“Annika, beta. So good to see you.”
Honestly, she just saw them, but it was becoming clear that her family was worried about her.
“You, too, Kaki. Here—” she reached for the skimmer “—let me help you.”
Veena-kaki carefully moved the utensil away from her. “Nonsense. You enjoy. I have my friends here to help.” She jutted her chin toward the aunties rolling out the dough. “And your parents are coming soon.” She shoved a plate of samosas at Annika. “Here, eat a few while they are still garam-garam, before everyone else eats them all.”
“Thanks, Kaki.” She smiled to herself as the wordshot-hotflashed through her mind. She couldn’t help it. Annika took the plate and moved out of her way.
Annika greeted a few more uncles and aunties while she hunted for her favorite cilantro chutney. She finally located both the savory cilantro chutney and the tangy-sweet tamarind chutney while catching up with some friends she hadn’t seen in a long time. Naya still hadn’t arrived.
Her garam-garam samosas were lukewarm by the time she finally got a small break and was able to take that first bite. She was just enjoying the tang of the tamarind chutney mixed with the spices inside the samosa when a familiar voice called to her.
“Hey, Annika.”
Sajan. She should have known her kaka and kakiwould invite his family. The rest of town was here, after all.
Annika looked up at hazel eyes grinning at her, her mouth filled with samosa, and managed a nod while she chewed.
“I was a waiter for a while, and they trained us to talk to people just as they were putting food into their mouths.” He grinned at her.
Annika managed to chew and swallow without incident before she greeted him. “I’d say you learned very well.”
He chuckled and looked around. “It’s good to see you again. If I didn’t know better, I’d think some of these aunties were having parties just to put us together.”
“They’re bored. They need excitement.” Annika tried to laugh off Sajan’s comment, but she knew it really could be the truth. She put nothing past these women.
“Well, in any case, it’s nice to see a familiar face. I feel like I must’ve known some of these people growing up here, but it’s been a while, so I might as well be in a room of strangers.”
“Some of them you must remember from Diwali? But I can introduce you around.”
“Yeah?” He looked a bit too excited at that prospect.
“Sure. Let’s eat first. These samosas won’t last long.” She handed him one and grinned. “They were hot-hot.” She giggled, but Sajan just looked at her for a moment, confused.
“Ah—I get it.” His face lit up with understanding, but not necessarily amusement. “Garam-garam.”
Annika waved it off. The moment had passed. They both ate a few samosas while Annika pointed out people that Sajan may have known when he lived here.
“What happened to your hand?” Sajan nodded at her injury.
Annika shrugged and willed herself not to flush. Like that ever worked. “A few stitches. Broken glass. Happened right after Diwali.” She had hoped it was less noticeable without the full dressing, but clearly even a small bandage didn’t escape a surgeon’s eye. True to Daniel’s word, her hand was almost healed.
“So the stitches should be almost out.”
Annika bit into a samosa and nodded.
A few of Sajan’s friends came over and joined them in their snack. Among them was Reena, a girl who had been a year ahead of Annika at school. Reena had been one of the dancers in the group she was in with Sajan back in high school, and Annika remembered her as being quite shy. She must have come out of her shell in college, because there was nothing shy about her now—or about her interest in Sajan, to which Sajan seemed oblivious.
Annika held a beer in her right hand and popped the last bit of samosa into her mouth with her left.
“Ooh! What happened?” Reena nodded at Annika’s injury.
Annika waved her hand. “Oh, nothing. Just cut myself on some glass.”
Reena’s eye’s widened. “Enough for stitches? That must have been painful.”
Annika shrugged. “Yes, it was.” But she had been well taken care of by a certain nurse practitioner.
