The Vibrant Years(35)
“Then it’s just a matter of fixing the parts that don’t work.” Bindu stood and joined Aly in her pacing.
They were in full entrepreneur mode now. The Desai women, ready to solve the world’s problems.
“What if dating apps aren’t our competition? What if we come up with something that makes dating apps better, more effective?” Bindu threw out. Her mother-in-law was truly a wonder.
Cullie bounced in her seat. Her grandmother had obviously landed on the heart of the problem in one elegant swoop.
“Binji! That’s brilliant. We need something that sits on top of existing dating apps and makes them work better for each individual. Since who we find attractive has more to do with us than them.”
Bindu grinned, totally settling into the Goddess of Love avatar she’d taken on since moving here.
“A way to personalize these generalized apps.” A sparkle of excitement crackled inside Aly.
“Exactly!” Cullie looked fierce. It had been too long since Aly had seen her daughter this way. Not bored and disillusioned by the world but like she actually gave more than a surface-level damn. Not quite her Cullie from high school, on fire with what she wanted to do, but with sparks of her lighting up the edges.
“So, test subjects,” Cullie said. “I need someone to actually use the apps so I can mine them for user flow and user experience data. A place to start figuring out what I’m even trying to figure out.” She jumped up from her perch at the dining table and started pacing too. All three of them were pacing now, crisscrossing each other. “Someone I can trust to be honest, and someone who can start helping me right now.”
The pregnant silence returned as they stopped, facing each other. They had circled back to Bindu’s idea.
Suddenly, a nervous knot tightened in Aly’s belly. It had been too long. The idea of dealing with a man’s opinion made her nauseated. She hadn’t been a fan of Ashish’s opinions about her work, but she’d never had to perform for him the way she’d always had to around men before she met him.
Thinking about how much she missed that was stupid. Not to mention useless, because she had no interest in paying what it cost to have it again.
She went to the wine rack on the kitchen counter and studied their choices.
“Usually the best place to start anything is right where you are. I can’t think of a better place to start than here.” Bindu patted Aly’s shoulder, then took the wine bottle Aly had picked out and started searching for an opener.
“Here where?” Aly said, suddenly certain that she wasn’t interested in being part of this. Her reflex to clean up kicked in, and she started gathering the takeout containers.
“Right here with you, Alisha. You’re the perfect test case. Stop hiding in my refrigerator,” Bindu said.
“A perfect test case would be someone who’s interested in finding someone.” Aly had thought she’d found her soul mate once. She’d been wrong. “I already found someone, remember? And realized I don’t like it that much.” The refrigerator air was cool on her face as she put away the food. “No offense to you.” She popped her head out and looked at Bindu, then went back inside and adjusted the fried rice before popping her head out and throwing Cullie a look. “Or you.”
“No offense taken,” both of them said together.
“Just because one relationship didn’t work out doesn’t mean you stop living,” Bindu added, and a memory of Ashish’s face when Bindu had told him she was staying with Aly flashed in Aly’s head.
True to form, he’d swept his hurt under nonchalance. Since everyone in this family has decided to do only what benefits them, I don’t care what you do, Ma.
“I’m living just fine, thank you very much. And I need to get home and finish up some work, or my living will be taken away.” Aly manufactured a smile.
Cullie rolled her eyes at Aly’s feeble wordplay and took the bottle from Bindu. “Binji’s right. Stop using making a living as an excuse to not live. You’re doing this, and that’s that.”
Aly opened and closed some drawers. Where was the damned wine opener? “Doing what exactly?”
“Test-driving dating apps for me so I figure out a way to . . . you know . . . save my living.”
Bindu clapped her hands and plopped into a dining chair. “Alisha’s going to date. Brava!”
“No, Alisha and you both are going to date. This is all your fault for putting ideas in my head. You’re the one going on about putting yourself out there. So let’s step outside the Shady Palms pool. There’s no way you’re getting out of this.”
“Getting out of it? I was afraid you might want to leave me out of it.” Bindu winked delightedly at Aly.
“Perfect,” Cullie said. “Let’s get profiles set up for both of you on Twinge. That’s the app with the biggest market share. Then we’ll try other apps.” She reached for their phones, and they both pulled them away.
“Not so fast. You’re the number one dating demographic,” Aly said. She hadn’t been skimming those articles for nothing.
“You’re doing this too,” Bindu said.
“I’m too close to this. And stop trying to use this to get me to date.” Cullie crinkled her nose.
“Well, Shloka was such a success because you created it for yourself. So the ‘being too close to it’ argument is meaningless,” Bindu said. “And you’re right. I’ll use whatever I can to get you to date. Both of you. It’s a shame that you live in a time when you can do this and you’re too afraid. It’s time for you to figure out that there are hotter Steves out there. Also better Steves.” She threw Aly a glance. “And finding your soul mate is a gift, but losing one is not an excuse to stop living. Like everything in life, soul mates serve their time, and once they do, it’s time to move on. Our souls are not so limited that they can only have one mate.”