Rani had barely entered the condo when Arjun grabbed her hand. “Rani!”
“Don’t bother, Arjun. We see you.”
Rani turned towards the voice and recognized his mother immediately from the pictures she’d seen. Arjun’s parents were not what Rani expected. Perhaps because of her experience with her mother and ex-mother-in-law, she expected a traditionally dressed woman in a sari or salwar kameez with the kind of jewelry that befit her status. But Jhanvi Singh was dressed in cream linen pants and a stylish light blue blouse. Her salt-and-pepper hair was stylishly cut in waves and fell around her shoulders. Her makeup was flawless even at this late hour and the only jewelry she wore were tasteful diamond solitaires. Dharampal Singh was an older version of Arjun, with nearly white hair. Tall and stately, he was dressed in a Lacoste collared shirt and khaki trousers. The couple looked like they belonged on a yacht in Monte Carlo.
Arjun moved towards his parents and bent down and touched their feet. They each placed a hand on his head. Only then did he rise and hug them. Rani knew the tradition but was surprised to see it. While touching feet was a mark of respect for elders, in modern Indian families it was only done during special occasions like marriage. Her parents, and even her ex-in-laws, didn’t follow this custom on a daily basis. A deep dread spread inside her chest.
“And who is this?” his mother asked.
“This is Rani.” Arjun motioned her over and Rani stepped towards them on leaden legs.
Rani joined her hands and bowed her head. “Namaste.”
Arjun looked pointedly at Rani and then his parents’ feet. She gave them a thin smile then bent down and did what was expected of her. They each touched her head and uttered a blessing.
“So she’s the one you’ve been fooling around with?”
Rani froze then stepped away from them.
“Ma!”
Jhanvi’s eyes blazed with anger. “We dropped everything and flew overnight from India to see if the story was true and we find you coming home in the middle of the night with her?” Then she turned to Rani. “And what good Indian girl is with a man in the middle of the night when he is not her husband?”
Rani shrank back, her mouth completely dry and her chest so constricted she wasn’t sure if she was still breathing.
“What are you talking about?” Arjun came to stand beside Rani. He touched her and she tried to focus on the warmth of his hand in the exposed dip of her lower back.
His father clicked on a tablet and turned the screen to show Arjun. “There’s a story of you circulating in the media. A picture of you and Rani kissing. The story claims you’re engaged.”
Rani squinted to look at the headline, which blazed in red. Hottie Arjun Getting Married to Average-Looking American Divorcée. Right below it was a picture of them kissing. The hospital garden with its metal picnic tables was in the background. It was the day Arjun told her he loved her.
“How did this get out?” Arjun lamented.
Like that was what was important right now. Did he not see the anger in his parents’ eyes?
“Someone named Anaya Gupta—I assume she’s your sister—took the photo.” Arjun’s father looked at Rani with such anger that she felt like she’d been cut in half. She shriveled back, moving away from Arjun and towards the door as if willing it to open and let her escape. “She posted an Instagram picture saying how happy she is for her sister and used the hashtag #IndiasHottestHottie. That’s when the story first broke. The story is all over the Indian news media. How could you be so stupid, letting people take pictures with you like that? Hema’s family is furious. Her father wanted to come with us.”
“What were our PR people doing? Why didn’t they stop the story?” Arjun asked.
Why is that important? Rani shouted in her head. Why wasn’t anyone addressing the real issue?
“That PR hack you hired isn’t worth the dirt on my shoe.” His father scoffed. “The paper called him for a comment and he was worse than useless.”
“I’ll fire him tomorrow.”
“Already done,” Dharampal responded.
I have to get out of here or I’ll scream.
“We’ll have to fix it. I’m thinking we call a press conference tomorrow morning and say the picture is being blown out of proportion. Maybe announce your engagement to Hema,” his father said, all businesslike.
“How about just denying it’s me in the picture. You can’t see my full face.”
What was Arjun saying? If they were going to be together, what good would it do lying to the media? Unless he didn’t plan on going through with the engagement after all.
“Arjun, this story has a lot of steam in India. The only way to settle things down is to announce your engagement. Besides, Hema’s family isn’t willing to wait anymore.”
Say something, Arjun! Tell him that if you’re announcing your engagement, it’ll be to me! Rani’s tongue was superglued to the roof of her mouth. Her body trembling, she was unconsciously taking small steps towards the door behind her.
“I’m not ready to announce my engagement to Hema.”
Say the rest Arjun, say the rest, Rani silently pleaded.
“What’s not to be ready about?” Arjun’s mother stepped up to him. “Your wedding is set for two months from now. Do I need to remind you what’s at stake here? Hema’s family has been very patient with you but you know as well as we do that if they pull out of our business partnership, you’ll have to sell the Vegas hotel.”
Two months! The wedding date was around the corner and Arjun still hadn’t talked to his parents about not wanting to marry Hema? This wasn’t just about him and Rani. It was about him having the courage to face his parents.
“Ma, why are we standing here talking about such important matters? You must be tired from your journey. You should rest, and we can discuss this first thing in the morning,” Arjun said with maddening calm.
“I’m quite fresh,” Jhanvi said. “It’s early morning India time. I slept on the flight and so did your dad.”
“Jhanvi, we are on India time but he’s on Las Vegas time. Let him get a few hours’ sleep. I’ll send the jet back to get Hema. If we’re going to make an announcement, she should be here with him.”
Rani had never seen Arjun getting steamrolled and yet here he was, looking wearily at his parents like he wasn’t going to tell them that the woman he loved was standing right there.
“Let’s pick this up tomorrow morning,” Arjun’s father said with finality.
“What about her?” Jhanvi nodded towards Rani as if suddenly remembering she was there.
Yes, what about me? Were you going to remember that I’ve been standing here this whole time or am I always going to be invisible next to your parents?
Arjun stepped towards her and whispered quietly in her ear. “Rani, I will handle them, but not tonight. Why don’t you go home? I’ll have Sam take you.”
Rani did not need to be told twice. She spun and Arjun had barely gotten the door open before she walked through it. She stabbed at the elevator button, silently cursing it for not lighting up. Arjun came up behind her and calmly punched a code into the keypad next to the call button.
“Rani, please understand. There is a way to deal with my parents.”
“And that way is to pretend like I don’t exist?”
“Believe me, this is not how I intended to introduce you to them. Right now they are only concerned about my media image. Remember, I’m the face of our hotel chain. Any scandal affects not just our family reputation but also our hotel brand and the partnership with Hema’s parents’ business. They’re a publicly traded company and answer to shareholders. We need to deal with that situation first. If only your sister hadn’t posted that picture on social media...”
I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to beg. And I’m not going to let this be Anaya’s fault.
When the elevators dinged, Rani stepped into the carriage. “Your family image and hotel brand won’t be helped by an average-looking divorcée.”
He let the doors shut, and she let the tears stream down her cheeks.