Mom turned around to look at Jana with a pointed look. “So? No one needs to know that. No one even knows his family…all the way in Washington.” Mom turned back around and looked in the mirror to put her earrings in.
Jana looked at her mother’s face. If she studied her own features, Jana could see that her eyes were her mother’s and her nose was her father’s, but the whole effect wasn’t either of them. In temperament, though, she was like her father, so she’d felt more connection to him. Her mother’s idea of a perfect night was twenty of her closest friends and loud music, which was as enjoyable as a root canal to Jana. But also, it sometimes seemed like their relationship was surface-level only. Mom felt like just another aunty, not Jana’s actual mother.
Mom took care of Jana and of Imani. She made their favorite foods and hadn’t ever complained about Jana moving back home to have a baby. But she and Mom didn’ttalk. Did her mom ever think about dating again? Did she accept Jana keeping Imani but not marrying Anil? Was she proud of her daughter? But Jana didn’t know how to ask these questions—her mother had never taught her that language.
Jana shook her head. She was expected to be in Kamila’s suite in ten minutes for a private Bridal Brigade dinner before a team of aestheticians and mehndi artists were going to get the bridesmaids ready for tomorrow’s sangeet party. Jana sighed. She didn’t even want to go tonight, but she remembered her decision from a few nights earlier. She needed to enjoy, or at least pretend to enjoy, the things she didn’t want to do.
Jana stood. “Just…please don’t make things more complicated for me and Anil, okay? Stop telling people we were married.”
Mom nodded as she put her necklace on. “Of course, beta. I always want things to be easier for you.”
Another way that Jana was different from her mother—they appeared to have wildly different definitions ofeasier.
Jana brought Imani with her to Kamila’s for the mehndi night, but after about five minutes, Imani complained that they were all being too noisy for her to watchPAW Patrol, so Jana set Imani up with her iPad in the extra bedroom of Kamila’s suite. She put the last of Mom’s samosas and a salad on a plate for Imani’s dinner. Jana had no idea what Imani would eat for the rest of the trip.
“She can spend the night there if she falls asleep,” Kamila said as Jana came back in the sitting room where the dining table had been set up. “That bedroom is empty. Rohan’s parents insisted we needed two bedrooms because we can’t share before we’re married. Like we haven’t lived together for three years now. But I don’t care what kind of room we’re in…as long as there’s a bed. A big bed. And a bathtub. A stand-up shower. A—”
“Too much information,” Shelina interrupted. “You’re marrying my brother-in-law. This is gross.”
Kamila grinned at her sister. “I would think that you’d be happy that both your sister and brother-in-law are being satisfied physically.” Kamila took a bite of food and moaned with appreciation. Dinner was biryani, with fragrant chunks of goat and potato nestled in vibrant spiced rice. Kamila appeared to have given up on her fruit-only diet.
Shelina turned to Jana. “Why doesn’t Anil keep Imani tonight? You should have brought an au pair like I did.” Shelina flashed her smug mom smile. Being a stay-at-home mom had always been Shelina’s lifelong dream. And yet it didn’t surprise Jana that Shelina had a full-time nanny.
“She’s not anau pair. She’s a nanny from Newfoundland,” Kamila said. “Not that there is anything wrong with Newfoundland, butau pairimplies some European waif who’s teaching your kids Parisian French or something. Your nanny is teaching them sea shanties.”
Yuriko snorted a laugh. Kamila’s suite was a bit more spacious than Jana’s, so the table adorned with white roses and gold tableware fit nicely in the sitting room. Elsie and her team had transformed the whole space to resemble a luxury spa that rivaled the one in the Four Seasons in Toronto. Around them, small nail and mehndi stations were ready for their pampering, each with big flower arrangements and stacks of plush white towels. There was even soothing music coming from somewhere. But the effect was far from relaxing to Jana.
Shelina did have a point—Anil could have stayed with Imani tonight. But until Jana figured out what Anil wanted to say to her at breakfast two days ago, she wasn’t going to ask him for a favor.
This whole trip had been minefield after minefield, but she was determined to appear like she was enjoying it. “Hey, can I ask you all something?” Jana said, realizing that these women might be just the ones who could help her. “If I wanted to try to be more…social, like, let loose a bit, how would I do that?”
Yuriko smiled. “You should come to my dungeon when we get home!”
Jana’s eyes narrowed at her.Dungeon?
Kamila giggled. “No, what youshouldhave done was come to Amsterdam with us. Pimping a dildo is thedefinitionof letting loose.”
At that, Jana spit out a mouthful of onion-cucumber salad.What?
“Easy there,” Nicole said, handing Jana a cloth napkin.
“That reminds me, Jana—Nicole and I pimped a dildo for you,” Asha said. “Since you couldn’t be there and all. Nicole and I don’t need two, so we had an extra. Kamila, what did you do with that dildo we made for Jana?”
“Ooh, it’s in here somewhere.” Kamila stood suddenly, briefly wiping her mouth with a napkin, and then rushed to her bedroom.
Jana took the opportunity to find out what the hell was going on. “Okay, what exactly did you make for me in Amsterdam?” Maybe a banjo? Bongo? Bilbo Baggins?
“A dildo,” Yuriko said, chewing. “We did a ‘pimp my dildo’ workshop in the red-light district. It’s a popular bachelorette party activity.”
“What does that even mean?” Jana asked.
Yuriko grinned. “We painted phalluses. Glued some rhinestones on dicks. Glitter, too. You know.”
Jana most definitely did not know. She’d never been happier to miss a party in her life.
“Don’t be alarmed,” Nicole said. “It’s not a real dildo. It’s not safe for human…use.”
“As my gynecologist wife reminded us every thirty seconds while we were there,” Asha said.
