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“If I said yes, would you be upset?” I knew exactly where to take her, but it definitely wasn’t conventional.
“No,” Madeline shook her head. “I think I’m beginning to like your surprises.”
My belly did a little flip flop as I drove us a few blocks over and parked on the curb next to an Indian restaurant. It was busy, but I knew that we’d be able to get in.
This time, when I opened the door for her, Madeline wove her fingers through mine and hopped out of the truck, giving me a soft, genuine smile.
Stepping together into the restaurant we were immediately greeted with the comforting smell of spices and the soft din of conversation as patrons passed plates back and forth, chatting amongst themselves as they ate.
“Dario!” An older Indian woman caught sight of us and hurried over to press soft kisses to both of my cheeks.
“Hi, auntie, do you have a table for us?” I asked, looking around at the busy restaurant. “Any table will do.”
“Haan, of course I do. I always have a seat at my table for any of Fatima’s children. Come, we will set you up in our private dining room so you and your lady friend can chat in relative peace.” Divya Laghari was one of my mother’s long-time friends, and I already knew that she’d be on the phone with my mother before my date had even ended. That was the drawback of coming to a family restaurant like this, but the food was so damn good that I almost didn’t care.
Divya led us through the crowded tables and into the much quieter private dining room that they usually used for parties. Two young waitresses were lighting candles and giggling quietly as they pulled the chairs out for us.
“Shoo, shoo you two. I will handle them.” Divya said, flicking her hands at the two girls who were still giggling as they left to serve the other customers. “Now, Dario, you just leave everything to me. My dear...?” She trailed off, waiting for Madeline’s name.
“Madeline,” Madeline supplied with an amused smile at the veritable tornado of a woman as she clucked over us like a mother hen.
“A beautiful name.” Divya beamed, pleased as punch with the entire situation at hand. “Do you like spicy food?”
“Love it, my brother is the king of spicy food, so I had to get used to it early on.”
That was clearly the right answer for Divya because she clapped her hands. “Wonderful, I will take care of everything then. Be back soon!” She practically sang as she disappeared through the door. I was sure that between organizing a delicious dinner for us, she was already texting my mother that I had brought a date to the restaurant.
“Sorry, they go a little crazy about this kind of stuff.” The only other people who I’d brought to the restaurant had been Marcus and Adair, which had quickly turned into a whole procession because Divya and her husband had voted for him during his run for congress. It had been like a celebrity had walked into their midst. I was pretty sure there was still a picture of him up on their ‘famous people’ wall that was behind the cash register.
“No, I like it. So she’s your aunt?” Madline asked, and poured herself a glass of ice water from the pitcher that had been left on the table. She grabbed my glass and filled it too. It was a little gesture but it still made my heart flutter.
“Sort of, we’re not technically related, but she’s my mom’s best friend. They grew up in San Francisco together.”
“Does your mom still live here? I’m surprised I’ve never seen her at your shop.”
I shook my head. “Nah, she and my dad moved to Florida a couple of years ago. The cold was too much for my dad’s joints. My four sisters all still live around California, though.” Liya and Meera lived in Southern California with their husbands and children, while Sita and Eshana lived together in Sacramento, and were still unmarried much to our mother’s chagrin.
“Wow, big family.” Madeline said, sounding surprised. Our conversation was cut short when Divya came in with a tray on one shoulder that was absolutely packed with different plates of food.
“Alright my darlings, I have some samosas, naan, saag paneer, lamb vindaloo, and some of our house specialty: rogan josh.” As Divya listed off each plate of food, she placed it down on the table in between us.
“And some jasmine rice to share.” She said putting a bowl of steaming rice down. “Would you like something sweet to drink?”
“Paneer soda please, thank you auntie.” I nodded, grateful that she was behaving herself and hadn’t said anything too embarrassing yet. Divya left and returned faster than I could blink with two cold glasses of Paneer soda, my favorite treat. I was just taking a sip of the sweet drink when Divya spoke again.
“Alright, I’ll get out of your hair. Good luck,khiladi.” I choked on the bubbly soda and coughed as she wiggled her eyebrows at me before she turned and left us alone in the dining room.
“What doeskhiladimean?” Madeline asked, watching as I wiped at my face with one of the cloth napkins.
There was no way in hell that I was going to tell Madeline that Divya had basically called me the Indian equivalent of a player.
“It’s a childhood nickname.” My brain supplied, and she seemed satisfied with that answer. I just prayed that she didn’t google it later.
I needed to steer the conversation back into normal waters. “Do you have a lot of siblings?” I asked as we dished the food onto our plate. Tearing into the soft warm naan, I scooped up some of the vindaloo onto the bread and popped it in my mouth. The flavors exploded across my tongue along with the accompanying heat.
As I chewed, I watched as Madeline’s face slackened for just a second before her smile was firmly back in place and she shrugged. “I’m technically the youngest of five, but I’m really only close with Ric. What was it like growing up with sisters? I've always wondered about it.” She changed the subject, and I didn’t want to play conversation tug-of-war with her, so I didn’t push the subject of her family, which was clearly off limits for a first date.
“It was...interesting. Both of my parents are betas, and so are all of my sisters, so it was definitely a surprise to have an alpha son as rowdy as me.” I opened up the photo app on my phone, and scrolled until I found an old picture that I had saved. It was a family picture from when I was fifteen. In it, I practically towered over my smiling relatives.
“My designation didn’t present until the summer when I turned fifteen, but I’d been six feet tall since my freshman year of high school, so I think that my family already figured I’d be an alpha.” I loved my family, they were loud, nosey, and opinionated, but I knew that they would have my back if I needed it. It was especially obvious now that I knew how Adair and Marcus had grown up.
“And they didn’t care that you were an alpha?” I could see old hurts deep in Madeline’s brown eyes as she asked the question, but just as soon as I caught sight of it, the look on her face was gone and replaced once again with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
That was one thing that I had noticed over the past six months that I’d known her. Sometimes, her bubbly front slipped away, and revealed a hundred other expressions. Irritation, amusement, anger, and a sadness that made my insides twist. I only ever got little glimpses of it before her usual smile was back in place again.
I was so curious that I couldn’t help but point it out. “You do that alot.”
