Page 49 of Princess & Prejudice

“I’ll call you tomorrow, Jessie,” he called out.

That’s exactly what they needed to do. Talk about their situation and decide where to go from here. Maybe he could take her out to lunch.

But there was a surprise in store for him when he got home. His mother was waiting up for him. When he walked in, she shot him a sweet smile. The one that always made him uneasy.

“Beta, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Working,” he replied warily.

“No, you’re not. You’re taking me out for lunch,” she ordered.

“I can do both, Ma,” he said mildly. “Why don’t you meet me at the hospital at one pm? We can have lunch together.”

Maybe he could take Jessie out for dinner.

“No! I don’t like the smell of that horrible place. Tell you what, I’ll reserve a table at that new Asian restaurant at the Taj. I’ve heard their paos are great.”

“Those are called Baos, Ma. Pao is what we eat with bhaji,” he replied. “All right. I didn’t know you liked Asian food, though.”

His mother sniffed in disdain.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, duffer. Wear something nice for our lunch date,” she said firmly.

And the next day, when Aryan walked into the restaurant and looked around for his mother, he realised that she was right. He really didn’t know how sneaky and conniving she could be.

His mother was already seated at their table, and she wasn’t alone. And this wasn’t a date. It was an ambush.

His mother smiled at him triumphantly as she raised her hand and beckoned him over imperiously.

“Surprise! I know you’re very busy, beta, but Mrs Thakkar and I just couldn’t wait anymore, so we decided to go ahead and set up this meeting without warning the two of you. I think it’s high time our families got to know each other. Am I right, Arshia?”

CHAPTER14

JESSIE

Ismiled at Nivy sunnily as I sat down at the breakfast table and helped myself to a glass of orange juice.

“Why areyouso cheerful today?” she asked, with an eye roll.

I shrugged.

“It’s a lovely day, so why not?”

“Umm-hmm. And I suppose, it has nothing to do with whatever you were doing with my brother in the maze last night,” she said, sceptically.

“Dancing! I was dancing with your brother, so get your mind out of the gutter,” I scolded.

She snorted with laughter.

“Been there, done that, Jessie. Don’t try to fool me.”

“Eww! I don’t want to know what you and Veer did in there. And remind me to have that stone seat sanitised thoroughly,” I said, with a grimace.

“Why? We just had all the seats in the garden cleaned recently,” said my mother, walking into the room.

I shot an alarmed glance at Nivy, who had gone red in the face. How much had Ma heard? Not much, apparently, because she smiled at both of us as Munshi Ji set a bowl of dalia in front of her.

“Ugh, Ma! How can you eat that pile of mush?” I asked, hastily changing the subject.

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