Nicole rolled her eyes and laughed at Asha.
Shelina giggled. “Did anyone find out what the men were doing while we were in the painting party? Did they have a ‘pimp my vagina’ session?” She wagged her brows suggestively.
Nicole cringed. “The word you’re looking for isvulva…and the thought of any adhesive substance that isn’t an FDA-approved sterile surgical bond coming anywhere near a vulva—real or simulated—reminds me too much of the vajazzle trend of the early 2010s.No thank you.” She shuddered just as Kamila returned to the sitting room with a paper bag that she handed to Jana.
“Your souvenir from the bachelorette party,” Kamila said.
Gingerly, Jana reached inside. And there was indeed a painted penis in it. Tastefully decorated, at least, with crisp lines of muted gray and navy blue. They’d even added a few tiny rhinestones to accentuate focal areas. It was the most elegant penis Jana had ever seen.
Jana quickly put the penis back into the bag. What the hell was she supposed to do with this thing?
Kamila picked her spoon back up. “Want me to see if there is something similar to do here so you can let loose, too? I’m doubting it would be as good—Tanzania is a pretty conservative country. But Elsie can make anything happen.”
Jana shook her head. “No! That isnotthe kind of letting loose I meant.” Jana sighed, looking out the window briefly, then at the five women at the table. “Something more…I really need that job. Dr. Lopez is looking for me to be a team player. He said he wants to hire someonevibrant.”
“So just be vibrant,” Shelina said. She popped a potato in her mouth.
Jana exhaled. “That’s exactly what my mom said.”
Asha tilted her head at Jana. “It’s okay that you’re quiet. Quiet people make great employees.”
Jana shrugged. “It’s not that I’m quiet. It’s that I’m grumpy. I want him to see me as easygoing, adaptable, and fun.”
That was just one of Jana’s objectives for this trip—to be seen asfun. The other objective, to be seen asoverAnil Malek, she wasn’t going to ask for help with because she didn’t want anyone to know Anil still affected her so much. “I’m asking for some suggestions on how to seem moredynamic. Not racy. I want to let loose.”
“We can totally help with that,” Asha said. “We are the loosest girls in the Serengeti.” She frowned. “That did not come out as I expected it to.”
“We are the letting loosest?” Kamila suggested.
Nicole snorted. “Still not sure about that phrasing.”
“What kind of person does he want on his team?” Yuriko asked.
Jana listed the traits Dr. Lopez mentioned in the interview. “A lively team player. Someone comfortable speaking in front of an audience. Someone willing to take risks. Someone compassionate. A good communicator.”
There was a knock on the door of the suite then. It was Elsie, plus a hotel maid, the mehndi artist, and the aesthetician. While they efficiently cleaned up dinner and set up the room for the spa session, Jana checked in on Imani, who had eaten the samosas and was watchingThe Lion Kingagain.
Later, as Kamila was getting her bridal mehndi on her feet, she clapped her hands together. “Okay, Jana, let’s get back to your problem. Grab your planner and start a ‘letting loose’ list.”
Jana frowned. “A ‘letting loose’ list?” Could someone change their entire personality using a to-do list?
Asha grinned. “Ooh, great idea. I have your first item!”
Jana wasn’t sure about this idea but grabbed her planner and opened a blank page. She wroteLet Loose in Tanzaniaat the top.
“Okay,” Jana said.
“Dance Bollywood style at the sangeet,” Asha said, grinning.
Jana frowned. “How is that going to get me a job?”
“Lots of ways. We’re at a wedding—a team player social person would most definitely dance at a wedding. Plus, dancing Bollywood will show the man you’re in touch with your culture, and since he wants you as a South Asian development specialist, that’s a good thing. And it proves that you are comfortable being on a stage.”
Jana hadn’t danced for years. But she had taken five years of Bollywood-style dance lessons as a kid with Kamila and Shelina. She was rusty but capable of this. She wrotedance Bollywood styleas item one.
“I have one, too,” Nicole said. “Sing.”
“Sing what?”
