First Comes Like

by Alisha Rai

  “You have your grandfather’s blood in you after all, running around and having affairs.”

  He turned away from Jia again. “That is not what is happening.”

  “Oh? I read those texts. You are lucky Chandu thought quick and de-escalated the situation.”

  “He didn’t de-escalate anything. I am engaged—”

  “And not seducing some American sweetheart, ruining her reputation. You should thank him. I don’t see why this is such an issue. If these messages are to be believed, you have feelings for this girl.”

  He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Damn it all. That bloody Arjun. If Dev said he hadn’t sent those messages, then his grandmother—or the world—would ask who did. Then he’d have to explain about Arjun.

  Shweta doted on Arjun as much as she could dote on anyone, but Dev didn’t care about tanking that relationship. Oh no, he was concerned about spreading the news that Arjun had catfished Jia. He didn’t think she was a fool, but she hadn’t liked that he’d told Adil Uncle, he could tell. He couldn’t allow anyone to make her feel bad.

  He hesitated a second too long, because his grandmother hmphed. “I knew it. I will not tolerate you seducing your way through another country. We have our name to consider.”

  A stab of irritation hit Dev, but he shoved it down. Like their name wasn’t the only thing that was constantly considered. “I never seduced my way through the first one,” he pointed out.

  “Which is why I’m surprised that it’s you I have to be having this talk with. In any case, this is all for the best. It’s time you settle down, you have the will to consider, and Chandu tells me this girl has a career, which means she is hopefully not chasing you for the money. Of course, I’ll give my final approval after I meet her. If she’s not acceptable, well, a broken engagement will still be better than an affair.”

  Oh no. “What are you talking about?”

  “I am coming there. I want to see you, and you will bring this girl to me.”

  He stiffened. “There is no need for that, Aji.”

  “There is every need.”

  Dev’s eye twitched. He dropped his voice. “This isn’t seriously going to happen.” He meant the engagement, but he also meant his grandmother dropping into their lives.

  “You will not change my mind. I’ve already chartered a plane and had the servants air out the Malibu house.”

  He looked out toward the slice of the ocean he could see from Jia’s living room. “What Malibu house?”

  “The one I rented.”

  Dev massaged his temples. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “Would you rather I stay in a hotel room when I visit? Like a peasant? Expect to see me there in three days. That’s as soon as I can get away. You will bring the girl, and her parents if possible. They’ll know of me, of course, but they should get to know me properly.”

  She said that like anyone would come running to see her if he merely said her name, and she wasn’t totally wrong. Jia’s parents no doubt grew up on Shweta Dixit movies.

  The offhand way she referred to Jia set Dev’s back teeth on edge. “Her name is Jia, and I’d rather you not come—”

  “Dev.”

  The single word silenced him. He wasn’t hungry for his grandmother’s approval like his brother and cousin, but his mother had drummed a strong sense of respect toward his elders into his head. It was hard to counter that programming, even when his grandmother was being objectively ridiculous.

  “Unless you can give me one good reason why your own grandmother should not meet the girl her grandson is serious enough about to send her passionate love notes, I will be there soon.”

  He was silent. No, damn it, he couldn’t give her a reason, because it’s all fake even though I wish it wasn’t wasn’t a good reason. Or at least, not a reason he wanted to divulge to his grandmother.

  “Goodbye,” Shweta said. The phone line cut. How on earth was he going to tell Jia about this?

  He turned around slowly and spread his hands in front of him. “So.”

  “I didn’t understand the language, but going by your tone, that did not sound good.” The beautiful Black woman sitting next to Jia leaned forward. This was Rhiannon, Dev had learned, and she was as sharp as Jia had described her. Katrina sat on the arm of the sofa, her fingertips touching Jia’s shoulder. She’d been touching Jia in one way or another since they walked in, her face soft and empathetic. It was a shame Dev wasn’t meeting Jia’s friends under better conditions. Say, a triple date, not a crisis-handling meeting because he and Jia were accidentally engaged.

  He quickly recapped the phone call, his voice trailing off when he finished explaining that his grandmother was arriving in a few days and expected to meet Jia. “So it is as we suspected. The messages leaked—”

  “By your idiot cousin,” Katrina said.

  “I can think of better words than idiot,” Rhiannon remarked.

  “My agent claims that the messages were part of a mass phone hack. The tabloid would have no reason to lie, so it’s possible. But also very probable my cousin leaked them,” he added in a rush.

  “We’ll have Jas secure your phone, in case it was yours that was hacked,” Katrina assured Jia.

  “In any case, after the messages leaked and Chandu couldn’t get ahold of me, he decided to come up with a narrative that would defuse things as quickly as possible but also allow us to continue seeing each other. Because he assumed those texts were actually between Jia and me, because why would there be any other explanation.” He heaved a giant sigh. “My God, Jia. I’m so sorry.” The guilt and regret he’d been feeling since Arjun’s actions had come to light were increasing at exponential speed.

  Jia lifted her chin. Her face was pale, and she looked much younger than her almost thirty years. “Your grandma’s coming here. To meet me.”

  Dev shifted his weight. “Yes.”

  “To vet me for your bride.”

  He sighed. “Yes.”

  “Because she thinks we have a romantic relationship already.”

  “Yes.”

  “Because the texts your cousin sent me became public.”

  With every word, Jia’s roommates bristled, but he welcomed their accusatory stares. He felt guilty enough on his family’s behalf to be raked over the coals. “Yes.”

  She dropped her face into her hands again. “My parents and sisters have called me fifty times. What am I supposed to tell them?” Her phone gave a faint vibration, and she gave a half laugh that sounded vaguely hysterical. “Fifty-one, probably.”

  “We can fix this,” Rhiannon said soothingly. “We release a statement. We flatly deny that any part of this is real, say the texts and photos are made up or doctored.”

  “My parents would know I lied about Dev then,” Jia pointed out.

  Rhiannon recalibrated. “Then we can say it’s true, but you’re not engaged. It’s not the 1900s. There’s no scandal in two healthy consenting adults dating.”

  Dev shoved his hands in his pockets and he met Jia’s eyes. How to explain this to people who were so far outside his culture? “Your Hollywood-famous families have no comparison to ours. My family occupies an odd space in society, where the public feels like we . . . belong to them. I was able to avoid too much public scrutiny for years, because the rest of my family was so much more high profile than me, but now I’m one of the few left.”

  “So they feel entitled to knowing about your life,” Katrina summarized. “But that doesn’t mean they get to have a say in it.”

  “It’s not fair, but they’ll have an opinion. It was one thing when no one knew who Jia was, but now that they do, they’ll scrutinize and judge her.”

  “You see it all the time in internet fandoms, or with the British royals, where the fanbases are passionate. It doesn’t help that we’re so obviously different from each other,” Jia said haltingly.

  “I don’t care about any of that.” Just in case she had any doubt. He rubbed his thumb over his
palm. “Chandu wasn’t totally wrong. If we’re engaged or married, I can protect Jia from the worst of it. I don’t like the way this part of the world works, but it’s reality.”

  “What are you saying? That you let the engagement stand?” Rhiannon drew herself up. “That’s ridiculous.”

  Dev took a step forward, then glanced between Jia’s annoyed roommates. “Rhiannon and Katrina, would you mind if I have a moment with Jia?”

  “If we leave you alone, how else are you going to turn this into some soap opera?” Rhiannon asked. “Will you knock yourself on the head and get amnesia? Turn up with a secret twin?”

  He deserved their ire, so he answered her sarcasm seriously. “Not at all. Please, I need to speak with Jia.”

  Jia lifted her head. “It’s okay, guys. Dev and I have important things to discuss, like where we’re registered.”

  He wasn’t the only one relieved Jia’s sense of humor was intact. Both Katrina and Rhiannon relaxed. They shot him warning looks and left them alone. He walked closer, then stopped, not eager to crowd her.

  “Jia—”

  “I know, you’re sorry.” Jia looked up at him. He was relieved to note that while her eyes were red, she wasn’t crying. “Can you sit down, my neck hurts.”

  He’d do literally whatever she wanted right now. “Of course.”

  She played with a thread on her shirt, twisting it around her finger. “I screwed everything up. These texts, that selfie of me at the beach. I should have been more discreet.” Her eyes grew wet, and whatever relief he’d felt quickly evaporated. “I can’t do anything right. Everyone’s going to know that now.”

  “No, no. This has nothing to do with you.”

  Jia continued like she hadn’t heard him. “I’m backsliding in my career. I’m too tired to generate any more content.” Her tears spilled over. “And now I’m engaged to the face of my catfish. I’m a complete failure.”

  “You’re not a failure.” He patted in his pocket and found the handkerchief he always carried. He handed it to her, but she didn’t move to dab her tears. “Not one bit.”

  “My family won’t see it that way.” She twisted the handkerchief in her hands. “This is going to be it. Confirm that I’m the family screw-up. I’ll have to move back home with nothing to show for my independence except the knowledge that everyone was right. I’m impulsive and reckless and don’t think and I can’t be trusted—”

  “Hey.” Dev pulled Jia’s fists into his hands and looked deep into her watery eyes. “I don’t like you talking about my fiancée like that.”

  She stopped for a second and stared at him, startled. Then she let out a weak half sob. It wasn’t her usual deep laugh, but it would do.

  He squeezed her hands. They were small and fragile in his. “Here’s what I think we should do,” he started, then paused. Because the answer that was so obvious to him was also possibly the most absurd one.

  “What?”

  “I think we should be engaged. For real.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “You can’t be serious.”

  Dev hadn’t known what certainty felt like until this very moment. Wasn’t this what he’d basically been angling for this morning in the car? Granted, he’d wanted to spend more time together before an engagement, but in the end, what did it matter?

  He’d already made up his mind. Jia was exactly what he was looking for, and she’d fallen into his lap by pure chance. “I’m serious. I wouldn’t mind it,” he said. “I could see it. We would suit. I . . . admire you very much. I think we could have fun together, and I think we communicate well.” Say the mushy words in your head. No, he couldn’t. These all sounded like stilted reasons, but the other ones were far too flowery.

  One good thing was that her shock had gotten rid of her tears. Her expressive eyes brightened for a second, but then they quickly shuttered. “You wouldn’t mind it,” she repeated, without inflection.

  Uh-oh. He might be dense, but even he knew he’d chosen his words poorly there. “I mean, I think we could be a good match.” He breathed out a rough sigh. “Right now, our options are that we confess what actually happened, or we claim that it was all real, the texts, our relationships. We can tell your parents the truth about the engagement being made up, that’s your choice, but if we don’t, my grandmother and Chandu won’t breathe a word.” The next words were harder to force out. “And if you decide we don’t suit, we can end the engagement. People will talk, but it won’t be the first wedding to be called off.”

  “Wedding,” she repeated.

  He wasn’t scared of the word, but he feared she might be. “Even a wedding won’t be without escape,” he said quietly. “If the marriage doesn’t work out as you’d want it to, divorce is an option.” And if they did the wedding before his birthday, she’d walk away immensely wealthier, with half his inheritance.

  Dev looked down at Jia’s hands and took the handkerchief. She jumped when he tore off a strip of it, then she gave a little squeak when he slid to the floor on one knee. He took her limp hand. “Jia, I’m sorry I’m not able to explain myself better. But the truth is, this morning, I was already thinking along these lines anyway. I’m sorry this happened in such a manner, but I do believe fate works in mysterious ways. Would you do me the honor?”

  She licked her lips, and then gave the slightest of nods.

  He gently tied the fabric around her ring finger, making a silent vow. From now on, he would do his best to make sure everything was in her control. “You call the shots,” he said quietly. “What we tell anyone, whether we stay together, whether you want to meet my grandmother, everything. I’ll back you up.”

  Her phone gave another vibration, distracting both of them. She released his hand, her fingers curling in to hold the fabric in place. “We’re engaged,” she announced, in a clear, firm tone that shouldn’t have surprised him, given what he’d witnessed of her resilience already. “I’m going to call my family and tell them it’s true, that we’ve been talking for a while, it got more serious than I’d let on before. I’ll tell them that I don’t have a ring or anything, that you were waiting to ask their permission when you met them in person. They’ll love that.”

  He nodded. “I will keep to this story too.”

  Jia’s phone vibrated yet again, and she came to her feet and scooped it up. “First I need to shower. I need to get clean and dressed and put on fresh makeup, and then I’ll be able to think.”

  “I think that’s a fine plan,” Dev said gently. “If you don’t mind, Luna will be home soon from her sleepover, and I need to break this to her before someone else does.”

  Jia jerked. “Oh my, of course. Luna! I completely forgot about her.”

  “She and I are something of a package deal. In case you wish to factor that into your decision-making.” He tried to be as delicate as he could. He didn’t blame her if she didn’t want to take responsibility for a thirteen-year-old right away, but Luna wasn’t going anywhere.

  Jia gave Dev an impatient look that relieved him instantly. “Of course she’s a part of this. I have no issues with having a niece right away. I’d like to spend more time getting to know her. Should we break the news to her together?”

  “Let me talk to her alone for now.” Best to see how his niece reacted first.

  “Right. Go home and be with her. I’ll text you once I’m done with my family. Here, let me show you out.”

  He followed behind her. She opened the front door, and he paused, awkward. How on earth did someone take leave of another after something like this?

  She seemed to sense his confusion, because she gave a wry smile. “Can we hug?”

  Oh thank God. “Yes, please.” He opened his arms and she flowed right into them. He looked down at her upturned face and the vulnerable curve of her cheek. It was a perfect cheek to kiss. Surely, as an engaged man, he could kiss his fiancée, yes?

  Lights flashed in warning.

  Oh, wait, that was him. He leaned away from the light switches
on the wall. “Ahem.”

  She disengaged from him. “What a wild road trip this was, huh?”

  “I agree.” His smile felt more genuine than any smile he’d had in a while. “I will talk to you soon, Jia.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  JIA TOOK five deep breaths. Then another five.

  Her hands were shaking so hard she could barely flip open her laptop. This was it, the turning point on her family’s opinion of her, the moment they decided she was either past redemption or the same silly but benign Jia.

  She’d responded to Ayesha’s frantic warning texts first, telling her everything was handled, then sent a message to the family group chat that they could have a phone call, but she’d also messaged Sadia privately. The whole gang would be on this call, but she wanted to speak with her middle sister first.

  Jia leaned back against her headboard and played with the cord on her sweatshirt as she waited. The piece of handkerchief Dev had turned into a makeshift ring lay next to her.

  I wouldn’t mind it.

  Yes, exactly what every prospective bride wanted to hear regarding marriage to her. Yikes.

  The problem was, when he’d first proposed a real proposal . . . she really hadn’t minded it, like kind of wanted it? And that was, um, a very big problem. Because all he could say was that he wouldn’t mind it.

  He said some other stuff too.

  Her brain couldn’t focus on that, though. It was the equivalent of reading one negative comment and eighty positive ones. The negative one stuck with her long after the others.

  The computer chimed and she straightened. Only one window popped up, her middle sister’s concerned face filling the screen. Sadia’s cheeks and breasts had rounded with her pregnancy, just like they had when she’d been pregnant with her first child, Kareem. Her middle sister was so pretty, with smooth brown skin and shiny hair that tumbled past her shoulders. She wore a tank top, which displayed her impressive assets. “What on earth is going on,” Sadia began, and Jia gave a half wail.

  “Uh-oh.” Sadia leaned in close. “Baby, take a deep breath.”