Dating Dr. Dil (If Shakespeare was an Auntie #1)(31)
She stuck her tongue out at him but handed over her cell. He quickly called himself, and then handed back the device. “Please don’t block me; otherwise, I’ll have to involve the aunties again.”
Kareena groaned. “Keep them out of this. At least for now. I don’t want them to make this situation more complicated for me.”
“At least your aunties aren’t vicious,” he said. He thought about the women at home who were best friends with his mother. They were more of the traditional, stereotypical aunty archetype. They judged, and gossiped, and upheld old colonialist and patriarchal views, and then pinched cheeks and pretended that what they said was to help others. Meanwhile, Kareena’s aunties were a bit more . . . progressive.
“My aunties are meddlers,” she said. “Seriously, if you want me to consider your plan, then you have to keep them out of this.”
Prem gripped the bedrails and leaned in until their noses were practically touching. He could hear the hitch in Kareena’s breath, and he liked to think that despite her animosity, there was something about him that affected her the same way he was affected by her presence.
“I will keep the aunties out of this for a little while longer, but once we get close to our deadline, all bets are off. I have a lot of money riding on our engagement, and I need it to build my health center. I will play dirty if I have to.”
Her eyes narrowed into slits. “Are you seriously threatening me?”
“Not at all, Rina.”
The glass pane door of their ER cubicle opened, and the curtain whipped back. An older woman with a helmet of white hair, wearing a pink pair of scrubs, entered. “Kareena Mann?”
Kareena nodded.
The woman turned to Prem. “Dr. Verma, I didn’t realize that you were still here.”
He stood and crumpled the empty plastic mixed nuts bag. “I was just leaving. Kareena? I’ll talk to you later. Text me if you need anything.”
“I won’t.”
“I will be seeing you soon.”
“You don’t have to sound so smug about it,” she mumbled.
Prem stared at her for a moment longer, then he motioned for the nurse to follow him out of the room.
She gave him a wary look and ignored Kareena’s protest as they stepped behind the curtain and glass pane. When they were out of hearing distance, the nurse said his name like a question.
“Mrs. Baker,” he said to the nurse. “Kareena and I are . . . close.”
The nurse’s eyes went wide. Prem could only imagine that she’d be bursting at the seams, ready to tell the rest of the staff at the station that he was in a relationship.
“Yes, sir. We’ll take very good care of it.”
“I know you will. Can you recommend to her physician that they add to her aftercare notes that she’s in need of a full physical and an allergy test? She’s going to complain, but I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to her again.”
“You got it,” the nurse said, and turned to walk back into the room.
Prem waited a few moments longer until he heard Kareena’s shriek of indignation. He grinned and strolled away whistling. This was going to be more fun than he’d thought.
Chapter Nine
Kareena
Dhruv: Hey, gorgeous. Thanks for accepting my profile.
Kareena: You’re welcome!
Dhruv: Are you into golden showers?
Kareena: BLOCK
User 875387: I want to eat you
Kareena: BLOCK
Parth: Nic pic, u wan franndship????? ??
Kareena: BLOCK
Edward: Hey, how’s it going?
Kareena: Hey. I never met a desi person named Edward before! Nice to meet you.
Edward: :-D Oh, I changed my name. Women let me bite them like a vampire more with my current name than with the name I was born with.
Kareena: BLOCK
Vinny: Hi, hello. I am seeking a wife.
Kareena: BLOCK
Jaspreet: Hey, aren’t you the girl who is supposedly dating Dr. Dil from that show?
Kareena: BLOCK
Prem-Dr. Phil: Hey, you want to go out this Saturday?
Kareena: Not particularly.
Prem-Dr. Phil: Do you have a date with someone else?
Kareena: No, not yet but keeping my options open.
Prem-Dr. Phil: I think we need to get to know each other better for when we announce that we’re together.
Kareena: I think we know each other fine.
Prem-Dr. Phil: Okay, then we need to meet for a picture. I have to post at least one social media picture since I talked about you on my show.
Kareena: That sounds like a you-problem.
Prem-Dr. Phil: Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Kareena wrenched the bolt a little too hard and nicked her finger. “Ouch,” she hissed. There was just enough light underneath the carriage of her car that she was able to pull off her glove to check to see if she was bleeding. Thankfully, it was just a red welt.
She dropped her head back against the hot pink creeper seat and closed her eyes. The early June weather made her car shed a sauna of epic proportions, but it was quiet and peaceful, which was exactly what she needed. Between work and dating and avoiding her sister’s rage-filled engagement party requests, she was exhausted.