“What kind?”
“Mechanical.”
“Nice!” Samir said with genuine excitement. “I studied computer engineering, but I’m mostly doing programming these days.” He clasped a hand on Karthik’s shoulder. “It’s great to have another person in the family business.”
Meghna coughed, half choking on the mouthful of rice she’d just swallowed.
“You okay?” Karthik asked quietly, his hand reaching out to pat her on the back. But she waved his efforts away, taking a sip of her water and turning to talk to her mother.
“Mom and Dad are engineers too,” Samir continued.
“I didn’t know that,” Karthik replied. They continued their small talk over the course of the meal until their conversation was cut off by the sound of an incoming phone call.
“Sorry,” Meghna said, fishing her phone out of her purse. “That’s mine.” She checked the screen, and a small smile crossed her face. “I have to take this, but you guys keep talking, I’ll just step outside. Be right back.”
As she walked away, Samir’s face darkened.
“I bet it’s Seth,” he said conspiratorially. “She always gets that goofy look whenever he calls. Man, that guy issucha prick.”
“Seth?”
Samir’s eyebrows jumped. “You don’t know Seth?”
Karthik shook his head. “Who is he?”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. He’s just an old friend of hers. From college. Speaking of which, where did you go to school?”
Karthik narrowed his eyes at the deflection, but answered, “Berkeley.”
Meghna’s mother must have overheard because she looked over with a smile. “Isn’t that impressive, Samir?”
“Very. But West Coast, huh? Must have been an adjustment for you after growing up in New York.”
It had been. But the distance had been the point. Karthik had wanted to be as far away from his father as possible.
“I bet living in India after growing up here has been an adjustment for you as well.”
Samir shrugged. “It’s been a few years now, so I’ve gotten used to it. Honestly, both places feel like home.”
Meghna’s father leaned forward. “But you’re planning on moving back soon, right?”
“Maybe,” Samir said distractedly, his eyes scanning the room. “Depends on a few things.”
Meghna’s mother frowned.
“Aunty, Uncle,” a high voice called from behind Karthik. “Have you seen Meghna? I needed to ask her—”
Karthik turned around and saw Ankita, her heavy earrings swinging in the air and her mouth open in shock.
“Hi, Ankita. It’s good to see you,” Samir said, his eyes fixed on her. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” she squeaked. She cleared her throat, then addressed the group. “I was looking for Meghna, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. Do you know where she is?”
Karthik stood up from the table. “I’ll go get her.” She’d been gone awhile. And this seemed like the kind of thing a fiancé was supposed to do.
He followed the path Meghna had taken, but without her to guide him through the crowd, it took longer than before to get through the room. After a few sidesteps and swerves to avoid crashing into strangers, he made it to the door and found her outside, standing on the sidewalk, talking animatedly into her phone.
“Miami’s a great idea!” she said. “Much better than Vegas. I’ll look up tickets when I get home and start doing some research on things to do.” She looked up and saw Karthik standing there, waiting for her. She grinned apologetically. “I have to run,” she said into the phone. “But we’ll talk soon.”
