15. Rohit
“ E veryone, please find your seats. The dinner service is about to begin,” a voice comes over the sound system.
Miley turns to me. “With the kind of tickets we have, we can sit at the general seating tables in the back,” she explains as she takes my hand to guide me towards one of the long tables in the rear of the room. Her hand fits so nicely in mine, but I try not to think about that. We’re just here as friends, I’m just doing her a favor.
As I follow Miley towards the table, I hear a high-pitched squeal.
“MILEY! What are you doing here?” A petite young woman who bears a resemblance to Miley rushes toward her, with her date trailing behind.
Miley freezes in place, staring open-mouthed at the young woman barreling towards her with the energy of twenty caged gorillas. Once the young woman reaches Miley, she embraces her in a hug that takes Miley a few seconds to return. Miley blinks in stunned silence, and I can see her brain working overtime.
“Ruby, hi, I didn’t know you were going to be here,” Miley manages to say in a low voice as she pulls away from the hug.
“Oh, Planned Parenthood is one of my firm’s clients,” Ruby explains. Ruby lifts her eyes to me, and then back to Miley. “Is this the boyfriend I had to find out about from Aunt Sue?” She looks at me, eyeing me up and down suspiciously.
Boyfriend? Why would Miley bring me to this event if she has a boyfriend? I look around to see who this Ruby person is talking about, but I don’t see anyone. Is she talking about me?
Miley groans. “I explained to Aunt Sue that Rohit is just a—”
“Hi, I’m Ruby, Miley’s sister,” Ruby interrupts, extending her hand to me. I shake her hand and give Miley a sideways glance. So she was talking about me. But I’m not sure why she thinks I’m Miley’s boyfriend, though. As far as I can remember, I haven’t seen Miley with anyone, and she told me she usually comes to this event with Dylan.
“Uh, hi, I’m Rohit,” I reply, still looking to Miley for an explanation. Miley looks up at me with a blank expression. I am thoroughly confused, but I can play along.
Ruby releases my hand and asks Miley again, “I didn’t expect to see you here, Miley.” It sounds like more of a statement than a question.
Miley starts swaying slightly from side to side while looking all around the room, as if she’s been asked a test question that she doesn’t know the answer to. Finally, she mutters, “Well, I donate every year, so I come to this event.” I feel like she’s holding something back, but I don’t know what.
At this time, the man behind Ruby finally interjects. “I’m Charlie Liu, Ruby’s fiancé,” he says to me.
Ruby suddenly focuses on Charlie and says, “This is Miley’s boyfriend! I can’t believe Miley hasn’t told us about him yet. I had to hear it from mom who heard it from Aunt Sue. Miley told Aunt Sue first! Can you believe it?” she complains as she reaches to grab a flute of champagne from a server who is walking by.
“Ruby, I told you, he’s…” Miley mutters, but her words are lost as her sister makes her way to a table.
I can’t help smiling as I guide Miley to follow Ruby and Charlie.
“Get your hand off my back. You're not my boyfriend,” Miley whispers harshly.
I chuckle. “I know that, but do you know that? It seems like Ruby definitely doesn’t know that!”
Miley’s eyes are daggers as she grits out, “I’ll have you know I did NOT tell Aunt Sue you’re my boyfriend. You know how the Aunties make things up.”
“I know no such thing, Miley,” I say with a straight face, but my insides are full of laughter.
Miley lifts her head to the heavens and groans again. Seeing the normally cool, calm, and collected Miley get a little agitated is utterly entertaining. I’m finding myself addicted to her eye rolls and head tilts. Her awkward displays of confusion are thoroughly entertaining and I AM HERE FOR IT. The way she quirks her mouth to the side is adorable.
Ruby and Charlie find an empty table and take two seats facing the stage. Miley’s walk slows, and I continue to urge her forward.
“Listen, I’m quick on my feet and I can play along. Don’t worry,” I whisper to her, in case that’s why Miley is hesitant to sit down.
“I don’t even know what you’re playing along with,” Miley retorts.
I snicker, and I can feel Miley tensing under my touch. Ruby looks up at us and grins excitedly and I can sense Miley’s trying to hold her tongue. This is going to be fun.
I pull out the chair next to Ruby’s and motion for Miley to sit, which she reluctantly does, and I settle in the seat beside her.
Ruby immediately starts chattering. “Wedding planning is going great, thank you for asking, Miley,” she says pointedly.
“Ruby,” Miley whines. “I saw you just last week, and we talked about your wedding for an hour. I know wedding planning is going great.”
Ruby huffs as she plucks the napkin folded on her plate and smoothes it on her lap.
Charlie interjects so the sisters don’t devolve into a fight, “So how did you guys meet?”
I answer, “We met at a party.”
Miley says at the exact same time, “We met at work.”
She casts me a panicked look. We can save this.
I quickly add, “Yeah it was a work party.”
While simultaneously Miley adds, “We were out with work friends.”
I take a deep breath and decide the truth will set us free. “Quinn and I grew up together, and I’m sure you guys know Dylan. They introduced us.”
This seems to satisfy Ruby, who quickly finds a way to turn the conversation back to her wedding.
“Well, Rohit, I hope Miley told you to save the date, November twenty-third,” Ruby says as she glances at me.
“Ruby, what are you doing?” Miley hisses.
“Inviting your boyfriend to my wedding, duh, since I couldn’t invite him before, on account of not knowing he existed!” Ruby shakes her head at Miley as she takes another sip of champagne. She looks at me again as she says, “I hope you're not the jealous type because Harrison, Miley’s ex, will be there.”
Miley’s hand stops mid-air reaching for her water glass.
Ruby notices and pauses, putting her hand over Miley’s. For the first time all night, she slows down and observes what’s going on right in front of her face. Her eyes soften and she whispers, “That’s okay, right Miley? You guys have been broken up for years, and you have Rohit now. Mom said I had to invite Harrison since his whole family will be there.”
Miley looks at her sister silently. Even without knowing the backstory, I can surmise that this is a sensitive topic. I make a split second decision.
I lean over, putting my arm on the back of Miley’s chair.
“I can’t wait to come to the wedding, and no, I’m not worried about some ex from years ago. I can’t wait to meet him to thank him for being dumb enough to let this one go,” I say confidently, slipping my arm onto Miley’s shoulders. She stiffens at my touch and her head snaps toward me in shock, inches away from mine. I inhale sharply and the scent of lavender washes over me. I hold her gaze as something flickers awake inside me.
“Wonderful!” Ruby’s chipper voice interrupts, breaking the moment. Miley turns back to her sister and I shudder at the loss of her closeness, feeling slightly unmoored. It’s as if merely being in close proximity to her was grounding and comforting in a way I didn’t realize existed.
“Well, that’s settled,” Charlie says with a sigh of relief, taking a long sip from his champagne flute.
Miley redirects her attention to me and I instinctively lean in, my body automatically craving the proximity we had a few moments ago. “Thank you,” she whispers simply.