“Don’t answer.”
But it was too late, to which Diya shrugged and mouthed, “Sorry.”
“Eh, why haven’t you answered your phone?” Mummie said through the speaker.
Diya pointed at her phone and mouthed, “See?” then cheerfully said, “Hello, Mummie!”
She, knowing why Mummie was really calling, turned the screen toward us.
Sunny and I froze, staring at my parents through the miraculously annoying trap known as FaceTime. I shifted to hide Sunny behind me, but Mummie immediately swiped her hand across the air and said, “Let me see this man who has captured my beta’s heart, huh?”
Eighteen Sunny
I wasn’t going to lie and pretend that watching Bane squirm under embarrassment wasn’t entertaining as hell. She groaned, sinking into her chair so that her parents had a full view of me on video call. By now, I’d had enough practice acting the part in front of friends and getting acquainted with Bane’s sister to turn on the charm. My exes probably hated me, but their parents loved me.
Draping an arm on the back of Bane’s chair, I smiled. “Hello again.”
“Oh. Such a nice voice!” Auntie crooned.
I chuckled. “I get that often.”
Bane shot me daggers from the corner of her eye, which prompted me to give her shoulders a gentle squeeze.
Diya was holding the phone toward us while leaning against Kimo. They were a very lovely couple, and knowing this side of Bane would make it harder for me to continue giving her crap when we returned to work. They were all ear-to-ear grins, which had me wondering if carrying out this lie on them was harmful. My friends would be annoyed, but family? That was different. Or maybe they were as surprised by the idea of Bane being in a relationship as I would be.
“Oh, hah, he is handsome. Look!” Auntie said to a man beside her, whom I presumed was Bane’s father.
“Oh my god,” Bane mumbled, her hands covering her face.
I tugged down on her wrists and replied, “Thank you! May I return the sentiment? I see where your daughters get their lovely features from. What a beautiful family.”
Bane peered at me from between her fingers, but not with death glares as I’d expected. She seemed…confused? No suspicious. Ah, normal Bane-ish tendencies.
She returned her hands to her lap as her parents engaged in further conversation.
Auntie had been asking, “Beta, where do you work at? What do you do? What are your parents’ names?”
“Mummie,” Bane warned. “Let’s not.”
She pouted. “What, you think I’m going to research him?”
“I know you already have.”
She smiled sheepishly, her focus returning to me. “He’s such a smart man. Why didn’t you tell me you work together!”
“That hot office romance,” Diya said.
“Oh my god,” Bane muttered beneath her breath while I stifled a laugh and proceeded to answer her mother’s biodata questions. This had become a thing that typically happened when I met the Indian parents of anyone around my age, and most especially the parents of single women. And my parents had done this to others, ambush and all.
Diya mentioned how I’d helped Bane during her episode of heat exhaustion, and suddenly the word “hero” was being thrown around.
“What fresh hell is this?” Bane grumbled.
Tamping down laughter was getting exponentially harder. I caught Kimo’s amused look when he shook his head. He’d probably gone through the same thing. He got it.
“So, so. How long have you been dating and why am I only now learning of this, huh?” Auntie asked, although she could’ve been talking to either one of us. “And how serious are you? My daughter isn’t getting younger, you know?”
“Okay,” Bane said, holding up a hand and shifting to face me…a practically hysterically laughing man.
While Diya and Kimo partook of the laughter, Bane was watching me as if she were studying an alien.
She slapped my thigh. “Don’t laugh! You’re only encouraging her!”
I flashed my best impish expression and said, “But, babe, we should be polite.”
She fumed.
“You met my friends with such gusto, I have to return the favor,” I teased.
“How many children do you plan on having? Where do you live?” Auntie was asking.
I opened my mouth to respond when Bane shot to her feet and pulled me up, pushing me ahead of her and shoving my drink into my hand while she grabbed hers.
I played deadweight, unmoving, as she pushed against me. Her breasts suddenly pressed against my back in her momentum, her hand at my waist, her touch searing through the fabric of my T-shirt like a fire. I was fine right where I was until she muttered, “You better move.”
“Can’t miss the sunset! Talk to you later, Mummie, Papa! Love you! Smooches!” she called behind us.
“Goodbye!” I told them with a wave, noting that Diya had turned the phone so that it was still trained on us as Bane dragged me to the rock wall across the lawn to watch the rest of the sunset.
