Jana:I was looking through pictures and found this one! I should enter this in a photo contest, shouldn’t I?
He responded that yes, she should, and that it was a great picture.
Jana had noticed an ad online earlier about a touring production ofThe Lion Kingmusical coming to Toronto in a few months, so she suggested they get tickets when they went on sale in three weeks.
Anil:For all of us?
Jana:Yes, all of us. We should both be there for Imani’s first musical, shouldn’t we?
Anil:It’s your turn. I took her to see the Nutcracker in December.
Jana:I think we should go together.
Anil:Why? That’s not necessary. You go ahead.
Jana blinked at her phone. This wasn’t working. Either he wasn’t taking her hints that she wanted to spend time with him as a family…or he was and had no interest.
Jana needed to rethink her strategy.
A few days later, Jana went shopping to get new clothes for work. On the way home, she noticed a new restaurant. She looked up the menu once she got back to the house and then sent Anil a link to its website.
Anil:Did you mean to send me that?
Jana:It’s a new pili pili restaurant! We should take Imani when you’re back. The food looks spicy, but there should be something there for her.
Anil:You want to go to dinner together?
Jana exhaled. Clearly, she needed to be more direct.
Jana:In Tanzania you said we needed a reset on our relationship, and it would be easier if we were friends.
There was no answer to her text. With her heart pounding in her chest, Jana watched the three little dots appear, then disappear several times. Finally, she texted him.
Jana:If that’s not what you want anymore, okay. I’ll step back. I’m sorry.
This time there were no three dots. Just nothing. It was time for Jana to take the big risk. She took a deep breath and typed before she lost her nerve.
Jana:Or maybe that place will be too spicy for Imani. We could leave her with Mom. Have a date just the two of us. It will give us a chance to talk.
There was no response for several seconds. Jana would have taken the text back, but it was showing as read on her screen. She was about to make a bad joke so he would think she was kidding, when her phone rang—and Anil’s name flashed on her screen. She had no choice but to forge ahead, even though it felt like a whole flock of butterflies weren’t just fluttering in her stomach, but headbanging to death metal. She accepted the call.
“A date?” Anil said immediately after Jana said hello.
Voice shaking, Jana answered. “Yeah, no worries if you say no, and I promise no hard feelings.”
“Like adatedate?”
“Yes.”
“Like a romantic date?”
Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe Rohan was wrong and Anil wasn’t interested. Jana’s hands were sweating. “Say no if you don’t want to, or say yes. But let’s not overthink this. Keep it simple. Just a dinner. You said we needed to talk when we were back in town.”
“I never said adate, though. A date as more than friends?”
“As two people who are open to figuring out if theycanbe more than friends. But if that’s not what you want, then—”
“I didn’t think that was whatyouwanted, Jana. I didn’t think you wanted that in a million years.”
