Accidentally Engaged(73)
“Saira,” Amira said. “Make her sleep. She probably got very little last night, and she’s in no state to think clearly right now. Turn her phone off and lock the door until the snake leaves town or falls off a cliff or something. Get some rest, Ree. Don’t think about him…we’ll talk tonight. We got you.”
Don’t think about him. Easier said than done. But she nodded and let Saira help her get into bed. And miraculously, once her head hit the pillow, Reena fell into that blissful state of oblivion where everything was fine and her life wasn’t a cataclysmic mess.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Reena slept for only about half an hour, then floated through the rest of the day in a blur. Saira stayed, saying it was to run interference in case Nadim appeared. But her sister also curated a list of Bollywood movies for Reena, stating that these specific films would help with heartbreak. They got through two epic tearjerkers before Saira left and Reena went back to bed.
But despite the existential exhaustion, sleep eluded her. She didn’t toss and turn, or squirm and yawn, rather she just lay there, staring into the darkness, wondering how her life had gone so spectacularly wrong.
She hadn’t had one of these nights in a long time. The type of night she had sworn off years ago when she discovered a few shots of vodka numbed her self-loathing enough to get some sleep.
Somewhere around Reena’s fifth or sixth breakup, she’d made a conscious decision not to let her failed relationships get to her anymore. After all, she had enough to fret about in the other areas of her life, so why worry about her love life, too? She didn’t even cry after Jamil broke up with her, and they had been together for over eighteen months. She had loved his quirky hobbies and gregarious personality. And nothing over Eddie or Carlos, either.
But nothing about her short relationship with Nadim felt like any of the others. And, of course, this time the betrayal felt worse, too. No one had ever kept something so huge from her.
But Reena didn’t get a shot of vodka to help her sleep. Strangely, she didn’t want to numb the pain—she wanted to feel it this time. Like she needed penance for getting herself in this mess.
She tossed around and ended up facing her large mirrored closet door. Illuminated only by the faint streetlight through the window, she saw her reflection. And she couldn’t help but cringe at it.
She couldn’t lie to herself anymore. This wasn’t just about losing Nadim. She had been fighting this angst long before she planted herself on his lap to finally kiss the man who she’d grown to need so much. Long before Nadim even turned up in her hallway with a bicycle and a six-pack of beer, Reena had been fighting the deep emptiness that lay just below the surface. And she’d been fighting it in the way she’d dealt with everything: deflect and distract.
Laid off three times in a career she didn’t even like. Twelve (now thirteen) failed relationships. Her best friend moving on with a great job and a loving boyfriend. Her brother having twins. Even her sister, engaged again. And here was Reena. Always in the background. There for her friends when they wanted a good time. Cooking dinner for the whole building. Even there for her sister, despite her sister treating her like crap until, well, today. Reena was the nice girl. The go-to girl. The doormat girl?
What did Nadim see? The fun girlfriend always up for a romp in bed? The one who made dinner every night and didn’t make you dig too deep? The one easy to fool. Fake some interest in her cooking and give her some parasitic bugs and she’s yours—long enough to cozy up to her powerful father.
She must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing she knew the loud blare of her phone woke her. Barely conscious, she grabbed it and glanced at the name on the screen. Abigail.
“Good morning, Reena! I hope you had a fantastic weekend! How are you?”
Of course, Abigail and her unwavering chirpiness would throw boiling water on the burns already stinging her.
“Fine, thank you, Abigail.”
“It’s a beautiful day. I hope you’ll take some time to enjoy it. I have somewhat of a good news–bad news situation for you this morning. I finally heard from Angie at Top Crust. Unfortunately, they went with another applicant. You made a fantastic impression with the president, but ultimately, they chose a candidate who had several years more experience in the field. But here’s the amazing news, I got a bite on your résumé from Cadbury Chocolates! Wouldn’t that be a spectacular place to work? I’ll be speaking to the recruiter later to set up the interview time. Isn’t this fabulous?”
Reena blinked, wondering if Abigail used a thesaurus to get all those synonyms for great. Of course Top Crust went with another applicant. She closed her eyes, feeling them well up again. There was no way Mum would let her friend Leon hire her daughter. Not if she wanted to keep her poker habit a secret. Goddamn family. Was she too old to emancipate from them?
“Thanks. Yeah, that sounds great,” Reena managed to say.
“Are you all right?”
She fell back, letting her down pillow cradle her pounding head. “Yes, just a headache today.”
“Okay. Take it easy then. I’ll call you when I hear from Cadbury. Keep your chin up, Reena. We’ll get there.”
Reena disconnected the call and noticed three texts from Nadim, asking to talk to her. She deleted them and tossed her phone back on the nightstand.