“Oh, don’t even get me started about that man.” She wailed.
“Wait! What? What happened?” Mia almost panicked. She couldn’t take any more sadness in her life right now.
“Nothing! Nothing is happening, and that is my problem precisely.” Tanya moved to the island and grabbed a glass of water. She plopped herself on a chair, while the other two women followed. “I don’t know if it’s the bloody pregnancy hormones or whatever, I’m turned on all the time. I find him ridiculously hot ALL THE TIME!!!!”
The two women looked at the pregnant girl in stunned silence.
“And this man? He should be grateful I’m for it all the time. Instead, he’s afraid he’s going to hurt the baby. I mean, seriously, what do men think their dicks are? Some missile shooting guns with baby dissolving powers?” She sniffled.
By the time she finished ranting, Mia and Natasha were laughing hard. Tanya and Neil were the epitome of cute. Mia’s smile dimmed when she realized she wanted this; this unconditional love from a man, the security of a stable relationship. No! Not with any man. Only with Armaan.
“Hey! What’s going on?”
Mia didn’t realize her eyes were watering until she heard Tanya’s question. She tried to shrug it off, but she couldn’t pretend. Not anymore. Finally, she broke down in the arms of her two girlfriends who patiently held her through her tears.
After what seemed like hours, Tanya and Natasha got the entire story out of her, including her painful past. “Oh, honey! You should have just told us from the beginning. No one should suffer alone, certainly not someone as beautiful and kind-hearted as you.” Natasha rocked Mia back and forth in her arms.
“I...I’ve been managing alone for so long, I’m used to it. After my mum died, I had to discontinue from the culinary school, and I came to India to meet my aunt. That’s when I met Armaan for the first time. Well, you know the rest. I got married, suffered through the whole thing...and...huh, after Peter’s death I came back to India.”
“How come? And...apologies, if this is an inappropriate question, your husband was an only child, right? So, what happened to his family and all his wealth?” Tanya wondered aloud.
“After Peter’s death, I came out in the open about their son. Of course, his parents were appalled. And, surprise surprise, they thought I was the one with some problem. Apparently, I couldn’t ‘please’ their son.” She air quoted the words in grim sarcasm.
“What stupidity! The nerve of those jackasses!” Tanya fumed.
“As Peter’s wife, everything he had automatically became mine. But I didn’t want his wretched money. Not even a penny. I turned over everything to his parents and came to India to be with my aunt. Even she…” Mia broke off and swallowed. “Even she left me in a few months due to cancer. With the inheritance from my aunt and a bank loan, I started Sunny Side Up.”
Natasha squeezed her hand while Tanya put her hand around Mia’s shoulders. The three women were sitting down, leaning against the kitchen cupboard. “You know, I don’t understand something. Why did he even marry you if he knew he was gay? Isn’t that just weird?” Tanya absently pushed her glasses against her nose.
“He married me because he was a coward. He didn’t want to be the outcast, and I was the naive girl who fell for his false charms. It was also his attempt to handle the pressure from his parents and eventually to get an heir for their empire. He thought he could go through with it. Well, in all honesty, perhaps he would have been able to perform had it been a beautiful, slim girl…”
“Oh, please! Shut up! A man who can’t get it up for a sweet, genuine woman like you can never get it up no matter what. And for the record, you’re a beautiful, gorgeous girl. That rat just used you, if you ask me. He knew you were vulnerable, and you didn’t have anyone backing you up. He thought he could get away with anything.” Natasha cut through Mia’s self-doubts swiftly, her fury evident against Mia’s late husband.
“How are you so sure about that?”
“Urghhh, girl, just believe it. If I liked women, you’d be my first choice. Sorry, Tasha! No offense, but I prefer curves.” Tanya replied in her typical, no-nonsense manner while Natasha tried hard not to roll over with laughter.
The women suddenly broke out into uncontrollable giggles at the absurdity of Tanya’s statement and went on to have a complete girls' day with pizza, wine, and nail art. It was late evening by the time the women decided to call it quits. “Thank you for coming over. Do you guys want to have a cup of coffee before you leave?”
“Just juice for me. I so crave coffee.” Tanya sighed.
“Hold on, will get both.” She opened the coffee jar and instantly closed it back. “Urghh.”
“Eh? All okay?” Natasha peeped.
“Yeah, I guess so. For a moment I was nauseated at the smell. Actually, for the last couple of days, it has been driving me nuts; this nausea at the smell of coffee. Weird, I used to love it.” Mia absently reached for the mugs and didn’t see Tanya and Natasha look at each other.
“Huh, sweetie, are you sure it’s nothing else?” Tanya walked towards Mia.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you...are you pregnant by any chance? I remember I was nauseated with certain strong smells in my first trimester.”
“What? No! I mean, there’s no chance. With my endometriosis and all that…” Mia looked confused and counted the days in her head, trying to think when she had her last period. She didn’t even remember when her last cycle was.
“Did the doc say there was zero chance, or slim chance in your condition? Zero is different from difficult; for getting pregnant, I mean.” Natasha chimed in.
Mia looked panicked for a moment before excitement entered her eyes. “Really? Do you think that’s what it is? I want to test immediately.” She bit her lip, impatient to test.
