I didn't see Parvani for almost two weeks. I didn't run into her on the bus, or at school. I phoned her house; her mother took a message. The second time I called, it was Simran who answered.
- "She's not able to come to the phone." said Simran. From the tone of her voice, I could tell that Parvani
was
home - and that Simran didn't appreciate being asked to run interference for her.
- "Can you ask her to call me?" I said. "Tell her ... tell her it's alright."
Simran sighed. "Just a minute." She put the phone down. It seemed like an eternity before she came back. It might have been all of 50 seconds.
"Ian - can you come over?" she said.
- "Now?"
- "Anytime." said Simran.
- "Is an hour from now okay?" I asked. I had to drive my sister to a friend's house.
- "See you then." she said.
I didn't know what to expect. When I got there, Simran was alone, waiting for me, with tea and biscuits.
- "I'm sorry to drag you into this." I said.
Simran just shook her head. "She's just being herself. Over-analyzing and worrying."
- "Is she okay? Is she here?"
- "She went out. She's embarrassed, Ian. Parvani thinks that she should have told you herself, instead of letting Nate do it." said Simran. "She's afraid that she's done damage to your relationship - with her
and
with Nate."
- "She hasn't." I said.
Simran studied me for a moment. "Are you sure?"
- "I'm fine." I insisted. "The night that Nate told me, I had plenty of time to think about it. I'm happy for both of them. Truly."
Simran seemed to believe me. "You know, I always thought that you and Parvani would end up together."
- "Oh?"
- "You must have known, Ian." she said. "She had a crush on you for almost three years."
My face fell. I hadn't known that. That is, I knew, sort of ... three years?
"She kept hoping that you would get over your infatuation with Tanya, because she knew that Tanya was interested in Derek. But when you started dating the other girl - the one from school ...?"
- "Jen."
- "Right." said Simran. "That was when Parvani started to change her mind. She almost back-tracked when you broke up with Jen, but ... I think that was when she finally started to get over you."
And here I was, thinking that
I
was the noble, self-sacrificing one. How many times had I twisted a knife in Parvani's heart?
Three years
?
Confession is good for the soul. I told Simran the truth.
- "I love your sister." I said. "As much as I love my own sister. She and Nate are the best friends I have in the world - the best friends I could ever
imagine
having."
"When I met Parvani, I just wasn't attracted ... you know - I didn't think of her romantically. There were a few times - the prom, and such - when I had ... doubts. But mostly I never saw her as a possible girlfriend."
"That may have been a good thing ... because I was -
am
- immature enough that I probably would have screwed up a relationship with her. I might have wrecked our friendship in the process."
- "I don't think you're immature, Ian." said Simran.
- "You don't know me that well." I said. "When I saw Par at Thanksgiving, I couldn't believe my eyes. But on top of that, I felt like an idiot. How could I not have noticed, all these years, how beautiful she was?"
- "She's always been beautiful." said Simran.
- "I know. I've always known that. But you have to admit, without the braces and those glasses, she looks very different - on the outside."
- "So now you find her attractive?"
- "I'm not blind." I said.
- "But ..."
- "But what?"
- "So at Thanksgiving you discovered how attractive she is." said Simran. "Why didn't you ... make a move?"
I shook my head. "I couldn't go from loving her like a sister to asking her out, just because she got a make-over."
"That doesn't mean that I didn't think about it - because I did." I added. "But I realized that I just couldn't go there. It wouldn't have been fair to her."
Simran thought about that, for a moment.
- "Won't it bother you, if she goes out with Nate?"
- "No."
- "How can you be sure?" she asked.
- "When Coop asked her out, I was ... jealous. I didn't interfere, but I didn't like the idea at all. But when Nate ... told me that he had feelings for Par - it just
felt
right. I think they'll be really good for each other."
Simran seemed pleased with that. She offered me more tea.
"How are things with you?" I asked.
- "I quit my job." she said.
- "You did?"
- "It's alright. I found another one."
- "What?" Simran had been moving up in the Human Resources department of a big insurance company. "I thought you were doing really well there."
- "I was. But I thought that would be happier working at a Publishing house. And I am."
- "Job satisfaction before money?"
- "Exactly."
We talked a little more. Then Simran looked at her watch.
- "I'll tell Parvani that she can talk to you." she said. "I think you two will be fine, as well."
- "Thanks, Simran." I said. "For your help."
- "It's nothing. You know, I was sort of looking forward to having you as a brother-in-law. I like Nate, too, though. Well ... we'll just have to find
you
a girlfriend." she said.
***
I met Parvani at the Mexican restaurant just off-campus. It was one of my favourite hangouts, and hers, too. We would both be comfortable there. As I walked in, I saw that they had re-decorated. And there was a waiter now, instead of a waitress.