There's Something About Sweetie(14)

She was wearing skinny jeans and a black halter top, while Sheena was dressed in the exact same thing, except that her top was hot pink. She rushed over and grabbed Sunita auntie in a bear hug, which was kind of hilarious to watch because she was much shorter. “How are you, darling?”

Sunita auntie smiled sweetly, but Sweetie thought she could see the strain in it. Rajat, the driver, was stone faced as he climbed back into the driver’s seat, having deposited Sunita auntie’s bags in the trunk, but the corner of his mouth twitched. Sunita auntie stepped a half step back. “Hello, Tina. I’m well; how are you?” Her gaze flickered over to Sheena, who was looking down at her phone. “Hello, Sheena.” Sheena flashed a smile and then went back to her phone.

“So, we’re going to Taj!” Tina auntie said. She smiled very briefly at Amma and Sweetie before turning back around to Sunita auntie. “I went there on opening night, you know! It was packed with celebrities! I saw Will Smith and Jada, and they just looked so happy! I got the same thing as them—the lamb vindaloo. It was spicy. I hope you came prepared!” She trilled a laugh that nearly punctured Sweetie’s eardrums.

Sunita auntie gestured to Amma and Sweetie, moving her body so they were suddenly part of the conversational circle again. She did it with a practiced gracefulness, so it wasn’t completely evident she was doing it unless you were really watching. “I hope you both like it. The chef is supposed to be world class.”

“I’m sure we will,” Sweetie said politely. She already liked Sunita auntie. She was classy and glossy while simultaneously being approachable and momlike somehow.

Tina auntie and Sheena just about muscled their way into Sunita auntie’s car, so Sweetie and Amma headed over to their sedan.

“So!” Amma said, just as the engine turned over. She looked at Sweetie. “You know who that is? Kartik Patel’s wife.”

When Sweetie looked at her blankly, Amma clucked her tongue. “The CEO of Global Comm?”

“Oh,” Sweetie said. “Ashish Patel’s parents?” Oh, right. Sunita auntie had introduced herself as Sunita Patel. “Well, that explains the chauffeured car and buying five hundred dollars’ worth of sweets, I guess.”

“And the invitation to Taj.” Amma smiled. “But Sunita is very down-to-earth, you know. Very modest. I spent quite some time talking to her at Tina’s birthday party. We have the same values for raising our children.”

“Cool,” Sweetie said absently. Ashish Patel’s sad eyes flashed in her memory again. So apparently, in addition to lots of money and the adoration of hundreds of basketball fans across the state, he also had a really sweet mom. What was the hairline crack in his perfect life?





CHAPTER 5





Taj was just as opulent and pretentious as Sweetie was expecting, but it was still really fun to be in an environment like this one, so different from anywhere she usually went. There were models roaming around—beautiful, pin-thin people with peacocks on delicate leashes, iridescent feathers trailing behind them. Sweetie wondered what happened when the peacocks pooped. Or maybe they’d been trained not to do that somehow. Maybe they saved all their unsightly activities for after hours.

She saw the Indian ma?tre d’ (a brown Ashton Kutcher) take in her and Amma’s not-quite-Taj-level attire with a slightly disdainful sneer. Then he saw that they were with Sunita auntie, and his entire face changed. He went from looking like a man who’d bitten into moldy bread to someone who’d just been visited by the lottery fairy. “Mrs. Patel!” he said, clasping his hands together.

“Hello, John,” she said. “I don’t have a reservation, I’m afraid, but—”

“That’s not a problem at all, Mrs. Patel! You know we always have a spot for you. I will show you to your favorite table.” With a smile, he led them toward a table upstairs, with a bird’s-eye view of the entire restaurant. To either side, windows showcased the beauty of the impeccably kept rose gardens.

When they were all situated with their gold-foil menus in their hands, Tina auntie spoke up. “What’s the occasion, Sunita? Why are we here today?”

Sunita auntie’s glance passed over Sweetie, as if she was weighing something. And then she smiled breezily. “No real occasion. I was in the neighborhood and remembered you’d said Vidya is at the farmers’ market on Saturdays. We were sorely in need of some sweets.”

“Oh, well, good thing we were at the farmers’ market too! Sheena was finding some jewelry for the prom, you know.” She elbowed Sheena, who was still on her phone. “Sheena beta, you don’t have a date to the prom yet, do you?”

Sheena looked up from her phone. “Well, I was going to see if …”

Tina auntie smoothed a lock of her hair off her forehead and she stopped talking. “It’s so hard to find a good boy to go with, even as friends. These American boys just want one thing.”

“Um, I’m American too,” Sweetie said. “And so is Sheena. We were born here.”

Tina auntie waved her hand. “Oh, you know what I mean, Sweetie.”

“Not really,” she mumbled under her breath, before going back to studying the menu. Ooh, they had lamb biryani. But then there was the shrimp korma, which was probably equally delicious. Oh, and she’d read on Zagat on the way over that the paneer makhani was a must. Dang.