The Candid Life of Meena Dave(56)

“And we made a pact to stay away from Bernie, who will always order all the things we cannot eat,” Zoe said. “I swear Bernie tests us to see which one will break first.”

“I won’t do that to you.” Meena rolled her shoulders. “I’ll even make us salads for lunch.”

“Today,” Zoe said. “Three days into the cleanse. But you leave tomorrow—then what?”

“You’ll be fine.”

“What happens after you go to Asia? Where to then?”

“Once I finish up in Seoul, I’m going to hang around there and see if I can snag a couple more assignments in South Korea.” Meena picked at a loose thread on her black yoga pants. “To be honest, I’m not very excited about going back on the road.”

Zoe sat up and crossed her arms around her bent knees. Her short, curly blonde hair had fallen out of the clip during their yoga session. “Why not?”

“I don’t know.” Meena felt the tension she’d just released creep back in. “This is what I do, right? It’s my career. My life. I want to go to these places, tell these stories.”

“Makes sense,” Zoe said. “You’ve been at this since we graduated college. You’ve been able to make it work.”

“But?”

“We’re in our thirties now. It’s OK to assess if this is what you want for the next ten years and beyond.”

“I’ve never thought that far ahead.” She had adopted the Buddhist philosophy of staying in the present.

“That’s fine. But don’t you worry that if you don’t think about it, you might wind up somewhere you didn’t want to be in twenty years?”

Meena smiled at her friend. “I’ll always have my camera and a way to put food on my table. That’s enough.”

“I know this is a touchy thing for you,” Zoe said. “But you did tell me about why you thought that woman left you the apartment.”

“And it turned out to not be true.”

“But you found it exciting,” Zoe said. “You liked knowing where you came from.”

Meena shrugged. “I don’t need to know my ethnicity. I belong in the world. I guess that’s enough. After all, I have you and a few new friends. I can be a part of a group with people I know.”

Zoe took a sip from her water bottle. “You’re different. More . . . I don’t know if open is the right word. But something.”

Meena nodded. “It hurt finding out the truth. I ran because I realized how much I wanted that connection. I know I’ve . . . kept people at a distance.” Meena cleared her throat. “Including you. I’m going to try to find a balance, figure out who I am after this speed bump.”

“More like a giant hill to jump over,” Zoe said. “You’re lucky I don’t let people leave me. It’s my baggage. Thanks to divorced parents with their new children, I collect people who I want in my life and make sure they’re never allowed to drop me the way my parents have done.”

“I promise not to resist,” Meena said. “Not as a resolution or anything. I want to be as good of a friend to you as you are to me.”

“Does that mean you’ll now have a five-year plan? Remember birthdays, share your accomplishments and your failures?”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far.”

Zoe threw a present at her and Meena caught it. It was the same present Zoe gave her each year. “This time don’t treat this like a collector’s item. Use it. It doesn’t have to be five years.”

Meena flipped through pages of dates and times. “I guess I could write in my dates for assignments. Roughly plan out a week or so to come back here.”

Zoe took it from her. “You’re doing it wrong.” She grabbed a pen from the desk. “This is a passion planner. It’s about visualizing your future, putting it on paper, and committing to it. Let’s see. We’re going to start you on baby steps. What do you want out of the next three months?”

“Work.”

“Besides work.”

Meena was at a loss. She shrugged. “What are you writing down?”

“Date someone,” Zoe stated. “That’s your goal. Not to go on one date but see someone for at least three dates.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Meena said. “I’m going to be working, I don’t know how long I’ll be in one spot.”

“That’s the beauty of this.” Zoe pointed her pen at Meena. “If you commit, you have to find a way. Plan for it. How long is your assignment in Seoul?”

“A week.”

“Then you’re going to be there for a few more, right? Build in a little time to socialize. Or reconnect with your network there. Maybe you can see someone you already know in a different way. You don’t have to fall in love. You just go on a first, second, and third date with the same person. That’s nothing. Baby steps.”

“It’s not feasible.”

Zoe plopped on the couch and curled her legs under her as she crossed out what she’d written. “Let’s see, what’s even a smaller step than that? Got it. The guy you met in Boston, the one across the hall, your goal is to text him.”

Meena shrugged. “I can do that.”