Saira rolled her eyes again. “Rish and Ashraf’s. We talked about this, didn’t we? Their cousin is the one in the picture with Nadim. Anyway, I asked Rish to ask her cousin if Nadim had a shady past. But Rish couldn’t give me an answer because apparently she and her cousin had this huge fight.”
“Why?”
“Because Rish called her cousin out on their family WhatsApp for being obsessed with this socialite wannabe and her thirst traps. Rish is a bit dramatic sometimes. God, I’m glad Mum hasn’t learned how to use WhatsApp yet. Can you imagine—”
“Wait,” Reena interrupted. “Whose thirst traps? The cousin’s?”
“No, someone else’s. Rish says her cousin is obsessed with her.”
This was why Reena usually avoided gossip. She had no clue what the hell was going on. “Does any of this mean you found out something about Nadim?”
“No, I got nothing at all about him. But I did learn that Rish is even pettier than I thought she was. I don’t know how Ashraf lives with her.”
Fuck. All that, and nothing?
She looked at the picture again. Nadim, with that terrible beard, artfully disheveled hair, and popped-collar lavender shirt. It was so incongruous with the man she had spent most of the weekend with. The man who loved Monty Python and kissed her neck while she kneaded bread. How could it be the same person?
But if he really wanted to put that lifestyle behind him, she was happy to play a part in this transformation. She was doing the world a service and ridding it of one more bro-flake.
“You haven’t told Dad about all this, have you?”
“Of course not, Reena. No one needs Dad’s lectures aboutthe face you show the world.”
Hallelujah for that.
“So,” Saira said, putting her phone down, “I’m only doing the appetizer section now to pitch to the publishing people, but if they bite, can you help with my mains? I don’t want to go completely meat-free, but primarily plant-based—”
Reena put her hand up. “Saira, wait.” They’d been pretty honest with each other today, probably more than they ever had. Maybe now while Saira’s lips were loose, it was time to ask the question that Reena had been avoiding for months.
“One question. Is this wise? I mean with your problems, with you know, your—”
Saira cut her off before she could finish the sentence. “My mental health?”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? I’m not hiding anything. I’m not ashamed of my diagnosis.”
Reena tilted her head. “I don’t actually know what your diagnosis was.” How weird was it that they’d never talked about it?
Saira shrugged. “When I was in the outpatient program I was diagnosed with depression and an unspecified eating disorder. I was obsessed with thehealthinessof what I was eating, not depriving myself for weight loss. Did you know mental illness runs in our family?”
“No. I didn’t know that.” She took a breath. “Did you know I used to take antidepressants?” Reena couldn’t believe she’d told her sister that. No one in her family knew.
Saira tilted her head sympathetically. “No. You should have told me.”
“It’s been a while.” Reena shrugged. “Are you okay now? I mean, you’re still kinda food obsessed.”
“I’m a lot better. Reena, you don’t know how bad it was in my head. All food felt evil to me then. But now it’s about a healthy balance. And finding the joy in food again. Doing this cookbook and developing recipes is helping me with that. I have a good relationship with food and wellness, instead of an obsession.” Maybe to prove her point, she took a cracker from the baking tray and popped it in her mouth. And, true, old Saira would never eat crackers. Even homemade ones.
It was interesting to learn that Saira also looked for joy in food when her mood was bad. Reena had always baked bread when her mood was low. She even started her old blog when her life was in the shits.
The blog that Reena folded indirectly because of Saira.
But it was fine. Saira had been sick. And Reena was proud of how far her sister had come. Proud of how open and unashamed she was, and proud of her finding healthy ways to change her life for the better.
What happened to Reena was no big deal.
No.
