Nicole shrugged. “At least there won’t be dancing, then. Just the ceremony, then dinner. Tame in comparison.” Nicole’s brow furrowed. “Tame…except that it will be in the middle of a game park surrounded by wild animals.”
Jana shook her head. Why the ceremony was happening out in the wild was a mystery. Jana wasn’t afraid of predators. She was more afraid of…chaos. Nasty vultures fighting over an animal carcass. Imani getting cranky. Being downwind of smelly wildebeests.
“It’s certainly going to be memorable, though,” Nicole continued. “Unlike my wedding. I don’t think anyone remembers anything about that North Markham banquet hall.” Nicole turned to look at Jana, head tilted. “You okay tonight? You don’t seem yourself.”
Jana frowned. Well, no—she wasn’t herself. She was dancing and talking and trying to keep what Anil called her dirty-diaper expression off her face. She quickly changed her frown to a smile.
“I’m having fun.” She chuckled a bit. “A little out of my element, but I’m trying.”
Nicole laughed. “I’m a lot out of my element.” She looked over to the dance floor, where Kamila, Asha, and Tim were holding hands and spinning in a circle with Jerome in the middle for some reason. “You know, I never would have imagined I’d end up with someone like Ash. I thought I’d be a single cat lady forever. It’s amazing how when new people come into your life, they kind of change what your element is. The hardest part is taking that first step, though. Then everything is seamless.” She shook her head. “Don’t mind me—it’s unbelievable that I’m here in Tanzania as a bridesmaid in this big wedding that’s not even my family, or my own culture. You know half my family didn’t come to my wedding? The ‘Christian’ half was not impressed I married a Hindu lesbian.” Nicole made air quotes around the word Christian.
“Ugh. That’s horrible.”
“It is what it is.” She paused. “What did you decide to do about your mother?”
“What do you mean?”
“About her telling everyone you were married.”
Jana shrugged. “I told her to stop…and not to say anything to Anil. I doubt she’ll listen, though.”
“Can’t you tell everyone the truth?”
Jana shook her head. “I can’t break her bubble. She’s not going to get this kind of wedding for her own daughter.”
“She should be proud of you as you are.”
Jana shrugged again.
The music changed then, and a slow song came on. It was “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” fromThe Lion King. Very cheesy, but Jana had to expect it, considering where they were. It was too bad Imani was missing it.
Nicole hopped to her feet. “That’s my and Asha’s song!” She was on the dance floor in seconds. Soon everyone was paired for the romantic dance—everyone except Jana. She picked up the elephant at her place setting. It was a beauty—smooth black wood and big ears. Jana had always loved elephants—probably because her dad had loved them. When she was little, he used to call her his tiny elephant because she loved peanuts. She still had several wooden elephants from Dad at home.
Anil suddenly appeared, sitting in the empty chair next to hers. Jana was exhausted, so she didn’t even try not to make the dirty-diaper expression this time.
“Ah. The fifth-wheel table,” he said.
Rohan also had a married couple among his groomsmen, Kamila’s and his friends Tim and Jerome. And Marc was dancing with Yuriko (Jana wondered if he knew about herdungeon), so the entire Bridal Brigade and Groom’s Platoon had been neatly coupled off…minus Anil and Jana.
“How are you enjoying the party?” Anil asked.
“It’s fine.”
He chuckled. “I had no idea you could dance like that. We should put Imani into Bollywood lessons. Maybe she inherited your rhythm.”
“Sure. I’ll look for a teacher when we get home.”
He smiled, looking at Rohan and Kamila, who were dancing cheek to cheek to the Disney song. “Did you think they’d finally go through with it? I feel like they’ve been engaged forever.”
“It’s only been three years.”
Anil shrugged. “That’s a long engagement. I was only engaged for six months. I assumeyou’dwant a long and torturous engagement.”
Jana hadn’t known that he and Nadia had only been engaged for six months. If this were any other person in the world, Jana would ask what the rush had been. But also…why did he assume Jana would want a long engagement? Andtorturous? She was trying to be nice, and he was…baiting her. Like he wanted her to snap at him.
Was he still bitter she’d turned down his marriage proposal? She’d been four months pregnant when he asked her to marry him. And she assumed he would have wanted to marry before Imani was born. That would have been even shorter than his six-month engagement with Nadia. Would they have had the time to plan a big wedding like this? Would either of them have wanted one? But of course, they would have had to wait until he was divorced…They couldn’t have had a fast wedding.
This. This was what wastorturous…Anil making her think about things she hadn’t thought about in years.
