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21 " Not only had Mark proven to be a great buffer at tense family dinners, but ever since he entered the picture, Mom had stopped hounding me about the fact that I wasn’t married. "
― Sonya Lalli , Serena Singh Flips the Script
22 " Just a few years ago, I could count on scores of dynamic, caring women in my life, from school or college or whom I’d met at work. But one by one, they’d gotten married and had families. And one by one, their commitments to our friendship took a backseat. Our movie nights, weekly phone calls, or Saturday dinners became less and less frequent, morphed into forty-five-minute catch-ups at a Starbucks "
23 " Seriously, what did he say this time?” Ainsley interrupted. “Did he say I was too old for you again? Used goods?” She ran her hands through her hair. “I heard the word ‘Greek.’ Does he still want me to learn make to daal? You can cook daal. Did you tell him that? So why do I have to fucking learn how to make it? "
24 " You’re right,” he said finally. “This wasn’t meant to be. I mean, the truth is I don’t even know you that well.” What he said was true, but it didn’t feel good to hear those words out loud. Six months and he didn’t know me, but it wasn’t his fault. I’d never let him in. "
25 " I shook my head. Why was I trying to justify Deborah’s decision to pick me over Ginger Spice? Why did I care so much what some spiteful person thought about me? I deserved to be here, and everyone damn well knew it. Still, I couldn’t stop ruminating. Ginger thought I was just some “middle manager.” She thought I was . . . “lonely.” It hurt when the aunties said it, but it hurt more when it came from the mouth of one of my own peers. And maybe it cut so deep because they were right. "
26 " Mom was right. I would never understand or agree with her decision to stay, but I knew I was judging her from a place of privilege. I grew up in a different country, a different time, and the choices available to me were ones that my mother, and "
27 " No, I didn’t fucking know that. He didn’t tell me, nor had he ever expressed any emotion toward me beyond apathy unless I’d disappointed him. He was proud of me? Really? All this time, I thought he hated me, too. "
28 " clearly. I’d been searching out all these ways to meet new, like-minded people, but I couldn’t just expect a new friend to appear out of nowhere. It took work. It took effort. "