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“Hey, why don’t I show you girls my watch?” asked Nick suddenly. Reeva slowly lifted her head to see him wave his slim black watch at the girls. “Look, it’s waterproof. Why don’t we try and put it in a glass of water and test it?”
The girls looked at him, transfixed. Reeva sent him a silent prayer of gratitude.
“What’s waterproof?” asked Alisha.
“It means if you put it in water, it won’t damage the watch. See? Water... proof.”
“Cool!” cried Amisha, grabbing the watch and dropping it into her dhal. “Dhal... proof?”
—
Reeva sat cross-leggedon the bed and looked at Nick, who was leaning against the headboard answering e-mails on hisphone. “I’m really sorry about earlier. I know my family are a lot. And, uh, I guess I owe you a new watch.”
He laughed and put an arm around her, pulling her into his warm body so she could rest her head against his chest. “It’s absolutely fine. I’m used to kids. I’m a godfather to about five of them.”
“Really? I didn’t know that! I’d love to meet them one day.”
“Sure. So long as you refrain from sexist language around them.”
Reeva flushed until she realized Nick was grinning. “I feel so out-of-date. I’m like the ancient old-fashioned aunt.”
“If you’re ancient, what does that make me? Decrepit?”
A rumble of low chanting came up the stairs. “The bhajans,” explained Reeva. “They’re in full swing.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to be downstairs?” asked Nick. “I didn’t feel like it was my place to be there, but I don’t mind waiting up here on my own. It’s honestly not an issue.”
Reeva shook her head. Part of her did feel a little guilty for avoiding the bhajans again, but she really didn’t want to be there. She hated the way everyone assumed she knew and loved her dad when the truth was so much more complicated. And she felt like such an imposter. Nick didn’t get it. He thought because she was Indian, this was her world. But she felt just as out of place as he did. Probably even more sobecauseshe was supposed to fit in.
They’d initially sat downstairs for the prayers, listening to Satya Auntie thank people for coming. Nick had squeezed Reeva’s hand, and she’d felt her whole body go warm. She’d imagined what it would be like to permanently have a plus-one in her life. She could even see herself going to Jaya and Rakesh’swedding if she had Nick by her side, holding her hand. Maybe they’d even have a wedding of their own one day... She’d found herself daydreaming about it while Shilpa Ben spoke in Gujarati for seven very long minutes. But when the speech ended and the bhajans began, Nick had turned to her and interrupted her reverie. He whispered in her ear that he was going to head upstairs because he had no idea what was going on. Reeva had felt a deep pang of disappointment. She had no idea what was going on either, and now she was going to have stay without her plus-one holding her hand. But then she’d forced herself to see sense. This was newer to Nick than it was to her. Besides, it gave her the perfect excuse to slip away. She could stop grieving for a man she never knew to spend quality time with a man she did know. A man she was starting to hope that she’d know for the rest of her life.
“Honestly, it’s fine,” she said. “I’m kind of grateful I don’t have to be there. It’s so much nicer being here with you. Especially after a full forty-eight hours with my sisters.”
“Sure? I felt like a bit of a bell-end sitting there, to be honest, with no idea what was happening, but I know this is your world, so please go down if you need to.”
Reeva smiled tightly at the mention of her “world” again. Just because she was brown, it didn’t mean she understood any more than Nick did. But there was no point trying to explain—Nick was white. He wouldn’t get it. “It’s cool. Honestly.”
“Good. I’m really glad I came, Reevs.”
“Me too,” said Reeva, relaxing as she realized it was true. “I so appreciate you coming up. Thank you.”
He kissed her gently. “You know, I wasn’t sure if it would be a bit much. Considering we’re quite early days, and we haven’treally spoken about us yet as an ‘us.’ ” He paused. “Maybe we should speak about that now?”
Reeva sat up straight, trying to control her excitement. “Really? You want to have, um, that chat? Now?”
He nodded. “Yeah, why not? I like you, Reeva. And I think we have a good thing going. I haven’t been seeing anyone else since we met, and I’m hoping you haven’t either?”
Reeva shook her head. “Nope.”
He exhaled in relief. “Cool. Yeah, great. Cool. Then, uh, perhaps we should just call it what it is. You know, if something looks like an orange, smells like an orange, and tastes like an orange, then, well, it’s an orange. So, yeah.”
Reeva nodded slowly. She had no idea what he was saying. They were... an orange? Did that mean they were in a relationship like he’d suggested to Jaya? Or that he was trying to take that all back, and say that when they were properly in a relationship, they’d know? She opened her mouth to ask him. “Great.”
Nick beamed. “I’m so glad we’re on the same page.”
Reeva’s thoughts ran wild. What was she doing, acting like she knew what he was going on about? She needed to say something now. Before it was too late and the moment passed. Were they in a relationship or were they in an orange? And if it was the latter, what thefuckdid that mean?
“Um, though, if you could maybe clarify?” she ventured. “Like, what you mean?”
