But even with a reservation, their table wasn’t available yet. It seemed that large French bistros were popular Sunday afternoon hot spots. They were shown to a bar area to wait for their table.
Jasmine sat on the one empty barstool with a twin on each knee, clutching their mother’s neck for dear life. Reena gave Jasmine a sympathetic look—no doubt she was thinking again about how hard it would be to have two babies at the same time.
Rashid looked incredibly annoyed. “What’s the point of making a reservation if we still have to wait this long? Is this place always like this?” He was looking at Ruby when he asked.
She shrugged. “I’ve never been here. They’re popular on Instagram, though.”
He rolled his eyes and looked away. Like that was a stupid reason to pick a restaurant. After a few moments of silence, Ruby asked the question she’d been thinking of all day. “So why didn’t you two go into hotel management like your parents?”
“Our parents always wanted us to follow our own path, not theirs,” Rashid said.
Jasmine laughed. “Yeah, and neither of us are suited for it. Our parents are quite typical—they pushed us all academically. And Rashid and I were more into biology than business. The hotel industry works for Ayesha—she’s the most business minded of us.”
Nadim shook his head with wonder. “I still can’t really believe that. Ayesha wassucha party girl.”
Jasmine smiled. “She still is. She just found a way to be a party host for a living.”
“I’ve wanted to work in hotels for a while,” Ruby said. “It’s actually why I’m moving to England.”
Jasmine frowned. “You’re moving because you want to work in hotels?”
“Sort of.” She laughed nervously. “It’s complicated. It was a dream of my mother’s and mine to one day own a country inn somewhere in England. We are… were obsessed with English literature and that whole aesthetic. I’m moving to determine the feasibility of our plan.”
“Did I hear you correctly?” Rashid asked, turning to her. “You’re moving all the way to the UK to live some Jane Austen pipe dream?”
“Don’t listen to my brother,” Jasmine said, waving her hand. “I think it’s a delightful idea. It’s exactly what my mother wanted—she convinced Dad to buy a property in the country recently. It’s so lovely. Calmer than city living. You should meet my father when you get to the UK. I’ll call him—”
“Mommy,” one of Jasmine’s daughters interrupted with a whine. “I don’t feel good.”
“Me too,” said the other one, holding her stomach.
Jasmine put her hand on one of the girls’ foreheads. “Oh, sweetheart.” She looked at Ruby. “I was afraid of this. They get stomachaches whenever they have overly rich things, like that hot chocolate.
“Do you need the bathroom,” she asked them, they both shook their heads no, then the one closest to Jasmine leaned in and said something quiet.
Jasmine looked at the rest of the table. “They want to go home. To be honest, I’m surprised they lasted this long. They’re exhausted. I think we may have to take a rain check on lunch.”
Rashid leaned down and picked up one of the girls so Jasmine could stand, holding the other one. Ruby didn’t know what to say. She wanted to urge Jasmine to stay—because Ruby wanted to finish that conversation when Jasmine was about to say she’d tell their father about Ruby. But the kids were sick. Ruby felt bad.
Jasmine apologized again when she said goodbye. “We had a wonderful time at the parade, didn’t we, girls? Thank you somuch for inviting us. And it was so nice to meet you, Ruby! Hopefully we’ll see each other again soon!”
“I hope so!” Ruby said. “It was so great to meet you. And meet Tara and Noor!”
Each holding one little girl, Jasmine and Rashid left the bistro. Rashid, unsurprisingly, didn’t say goodbye.
“Well, that went terribly, didn’t it?” Ruby said as they left. Reena sat on the barstool that Jasmine had vacated. She draped a blanket over her shoulder so she could nurse the baby.
“They’ll be fine,” Nadim said as he handed Aleem to his wife. “Kids always have stomachaches.”
“No, I don’t mean about the kids,” Ruby said. “I mean I was supposed to impress Jasmine. I think I can kiss that plan goodbye since her brother hates me.”
Reena shook her head, looking down at her baby. “He doesn’t hate you. C’mon, open your mouth!”
Ruby raised a brow at Reena.
“Sorry. Aleem’s not latching on.” The baby let out a high-pitched squeal that made everyone in their vicinity turn to them. “Maybe we should go, too,” Reena said. “I doubt he’s going to settle down.” She looked apologetically at Ruby.
“It’s fine!” Ruby said. “Take the young sir home. I don’t mind.”
