Dating Dr. Dil (If Shakespeare was an Auntie #1)(77)

Bobbi threw her hands in the air and got out of her chair. Veera groaned and dropped her forehead to the desk.

“What? What did I say?”

“Kareena,” Bobbi said as she leaned across the table. “The biggest mistake you can make is trying to interpret someone’s actions in a way that fits your definition for love! If he doesn’t tell you, then he doesn’t love you. That simple!”

“And trust me,” Veera said. “We’ve met him and his friends. They’re all the ‘say what you mean’ type.”

“You’re telling me,” Bobbi muttered.

Their words circled in Kareena’s head as her dark thoughts bubbled and spread like rain clouds. At the shore, he’d thrown her with the news about his fiancée, and why he started his community center. It wasn’t until later when he dropped her off at home that she was able to dissect all their conversations over the weekend.

Damn it, her friends were right. She was interpreting something in a way to make herself feel better.

The front door opened, and a flurry of voices came through the entrance.

“We’re too late,” Veera whispered.

“And there is more than one,” Bobbi added.

Before Kareena could dive under the table and hide, the aunties poured into the room with Bindu and her grandmother behind them.

“Hi, aunties,” Bobbi, Veera, and Kareena said in unison.

“Hello, beautiful betas,” Mona Aunty said. She put her small purse on the kitchen counter and held open her arms and accepted a brief hug from each of them.

“Are you done yet?” Bindu said when she looked at the cards on the table. She held two shopping bags in each hand. “This was supposed to be finished by now.”

“Honey pie, I’d be careful the way you talk to me,” Bobbi said to her, crossing her arms over her chest. “You pay me just enough to plan your events, not to take disrespect.”

Bindi stepped back, and even though she had a look of irritation on her face, she didn’t respond. Damn, Kareena really needed to learn that trick.

“Are you here to help with the planning?” Veera asked the aunties.

“Bindu called us to see her final outfit selections,” Sonali Aunty said. “Loken should be here soon to try on his clothes so we can give the final approval for the sagai.”

“Beta, what are you going to wear?” Farah Aunty asked Kareena. “Not something black, I hope.”

“I’m not sure yet,” Kareena said. Usually, her grandmother and sister put her in whatever outfit they expected her to wear for events like this, so she didn’t have to hear them complain for weeks on end about her choice of style or color.

“Well, you’re less than a month away,” Sonali Aunty replied. “You really need to select something soon; otherwise, you won’t be able to get it tailored and pressed in time.”

“Forget her clothes; who is she going with?” Dadi called from the kitchen. “Bobbi, Veera, are you two helping Kareena find someone for her sister’s engagement party? Even though not that many people care anymore in the community, I still think it looks bad for Kareena that she’s the oldest sister and still single.”

“I thought you all were looking for her?” Bobbi asked.

“We tried, but she wanted nothing to do with the match we found,” Mona Aunty said. She rounded the kitchen to help Dadi take food out of the fridge and to set the water for chai.

“I think it’s because you all realized that it’s not as easy to find a man as it once was,” Veera said bemused.

“She’s right,” Falguni Aunty said.

All the aunties and Dadi turned to her, calling her name in unison.

“What?” Falguni Aunty said. “They’re smart girls. They know if we’re bullshitting them. Kareena, don’t you worry. When you find someone, he’ll be wonderful.”

“She’s already found someone,” Bobbi mumbled.

The entire kitchen went quiet.

“I’m sorry, beta,” Farah Aunty said calmly. “What did you say?”

“I’m going to kill you,” Kareena whispered at Bobbi.

Her friend shrugged and continued to fold the remaining tent cards. “Now you can’t back out tonight.”

She wasn’t going to back out. She’d planned on telling Prem she was willing to do the relationship thing and she’d made up her mind about it. But telling the aunties? That was a whole different experience.

Kareena stood, straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath, and faced the five women who stood around the kitchen like statues.

“Aunties,” she said slowly. “Dadi. I met someone a few months ago. On my birthday. We hit it off really well, then when we met the second time . . . we realized we had huge, fundamental differences. But slowly we, sort of, came to terms with our differences. And now, we’re . . . we’re . . .”

“Dating,” Bobbi and Veera said at the same time.

A series of gasps sounded throughout the kitchen.

“Who?”

“Is he desi?”

“Does he come from a good family?”

“Does he live in New Jersey?”

“Is he real?” Bindu added. She’d been leaning against the back wall checking her cell phone and playing with the curls at the end of her braid.