by Anita Claire
As we eat, I look a few tables down and see a group of women. They all look older than us, maybe in their late twenties. They’re also all dressed casual but much nicer jeans, fancier shoes, designer tops, more styled hair and makeup.
I ask, “Do you know who those women are?”
Kami looks over, “I don’t know them personally, but they’re in marketing. More than a third of the employees in marketing are women. It’s a lot different than engineering.
Chapter 12 – Princesses
After work on Friday, my college friend and fellow princess Jennifer picks me up; the two of us head to happy hour at Xhan, a high style Vietnamese restaurant. Jennifer is always dressed cute. Today she’s wearing a bright sun dress with matching little flat shoes, and a really interesting necklace I’m sure she made herself. My mother would love it if I looked so sweet, feminine, and put together. I always feel so lame in a skirt or dress.
As she drives, Jennifer tells me, “My new guy is meeting us there. His name’s Carter.”
“Let me guess. Is he a lawyer or a newly minted MBA?”
“Both,” she tells me with a squeal, “he’s a lawyer with an MBA working for a VC.”
“You hit the trifecta this time, Jennifer. Where’d you meet him?”
“At an Alumni function, we were on the same croquet team. I was terrible at it. But Carter was so nice. He got me a beer and told me I had a nice swing.”
“I bet he wasn’t looking at the club when he made that remark.” She chuckles as I continue. “While you were busy with croquet, Kristi and I went over to Game Kastle. She taught me how to play this game called Warhammer.”
Jennifer gives me a sideways look before telling me, “Hita, you and Kristi are a scary combination.”
“How so?” She shoots me another hard look as I tell her, “Eyes on the road.”
Jennifer’s very by-the-book. She gets kind of flustered, and then maintaining focus on the road she continues, “You two exploit each other’s weaknesses. Juliette’s geeky, but she isn’t into the whole gaming thing. When you roomed with her she was always dragging you out to be with people.”
“That’s what I’m telling you. Kristi dragged me out to be with people. The people we’re meeting also like to play games.”
Jennifer purses her mouth, finally she says, “The fact that you think going gaming at some store is more social then sitting in your room playing games is what scares me.”
“Why, because the activity I like is a geeky game as opposed to, what, ‘croquet at the club?’ My going out and playing games isn’t any less relevant than you and your games.”
The two of us drive in silence as she heads into the parking garage. After parking the car, she stares straight out the front window.
“Are you going to be all pissy with me tonight?” I ask.
Taking a deep breath she looks at me and smiles, finally saying, “No, I only have about a five minute ability to be pissed off at you. Really, it pissed me off more since you have a point. I guess I was being prejudicial. I get it. I get pissed when someone says I waste my time scrapbooking. We all have different activities that relax us and bring us enjoyment.”
Reaching over the console of her car we give each other a big hug.
Xhan is trendy, with a modern bar all backlit with blue florescent lights. As we walk in I quickly spot Juliette sitting on a bar stool with Stephan standing real close to her, his arm proprietarily flung around her shoulders. He looks as rakishly sexy as ever, which annoys me since I wish his looks better reflected his annoying qualities. Thankfully, Meredith and Sam are there too.
As Jennifer and I head up to the bar and greet our friends, Juliette smiles, holds up her glass, and says, “I already bought us a pitcher of margaritas.”
“Really, I thought you drank lemon drops, cosmopolitans, or martinis in a bar like this?” Jennifer sarcastically replies.
Juliette dismisses the comment with a wave of her hand. “Margaritas are our go to drink, if they can’t make them, then I’m not drinking.”
Meredith asks, “Where’s Carter?” In a very stuck up accent she continues, “Did he get waylaid at the club playing polo again?”
Jennifer chuckles, then answers, “Come on, he’s not a pretentious jerk.” She eyeballs Stephan.
Sam passes Jennifer and me a drink saying, “Drink up ladies, take the edge off.”
Meredith shoots him a look that says be careful, you’re treading on thin ice, as I wonder if Jennifer and I still have a bit of an edge from our earlier conversation.
Juliette asks Jennifer, “Is Carter still joining us?”
Looking at her phone Jennifer’s eyebrows knit. “He texted me that he got held up at a meeting with one of their new start-ups. I told him to bring the guys he’s working with.”
“Does that make us eight or nine now?” Stephan asks.
Jennifer shrugs in reply.
Stephan shakes his head in annoyance as he releases Juliette and heads over to the hostess to tell her our group is expanding.
It only takes one margarita for Carter to show up with a nice looking Indian guy. Both are dressed in slacks and very euro tailored and commercially pressed button downs. Introducing his friend to the group, he tells us that Anil’s business, some kind of community app that’s showing a lot of traction, has received funding by his firm. Looking at these two guys who appear to be only a few years older than me, I wonder if there are any adults with experience working with young companies. Then I realize that’s probably why so many companies are like the one I interviewed with in San Francisco, blowing through their funding as they spend it on fancy offices and lots of non-essential employees.
Sam is right; the margarita sure has taken the edge off. I find my shoulders relaxing and my mouth naturally tips into a smile as I get handed a second drink. It doesn’t take long before we’re shown to a table. Anil sits between Carter and me. As he asks me my name again, I realize that he has a great jaw line, nice white teeth, and a very proper British accent. The conversation devolves into something my alcohol befuddled mind has no idea about since two margaritas makes everything kind of funny. At one point Stephan condescendingly tries to make a point with Sam.
Anil leans his head over and whispers to me, “Fancies himself a bit, don't he?”
It’s such a perfect analysis of Stephan, and Anil definitely is not taken in by his British accent. I look Anil up and down again giving him a big point for sharing my view of Stephan.
Chapter 13 – Dating Anil
The next time Savi and I Skype she tells me, “My mom is busy arranging teas.”
“Yeah, I thought she was acting uncharacteristically cool. I’m glad I live two thousand miles away.”
“Living at home sounded so convenient, but now I’m thinking it might have been a mistake. I have no interest in my mom’s meddling.”
“I love my mom, but it is not a coincidence that I live two thousand miles away. If I lived at home the way you do, I don’t know how long I could fight her off.”
“I think what I fear more than getting married to some guy I don’t know, is their medaling mother and all the family obligations.”
I nod, thinking how nice it is having Savi’s friendship since none of the princesses understand the pressure I’m under from my family.
***
Surprisingly, I get a text from Anil, the guy that Carter brought to dinner last week. I didn’t think about him at all after dinner was over. As I stare at the text I wonder how traditional British Indians are. I figure the bigger the city, the more modern the Indian. London is a rather big city, but then again it has a really large Indian population. His comment did nail Stephan, and anyway, it doesn’t sound like his mom is coming on the date. I decide to respond back with, Sure, dinner sounds great. Now I’m wondering where he’s going to take me.
Kristi is bummed that I’m not joining her at Game Kastle on Saturday. We’ve gone the last couple of weeks. I paid seventy-five dollars for a Warhammer
set, and Brian and Tim keep playing with us. After telling Kristi to give them my regards, I sit on my bed and fret about what to wear. I don’t know if I should be wearing one of the sun dresses I bought when my mom was in town or jeans. Finally, I decide to wear jeans. I’ll dress my outfit up by wearing sandals instead of my typical sneakers. Since I’m five ten, I always feel like I rise above everyone’s head giving me a great excuse never to wear heels. If he’s real dressed up, I can always change into a sundress.
Anil picks me up on time, thankfully he’s wearing jeans, sneakers, and a polo shirt with the Apple logo on it. I didn’t really pay attention to how tall he was last week. I always find it awkward dancing with guys shorter than me. Though, being tall has given me a great way to reject a bunch of guys my mom had me meet after I graduated. Luckily Anil must be at least six one.
Checking him out I say, “You look a lot more like an engineer tonight then you did last Friday.”
He flashes me a really nice white smile before answering. “I was meeting with the money guys. I wanted to look responsible.”
As I lock up and we head to his car, I sarcastically ask, “Are you responsible?”
He flashes me another bright white smile while nodding his head. “With this round of funding I’m feeling very responsible.”
As he opens the car door for me he says, “With the last name of Chamarthi, I assume you’re a vegetarian.”
I must flash him a surprised look as he tells me, “My mother’s family is from Tirupati. There are a lot of Chamarthi’s there.”
Surprised that from my last name he figured out where my family is from, I realize that since I left Chicago I’ve been with so few Indians I forget how much an Indian will know about you from your last name.
Finally I respond with, “Actually my dad’s family is originally from Kadapa. Both of my parents were born in Delhi.”
“Did they have a traditional marriage?”
Knowing that he means an arranged marriage, I roll my eyes and say, “Yes, my parents are very traditional.”
Thankfully he moves the conversation away from marriage by asking me, “Are you vegetarian?” as he maneuvers his car through Sunnyvale.
“I was raised vegetarian. In college I explored meat. But not growing up with it, I’ve never really acquired a taste. Actually I prefer vegetarian, but if I’m at friends and they serve something that has meat in it, I’ll have some to be polite.”
He drives only about a mile from my apartment, parking in front of Saravanaa Bhavan, a South Indian restaurant that only serves vegetarian food.
“And you?” I ask.
With a smile he says, “Are you asking me if I’m a vegetarian?”
I nod as he opens the door.
Waiting in line he continues, “Similar to you. We’re from the south. I grew up vegetarian. At University I experimented by trying the foods my English friends ate.” He frowns before continuing, “I prefer eating vegetarian.”
He then starts talking to the hostess in a local dialect I’m not familiar with. When we finally sit down, he looks at the menu and asks, “Can we start with some lentil vadas?”
With a smile I nod enthusiastically telling him, “I always have room for vadas, or should I say I eat too much vadas and then never have room for the rest of my meal.” With a smile he orders in the local dialect.
The server asks me a question. I apologize by saying in English, “I don’t know that dialect.”
She apologizes, and then asks me what I’d like to drink in English.
Explaining to Anil, “I only know Hindi. My mom and dad had different local dialects. They spoke Hindi at home so my brother and I could be bi-lingual, but growing up they both attended British schools and felt comfortable speaking English. Even when we traveled to India, my whole family speaks English. Actually the only reason I can speak Hindi is that my parents sent my brother and me to Hindi class.”
Our server returns with a good size platter of vadas, a lentil and potato fritter.
In his rich British accent, Anil tells me, “I was born in India. My family moved to London when I was seven. I have an undergraduate and master’s degree in Engineering from Cambridge. I came to America on an H-1B visa after graduating, last year I got a green card.”
“And your mom hasn’t made you go home to meet your bride?” Why did I ask that?
Giving me a serious look he says, “I’m a modern man. I will choose my own wife.”
Feeling we are now moving into a territory that’s way too close to scary Indian marriage topics, I smile and say, “Yes, I too am a modern woman.”
Chapter 14 – Work Gossip
At lunch Kami and Caroline’s boss, Sherri, joins us. I learn she’s twenty-eight and was one of the first ten employees hired. She’s pretty, in a no makeup, sneaker and jean sort of way.
As a petite, pretty woman with long wavy blond hair and a round face passes us by, Sherri cringes. Finally she sputters out, “Women like that piss me off. The rest of us work hard to maintain our credibility. She’s been working her way up the org chart on her back. Stuart’s an idiot. He promoted her into his group. Like everyone doesn’t know they’re sleeping together.”
Kami and Caroline look surprised at Sherri. I don’t think she typically gossips.
Thinking about what Juliette’s mom said, I ask, “Isn’t that against company policy having people working for each other date?”
Sherri spits out, “Yes.” Breathing in hard a few times she continues, “I’ve watched Terri blow through a number of guys here. I have no idea why they let her stay. She’s cost the company a few good engineers.”
“Really, they ask the guys to leave?”
Sherri gives me a hard look before explaining, “Guys are competitive. They’d rather leave then look like a cuckold.”
“Why don’t they ask her to leave?” Kami asks.
Sherri answers, “No one’s complained. What usually gets people are the breakups. But Terri’s cagy. She never complains, and guys, they’re not going to lose face by complaining about her. Up to now she’s chosen guys that will give her an advantage, but she’s not directly working for. But this last move. None of the other product managers or project managers thinks she’s qualified or competent. They’re all pissed. I think she’s finally played her hand.”
This whole conversation makes me reflect on my lunches with Mark and the guys. I learned so much more about what’s going on behind the scenes having lunch with Sherri. Then again, I’ve learned a lot about baseball statistics from Chris and Avery.
Returning to my desk, I see an e-mail that there’s a team meeting in an hour. That’s really unusual. We normally have our team meetings on Mondays. Heading into the Porcupine Flat conference room, I join Mark, Avery, Chris, and Roger. There are also three guys I don’t know. One of the guys is fat, hairy, and wearing a wife beater and jogging shorts, showing off way too much of what no one wants to see—what’s with that? Another guy looks older, maybe in his mid-thirties, with a bit of a paunch and a goatee. The third guy is a young, off the boat Indian. He’s very dark, with a mustache, and cheap polyester shirt and slacks.
Roger welcomes everyone, and then introduces us to Ian, the hairy guy, Tom, Mr. Goatee, and Rajive, the Indian guy. Turns out, these are the “math guys” Mark, Avery, and Chris have been working with. Really it’s Ian and Tom that are the Math Guys, Rajive is a grad student from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign working for us as a summer intern.
Flint decided that instead of having two groups located on either side of the building working together, the math guys should join our group. Roger orders up cookies and donuts from the cafeteria so we can all celebrate. I watch Ian gobble up two donuts without even breathing, one right after the other. Now I know why he’s so heavy. I still don’t get why he can’t cover up more. No one needs to see all that white hairy skin. I don’t think Roger or the other guys even notice. I bet if Sherri was his boss, she’d have him wearing a proper shirt.
The next day at lunch, Kami, Caroline and I all chatter on about what Sherri said. Both Kami and Caroline have been working for her since they joined the company last year. Kami says, “I’ve never seen Sherri in such a sharing mood. This is the first time she’s gossiped.”
Caroline follows up with, “I think Terri gets under her skin. It’s hard being the only woman manager.”
I add to the conversation, “I’m the only woman in my group. We got three more guys. Ian, Tom, and Rajive.”
Kami squishes up her nose, “Not hairy Ian. Don’t let his disgusting looks fool you. That guy also says the most annoying things.”
“Then why did they hire him?” I ask.
Caroline rolls her eyes before answering, “He’s supposedly some kind of brilliant mathematician. They considered it a coup when he came here.”
As I eat my vegetarian burger, I figure I’m rather lucky to have met Kami and Caroline. If I were still eating with the guys, I might have a better handle on which baseball player has the best RBI record, but I’d never know any of the inside information.
***
Mark suddenly shows up to work with a dog in tow. One of the guys at the other end of the hall brings his dog, Shadow, to work.
Chris looks over at the big German shepherd, immediately asking, “She’s toilet trained, right? We’re not going to have to sit around smelling dog piss?”
Mark gives him an annoyed look as he says, “She’s two years old, of course she’s trained.”
Avery then asks, “Is she yours or is this temporary?”
Mark huffs out a response, “She’s here with me, and she’s a good dog.”
I’m thinking there’s a story here. Mark’s avoided that question. After mulling it around I finally ask, “Whose dog is she, and why are you bringing her to work?”
Mark looks at me exasperated as he answers, “I like this dog, she’s a good girl, she barks when she’s left home alone, she won’t bother anyone, she’s happy sitting under my desk.”