Chapters (40)
- Cover
- Also by Saumya Dave
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Acknowledgments
- Readers Guide
- Discussion Questions
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
Suhani catches a glimpse of her sister’s eyes. There’s anger in them, yes, but there’s also a hint of something else. Sadness, maybe. Or could it be regret?
“So, how’s your comedy going?” Suhani asks to change the subject. “Any thoughts on getting a day job?”
“Seriously?” Natasha asks. “You sound like Mom. She already tried to make me call that weird uncle for a job.”
“Well, maybe we’re trying to help. Because sometimes you shut down or block out your problems,” Suhani says. “And you have to have an income.”
“I don’t shut down,” Natasha says with a very distinct edge to her voice. “And I already applied for a job at Starbucks.”
“As a barista?”
“Yes. I’m not beneath pouring coffee, okay? And just so you know, working on my comedy isn’t all fun and games. It’s actually really freaking hard and I could use some support.” Natasha stands up. “I definitely don’t need you to treat me like one of your therapy cases.”
“I’m not!”
“Puh-lease. And I don’t even expect you to totally understand,” Natasha says. “You don’t know what it’s like to feel like a total failure. Like everyone’s just judging you and waiting for you to screw up. You just don’t get it.”
Oh, I do get it, Suhani wants to say. More than you know.
“What don’t I get? I want to be there for you, understand what you’re going through. You didn’t even tell me you were going to break up with Karan and I sti—”
“I wasn’t going to! I was so caught off guard by the freaking proposal in front of our entire family!” Natasha interrupts. “I mean, he was my best friend and now I don’t even know how he’s doing.”
Despite Natasha’s firm, loud voice, Suhani detects an undercurrent of defeat.
Natasha wrings her hands. “Maybe I didn’t realize how not ready I was to get married until he got down on one knee! I mean, who the fuck proposes without discussing something like that with their girlfriend?! And when we’re so young!”
“That’s true,” Suhani says. “I can’t imagine how shocked you were.”
“I really was,” Natasha says. “I wish I just had the chance to tell him that I was happy with the way things were. And I always saw myself having a bigger and better life than this before I got married. There was stuff I thought I’d accomplish before I became a wife, if I ever became a wife. But it doesn’t matter now. Everything’s just gone to shit.”