I squeezed my eyes shut. He must’ve thought I was pathetic. A total loser. The only reason I had agreed to this three-month deadline was so I could have some semblance of control over my life. But my mother and her shenanigans were preventing that from happening. I had less than eight weeks left of my own search to deal with. The last thing I needed was for my mother to add another layer of pressure to my situation by blaming me for not allowing her to carry out her “maternal duties.” I pulled out of the driveway, tuning out my mother’s yammering about how wonderfully the afternoon had gone. Instead, I readjusted the GPS to program the quickest possible route to get home. All I wanted was to crawl back into bed with the box of sweets Yasmeen aunty packed for us and erase all memories of this ambush date from my mind.

Speed Dating

“You should try speed dating!” Hannah exclaimed that Tuesday in Liv’s apartment. I wondered if the Millionaire Matchmaker episode we were watching had gone straight to her head. “It’ll be like going on twenty dates in sixty minutes. Imagine the odds!”

“I don’t know,” I said, unsure. “Isn’t that . . . weird?”

“Says the woman with less than eight weeks left till her deadline,” Hannah muttered.

“Leila, time is running out,” Liv said seriously. “Weird or not, speed dating is efficient, and that’s what matters at this point.”

Clearly, Annie was not my only friend who believed in the theory of probabilities.

“I agree,” Tania said, grabbing Liv’s laptop. “Do you mind?” she asked as Liv gave her a nod of approval. “That Muslim matrimonial website we signed you up on is actually hosting a speed dating event next weekend,” she said, bringing up the page. “And it’s going to be here in Los Angeles. Look.” She turned the laptop toward us so we were facing the screen. We leaned in closer.

“How did you even know about this?” I asked her.

“My cousin told me about it,” she said. I glanced back at the screen, skimming through all the information presented on the flyer. Phrases like Muslim professionals, like-minded individuals, and meet your other half and complete your deen popped out at me. That damn phrase again. I rolled my eyes. Even if this would help with the numbers game, everything about this event screamed super lame. “You’re not actually suggesting I go to this, are you?” I turned toward them.

“Why not?” Liv shrugged. “It does sound like a fast and practical way to meet someone. What’s there to lose?”

“My dignity?” I exclaimed, but as I looked around at my friends’ faces, I realized I wasn’t convincing anyone. We all knew any trace of dignity had vanished the second I agreed to my parents’ three-month deadline. I sighed dejectedly. “Fine. I’ll do it. But one of you has to come with me.”

“It says here it’s a Muslim speed dating event,” Hannah read aloud. “I’m not Muslim, so I’m out.”