a sudden pulse of anxiety.
“Okay, I’m back,” he said.
“Great. Umm, Julie seems really nice.”
“She’s wonderful. You guys will totally get along. She reminds me a lot of you, actually.”
Ouch. His words stung, but Meghna tried to move forward. “Anyway, I know I owe you some feedback on the song. Sorry it’s taken me so long.”
