If a scattering of colorful fall leaves spread out on the console table in the Kumars’ spacious foyer counted, then their home was decorated for the holiday.
Alex felt a slight shiver as she took off her coat and handed it to Samir, who greeted them at the door. It wasn’t just the cool night air that chilled her skin. Despite the colorful leaves, Alex was again struck by the sterility of the rest of the home. The empty vibe was no longer just from the newness of the move, as the Kumars had had months to settle in.
“Ah, the last to arrive! So glad you could be here,” Samir said. He looked dapper in his blue sport coat. His smile felt genuine and warm, but Alex wondered if it was all for show. Was his charm a smoke screen? She’d come here with an open mind, hoping a close, intimate evening would provide a new perspective that would let her decide whether he was controlling at best or abusive at worst.
“Thank you so much for having us over,” Alex said.
“It’s my pleasure,” Samir answered. “We are pleased you both could come.”
“Delighted to be here,” said Nick.
Alex remained vigilant. She had followed Samir to the grocery store like some kind of private investigator, and he knew it, too. Talk about awkward. As everyone moved away from the foyer, Alex scanned the walls for family photos, but the white-painted interior showed nary a nail hole. It felt purposeful, as though they were actively safeguarding the past.
“Is Jay around?” Alex asked.
“He is out for the evening,” Samir said. “We invited him to join us, but he had other plans.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” said Alex. “We’d love to get to know him better. And I never asked, but do you have other children coming home for the holiday, or is Jay an only? We know so little about you.” She forced extra cheer into her voice.
A guarded look entered Samir’s eyes, but in a blink, his congenial demeanor returned. It troubled Alex to see someone so adept at regulating his emotions.
“Jay is our only,” he said.
Alex got the feeling there was more to the story. Maybe Mandy had suffered miscarriages like she had? But that wasn’t dinner conversation. A moment later, she lost that train of thought. From down the hall aromas filled the air, bathing her senses in an abundance of fragrances, only some of which she could place.
Samir noticed Alex sniffing. “We are having a blend of foods tonight,” he said. “A roasted chicken Mandy prepared—she didn’t want you getting tired of turkey before the holiday—and a few popular dishes from my hometown that have nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but I think you’ll find them quite pleasing.”
“Where’s your hometown?” Nick asked.
“I’m from the north—Ludhiana in Punjab to be exact, the sixteenth largest state in India,” Samir said. “I moved to America for graduate studies, met Mandy, and never left. Lucky me.”
“Do you go back regularly?” Alex asked. She followed Samir down the hallway, captivated by the scents perfuming the air. As they neared the kitchen, they heard the chatter of the other guests, their friends and neighbors.
“Less and less, I’m afraid. Work has its downside.” Samir’s voice was flat and expressionless.
From doing mediation, Alex had learned that certain voice inflections could indicate that a client wasn’t being entirely forthcoming. She wondered what Samir had to hide.
Before Alex knew it, Mandy, who looked stunning in a fitted black sweater dress adorned with simple gold jewelry, had placed a large glass of wine into her hand.
“Welcome! I hope you like red,” Mandy said.
Alex smiled brightly. “I like it all,” she answered. “Thank you.”
She looked around the room. Everyone was chatting pleasantly, seeming to have a good time. On the surface, everything appeared perfectly normal. Evan was talking with Ken and Emily. Brooke and Willow were paired up near a plate of hors d’oeuvres, sipping wine, laughing occasionally. Just as those decorative leaves gave the occasion a veneer of holiday normalcy, a tense undercurrent permeated the scene. Or maybe Alex just knew too much.
Emily broke away from the men to give her sister a welcoming embrace. Nick soon joined Ken and Evan in lively conversation.
“How are you holding up?” Alex whispered in her sister’s ear.
Emily sent a sharp look Mandy’s way, then directed a similar look at Brooke, which made Alex nervous. Does she know about the website?
She was about to inquire when Samir, who’d been bent over the stove to sample a dish that smelled delightful, stood up to announce that dinner was ready.
A moment later, they were all seated around the long dining room table. The buffet under the windows had been cleared to make room for a self-serve bar complete with a silver ice bucket, wineglasses, and an assortment of spirits, none of which were as high-end as Ken’s prized bottle of whisky. A fire crackling in the adjacent living room added a touch of warmth. Mandy and Samir worked as a team to bring in food from the kitchen, and before long a feast lay before everyone.
The bounty elicited effusive praise. Alex took in the sights and smells of a perfectly roasted chicken, the lush green salad, a dish of caramelized cranberry sauce, steaming potatoes drizzled in butter, and a series of small bowls filled with colorful dishes the likes of which she had never seen.
“I won’t bother to explain the food to which you are already accustomed,” Samir said. “But you may wish to know about my home cooking.”
He pointed to an unleavened bread the color of saffron, kept warm inside a copper dish.
“This is makki di roti,” he said. “It is a local favorite from the Punjab region. And we eat it with sarson ka saag.”
To Alex, the second dish looked like saag paneer, but she wasn’t knowledgeable enough about Indian cuisine to know the difference.
“We eat these two dishes together all winter long, and it keeps us very well nourished,” Samir said.
There was more—a dish called chole bhature, which Samir described as a spicy chickpea curry. “Normally, you’d eat this with a fried bread, but Mandy insisted we had too much food already.”
That they did, mused Alex. The table seemed to groan under the weight of all the plates and bottles.
Food was served in a somewhat chaotic frenzy as more glasses of wine were poured.
Under the table and out of view, Nick set a hand on Alex’s leg. His touch felt sweet and intimate, but also surprising. It had once been commonplace for them to be affectionate with each other. She warmed more from his loving gaze than from the wine and the fire. It felt like a rekindling, a momentary reconnection that they could build upon. In stark contrast, Alex observed Willow and Evan, who seemed to be purposefully avoiding eye contact or interaction of any kind.
Ken took a big drink of wine, then used his booming voice to get attention above the din of conversation. “You know, Nick, when you and Alex rang the doorbell, I had this thought it was the Bug Man coming to bug us with another visit.” He chuckled at his own attempt at humor, but no one else laughed with him.
Ken looked around the table, taking in all the stony expressions. “Too soon?” he asked.
“Way,” said Willow, who sent Evan the first real nasty look of the night.
“Who is the Bug Man?” asked Mandy.
“He’s a pest control salesman who uses super-aggressive sales tactics,” Evan said. “He was outside Ken’s house on Halloween, stuffing flyers into the candy bags of trick-or-treaters. That stunt almost got the Bug Man exterminated.”
“Well, he should be selling no more,” Ken said. “I called the company and lodged a formal complaint. I’m not going to let up, either, until that guy is fired.”
Alex saw Mandy’s eyes become two slits, as if daggers might shoot from them. If there had been something between her and Ken, that look all but said it was over and done with, and hard feelings lingered.
Mandy didn’t leave it at just a look. “Sounds like you’re getting overly involved in somebody’s life, Ken,” she said. “Isn’t that kind of like playing judge, jury, and executioner? Has he really disrupted your life to such a degree? What does it matter anyway that he’s passing out flyers? It’s annoying, for sure, but does it mean you have to get him fired?”
A hush settled over the table. A weight that hadn’t been there a moment ago hung in the air like an anvil waiting to drop. It was a conversation stopper, especially coming from the hostess of the party.
Samir placed a hand on Mandy’s arm, as if restraining her physically would also rein in her words. Mandy pulled free of his grasp, needing considerable torque to break the hold. Alex caught the challenging look Mandy sent her husband. Samir, however, didn’t flinch.
“I say we should not place any judgments on our guests,” Samir said. “This is a time for thanks and gratitude. Please, let’s all enjoy the meal.”
Everyone seemed to regain their composure, enough to fill their plates with food and for Alex to refill her wineglass. This was already quite the evening.
“You’re right, Samir,” Willow said. “I’m grateful for this meal, and the chance to get to know you and Mandy better. Thank you so much for hosting us all and for this wonderful dinner. I propose a toast.”
“Agreed,” said Nick. “A toast.”
Brooke took that as her cue to reach for the wine bottle. Dressed in a seductive low-cut top that offered an ample glimpse of her striking cleavage, Brooke leaned over the table, past Emily, for the Merlot. In doing so, she flashed Emily the same view that people like Ken, and others online, evidently paid good money to see.
This seemed to be too much for Emily, who muttered, “Quick, Ken, take a picture of that.”
Alex nearly choked on her drink.
Unflinching, Brooke returned a devilish half-smile and seemed to adjust her body so that Ken and Emily could both enjoy a good look at her endowments. “Go for it,” Brooke said. “I see no harm in looking.”
“I guess I don’t see it the same way you do, Brooke. Especially since my husband’s involved,” said Emily.
Ken’s face turned as red as the wine. He shifted uneasily in his chair. “Emily, this isn’t the time or place.”
“Oh, whatever,” Emily snapped. “You’re happy to share your viewing habits with all the guys at the poker table, but I can’t make one harmless joke at dinner.”
Ken’s expression bordered on apoplectic. “I don’t see anyone laughing.”
Samir appeared baffled. “I don’t really understand what’s going on here … maybe someone would be so kind as to explain it to me?”
“Apparently some people have a problem with my side gig,” Brooke said. “I see no issue with putting a few high-quality sexy pictures online and making good money off them.”
Now it was Mandy who looked confused. “Do you do porn?” she asked.
“Not porn,” Brooke corrected. “It’s art. The body is beautiful—all bodies—and I like to celebrate mine. It’s a thrill for me that people, men and women, enjoy looking at what I have to share. It’s an even bigger thrill when that enjoyment shows up in my bank account.”
“It’s a website called OnlyFans,” Emily said. “And about thirty minutes before we came over here, my husband was looking at Brooke’s pictures on the site. I wouldn’t have known this fun little fact if I hadn’t gone into his office to look for him, but he’d gone to the bathroom—won’t say more about that—and left his screen open for me to have a peek.
“I was scrolling through the site when he came back. He got all angry, insisting it was no big deal. He even thought it was funny. But I know he’s just downplaying it because those pictures are super hot, which is why he’s more than happy to share them with all his poker buddies. I’m sure Nick and Evan have had a look-see as well.”
“Which is fine by me,” said Brooke. “Maybe I’ll get more paying fans who want my … exclusive content.”
“What exclusive content?” Evan asked. Alex thought he looked angry—then again, that was his default these days.
Quickly Willow turned to Evan. “So you have seen them? Figures.” She sounded disgusted.
“Yes, and my interest is strictly professional,” Evan said. “If there’s some high-end content available, maybe I could give you my honest critique.”
“Thanks, but I think I’m all set,” Brooke said coolly.
“I’ve seen them, too,” Nick admitted when eyes fell on him. Wisely, he didn’t share Alex’s knowledge of the photos. She sent him a sly look, a reminder to keep the secret. Brooke stayed quiet as well, understanding the need for discretion without any prompting.
Samir’s calm demeanor began to fracture. “So, am I understanding this correctly, that you’re posting personal private pictures of yourself … on the internet?”
“Well, they’re not very private once I put them there.” Brooke seemed unperturbed.
Samir went still as he absorbed the information. “Maybe it’s not for me to get involved—and I can be more conservative than most in this area—but are you not encouraging the exploitation of women?” he asked. “Haven’t you fought long and hard for equal rights, fought to not be sexualized in such a way—the #MeToo movement, all of that? Aren’t you at all concerned about the message you’re sending to other women?”
Brooke shook off the rebuke. “I think women should decide when they want to be sexualized and when they don’t,” she said. “In my opinion, the #MeToo movement is all about women having control over their bodies and lives. We shouldn’t have men—or anybody, for that matter—decide what we can or cannot do in the privacy of our home, or what we put out there for other people to see and enjoy.”
Mandy turned to Samir with a fiery look in her eyes. “I don’t think you truly understand what the exploitation of women really means,” she said. Her gaze traveled across the table, landing squarely on Ken. “Let me tell you a little more about the exploitation of women.”
“Mandy, I need to speak with you in private,” Samir snapped. “Now, please.” His words reverberated like a gunshot.
Everyone fell silent, unmoving, unblinking even.
Reluctantly Mandy rose from her seat. She followed Samir out of the room.
“I just can’t believe you brought this up at the table like that,” Ken said to Emily with a scathing stare. “You know … I think I’ve had enough fun for one night.” He got up from the table as well. “Please let Samir and Mandy know that I don’t feel well.”
He left the room with a heavy stomp.
Emily hesitated, but eventually rose to follow her husband.
Alex turned to Nick and said, “I need to go check on Emily. I’ll be right back.”
She caught up with her sister outside, who was already halfway down the walk. Ken was nowhere in sight.
“I’m fine,” Emily said. “It’s okay. I feel like we needed this to happen. Maybe now we can start having some honest conversations with each other.”
It was dark out. Alex hoped Emily didn’t see her gulp hard. Ken wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been entirely honest with her.
“You can come stay with us if things get bad,” Alex said. She flashed on having made the same offer to Willow not too long ago, and imagined her home overrun with people whose relationships were in crisis.
The sisters embraced quickly before Alex retreated back into the Kumars’ house and out of the cold. Quietly closing the front door, she made her way toward the dining room, still grateful that Nick knew when to keep his mouth shut. But someone was talking. At the bottom of the stairs, she caught a snippet of conversation from above.
She heard Samir say in a hushed, intense voice: “You need to learn how to control yourself, Mandy. Have you been taking your medication?”
“Actually, you need to stop trying to control me,” Mandy said bitterly. “I don’t want to take those pills. I hate how they make me feel.”
“Well, you must take them,” Samir commanded.
The floorboards creaked, and Alex realized they were heading downstairs to rejoin the party—minus two guests. Quickly and quietly, she made her way back to the dining room and resumed her seat next to Nick. Despite the tension and awkwardness of the evening, she had gained at least one thing of value—insight into her new and mysterious neighbors.
Samir was controlling toward Mandy. And he used medicine—perhaps pills that he himself prescribed—to make sure she did as he wanted.