Fatshionista (26 page)

Surely I could
interrupt at this point and mention my dreams as well, but instead of just a
finger, he covered my whole mouth with his palm and laughed. “No, my dear
Millicent, you have been the one using all the words lately; it’s my turn.
During the hours on the plane, I realized you had been trying to help me; you
just didn’t know how to tell me. I realized that my work is good and no matter
what rumors or scandals are attached to my name, the clothes will sell based on
their own merits—not on what people think of me as a person. And I
decided that having someone to laugh at me and with me—to love me no
matter what—and who makes my toes curl with desire, was better than any
career milestone.

“In short,
Millie, I love you. And I was a complete ass for not trusting you with who I
was from the very beginning.”

I smiled under
the palm of his hand, tears running down my face at his words. I tried to pry
his hand away, but he laughed and held it firmly against my lips. “Oh, and one
last thing. It also didn’t hurt that as soon as I landed in Delhi and turned my
phone on, I had about a hundred text messages from almost every editor, press
member, and my assistant saying that the collection was a hit and that there
had already been five offers from buyers for the spring collection I haven’t
even begun to sketch.”

I started
bouncing with excitement, my body literally humming at his declaration of love
and the news that he was going to be as big of a success as he could have ever
hoped for.

He smiled at me
and slowly removed his hand. “You can talk now.”

Although there
were a thousand things I wanted to say, I knew there was plenty of time for
that later. For now I just tackled him and flung myself at him. I kissed the
hell out of him, which was not an easy task since he was laughing so hard he
almost dislodged me.

In all my life, I
had never been happier than I was right now. I was jobless and had no idea what
my future held, but I knew it would include this glorious man: this talented, sexy,
funny, exciting, amazing man who loved me.

“Millicent! I’m
coming up there with my rolling pin in two minutes if you do not get off that
man and come downstairs immediately! Mr. Patel is threatening to call the
police. This is Delhi,
beti
, not New York. Bring your young man down
here so we can talk to him. I need to find out what he’s going to design for
your wedding lehenga, because surely no man would come to my home, molest my
daughter on my rooftop, and not marry her.”

I laughed as I
extricated myself from his embrace and stood up. I pulled him to his feet,
sneaking one more kiss before we headed toward the ladder.

“She’s all bark.
We have come a long way in about thirty minutes; don’t let her pressure you.
She’s just kidding.”

“You don’t want to
marry me?” he asked as I turned to start down the ladder.

“You haven’t
asked. Maybe if you asked, then I would tell you whether or not I wanted to.” I
started down the ladder, grinning at the sour look on his face.

“Well I am not
asking unless I know you’ll say yes. I think we can both agree that I’ve
suffered enough at your hands without having to go through that as well.”

I laughed as I
watched him hop down the last rung of the ladder to stand in front of me. “You
haven’t begun to understand the meaning of the word ‘suffering’ when it comes
to what I can do with my hands. I just hope this time you can get my underwear
off;, you haven’t been very good with that in the past.”

I turned to head
into the kitchen, leaving him standing with his mouth open at the foot of the
ladder.

“When did I try
to get your panties off? I think I would remember trying to get your panties
off, and believe me, darling, there would be no question as to whether or not I
was successful at removing them.”

As he rounded the
corner, the last part of his sentence was said straight to the face of my
Aunty-ji. She held the rolling pin in her hand, slapping one end against the
other hand as she stared him down.

I was peeking
over her shoulder smiling wickedly as his discomfort. I didn’t think he could
blush with that dark skin of his, but he managed quite the embarrassed shade of
red at discussing my panties with my Aunty-ji.

“I would hope
that given the chance you could successfully remove them. I’ve waited a long
time for my Millicent to find her mate, and it would be a damn shame if she
settled on you but you couldn’t even get her naked long enough for me to have
some grandchildren.”

“Aunty,” I
shrieked. Now I was the one turning red.

Daniel gave her a
wink and leaned down to whisper in her ear. I couldn’t make out what he said,
but Aunty nodded and turned to me. “You have my blessing. I like this one; I
have ever since he was a boy. Now come inside so we can plan this wedding.
Might as well do it now while you both are here.”

And with that, my
dreams of ruling the world of fashion and publishing were pushed to the
side—momentarily. I knew in this house of many that I wouldn’t be alone
with this man until I had a ring on my finger and vermillion in my hair.

Daniel took my
hand in his as we followed my aunt into the house. He whispered in my ear, “At
this point I guess it’s just a formality, but will you marry me, Millie? It
seems to be the only way we’ll ever get to be alone in a room together.” He
smiled as he kissed my hand.

“Yes, yes, Daniel
Singh; I would love to marry you. And have hot monkey sex with you. And in that
order, apparently.” I laughed as I hugged him tightly. It seemed odd to think
that I would be marrying someone I had never slept with, but it had worked for
centuries in India; surely it would work for me as well. And it would give me
more time to brush up on my Kama Sutra reading.

I had big plans
for our alone time together. And this time I would make sure to bring the
scissors—just in case.

THE END

This book is the culmination of years of ideas, stopping and
starting, and finally finishing. I would not have had nearly as much fun doing
this without all the love and support I received from my friends and family. My
special thanks to all the great ladies who read the first draft of this and helped
me make it better with their ideas and suggestions. And thanks to everyone at
NaNoWriMo, who first convinced me to buckle down and pour out a novel in thirty
days.

And special thanks to my editor Katrina Robinson who
encouraged me and kept me laughing through the final stages of this process.

This book is dedicated to my mother, Kathrine McKnight, who
always believed in me and my wonderful grandmother, Avis McKnight, who listens
to me and encourages me every Sunday during our visits.

The super cool cover design was created by my friend ps who
used my rambling, girly description of what I wanted and created a fun and
fabulous book cover. And he even convinced me to give sheer rose a try.