Accidentally Engaged(47)
“Yeah. Mainly my parents. I don’t want them to know.”
“Of course.” Marley glanced out over the tiny parking lot behind them, the sun highlighting her high cheekbones in perfect relief. She sighed. “You know, it’s kinda ridiculous. Our parents force us to be so secretive because we’ll never meet their expectations. And then they tell us to keep their secrets to save face. We’re all suppressing deep feelings and traumas, and no one can support each other like a family should.” She paused, scrunching her nose.
“This family is completely fueled by secrets.”
“Yup.” Marley sipped her iced tea. “Hey, when’s your FoodTV thing going live?”
“I don’t know for sure. Tomorrow, I think?”
“I saw Nadim in the store yesterday. I waved to him, but I was with a customer so couldn’t chat.”
“I haven’t seen him in a few days.”
“He was buying dress shirts, I think. Probably for those fancy meetings your dad keeps sending him on.”
Logically, Reena knew that Nadim’s life had continued after that night when they had kissed. He still went to work every day, and apparently shopped on his lunch hour. He probably went to the Sparrow after work and laughed with Steve. He wasn’t sitting at home in three-day-old pajamas and dipping sourdough bread into melted rocky road. Life just kept going for him.
And it would keep going. She had no doubt Nadim would be successful. In her father’s company and even in his love life. He was smart, charismatic, and so handsome. And she would still be just Reena, watching all that from the sidelines.
She was used to looking in from the outskirts of success. A memory flashed through her mind. Years ago, their community had organized a kids’ trip to an amusement park. Reena couldn’t deal with roller coasters, not unless she was okay with wearing regurgitated funnel cake and fudge all day, but Amira and Khizar loved them. Reena still spent the whole day with them, in line for hours for extreme rides, each one bigger and more stomach churning than the last. And each time they got to the front of the line, Reena would step aside, watching her best friend and her brother squeeze into the hard seats and buckle themselves in. They’d still be spinning and laughing when they exited the ride, and Reena would join in the mirth, drunk on their pleasure and thrill.
And that’s what life felt like. Everyone taking a deliberate step onto a roller coaster while Reena stood by happily, anticipating their highs with them. But after the ride rolled off leaving Reena in a cloud of dust and happy smiles, who did she have left? Not Amira, the friend who’d left to live her own life. Not Khizar, four hours away and about to become a father of twins. Not even Saira, who was recovering well on her own. Now she could add another name, Nadim, to the list of people who she needed more than they needed her.
It was a sobering thought.
“You okay, Reena? Something happen between you and Nadim?” Marley asked.
“No.” Another lie.
“He’s a cool guy. Even if you’re not interested, you should thank your parents for setting you up with him.” She giggled. “Clearly they’ve been taking notes when we talk about our favorite Bollywood stars in from of them.”
Reena chuckled. “Nah. They didn’t pick him for his ‘Shah Rukh Khan meets Shahid Kapoor’ looks, they picked him for his father. Believe me, there is no goodwill to me in this arrangement.”
“Well, I’d say it worked out. If nothing else, you have a new friend and a new fake fiancé to enter contests with.” She shrugged. “It’s more than you had before.”
Maybe. But considering how empty she felt after only a few days apart from this new friend, she wondered if maybe she would have been better off without Nadim Remtulla in her life.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Reena had had a Google Alert set up for her name for years—harking back to her blogging days when it was important to know when she was mentioned online. It had been silent for months. But after checking her email once back in her apartment, she saw several new alerts—the first of which linked to the main landing page of the FoodTV Home Cooking Showdown.
The contest had officially opened.
She took a deep breath as she skimmed the other alerts. They came from blogs and forums where internet foodies were already talking about the contest. After a few minutes of looking at all the links, she noticed that no one seemed to make a connection between her old blog and this. That was good, she supposed.
But still. Seeing her and Nadim’s names together turned her stomach upside down.
Reena Manji and fiancé, Nadim Remtulla.
She went back to the FoodTV site. The other contestants’ videos were all there. Should she watch them?
Her text rang. It was Nadim. Contest went live.
It was now too late to back out. Was that what he wanted?
She bit her lip and texted him a response: I know. I saw it. Do you want me to pull out?
He didn’t answer.
After Reena stared at her phone for about two minutes, the three little dots started flashing. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her leggings and waited.
Nadim: You wanted this so much. I am willing to continue. As your friend.
Why had he added that last sentence? To remind her or himself that they were only friends?
Also, why was this so complicated?