Page 32 of Make Room for Love

Isabel’s fantasies were spiraling out of control again. She mentally caught back up to their conversation. “So, do you speak— What language does your dad speak?”

“My dad speaks five or six languages. He has family all over South India, and he has a Ph.D.in history. But he made sure I learned Tamil. Not that I speak it as well as I want to.” So everyone said. Isabel was lucky she could still talk with her grandmother easily. “He’s always getting on my case about how Tamil is the oldest classical language. Older than Greek and Latin.”

“Huh. Did you ever think about studying that?”

“Maybe once I get tenure.” Mira’s smile was sardonic. “Right now I’m just trying to get through the next year.”

Mira made quick work of the bitter melon. She sliced the mushrooms while Isabel tossed the pea leaves in a hot wok with garlic and they turned a glossy, vivid green. Next came the bitter melon, stir-fried with the mushrooms—Isabel had never made this without beef, but she could probably stand to eat less meat. “Thanks for letting me cook with you,” Mira said, as though she needed to thank Isabel for that. “I could use the distraction.”

“What happened?”

Isabel had forgotten how awful apartment-hunting could be. Mira wasn’t done talking by the time they carried the food to the dining table: the rice, the pea shoots, the bitter melon, and braised tofu in a sticky red-brown sauce that Isabel thought might work as well on tofu as on meat. It was all Cantonese food you’d have at home on a regular night. Nothing special, Isabel told herself.

They sat down to eat together for the second time that week. Isabel could get used to this. She pushed the thought down. “Oh,” Mira said, “I forgot to mention the love triangle from yesterday. Probably because I was trying to forget about it as fast as possible.”

Isabel raised an eyebrow. Mira grimaced. “I met these two women who were sharing one of the two rooms in the apartment. They wanted someone to fill the empty room. It seemed promising at first. Until I asked them why their current roommate was leaving. And it turned out she’d been dating one of the members of the couple until a few weeks ago.They’dbeen living in a room together, and when they broke up…”

Understanding dawned on Isabel. “So she replaced her girlfriend with her other roommate. And they all had to switch rooms.”

“Well, when you put it that way…yes.” They exchanged mock-horrified looks. “And then the ex-girlfriend came home while I was there.”

Lesbian drama was the one constant of the universe. Mira told the rest of the story—angry words, wild accusations, Mira managing to calm everyone down simply by being the only reasonable person there—more generously than Isabel would have told it. “They were nice otherwise, believe it or not.” Mira shook her head. “The new couple was very much in love. Making eyes at each other the entire time.”

Isabel laughed. “No.”

“They were.”

“You’d better not seduce either of them, then,” Isabel said, before she could stop to think. For a heart-stopping moment, she was terrified—had she gone too far and revealed herself? Then Mira let out a loud, undignified laugh, her face lighting up, her curls bouncing.

Isabel was so screwed. She was digging herself deeper into this hole. Her only hope was that after a few more weeks, she’d never see Mira again.

Mira recovered, but she was still smiling. “Don’t even joke. Oh my goodness, can you imagine?”

Could Isabel imagine one of Mira’s roommates falling for her and blowing everything up? Yes, she could. “So you said no to them.”

“Well…I didn’t.” Mira sighed, slumping forward. “I don’t have a lot of choices. The bedroom has a window, and they weren’t scammers, and neither of them was a creep. Anyway, it’s down to these lovebirds and Vivian’s friend in Bushwick. Apparently the cats liked someone else more. I would have been too allergic to live with them, but it really adds insult to injury.”

Isabel sobered up. “Good luck.” Looking for a new place would be a pain for her, too. But at least she had enough money to live by herself, and she would have better choices. None of this was fair.

She’d keep taking care of Mira in whatever small ways she could. The food they’d cooked together was delicious, and Mira had helped herself to seconds of everything, even the bitter melon, which was gratifying.

This wouldn’t last. But for now, they could still share a homey dinner on a cold, rainy night, and Isabel was going to savor it while she could.

Mira’s phone buzzed. “Sorry,” she said. “Do you mind if I… I’m anxious to hear back.”

“Go ahead.”

Mira picked up her phone. Judging from her expression, the news was bad. “Vivian’s friend found someone else.” She put her head in her hands.

It hurt to see Mira struggling when there was nothing more Isabel could do to help. She had already asked everyone she could think of. She had even texted Grace, swallowing her pride after they hadn’t talked for months. They still weren’t talking, but it had been a relief that Grace had curtly responded at all. “Sorry,” Isabel said.

“It’s okay.” Mira didn’t even bother trying to sound convincing.

Her phone buzzed again. “Oh. It’s the love triangle apartment.” She scoffed. “They want to offer me the room.” She stared at her phone screen, then shook her head. “I’m not going to take it. I have a bad feeling about it. I mean, what if theydobreak up?”

She started typing on her phone, and then put it down. “I can’t text them right now. I’m in too bad of a mood to be nice to them.”

“I doubt it,” Isabel said.

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