“No, it’s fine.” Noor cleared her throat. “When I get too worked up or emotional, it’s like my lungs can’t quite keep up.” She said it in a detached, almost clinical way. Her sister’s job as an ER doc required she be clinical.
“There is nothing to get upset over,” their mother said soothingly, her manner completely changing. “Everything is fine. It’s okay, Jia.” Her mom sniffed. “I will forgive you keeping this from me for who knows how long. Dev is an actual good prospect for you. I did not think you would find someone so eligible.”
Well, ouch.She felt that backhanded compliment like a slap to the face.
Jia twisted her fingers together. She hadn’t seen that beaming look of pride in her mother’s eyes in a long time, and she hated that she had to ruin it now. She was going to tell them the truth—that she’d been catfished. That was exactly what she was going to do. She could anticipate their reaction.
Hollywood has ruined you.
You must come home.
Typical Jia.
It was the last one that was the worst. Typical Jia, flighty and unpredictable. Someone who had to be kept stuffed away, lest she embarrass the family. The disappointment.
She was going to tell them everything. Except then Noor gave another slight cough, and what came out of Jia’s mouth was “Yes, he’s a good guy.”
Uh-oh. Whaaaaaat.
“Of course, we’ll have to meet him to be sure of it,” her mother mused.
“What?”Whaaaaaat.
“Oh yes.” Farzana waved her hands. “I’ll talk to your father about this. You know how protective he can get. We’ll try to come out in a few weeks.”
Her father was protective of his daughters, but he was a pussycat compared to her mom. “Wait, you probably won’t get to meet... Look, this is all still new. I haven’t been talking to him for long, nothing’s determined. Imagine if things don’t work out, you’ll have made your trip for nothing.”
“Not for nothing. We haven’t seen you in over a year. I told you we’d visit as soon as we were able. Don’t you want us to come there?”
“Of course I do, but not to meet some guy.”
“This will kill two birds with one stone,” Farzana said briskly. “We see you, we meet this prospective groom for you.”
Was it her imagination, or was it hot in here? Jia unpinned and unwound her head scarf and dropped it next to her, taking her stretchy net underscarf off next. She didn’tbother to fix her hair, which was sticking up everywhere. “He’s not my prospective groom.”
“Fine, fine, the boy you are talking to.”
Jia’s hands clenched in her lap. Oh dear.Tell them the truth now.They would be so much more disappointed when they got here and there was no Dev.
What if there was?
Wait, no. That was impossible.
Or is it?
It was.
Or, hear me out... is it?
To what end, though? Even if Dev was willing to play along, she’d have to tell her family eventually that she and Dev weren’t dating.
“In the meantime, please be discreet. It won’t do for your aunts and uncles to recognize you in any photos. No need for anyone to think you went off to California and started acting wild once you were away from us.”
Jia raised an eyebrow. That was the first time she’d heard her mother speak of her career with any semblance of pride. Or look at her with that level of approval.
Actually, her sisters were looking at her with approval too. It was like a drug, making her feel heady and invincible. Is this how it felt, for people whose families believed in them?
“I am so proud of you, Jia.”
