girl, wife material, so he’s acting proper.”
“Wait a second, you’re implying if he didn’t like me, we’d be sleeping together?” I respond in dismay.
“Maybe?”
“Why is everything always so confusing?” I wonder.
“Or he could be so busy with work he’s stringing you along,” she says.
“Do guys even do that?” I ask bewildered.
Olivia’s now rooming with Juliette. Changing the subject, she asks, “What do you think of Stephan?”
Grimacing in reply she follows up with, “That bad?”
“I’ll give him hot,” she nods, “and sexy. He also is a perpetual motion machine. He’s always on another adventure.”
She nods volunteering, “Any guy would have to be if they wanted to date Juliette, she’s always doing something.”
“And in some ways he’s good for her. You know how Juliette and Isabelle are always off doing some type of insane event.”
“Yeah, the Pioneer Women spirit.”
“With Isabelle off having adventures across Asia, Stephan fills the void.”
“But?” she says with a raised eyebrow.
“But, he’s such a pretentious dick. I can’t figure out if it’s what he says or how he says it. Whatever, he has this way of saying things like he’s the Lord of the castle and we’re the stupid American girls. It’s really irritating.”
Olivia nods as she answers, “Yeah, I wouldn’t have put it that way. But yeah, he’s kind of dickish. Has Juliette said anything?”
“She’s deaf to it. When I tried to bring it up, she laughed and said he has an educated British accent. You’ve watched too much Downton Abbey.”
We walk for a bit before I ask, “What about your guy in Jordan?”
Olivia gets a tight look around her mouth before answering, “He’s still in Jordan.”
“I don’t think that’s what I’m asking.”
She gives me a wan smile and shrugs. “Jordan was a transformative experience. But my guy is over there.” She shakes her head and gets a pained look. She then puts her hand dramatically over her heart. “He’s special, but I can’t see that there’s a future for us. I’m here now and he’s in the wind.”
Olivia is usually so glib and in control when it comes to men. I wonder what went down. She’s yet to admit to me that her guy is Meredith’s brother. She’s letting us all believe it’s some Canadian guy she worked with. Now we’re all playing along with this strange game. What’s really bizarre is the princesses are so close, but now we’re keeping secrets from each other. I too have a secret. Why haven’t I told any of the princesses about my fling with Gray?
***
At my next dinner with Anil, I don’t ask him what he thinks is going on between the two of us, but I do ask him his opinion on cars. He’s surprisingly dictatorial telling me to buy a Ford Fusion Hybrid, since it’s a top ranked car. Now I’m adding it to my car list while I’m kind of concerned by his attitude. I wonder if spending the day telling everyone what to do makes you overbearing in your personal life.
Chapter 16 - Car
Savi Skypes me all excited, “Hita, I went to Arav’s Cricket match.”
“Slow down, who’s Arav?”
Her tone gets exasperated, since I’m not following her story she says, “The cute guy I had tea with.”
I gasp and tell her with conviction, “Savi, you need to be careful. This isn’t casual dating. The moms will have you engaged at the next dinner.”
She pouts, and then shoots back at me, “And why would that be so bad?”
With alarm I tell her, “You see a cute guy and now you want to get married. You have no idea what he’s really like. You have no idea what his family is like. You could be stuck in hell for eternity. I thought you would only date Americans?”
She crosses her arms and says, “He is American. Anyway, I never realized how unsupportive you could be.”
Totally frustrated with her, I shoot back, “This is your life, check him out before this thing goes any farther. You, too, can use the Indian network.”
We wind up with both of our arms crossed finally saying we’ve got to go. I know she thinks I’m raining on her parade, but living with a jerk or becoming a single mom doesn’t sound like a good alternative.
***
Leaving Savi and her stupid choices behind, Kristi and I head over to the dealerships to test drive some cars. After driving them all, I think about what Colin said. The car that felt the most comfortable was the Jetta.
I pick my car up at lunch on Friday. I