Colleen started laughing so hard that she rolled backward on the bed with her knees tucked into her chest.
Anjali scolded her, “This is some thanks I get for bringing you your computer monitor when you are going to need it. I am a grown woman. I can date who I want to. And I can get engaged to whoever I want, too.”
Colleen stopped laughing and sat up. “Anjali, did you get engaged to a guy just because you spent the night with him?”
“Not just because of that.”
“You’ve known him for one day!”
“It is really excellent that you can read a calendar so well.”
“Are yousurethat’s a good idea?”
“We are not going to tell our parents until we have been engaged for some time, so we can consider it. And now, if you will excuse me, I am going to my apartment to get some clean clothes.”
“Are you going back to him? What happened to waiting three days totexta guy after meeting him?”
Anjali looked at the floor. “Sometimes, when you know, you know. In my culture, it is very acceptable to marry someone you have not known for long. Our families and social structure will help our marriage succeed. It is different than it is here, where two people get married and then they are all alone. I would not like that.”
“Okay, honey. I just don’t want you to do something you’re going to regret.”
Anjali flipped her fingers in the air, and Tristan saw the resemblance to how Colleen brushed words away. “We will not tell our parents for some months. We know how to do this.”
The girls hugged out their goodbyes, and Anjali left the apartment, sneaking an embarrassed glance at Tristan as she left.
Colleen was shaking her head, practically not blinking with shock. “I cannot believe she’s engaged.”
Tristan said, “I can’t believeJiandid it. I need to talk to him. I hope he didn’t get roped into something he doesn’t want.”
She frowned at him. “Anjali would neverropesomeone. She wouldn’t pressure a guy. As a matter of fact, she’s actually said a couple of times that she planned to reject any proposal at least twice. She said that if the guy asked herthreetimes, then she’d know he was serious.”
Wow. The games.
Tristan didn’t play games like that.
Maybe he was just too oblivious to play games like that.
Because when a woman said no to something, he believed her, and that was all.
Did he need to play games? He didn’t think he needed to play games.
He said, “I cannot believe that my PA, Jian Laio, the moststableanddeliberateman I’ve ever met, asked a woman he’s only known since yesterday to marry himat least three timeslast night. I don’t believe it.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Tristan. I’ve known Anjali for almost four years. When she says something like that, she’s serious. Maybe they got engaged so she wouldn’t feel guilty about boning him, and they’re going to break it off in a month or so. That’s something her twisty brain would come up with.”
He smiled. “Twisty, huh?”
“Oh my God, youtwistypeople will be the death of me. I see you got the monitor all set up, though. Why did you want it back anyway?”
Tristan folded his hands over his stomach and recited the speech he’d been composing in his head the whole time Colleen had been talking with Anjali because he sure as hell wasn’t telling her about Bell’s new deadline. “I’m very concerned about your safety. Since I have nearly six weeks to finish the GameShack project, we’re going to rewrite my Anonymity program so that you can drop off anyone’s surveillance anytime you want. I want you to be able to walk through an airport or a shopping mall and get on an airplane without it ever being recorded anywhere, from the State Department’s computers to the closed-circuit video. I want you to be able to rent a car or work anywhere you want without the Butorins or anyone else tracking you because I’m not sure how this will turn out. I have plenty of time to figure out how to proceed with the rest of the project, but I want to write this code over the next few days and finish it. I want you to be safe.”
Colleen was watching him closely, scrutinizing his expressions. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your phone call, but where would I go, right?” she asked, gesturing at her one-room apartment. “You said something wasimpossiblewhen you were talking to them.”
He nodded, trying to seem offhand and casual. “Lots of things are impossible about this situation.”
“Right,” she said. “Okay.”
“But I want you to be safe, so I’m going to do some serious coding over the next few days. Do you mind if I use your rig, here? You can use my laptop if you need to get online.”
