Accidentally Engaged(68)
“So,” Anderson continued, leaning closer to Reena, “this is probably not my place, but…”
She wasn’t getting the Asler scholarship. She was going to be disqualified. Humiliated. Sent home with nothing but a security tag with a bad computer printout of her face.
Anderson smiled sadly. “Is Shayne…you know…dating anyone right now? I mean, like, seriously dating?”
Reena blinked. He wasn’t going to expose them? All Anderson wanted was to maybe hook up with Shayne again?
She was relieved but knew she couldn’t tell Shayne about Anderson’s fact-finding here. What would happen if Reena and Nadim won the whole thing, and Shayne and Anderson became a couple again? Anderson would realize his boyfriend’s friends weren’t actually engaged or married. Reena would have to stop hanging out with Shayne, which would mean seeing less of Marley. A family rift would start, and she wouldn’t be able to explain to Mum why she could no longer go to Marley’s parents for their annual Eid party, and—
Nadim leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, this is fine.”
Reena exhaled. Anderson was still watching her with an adorable, hopeful expression. He ran his hand through his hair. “I just…well, I mean, with the contest I need to stay fair, so I won’t call him now. But…” He looked away, a slight tremble on his lower lip. “You ever get scared when something fits a little too perfectly? Like maybe it’s just not humanly possible for something to work so well, so you look for problems that aren’t there?”
Reena blinked at Anderson, not sure she liked this mirror put up in front of her.
“Shayne’s really into you,” she said. “You should talk to him.”
Anderson bit his lip. “I will, I will. Just…do me a favor—don’t tell him what I said here. I need to figure out how to fix things. Oh, here’s Lana!”
Saved by the makeup artist.
Lana was chatty, too. As she brushed powder on Reena’s nose, she said, “You two make a cute couple. How’d you meet?”
“Through my parents,” Reena said, relieved she could tell the truth.
“Cute! They set you up?”
“Yep,” Nadim answered.
“Have you set a wedding date yet?”
“Not yet. Reena wants a big Indian wedding, so there is a lot to plan.”
Reena raised a brow, which elicited a censorious frown from Lana, who had moved on to touching up Reena’s eye makeup. “No, I don’t,” Reena said.
“Sure, you said you wanted a designer salwar and full mehndi.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean a big wedding. I can wear full mehndi to city hall if I want to. If we have a huge wedding, you’d have to invite all your friends and family from London and Tanzania.”
“And why would that be a problem? I’d want to invite them. It’s my wedding,” Nadim said.
“Really? After the way they treated you? And do you really think all your bougie rich-snob friends would even come?” Okay, that wasn’t very nice of her, but she was annoyed he thought she’d want a big wedding. Didn’t he know her better than that?
“How do you know my friends are bougie rich-snobs? You’ve never met any of them. I’ve never even told you about any of them.”
She knew they were bougie rich-snobs because she’d seen that picture on a yacht. And she’d seen Jasmine Shah with them—and from everything she knew about Jasmine, the descriptor was accurate.
Reena folded her arms on her chest. “Well, a big giant Indian wedding with hundreds of our fathers’ business contacts isn’t what I want—and you should have known that.”
“How could I know something you’ve never told me?”
This was a mistake. Reena had been worrying about faking this engagement in person for days, and yet it had never occurred to her that she and Nadim should have their stories straight before bringing this farce to the real world.
What was this makeup artist thinking right now? And, crap, could the cameras be on them? This wasn’t supposed to be a drama-heavy reality show, but could this argument cost them the semifinals? That’s when Reena noticed Lana wasn’t even at their station anymore.
“Where’d she go?” Reena asked.
Nadim scanned the room. “There,” he said, chuckling. “Looks like she fled during our spat. Nice job on that, by the way. Only a real couple could argue that well.”
Reena squeezed her eyes shut. And they weren’t a real couple.
“Hello, contestants!” a voice bellowed. It came from an official-looking woman wearing a headset similar to Anderson’s. “Welcome to the semifinals of the cook-off! I’m Cindy—you’ve all been in contact with me over email going over today’s events. Just a reminder of the rules: Each team will be able to grab whatever ingredients you need from the front tables. You were all given a list of what would be available, and there are no surprises. And as mentioned, you were allowed to bring your own spices, seasonings, and specialty ingredients. You will then have one hour to create a picnic meal from start to finish at your own station. The camera people will walk around to catch all of you. The show’s host, chef Michelle Finlay, will be visiting each station, asking questions. Remember, voting will still be done by home viewers—no one here will judge you. It’s about how the food looks and how you present yourself on camera. Are you ready, contestants?”