Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
It was not low key.
To start with, Sistine drags me away from the kitchen some time before the party starts. She tells me it’s horribly dedicated how many hours I’ve been brainstorming various meal kit recipes (the whiteboard is jammed with notes) and that I need to take the night off, otherwise my brain will melt.
She’s not entirely wrong. I’ve been at it so long today, my eyes feel criss-crossed. Taking advantage of my exhaustion, she drags me into her room and helps me get ready for the evening.
Resistance is futile, and the next two hours are spent on hair, makeup and Sistine lacing me up into a white, cottage-y maxi dress.
The cap sleeves are sheer and fall off the lines of my shoulder, and the material around my breasts is delicately bunched.
Looking at myself in the mirror, there is no way I could have put it on myself, considering how many subtle straps she’s had to tighten.
I look innocently pastoral on the front, and like a cinched, sexy, Victorian duchess from the back.
It’s stunning—and too much.
“No, it’s not,” says Theo, when I remark as much. He confesses the casual party he’s throwing is actually black-tie.
Of course, it is.
We enter the living room and I gasp. He’s pushed the sofas to the sides, and decorated the space with an explosion of streamers, confetti, and heart-shaped balloons. Where the television used to be is a wall-sized projection screen.
“Is there going to be a presentation?” I ask Theo.
He clicks a button on a remote and the screen comes to life.
Noor and Kiren. They are on the screen, and also dressed fancily.
Something akin to a shriek comes out when we see each other.
I knew Theo was going to include my best friends at this party somehow, but I didn’t know he would make it happen this way.
Blown up to this size, it feels as if they are really here!
He slings his arm around my shoulder. “Noor. Kiren. Condolences. I’ve stolen Rita, and jumped up to the number one best friend spot.”
Noor glares at him. “Don’t rile us up when we can’t be there in person to push you around.”
Kiren scoffs, clearly unbothered. “Nothing can replace growing up with someone. We have memories .”
“Art class,” Noor says. “Ninth grade. The teacher wants us to draw a still life of a farm with barn animals. Rita points to the rooster?—”
“And says that’s a pretty large cock,” finishes Kiren. “Best friends ever since.”
“How illuminating,” says Luke, stepping into the living room.
He raises an eyebrow at me and I gulp. I’ve seen Luke in many gorgeous suits, but what he chose today is particularly glamorous.
He wears a fitted tuxedo suit with a black bow tie, an expensive watch gleams at his wrist, and a small diamond stud marks his ear.
“Who likes a big cock?” asks Sistine, joining the party, dragging a bored-looking Adam behind her.
“Rita does,” says Theo.
“I can see that,” says Sistine.
“You do know she’s with your brother, right?” points out Noor.
Sistine looks stricken.
Theo snorts out a laugh. “I’ll give you points for that,” he says, talking to my friends. “But I should get some credit for throwing our favorite couple an engagement celebration party.”
Luke stares at Theo. “You said this party was about your book coming out, and how you needed a distraction since it’s been bombing with the critics.”
“And you believed me? I’m offended. How can a book on the love between a rugged pufferfish and a coquettish sea anemone ever fail?
I’m a huge hit, as always.” He slumps over the arm of the couch.
“My very own best friend doesn’t have faith in my writing.
This is why I’ve had to move onto Rita as his replacement. ”
“I now understand your tragic circumstances,” observes Kiren.
“You have my deepest sympathies,” says Noor. “But also I want a link to this book, so I can buy it immediately.”
“He’s not all terrible,” says Sistine. “Like when he’s not working. A fraction of a second here and there.”
Luke tells everyone he hates them all.
I privately smile into my hand, wondering whether to defend Luke. Despite his busy work schedule, he seems to make time for me. If we aren’t sharing mornings together, we are messaging throughout the day.
Theo leaps off the couch and wags a finger at Luke. “He hasn’t even gotten our precious Rita her engagement ring. Look at her finger! It’s bare.”
“This is a fake engagement,” I remind the room. “We all know that, right?”
Luke glances at me sideways. “Actually, the ring has come in. The box is in my room. I—was going to give it to you later.”
Too late, Theo is leaving.
“Don’t go in there,” warns Luke.
“Going to the pisser,” he says, jaunting out of the living room.
“He’s not,” says Sistine.
“Definitely not,” says Noor.
“Consider your privacy invaded,” adds Kiren.
Theo comes back with the velvet box in his hand. He goes over and presses it into Luke’s hand. “Go on. Pretend we’re not here. Propose.”
“You don’t have to do this,” I say.
“BOOOOO,” yells my friends in the background.
Luke and I are both sighing as if in mutual agreement we need to reevaluate continuing all our friendships. He comes to stand in front of me.
“Can I have your hand?” Luke cooly asks.
“Pathetic!” yells Theo.
Sistine sticks both her thumbs down. “Don’t half-arse this, otherwise I’ll make sure Rita runs off with Adam.”
“Meddlesome little shits,” mumbles Luke.
“You say the most romantic things.”
He stills and considers me. “You want romance?”
“No, it wasn’t—I’m not asking for it?—“
Luke goes down on one knee. I can see them now, clearly, those stunning blue-gray eyes, and that face of his tilted up at me.
His hair is blonde and tousled, worn with a bit more of a wave than usual but shorn shorter at the sides.
It—he—takes my breath away. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this moment. Him on his knee for me. How can I?
“The moment you walked into my office,” he says. “My life changed. I don’t think things will ever be the same for us. I didn’t—I never expected someone like you. I didn’t think I deserved it.”
“Why? You do.”
He lifts my hand and rubs a thumb over the skin. “Will you do me the honor of being my fiancée?”
“Yes. Sure. Why not?”
Amusement dances over his face. “As long as you don’t have better things to do.”
“Not at the moment,” I reassure.
“If that changes?—”
“I’ll let you know when you are about to be dumped.”
He slips on the ring and stands. “Some notice would be nice.”
Pop! I glance over at my shoulder and see my friends opening up champagne in Mumbai.
“Good idea!” Theo grabs a bottle. Flutes are passed around.
My shoulder presses into Luke’s arm. “So this is how you would do it? I’m glad I don’t have to make a story up. I can tell it honestly at the conference,” I pause and add, “when pretending to be engaged.” Because that seems like a fruitful reminder to keep bringing up.
“This isn’t how I would do it,” Luke says, his voice low. “If it was real.”
I chew on the edge of my lip. “Go on, what would you do? Hypothetically.”
“It would be private. Intimate. And I would…bake.”
“Bake? You’ve never baked once before, I don’t think.”
“I haven’t.”
“So, why?”
If anyone looks upon me, I know they’ll see the blush spreading across my cheeks. A side effect of whispering with Luke with our sides touching.
Fuck.
I’m falling again.
“Rita,” says Luke solemnly, almost not looking at me. “I would bake to prove that whatever it is you know, I can learn.”
“That’s not nice,” I say in a strangled voice.
“Not in competition,” he promptly clarifies.
“To gain your trust. To give you evidence that you can rely on me. That I will take on whatever tasks you need me to, even ones I’ve never done, I’ll learn.
So you don’t have to be alone in anything.
I’d want to prove you can give any burden to me for me to carry on my back.
Even if it’s something I don’t want or like myself.
Like cakes. I would bake every cake for you.
Any recipe you want. And it wouldn’t stop at that.
I’ll learn how to cook, to be your assistant chef, to learn Punjabi if you want to speak it instead of English. ”
The way he describes us being together?—
Double-fuck.
An angry barb attaches itself to my heart.
Why can’t this be real? Or obviously fake?
With our friends and family around us, it’s like details are being filled in that I didn’t care to experience.
How can I ever bring another into my life and not compare it with the sheer and delicious plummet of being with Luke?
Theo distributes takeout containers from the kitchen.
He’s ordered Punjabi food for dinner. At the same time, on Noor and Kiren’s side of the world, their doorbell rings.
They appear surprised but become quickly delighted after realizing Theo has ordered them takeout to be delivered at the same time.
“He doesn’t miss a beat,” muses Luke.
Everyone settles in on the couches and drinks and eats more.
“Is this okay?” I ask Luke, handing him a samosa. “Don’t you have work to do?”
He pours some chutney onto my plate. “I do. But I don’t mind this. I don’t mind being here.”
“Two worlds coming together,” I quip, looking around. Sistine is eating by the projector screen, talking it up with Noor and Kiren. Theo is interrogating Adam about his workout routine.
“It seems to fit,” says Luke.
“Against the odds. For now.”
Luke clinks his glass with mine before taking a sip. “Always thinking of dumping me, aren’t you?” He quirks an eyebrow at Theo, who has eaten his meal the fastest and is thumbing through a playlist of bhangra music. “Considering my associations, I don’t blame you.”
I smile. “He has his charm.”
“He does. In Harvard?—”
“Oh my, there’s that name drop again.”
“Admit it, you like how much of a snob I am.”
“Never. I’m blocking you out.”
“Hear me speak, woman.”
“If I must. Go on, continue the Harvard story.”
“Theo got in by a scholarship. When we got put together as roommates, I thought he’d hate me for my last name or try to win me over.”
“I’m guessing he didn’t do either of those things?”
“He filled a fridge with cheap beer, and said if my grubby little hands wanted one, I’d have to replace what I took.
” The side of Luke’s mouth slopes up. “Before then, I’d never been called grubby before.
I didn’t like that. My first impression of him was deep-seated suspicion.
What was his angle? What’s the cheap beer got to do with it? What did he want from me?”
I laugh. “Theo is a troll.”
“The biggest prat. One who’s never brought up my family, or any of the scandals that hit the news about Abbot Industries.
The only time he’s ever really been pissed at me is when I found out he wanted to be an author.
I told him I have a connection to an agent who will publish his work.
” Luke shakes his head. “Didn’t talk to me for a week after that.
I had to hound him and keep apologizing, although back then I didn’t know what for until he told me.
He said, I want my roommate, Luke. I’m not interested in Luke Abbot. ”
“He didn’t want your connections.”
“He didn’t. And as punishment for assuming, he made me read out the first version of his work.” Luke shudders. “Slimy sea cucumber wooing a scratchy little starfish. Had to read that horror out loud to him, that cruel bastard.”
“Aw.” I elbow him a bit. “He’s your best friend.”
“I’ll deny it.”
“Worry not. Your heart is safe with me.”
Luke’s hand clenches on the fabric of the couch. Is the food too spicy for him? I distract myself with another samosa. Theo comes around later and takes my plate away. “Let’s dance!”
There is a migration towards the center of the living room, as Theo does not let anyone get away.
He puts on a robust Punjabi song, and then attempts bhangra dance moves that lack all elegance, but make up for that with enthusiasm.
Even Adam sways subtly on his feet, keeping an eye on Sistine, who is putting her adolescent ballet skills on display by pirouetting.
On their end, Noor and Kiren form a circle of giddha, showcasing a popular folk dance that involves a lot of clapping.
And so the night goes on until my friends have to sign off. Theo is similarly knackered, having spent the whole day putting this party together. He kisses everyone goodnight before heading off to his room. Absently, I pick up a few plates until Luke takes them away from me. “Don’t bother.”
“Okay.” I glance around. “Do you know where Sistine is? This dress is complicated, and there is no way I can get out of it myself.”
“I’ll look for her.”
Fifteen minutes later, Luke comes back. He’s not impressed. “She’s gone out somewhere with Adam.”
“Crap.” I molest the laces behind me. Maybe the mirror in my bathroom will be of assistance.
Luke watches me flail about. “I could help you?”
This dress—while beautiful—would be a nightmare to sleep in. Already my arm is getting sore from bending this way. “Sure—could you?”