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“Well the food has been ordered, it’s probably time to start unpacking then,” Priyanka sighed slightly and sat down on the couch next to her husband.
“You’re probably right. That doesn’t mean I wanna do it still.”
“I suppose you have other plans then?”
Doug slipped his arms around her waist and brought her closer to him. “Just a few ideas,” he spoke quietly and leaned in to kiss her. Priyanka knew that they had other things they had to do, but she couldn’t help herself when he started kissing her.
A few minutes passed at the very least. Doug picked up his wife and carried her to the bedroom, setting her gently on the bed. He moved to take his shirt off when she stopped him. “Not so fast.” She sat up in bed slightly and pointed at the suitcases on the floor. “Not until they’re put away.” He sighed but nodded his head. They worked together for a few minutes, the task going faster now that they were just focusing. Then there was a knock on the door. Priyanka looked down at her watch, it seemed much too early for food, but maybe they were fast. “I’ll get it, just keep working.”
The bright smile she had as she went to answer the door faded instantly at seeing who it was. “Dev,” she barely greeted him. “Listen, I don’t know what you need but it’s probably best if you just left right now.” Priyanka didn’t like feeling so coldly towards her brother in-law, but after the last year she couldn’t help it.
“Priyanka, please. I know he’s probably mad at me-”
“Mad? No… He’s not mad anymore, he’s just disappointed and sad.”
“If I could just have the chance to explain myself and to see him-”
“Dev please, we’re busy right now. It’s great you came by but-”
“Priyanka? I finished unpacking-” Doug stepped into the living room and stopped talking seeing who was at the door. “Dev. W-what are you doing here?”
Dev moved into the room, squeezing past Priyanka. “I thought we could talk. I tried calling the other day, but no one was answering.”
“We just got back from our honeymoon, but of course you wouldn’t know or care about that.” Doug crossed his arms.
“Durja please, I do care. I swear I do. I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything. I never got any of your letters, Ma threw them all out. You never called me.”
“I called. Plenty of times. I had one number for you, Dev. That was our parent’s number. Each time I called it was them and they hung up on me. I sent you mail. I tried reaching out to you. I did everything that I could to reach you. You were never there. And- you never thought to try contacting me? You know where I’m living. You have our number.”
“I know- I just got busy. I only found your wedding invitation a few days ago and saw it was passed it. They kept all the letters from me. It’s not my fault.”
Doug shook his head and laughed softly. “It’s never your fault is it? It wasn’t your fault that mom and dad like you better. It’s not your fault that they think you do nothing wrong. It’s not your fault that anything I did was pushed under the rug.” He felt tears welling in his eyes. “It’s not like you could’ve done anything about it. You couldn’t have stood up for me. You couldn’t have gotten through to them about what they were doing was wrong. I mean you have to look out for yourself, right? What if doing that makes them think less of you?”
“Durja, I never-”
“It’s Doug.”
“Doug,” his brother corrected himself. “I never meant for that. The last thing I wanted was for you to have been forgotten.”
“What you wanted or not doesn’t matter because it happened. No matter what, I’m always going to be living in your shadow.” Doug sighed and wiped at his eyes. “It’s great that you came to apologize, but really maybe you should just leave now.”
“No- Doug. That isn’t just- There’s more I need to say to you. Can we talk, privately?” Dev’s eyes only flickered to where Priyanka stood.
They didn’t need to say anymore. Priyanka understood that this didn’t include her and began to head to the bedroom. “Anything that you need to tell me, Priyanka can hear too,” Doug said stopping his wife in her tracks. “In fact, I would prefer it if she stayed.”
Dev rolled his eyes, “Fine.” He didn’t want to do this in front of her, he hardly wanted to do this in front of his brother. “Dur-” He stopped himself. “Doug. I’m- I’m gay.” He barely got it out. He was still barely out. Doug was the first person he’d told. He’d only really come to accept it a few days ago. It was important to him that his brother knew however.
Doug didn’t say anything for a moment. He was shocked, but not enough to get him out of his current state of mind. It made sense when he thought about it however. “That’s it?”
“What do you mean that’s it? I’m trying to tell you about who I am.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just,” Doug laughed again. “I should’ve figured what you really came here for was about you.”
“Are you kidding me? Do you know how important this is to me?”
“I know it’s a huge deal and important, but you always do this, you always make things about yourself. Since you’ve been here you haven’t even said a congratulations of any kind to us. I just feel like your news always trumps whatever I have.”
“I’m sorry. Congrats to you on getting married! Thank God I’m moving so I don’t have to deal with this anymore.”
“Wait- you’re moving?”
“I was offered a promotion. I took it. They’re going to move me to England. For a permanent situation.”
Doug’s anger had subsided at this information. The idea of his brother leaving was shocking enough for him to forget how upset he was at him. “What do mom and dad say about this?”
“They don’t know yet. They’re not gonna care. I’m gay, you know how that makes them feel. If they’re going to disown you for marrying who you please, they’ll probably blow me off the face of the planet when I tell them.”
“They actually like you, though. Maybe you’d change their mind.”
Dev shook his head, “I don’t think any love they have for me could replace their love of tradition.” A knock on the door interrupted them. Priyanka went to go pay for the food and came back into the room with a bag of chinese food. “It’s probably best if I just left now. Enjoy your food.”
There was still tension in the room. Doug hardly said goodbye as his brother left. Priyanka set the food on the table and turned to look at her husband. “How do you feel?”
“I don’t know. It was needed, but I’m still upset at him. Come on, let’s just eat now.”