Chapter 34
Acouple of hours later, Simran watches the foliage whiz by as Kavitha drives them through upstate New York.
They’re on their way to Toronto; after the emotional conversation with her aunt this morning, all she wanted to do was talk to Leo.
But he wasn’t answering his phone—Simran shoves down the notion that he is refusing to talk to her—and when she looked up flights, they cost over a thousand dollars, which she couldn’t have afforded even if she wasn’t newly laid off.
She’s never loved her cousin more than when Kavitha, only half awake, suggested a road trip.
Finally, after all this time, Kavitha and Simran would be in Toronto together.
Kavitha reaches into the tub on Simran’s lap and grabs a piece of cake, and just as she shoves it in her mouth, Simran asks, “So what’s the deal with Payal?”
“Grheath thiming,” Kavitha says, a few crumbs flying out of her mouth as she chews. After she swallows, she says, voice suspiciously even, “Nothing.”
Simran raises her eyebrows. “Bullshit!”
“I mean, we made out but—”
“How can you say nothing, then?” Simran practically yells.
“Love the energy but we are literally two feet away from each other in a confined space. I’m going to need you to turn the volume down a bit,” Kavitha says, but she’s clearly pleased by the enthusiasm.
“Payal’s nice. But I didn’t feel any fireworks.
I guess that’s not shocking—who ends up with the first person they ever liked? ”
“Well, Rishi and Geeta,” Simran says.
“Ugh, those two overachievers.” Kavitha snorts.
“I still want a big love. But I think first I want a big life. I want to figure out what and who I like and don’t like.
I want to pick out my own pillowcases. I want to not have to tell anyone what time I’m coming home. I want to not come home some nights.”
“I think that if you want a big life, you’ll have a big life. Because you’ll make a big life,” she says.
“Der aaye, durust aaye,” Kavitha says. Simran’s breath hitches at the familiar words.
“I remember your dad used to say that all the time and I always thought it just meant ‘Better late than never.’ But it means something different: Even if it’s late, it’s still the right time.
” She smiles excitedly. “I’m going to do it.
Leave Iyer House. Move to New York City, get a job there before my bar exam results expire. ”
“You’ll be close to your parents and to Geeta and Rishi and the baby too. It’s perfect,” Simran replies but there’s a pang in her chest. Their original pact will be fulfilled. Just in separate cities.
“I know! And if you think this big grin is excitement—you’re only eighty-four percent correct. The other sixteen percent is pure terror. My mother’s going to throw a fit.”
“She is. But you’ll both get through it,” Simran says. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from all this, it’s that.”
“You’ve only learned one thing from all this?” Kavitha asks.
Simran laughs. “Shut up.”
But for the first time she can remember, she really does feel that she and her family will get through anything.
After seven years of solitary Diwalis spent with Liv and Indian takeout, Simran will have family holidays and casual visits and milestones.
This wedding will become part of the stories they share with the new baby and all the family members to come.
She’s already missed out on years of this.
As the Toronto skyline peeks out from beyond the blue expanse of Lake Ontario, Veena perima’s request for her to stay burns in her chest.
Simran and Kavitha arrive at her apartment in the early evening. “Liv, it’s me!” She leads Kavitha into the living room, where Olivia is sitting on the couch. “Surprise!”
“I’ll say,” Liv says, shock all over her features. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to Leo. He isn’t here, is he?” Adrenaline courses through her in anticipation of seeing him.
“No, he’s not,” Liv says, standing slowly. “And he’s not at his apartment either.”
All the energy in Simran funnels into fueling her worst fears: that she has broken something beyond repair between them.
“Liv, where is he?” she asks, not even bothering to keep the desperation out of her voice. “I really need to see him. Now.”
Liv snickers. “He felt the same way.”
“What do you mean?”
“You pair of absolute clowns! He’s flying to Newark to see you,” she replies, shaking her head.
Kavitha laughs but is silenced by a scalding glare from Simran. “He’s going to New Jersey?”
“Sure is,” Liv says. “You just missed him. His flight’s in an hour-ish.”
“Call him and tell him not to get on the flight!” Simran screeches, four inches from Liv’s face.
Her friend levels her with a trying look but pulls out her phone. It immediately goes to Leo’s voicemail. “I think his phone might be broken. I, uh, accidentally threw it on the road yesterday,” Liv says sheepishly.
“I have to get to the airport and stop him!”
Liv angles herself to face Kavitha. “Okay, we have so much to talk about.”
“I know! I made a whole list of movies for you to check out,” Kavitha replies.
“Wait—how do you two know each other?” Simran throws her hands in the air. “No! I don’t care! We can discuss that once we’ve found Leo.”
“Fine! Let’s go!” Liv says, grabbing her keys from a hook next to the door.
“You’re coming?” Simran asks as she shoves her sneakers back on.
“I can show you a shortcut,” Liv says. “Leo’s leaving from the city airport—it’s only about twenty minutes away, so there’s a chance you can catch him before he gets on the flight. But traffic is bad.”
“And water is wet. It’s Toronto, of course it’s bad,” Simran mutters.
“First, water is not wet. Water makes things wet. Second, there is only room for one obnoxious person in this friendship and it’s me,” Liv says.
“My Vespa is parked out front. We might be able to get there faster on that than in a car.”
“All three of us won’t fit on the scooter,” Simran says, looking at Kavitha.
“I’ve already aided and abetted a crazy dash to the airport to stop Leo. I can sit this one out.” At Liv’s questioning look, Kavitha says, “It was very romantic and horrifically public and only a little pathetic. All things that Simran swears she isn’t. We’ll compare notes later.”
“In return, I’ll tell you about how she made heart eyes at my brother for a mortifying six months before doing anything about it,” Liv says.
“Deal.”
Simran dashes forward and hugs Kavi, who recoils. “Thanks, Kavitha. I owe you one.”
“You owe me lots,” she says. “Now get off me and get out of here.”
Simran dashes out the door, trailing Liv, who’s already ahead of her by ten feet.
Within a few minutes, they’re flying down the street on Liv’s yellow Vespa, breaking more than a few traffic laws and simultaneously endangering and enraging every person who has the misfortune to be in their path.
As they approach the city airport, the wind whipping through her hair, Simran prays to all of her many gods—a real perk of being Hindu, especially in situations that require divine intervention—that she’ll get there in time to stop Leo before he gets on his flight.
At the airport, Simran leaps off the scooter, tossing her helmet to Liv, who drives away to find parking.
She knows she looks crazed. The combination of the wind from the scooter ride and wearing a helmet has given her an unintended banshee vibe.
She is out of breath by the time she gets to the check-in area and the space is dense with people moving slow, like a thick syrup.
She hopes the crowds mean that Leo hasn’t made it past security and she crosses the rows of counters, neck craned, searching for a burnt caramel head of hair and her favorite hazel eyes.
When she can’t find sight of him there, she takes the escalator to the next level, drumming her fingers along the railing frantically.
At the top, she spies the line for the security check and has a flash to the last time she did this.
But she doesn’t spot Leo this time. Instead, she spends the next increasingly frantic minutes looking for him before Liv catches up to her. “No luck?”
“I can’t see him anywhere,” Simran replies, eyes still sweeping the terminal for any sight of him.
Finally, at the time the flight is departing, Simran concedes.
“I think we missed him.” A thought pings through her brain and she bats it away, like flappers on a pinball machine, because it is ridiculous.
But as she and Olivia make their way back to the parking lot, it keeps coming back, more and more insistently, until she realizes there’s no other choice.