“It’s fine. I get it. Parents can be…difficult. You could have warned me, though. I’m not your enemy, you know.”
Of course he wasn’t her enemy. He was her co-parent. She looked down at her dress. Her cleaning attempts didn’t seem to be making a difference.
She reached back and found some spot cleaner in the duffel. “I don’t see you as my enemy.”
“You’re still irritated that I’m here, though.”
“Here in this vehicle, or here in Serengeti?”
“Here in Tanzania.”
Jana frowned, twisting to dab at the back of her dress with the spot cleaner. “I’m trying not to be irritated.” Or at least trying to appear less irritated.
“Do you want some help with that?”
She glared at him. “What do you think?”
He chuckled. “I think I’m the last person in the world you’d want touching your rear end.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed at the ridiculousness of this situation.
“What would you have done if you’d known I was coming?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” Jana would have still come on the trip—she wasn’t that petty. Mentally preparing herself to spend this much time with him would have been helpful, though.
He sighed. “I apologize. I should have told you.”
“You apologize a lot.”
He shook his head. “You…I never know what to do when it comes to you. My instincts always fail me.”
“You mean because I don’t succumb to your charms like everyone else?” She sounded more bitter than she intended. The truth was she had no idea what to do or say to Anil, either.
He looked away from Jana, eyes focusing on the wedding outside.
He finally spoke after several long moments of silence. “What would our wedding have looked like?” he asked.
“We never would have lasted,” she whispered. Was he really sitting here imagining their wedding?
Hadn’t she been doing the same thing during the ceremony?
Neither of them said anything again for a while before he finally looked back at her. “All I’m asking…the reason I came on this trip…is I’m hoping wecanbe a family. Be the aspirational co-parents that all those aunties think we are. Not just for Imani, but also…for me. I don’t want to brace for impact whenever we talk. I want to actually help each other. We even work in the same field…I want to talk to you about work, and about Imani writing her name, and about how happy our friends are. I want us to be there for each other.”
Jana wanted those things, too. Honestly. But she was coming to wonder if they were even possible.
She ran her fingers through her hair, forgetting it was in an updo. Great. Now her hair was a mess, too. “There is another reason this trip is extra hard for me. It’s Dr. Lopez. Sam Uncle.”
Anil’s eyes widened. “Wait…you have athingwithSam Uncle? He’s, like, what—your mother’s age? Isn’t he with Psychologist Aunty?”
Jana snorted. “No, I don’t have athingwith Dr. Lopez. He is the executive director of Think Canada. I interviewed for a director position there. It would mean a lot less traveling and a stable job close to home when Imani starts kindergarten. I didn’t know he was Rohan’s uncle, and I didn’t expect to see him here.”
Anil beamed, his smile lighting up the whole vehicle. “I thought he looked familiar! I’ve heard him speak! Jana, this is good news—he’ll definitely hire you now! Do you want me to give him a reference? I can tell him how great you were when we launched Aim High.”
She tilted her head. “Anil, seriously? Do you think someone spending time with me in a social situation would make them want tohireme? I just tripped on a pile of elephant shit and almost had a panic attack. I’m awkward and grumpy. You know people don’t like memoreafter hanging out with me.”
He shrugged. “I did.”
She shook her head. “Yes, well, you are not normal.” She sighed. “He and Farzana Aunty think you and I weremarried. Mom went on and on about how amazing our divorce was before the trip. The whole wedding party has been helping me keep them away from you so they didn’t say anything.”
