Jump to new as of October 31, 2006
Jump to new as of November 6, 2006
Posted on Thursday, 19 October 2006
April, 2004
Dr. Franny Price rubbed her eyes and cursed the day she was born while flailing wildly in the general direction of the alarm clock. Sunlight streamed through the picture window in her little attic apartment and the sounds of early morning Manhattan traffic had already been streaming into her room for some time. She yawned and with great effort threw her legs over the side of her deliciously comfortable bed and padded bleary eyed to the sink.
'What a day it's going to be today' she thought with a sigh.
One of the doctors at her clinic was taking the week off and Edmund was going to help her cover for him today, Saturday their absolute busiest day, until two days ago when he told her he couldn't. Or rather he told her that Mary wouldn't let him. Apparently one of the Upper East Side's biggest weddings was going to be held today and Mary was insistent that he go with her. Franny had nearly had a heart attack when he told her, but she knew that he felt so bad about it that she had to at least pretend to make the best of the situation.
"It'll be fine 'Mund," she had said while frantically texting her best friend and practice partner, Dr. Elizeh Binna 'we're so so so screwed, 50 patients + Us - Edmund = dead doctors.'
As she shuffled downstairs and smelt the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting up from the kitchen she realized for what seemed the hundreth time this month what a fabulous idea moving back in with her adopted 'Aunt' and 'Uncle' had been. Aunt Meredith and Uncle Tom weren't really related to her by blood but after her parent's had died they had taken her in as graciously as possible.
Franny's Grandparents, the Prices, had lived next door to a woman with two young girls when they had first gotten married. When the young woman had been died rather suddenly it was revealed that she had no family and that the little neighbor girls that Franny's grandparents had become so fond of were going to go to be split up and sent to foster homes. So the Prices decided to take in little Meredith and baby Elizabeth and raise them as their own. A few years later their son, Charlie, was born. When Meredith had been 17 and Elizabeth 15 their biological father and his young new wife had swept back into their life like a windstorm and had taken them to come and live with them. Merry and Liz never forgot the Prices though and always looked upon them as their real parents. Yet, the wealth and consequence that came with their new family made them a little vainer and more materialistic, so much so that in adulthood Charlie Price and his wife had very little in common with his adopted sisters. That had not stopped Merry from taking in Franny at the age of 10 when her parents had gone on a peace keeping mission in Africa and never come.
Now Franny Price was once more living with the Bertrams and it was far better than she expected. As the only 'child' still at home her Aunt and Uncle doted on her far more than when she had been young and perpetually overshadowed by their children Tom, Edmund, Mariah and Julia. After finishing her Int. Medicine Residency in Houston, Franny had moved back to New York and opened up an almost virtually free clinic in the Bronx with the trust fund her parents had left her and money from the sale of the fancy car the Bertrams had bought her.
In order to save money she had moved into a squalid apartment near her clinic. Yet, when her Aunt and Uncle had come by to visit they had been appalled, her Uncle nearly plowing over her to tell the Super that no, she would not be needing the place next month and that she would be moving back in with them. Although she had been a little angry with them at first for not even consulting with her when deciding where she should live, she had been touched that they cared enough about her safety and well-being to force her to come back home with them. And although she now had a 20 minute longer commute, she had to admit moving back home with all the amenities like having her laundry done and fresh coffee in the morning had its perks.
After grabbing some coffee and a fresh baked muffin from the counter she left a little note to her Aunt and was off. Most of her friends had thought that she was crazy not only opening a virtually free clinic but one that was open on Saturdays too. Franny had argued that most of her patients worked jobs they couldn't afford to absentee themselves from even for a day. Yet, now Saturdays where their busiest days by far and that one selfish bone in Franny's body ached at the idea of having to go into another long day of work.
What had irked Franny the most about Edmund canceling on her last minute had been the fact that for once she had actually had plans tonight. Some of her friends from med school were throwing a party tonight and she and Elizeh were going to go. Yet, having to cover 50 patients between the two of them had thrown a monkey wrench into their plans and Franny sadly text messaged Elinor and let her know that the two of them wouldn't be able to make it.
As she stepped into her waiting room teeming full of patients, her heart swelled up with pride at being fortunate enough to help so many people today. They all greeted her smiles and even a few hugs. The pretty little 'White Doctor Lady' was a bigger favorite of the older patients while the young adults all flocked to Elizeh, 'the Indian Lady Doctor,’ while Dr. Elizondo, their third partner, ‘the Latina Doctor’ took most of the Spanish speaking patients.
Mrs. Jennings, their receptionist shook her head at Franny as she walked in, 'looks like today is going to be rough, we've already had 12 urgent care walk-ins.' Harriet Martin the Medical Assistant greeted her with a look that was positively overwhelmed as she began to point out which rooms she had put all the patients in. She handed Franny a thick stack of assorted papers and Franny just sighed with frustration. She gently reminded Harriet that the papers needed to be filed into each record before being brought back to the exam rooms. Harriet was a sweet girl but like all of Emma's projects, as incompetent as they come. Dr. Emma Woodhouse was one of the Pediatricians that they shared office space and staff with. She was a great friend to Franny and Elizeh (although Elizeh could not stand Emma's partner Dr. Fareed Darcy), but she was absolutely awful at choosing support staff, always making them into 'projects'.
By the time 2:00 had rolled around they had only seen 25 patients and even the ever energetic Elizeh seemed a little tired. When Fanny went in to see her next patient she spit out her coffee when she saw Edmund standing in the patient's room wearing his white coat over a his tuxedo pants, starched white shirt and bow tie. He merely flashed his devestating smile at her and said 'I got this one, I'll see you outside ok?'
The pace really picked up after till about 3:30 when they were for the first time ahead of schedule, and both relaxing in the tiny lounge at the back of the office.
"How and why are you here?" Franny aksed with a smile.
"We attended the highly ostentatious wedding but I absented myself from the cruise down the cocktail cruise down the Hudson in exchange for my attendance at the reception tonight." he said as he pretended to stick a finger down his mouth.
Franny gave him a sideways hug, "I'm so glad you came, you're really saving us today."
"No prob Sweets, you know I would have been there from morning it's just...well Mary was convince...you know what, it's stupid but Mary made me go so I went to avoid another fight" he said with a sheepish smile. Edmund had had a tumultuous relationship with his long term girlfriend Mary Crawford for some time now. They had started dating in college and she had almost been able to sway him from becoming a doctor and going into Investment Banking. Almost. But he won out in the end. He had been talked into doing a fellowship in Cardiology against his will instead of going into practice with Franny. Since that time Mary had been utterly and totally focused on making him the most well known young Cardiologist in town; mostly by showing him off to all of her society friends.
Franny gave him a sympathetic smile, and they joked about the ridiculousness of the wedding Edmund had just come back from.
“Hey when’s Anna coming back?” he asked suddenly.
“She should be back on Monday, Thank God.” Franny said with a smile, Dr. Anna Elizondo was the third member of their practice who had gone her vacation to visit her family in Martha’s Vineyard.
“Good, cause you look exhausted Frinkle,” he said using her childhood nickname.
“Don’t call me that,” she said wrinkling up her nose in the gesture that had gotten the nickname in the first place.
“No seriously, you’re really gonna wear yourself out at this pace he said as he stood and started to rub her shoulders. After a few moments when she let out a small moan of delight, he abruptly stopped, pulling his hands away like he had been shocked.
She gave him a lopsided grin of thanks. “So what do I owe you for coming in today?” she asked cheekily.
“A Ferrari?” he asked playfully.
“Try again?”
“Run away with me to Maui?”
“Yeah right, and have Mary’s henchmen kill me, no thank you, how about I just buy you dinner tomorrow?”
“Perfect, Mary’s having some PR party anyway tomorrow night. I might just spend the night at the ‘rents anyway.”
Harriet came in told them that the new patient’s were in their rooms, as they were leaving Edmund threw an arm around Franny’s shoulder and said with a smile, “I’d rather have diner with you than a Ferrari anyway,” He said with a laugh.
Although she shrugged off his shoulder and called him a 'Dufus' It was no surprise that Franny walked into her next patient with smile on her face after that.
Posted on Thursday, 26 October 2006
Elizeh adjusted her sari for what seemed the thousandth time that evening, she loved the traditional garment for it’s beauty and elegance but practical it was not. It also appeared that half the eyes at the elaborate wedding reception were focused squarely on her table, making her very self-conscious. After all, one of the most beautiful girls in their large Hyderabadi Muslim community was sitting at the table, Elizeh’s sister Junein had recently gotten married and she and her beaming husband now sat with Elizeh and her sisters as they patiently awaited the entrance of the bride.
Elizeh scowled internally as she thought about what a huge mistake her friend Lata was going to be making today. Elizeh could still remember when in the midst of one of the seemingly hundreds of parties thrown in honor of Junein’s upcoming nuptials, Lata had pulled her aside into a quiet alcove….
and told her she was going to marry Waleed….
If Elizeh had been the fainting type she would have been begging for her smelling salts.
Instead she just screamed.
Luckily, the bhangra music playing nearby had managed to drown out her exclamation of “Lata you CAN’T he’s the greasiest, creepiest guy we know; not to mention the fact that his family has brought rishtas for Junein and then tried to bring one for me!”
At this point Lata interrupted her with a shake of her head, “Look, you know how it is for me. I’m a pretty plain looking 31 year old in a dead end job. And let’s face it I ain’t getting any younger, my Mother would have a heart attack if I turned down the first rishta in quite a few years.”
“That can’t be why you’re mar…”
“It’s more than that, he’s a nice guy, with a little cleaning up he could be quite presentable, plus he’s got a good income. I think I could be happy.”
“But Lata seriously? An arranged marriage, that’s crazy! What if you meet some handsome guy who sweeps you off your feet?” pleaded Elizeh
“I don’t anticipate that happening.” Said Lata with a small shake of her head.
“Why? Don’t give me that crap about you not being pretty, and 31 is still young! I mean if you just…”
“No, Eli don’t you get it?” she said visibly exasperated, “I don’t ever see myself falling in love with a Man.” She said as she slowly but deliberately drew out the last word.
Elizeh’s eyes became as wide as saucers, “you don’t mean…You can’t be? Why didn’t you tell me? Since when?”
“SHhhh keep your voice down,” said Lata as she surreptitiously looked around to see if anyone heard them, “I guess since always, I mean, if you mean,” dipping down her voice, “the first time I was with a woman, it was in college.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Elizeh asked.
Lata stared down at her hands, “I thought you may not understand, you don’t hate me do you?”
Elizeh responded by giving her a fierce hug, “You’ve been my best friend since I was in diapers how could I ever hate you,” she said as she wiped away her friend’s tears.
“So why don’t you tell your parent’s?” Elizeh asked as she settled back into her seat.
“And what? Break their hearts? Ruin any chance of them having grandchildren? Plus miss out on all this?” she said waving her hand sarcastically around the chaos that surrounded them.
“It doesn’t have to be that way, they would understand. What about Waleed, how is he…”
“Think about it Eli, why do you think he’s been so eager to get married?
“NO WAY?!” she cried, “but that …. He tried to marry Me!”
“No offense, but he would have tried to marry anything with a uterus that moved. When he first approached me I was honest with him, and he almost broke down crying. Apparently he’s almost come out to his parents several times but now he’s just decided to cave in and agree to get married.”
“This can come to no good, I mean Lata this type of arrangement…”
“Don’t be so naïve Eli, don’t you think there are several arrangements of a similar sort all around us, most of these men don’t even like their wives anymore. Besides we’re going into it with our eyes open, we both want kids, a house, and the freedom to you know…see other people.”
“I don’t know Lata it’s just” she was interrupted by Lata holding up her hand in a manner so reminiscent of her mother that it made Elizeh laugh, it was her universal symbol that the conversation was over.
“I’ll be happy Eli, I just want you to be happy for me too.”
Now 3 months later Elizeh sat in her finest new Sari watching her best friend make a huge mistake. Lata looked lovely as she entered the ballroom and even Waleed had cleaned up enough to look respectable, petrified, but respectable.
Elizeh sighed.
“What this not meeting your high expectation’s either?” asked the tall, handsome fair-skinned Indian man to her right.
At the sound of his voice Elizeh cringed, did he even have to be here? Since the moment she met him, Fareed Darcy had been the bane of her existence. Wasn’t it enough that she had to see him everyday at work, but that he had to attend the same social functions too?
She turned to face him and was surprised to see him looking rather handsome in a black Sherwani. He looked perfectly at ease in the formal garment, his dark brown hair perfectly coiffed as usual, his green eyes mesmerizingly bright.
“I thought you hated your culture,” she asked with a smirk. He’s not really that handsome, she thought to herself. Who am I kidding, he's gorgeous.
He had the good grace to look abashed, “I’m sorry you heard that.” Referring to his ill thought out comment.
“I’m sorry I heard that too,” she said as she took a slow sip of her water.
“I didn’t really mean what I said…I said,”
“You said, in front of all my friends and family, that you couldn’t believe that Bing was marrying Junein and that you didn’t want to talk to me because South Asian girls are usually smelley, hairy and generally uninteresting. And that no matter how lovely and sweet Junein was now in a few years she would show her true colors and that it wouldn’t be pretty.” She said drawing out each word, much to his chagrin.
“You have it memorized?” he asked almost in a squeak.
“It was quite a speech,” she said almost amused by his embarrassment.
“I didn’t mean for you all to hear that,”
“But you still meant what you said,” Elizeh challenged.
“Look I don’t want to fight. We work together, we have the same friends, I’ve already apologized…multiple times to everyone else…and they seem to have forgiven me. Can’t we let bygones be bygones?” he asked earnestly as he stroked the five o’clock shadow on his face.
Elizeh sighed, she didn’t want to appear ungracious and deliberately not forgive him, “Did you work late last night?” she asked, trying to make a friendly effort,
She was rewarded with a smile so stunning that she was momentarily taken aback.
Darcy on the other hand was so pleased that they had come to a stalemate that he couldn’t help but grin in celebration, “So you’ve forgiven me?” he asked, his cocky demeanor returning.
Elizeh held up her long, slim hand, “forgiven, but not forgotten, besides I asked you a question.”
“I took call for a friend” he said with a shrug.
“For who?” she asked, “I wasn’t aware that Emma was sharing call with anyone,”
“Has anyone every told you that you’re pretty nosey?” he asked in mock exasperation.
“Of course,” she said with a cheeky grin as she tossed back her glossy main of shiny black hair.
“If you must know, one of my patients, well former patients was in the hospital and I was visiting her.”
“One of your patient’s from your Fellowship?” she asked.
“Yes, she’s got PCP and it isn’t looking very good,” he said with a rather dismal shake of the head, “she’s only 12.”
“I’m terribly sorry,” Elizeh said her voice exuding genuine warmth, the dark brown eyes that had long since captivated him full of sympathy.
“Well,” he said clearing his throat, “What’s been making you look so dismayed this evening.”
“Nothing, just disappointment,” she said with a non-committal shrug
For a moment Darcy’s breath caught in his throat, “you’re disappointed because you wanted to marry him?” he said trying to keep his voice as even as possible.
Elizeh almost spit out her water as she laughed, “No way! I would stick to not assuming things about me Darcy,” she said shaking her head as she laughed. “What kind of name is Darcy anyway for a Desi guy?”
“It’s French.” He said simply,
“And,” she probed, that dimple that he found so irresistible flashing in her right cheek.
“And, my Grandfather was Lebanese and his father was French, hence the Darcy.”
“Your Grandfather was Lebanese, that’s pretty cool.” She said with a smile, “How did your grandparents manage to meet being, Oh you know several countries apart?”
“My grandfather came to India on an off…on business, and he met my Grandmother, love at first sight I guess.”
“Wait a second, El-Darce, didn’t Prince El-Darce fall in love with a Hyderabadi girl back in the day?” she asked.
“Shhhh, you’ll blow my cover,” he said with a smile as he held a finger to his lips.
“Is that a joke Darcy?” she asked grinning as she leaned back in her chair, “Did your Royal Highness just make a joke?”
“I joke,” he said looking mildly offended
“Jokes about bacteria and fungus are not jokes,” she said in mock solemnity.
“Will you two please be quiet, they’re about to start the Nikkah,” said someone in a loud stage whisper next to them.
Elizeh couldn’t understand how she’d gone from feeling absolutely miserable to well…almost happy in a few minutes. It couldn’t have anything to do with Darcy…nah…
Uncles – Refers to all older South Asian gentlemen
Rishta- To bring a Rishta is to bring a proposal of marriage to a girl’s family; a practice that still goes on.
Sari- Long, usually gorgeous piece of cloth women in South Asia wrap around themselves as a garment
Sherwani- The fitted, long coat that Hyderabadi men wear for formal occasions
Desi- How most South Asians refer to themselves and anyone else from the Sub-continent.
PCP- A type of pneumonia that usually affects AIDS patients.
Nikkah- Muslim wedding ceremony.
Posted on Monday, 30 October 2006
A lone bead of sweat rolled down the side of her forehead. ‘Faster.’ Was the lone word that coursed through her brain. ‘I must work faster.’ Her fingers virtually flew as she ‘threw’ knots over all of the oozing vessels, as the medical student continued to suction the mixture of water and blood from the patient’s abdomen, the fluid began to return to a comfortingly clear color. She allowed herself a brief sigh of relief.
“That should be it kiddo’s” she said as she smiled to her intern and the medical student, turning to the nurse, “can you give Dr. Kassaw a shout and ask her if she can come here and take a look before we close up?” This was a signal to the rest that they could take a breather, it had been a long case and everyone deserved a few minutes to relax.
She took a few minutes to look up at the mirrored wall across from her, and what she saw came as no surprise, ‘I look exhausted.’ And rightfully so, instead of getting easier, every consecutive year of her surgery residency had simply added responsibilities, so that now in her fifth and final year she was responsible for all of the surgery residents at this particular hospital.
And man did Elinor Dashwood need a break, ‘My hair must be a mess,’ she thought ruefully, she had friends coming over tonight and she doubted that after this extended case, rounding with the residents and setting up for the party she would have a chance to tame her unruly, almost afro like curls. The daughter of a black mother and white father, Elinor looked far more exotic than she believed herself to be. To herself she just looked like well…herself. Yet to the rest of the world, her tall, thin frame accentuated by high cheekbones, a fair complexion with a wild smattering of freckles, dark brown curls that formed a halo around her face and a beautiful bright smile made her quite striking indeed. If it hadn’t been for the fact that her reserved nature made the other residents believe her to be rather severe, the line to ask her out would have been around the block.
Yet, she was still almost 30 and painfully single as her mother often reminded her. She outwardly sighed at the reason why- ‘Eddy.’ That bastard had gone and made her fall in love with him and then disappeared. Well, at least that’s how she thought of the situation when she was in a particularly tired or bad mood. Most of the time she realized that it was her own foolish self that had misinterpreted her step-brother’s brother-in-law’s actions. He had been friendly, hanging out at their place, playing with her sister, talking to her mother. He hadn’t said anything to indicate that he was particularly enamored of her, it was just the way he looked at her, the way he whispered in her ear jokes about the overly-dramatic or stylized movies Marianne had made them watch. Maybe it had been his blue eyes, or his floppy dark hair, or that silly grin he would give her if ever caught site of her on the street outside their building, or that…”
“Looks great Dashwood, close her up,” she was jolted out her daydream as her attending inspected the abdomen approvingly, with a nod, Elinor and her team began to methodically pull out sponges, count out instruments and sew up the patient. Before she knew it she was pulling off her gown,
“Let the med student close up,” she called to her intern, for which she received a wide smile from the Mei, the young medical student.
She then proceeded to sprint to the OR lounge, round up the rest of her team and round on all their patients. By the time they finished the last patient, checked out to the intern on call that night and called her attendings it was already 7. She sighed and prayed Marianne had cleaned up some of her art supplies from their cramped apartment.
The party she was throwing as a get together for some of her med school friends had been postponed because her two best friends and former roommates had been unable to make it last weekend because of a busy Saturday. Then Elizeh had had to go to a family friend’s wedding on Sunday so they had finally settled on reschedluling the get-together for today, Friday. Unfortunately, Elinor had to work today and was struggling to get everything together. Usually she had her mother to help her but since it was Summer, her mother had taken her youngest sister Margaret to go visit their Aunt in Boston. So now it was just her sister Marianne, who although she loved dearly was often more a help than a hinderance.
When she arrived at her apartment, a young blond bombshell waited for her at the door, flashing her a big smile as she held the door open for her.
“Thanks,” Elinor said as she walked through, “Are you just visiting or did you just move in,” she asked, it was unusual to see anyone new in their tiny apartment building.
“Oh a little bit of both,” she replied cryptically, then she held out her hand to shake hers, “I’m Lucy Steele,”
“Elinor Dashwood,” I live up on the fourth. She said with her nodding up above.
“Oh, Dashwood, I already met your sister Marianne, the artist.” She said with a knowing smile.
“She’s hard to miss,” Elinor replied. Marianne, was her height but instead of Elinor’s warm brown eyes, her’s were the color of honey as was her long hair. She dressed like the ultimate Greenwich Village Punked out Art student and was constantly bringing her artsy friends over to their place.
After waiving goodbye to her new neighbor, Elinor opened the door with some trepidation, but she breathed a sigh of relief as Elizeh, Franny, and Marianne were aleardy setting up for the party in the sparkling apartment. As she hugged each of them she breathed a ‘thank you’ into her sister’s hair. Marianne squeezed her back non-chalantly.
“What are sister’s for,” she said as she continued to try to arrange the flowers on the table to her satisfaction.
Soon people from her residency program, med school and building all began streaming in so that the tiny apartment began to feel full even though it was just a few guests.
After welcoming everyone, she finally reached Elizeh who was laughing merrily with one of Marianne’s art school friends. Elinor sighed, as she realized that another heart was probably going to be broken tonight, with her pretty face, well-endowed yet petite build, and absolutely winning personality men were constantly falling for Elizeh. Shw almost always rebuffed them, astonished that they had misinterepreted her friendliness for interest. Elinor knew that she wasn’t trying to flirt with them, she couldn’t help it if she was adorable. As Elizeh further entranced the young men with her long lash rimmed eyes and a smile that flashed all of her perfect teeth, Elinor knew it was time for an intervention and steered her friend over to introduce her one female resident’s from her program.
“Eli, this is Cathy Mei-Nguyen; she’s a third year resident and I think she went to college with your sister Miriam,” as they began to compare notes, Elinor, confident that Elizeh couldn’t do much damage here continued to mingle.
As she saw Franny sipping a glass of wine and grinning as she spoke to Edmund she sighed once more, Elinor was troubled that her dear friend continued to suffer from the most unrequited of love. Although Franny had never outright told her how she felt, Hell Elinor wasn’t even sure that she had admitted it to herself, it was obvious how Franny felt about Edmund. What Elinor was unsure of was how the man could continue to live with his girlfriend, finish up a demanding Fellowship and still manage to spend what seemed to be all of his time with Franny. The two seemed so absolutely perfect for one another, not to mention that his girlfriend Mary was a total shrew, that Elinor was astounded that he and Franny hadn’t gotten around to getting together yet.
Elinor was about to go steal Franny away and introduce her to one of the nice Pedi Surgery residents she knew when she was interrupted by the entrance of George and Emma. As if their physical presence was striking enough, they appeared to be bickering. ‘What’s new’ she thought to herself with a chuckle.
“Emmie, I’m so glad you could make it, you too George. How is Business school coming and why aren’t you in Boston?” After working as an Investment Banker on Wall street for almost 8 years Emma had finally convinced her friend George to go back to school and get an MBA at Harvard. What she hadn’t planned on was how much she would miss her old friend, so now in a form of appeasement the two had taken to visiting one another quite often, although it was always based on some flimsy excuse.
George was one of the few men Elinor knew, other than tall, gangly adorable Eddy, who dwarfed her in height. As he gave her a big bear hug she could feel his muscles, well toned from years of competitive rowing, through his shirtsleeves. George was as dark and strong as Emma was light and delicate. With her golden blond hair and petite build she was the perfect Pediatrician, all her patients thought she looked like Sleeping Beauty. With his tan skin and dark hair George not only dwarfed Emma but was also her perfect complement. Elinor was interrupted by these ruminations by a sound at the door.
“Hi, Marianne,” at the sound of the newest voice at the door Elinor froze, ‘it can’t be.’ She thought to herself, as she turned to see the man who had just left her sister’s embrace their eyes met across the room, his blue eyes sparkling as he held out a bouquet of lilies and orchids, her favorite flowers, out to her.
Unsure of whether she could keep her voice from cracking with emotion, she managed to say, “Hello, Eddy” and prevent herself from throwing herself into his arms.
Posted on Saturday, 4 November 2006
Elizeh and Darcy never mentioned their chance enounter at the wedding while they were at work; in fact, they rather judiciously avoided speaking to one another altogether. Elizeh because she was still rather unsure about how she felt about him and Darcy because he was desperately fighting off his attraction to someone entirely unsuitable.
Fareed Darcy was the grand nephew of the former King of Lebanon, although that nation had many years prior abandoned the monarchy, within the Darcy family, the importance of their position had never waned. Although, the rest of his family was South Asian they were of no ordinary stock, they were Nawabs- descendents of the former rulers of the Princely states that used to compose India and Pakistan. Amongst the many holdings his family maintained, they had several endowments to many of the major universities in India, several massive Havelis (ancient mansions), and a massive compound outside of Dehli, that had briefly fallen into the hands of the British and since that time been known as Pemberley. It was an altogether western take on an Estate that was entirely Indian. From the white marble that composed it’s walls, to the mosaic tiles that flanked the entrance to the peacocks that roamed it’s grounds, the name was the only thing British about the Darcy Estate.
Although his father had passed away rather suddenly several years ago, his mother Anarkali Darcy still traveled between their Estate, London apartment, and Manhattan Brownstone. She was constantly on her son’s case to either A) retire from practice and live the life of a true Nawab, B) get married or most preferably C) do both.
Yet, ‘get married’ was not a loose dictate given to her son out of any concern over his well-being. No, marriage within the Nawab families was a matter of great pomp and circumstance and was entirely dictated by strategy, wealth, and social standing. Yet, Anarkali Darcy was a romantic, at least as much as a Nawabi Middle Aged Aunty can be a romantic, she was at first all for allowing her son to find a suitable bride amongst their social set. Yet, his deadline had long since expired, and as he approached his 33rd birthday she had long since despaired that a family name that famine, partition, and plague could not destroy would be wiped out by the obstinate celibacy of her son.
So it was no surprise that as Elizeh entranced young Art students at Elinor’s party Fareed was being once more lectured by his mother on the importance of marriage and being pushed not so subtly in the direction of his distant cousin, Ani.
“Mother, I know that kind of thing was entirely acceptable back in the old country, but I absolutely refuse to marry a relative.” He said as he stood with his arms crossed over his chest and his foot absently toying with futon before him.
“Meri Jaan, listen to me, it is a good match; it makes a lot of sense. I know she may not be your first choice for a bride, but come now- you’re practically a confirmed bachelor in our community, other women don’t even take me seriously when I ask for details about eligible young women. They think that you’re never going to get married.”
Fareed patiently counted backwards from 10 before answering, he ran his hands through his dark hair absently and chose his words carefully, “Amma, I know you’re worried, and I’m sorry for that. But you’re just going to have to wait. I love you but I’m not willing to ruin the lives of both me and the young unfortunate you marry me off to just so you can shut up the Aunties at the Masjid.” In what seemed to be a veritable gift from God, at that moment his pager went off. He resisted the temptation to look towards the ceiling and mouth a silent thank you to Allah.
As he went into the next room to take it he heard the Harriet’s frazzled voice on the other end, “Dr. Darcy…I’m so sorry, but I…well I didn’t know who else to call…One of Dr. Binna’s patients was just admitted to the hospital and I know she would want to know but she’s not on call today and isn’t picking up her phone, do you know how to get in touch with her?”
“Have you tried Dr. Price?”
“Yes, and same situation.” Darcy suddenly remembered overhearing from Emma that she and Elizeh and Franny were headed to an old med school buddy’s party and that cells and pagers were banned unless you were on call. He sighed. He knew that he could probably, just leave the young medical assistant to call the on-call physician. But he knew that if he had a patient in the hospital he would want to know.
A few punches of the button later he was calling Bing, if anyone knew where this party was it would be Junein.
An incredibly breathless Bing answered the phone, “Hello, puff…what’s up…puff”
Darcy rolled his eyes, newlyweds “Bing I’m assuming that you’re not at the party with Elizeh”
He could almost hear Bing smirk on the other end of the phone, “the answer…puff…is an emphatic ‘No’.”
Darcy rolled his eyes, “could you ask Junein where Elinor’s apartment is?”
After getting the address and being almost hung up on by Bing, Fareed made his rather feeble excuses to his Mother and escaped the apartment into the warm summer night. He stuck his hands deep into his pockets and exhaled, letting out the tension that had been building since all the ‘wedding’ talk had begun.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been with a woman in a while. Quite the reverse, prior to breaking up with his rather brilliant Taiwanese girlfriend last spring Darcy had been what some might call a ‘Serial Monogamist’ having a series of equally wonderful, and equally problematic relationships over the course of the past ten years. And although individually amazing, the women he had dated lately all had one thing in common.
They were decidedly un- South Asian.
As he had told Bing in that infamous speech overheard by Elizeh, he was not a fan of South Asian women.
Why the last South Asian woman he had dated had been Carina and she had been such a….
He shook his head almost to clear his thoughts, no he was not going to dwell on what was now ancient history. Even though it was ancient history that still somewhat stung.
As he pushed his sleeves up his muscled forearms he sighed and purposefully strode past the subway entrance, tonight was a night for walking and for reflection.
He loved his mother, dearly. Yet, he was almost positive that her wishes to see him married to a fellow Nawab were not going to come to fruition, heck he was almost positive that he wasn’t even going to marry a South Asian, after all no South Asian woman had…
Scratch that…
There was Elizeh. He shook his head once more, this time at the sheer futility of trying to banish her from his consciousness. Her smile, that dimpled cheek, those luminous lash fringed eyes were before him in an instant. The sound of her laugh, at times throaty and at times as tinkling as a bell rang in his ears. And that skin, he had never seen such perfect skin before, some of the other girls he had seen before had had model perfect complexions but Elizeh, well Elizeh somehow glowed .
He thought back to the last week in clinic where every interaction, no matter how brief or insignificant left him with a crushing unease he hadn’t felt since he was in junior high asking out a girl for the first time.
Something about her entirely unsettled him and at first he had tried to avoid her as much as possible but he couldn’t help being drawn towards her like a moth to a flame. But unlike some stupid moth he was sure as Hell not going to get consumed by the firebrand that was Elizeh Binna.
As he approached the street Elinor lived on, he suddenly became rather unsure about the nature of his errand. Didn’t it seem rather pathetic that he had come to hand-deliver this non-urgent message? Wasn’t it entirely obvious that he had had nothing better to do on a Friday night than to be Elizeh’s gofer? Well, he had had several offers for plans but he had turned them down to pay a long overdue visit to his mother. That was nice right? Or was that too loserish to visit your mom on a Friday night?
Ugh. He was. Driving Himself. Crazy.
The door to Elinor’s building opened and out walked a surprisingly familiar but entirely welcome face, “Edmund? What are you doing here?” he said as he walked towards his old friend.
“Darce? Dude I thought you were in Malawi?” responded Edmund as he came over and clapped his old Chief Resident on the shoulder.
“I was for a year and then I came back and finished up my Fellowship at San Fran” grinned Darcy, he had genuinely liked Edmund Bertram with his friendly demeanor and easy laugh; although some had found him to be a tad moralistic, Darcy thought his principled demeanor to be all that was admirable in a young Cardiologist. He had personally recommended him for the Fellowship slot at NYU.
“What the hell are you doing here? The last I heard you were on the verge of curing AIDS at UCSF?” Edmund joked.
Darcy sighed, Edmund had no idea how true his friend’s words had been. The experimental treatments they had done on children that had already failed out of all treatment options was nothing less than extraordinary. When 2 of the children developed leukemia the program had come to a grinding halt and now all of Darcy’s young success stories were dying one by one. He hadn’t been able to sit back and watch so he had left, well more appropriately he had ran from UCSF as soon as his fellowship had been over.
“We had some great stuff going on there, but we had some problems and they discontinued the drug trial, so there was really nothing to hold me there after I finished my fellowship. So I came back here, and am kind of just taking a break, working in a Pedi clinic in the Bronx with a friend.”
“Wait, are you working with Emma Woodhouse?” he asked
“Yeah do you know her?” Darcy asked pleasantly surprised by the coincidence.
“Yeah, so you must know Franny. I think you must have met her back in our residency days.”
Darcy shook his head, “sure I know Franny, she’s a great doctor, and really sweet,” he said with a far away look as he thought of Franny’s partner.
Edmund’s eyes almost instinctively narrowed, “Yeah, I was just upstairs with her.”
“Oh, so you must be coming out of the party where Elizeh is?” Darcy asked
“Yeah, they’re all still there, I had to do this thing for my girlfriend, but I can take you upstairs and show you where they’re at.” As they climbed the stairs they discussed work and how their various old friends were doing.
“You should definitely try out for that Assistant Professor Job at UCSF” Darcy said to Edmund as they walked inside the still lively party.
“Really? UCSF? I don’t know if I would be qualified?” replied Edmund modestly.
“What about UCSF?” Franny asked with a smile as they approached her, “Darce I didn’t know you knew ‘Mund.”
“Yeah, I didn’t know he knew you, what an amazingly small world it is,” he said with a friendly smile.
He was utterly unaware how a simple smile changed his face from handsome to breath taking. Franny was a little taken aback by how much friendlier…and quite frankly hotter…he was once out of the office.
And Edmund, while watching Franny’s reaction, could only scowl.
As Franny and Darcy continued to converse politely, Edmund rather uncharacteristically butted into the conversation. “He was telling me about a job Fran…as a Cardiologist…in San Fransisco,” as soon as the words left Edmund’s mouth he wanted to slap his forehead and exclaim ‘Idiot’
Her face immediately fell, and no matter how much she continued to resurrect her smile as Darcy waxed poetic about the open position she couldn’t muster her same Franny aura of cheerfulness.
Edmund felt like a total heel, she had been counting on him joining her practice as a partner as soon as he made enough money to satisfy Mary. But in their hearts they both knew that there wasn’t money enough in all of medicine to adequately satiate her thirst for wealth. It had been only a matter of time before he had started to look for a job, but it still stung both of them to put it out there. And for the first time it struck him what life out in California doing something he didn’t particularly like would be like. He would be far from his family, he would be far from everything he grew up with and most of all he would be far from Fran…he shook his head forcefully as to rid himself of that dangerous thought. He had mastered avoiding those thoughts…well most of the time…for almost 10 years now and he would be damned if he let them take over his life again.
Then in almost a coup d’etat of his internal conversation, Franny exclaimed, “Didn’t you have to go Edmund to do something for Mary?”
Darcy turned towards the two of them and appraised them critically, “Oh so you aren’t dating?” he asked.
At that moment some internal feeling bubbled up in Edmund that made him desire nothing else than to whisk Franny out of the room and out of Darcy’s appreciative gaze.
But she beat him to it, “No, of course not.” She said simply without elaboration, “Edmund has been dating Mary for some time now.”
“Oh I remember now, I met her at a fundraiser with you during residency,” Darcy cringed at the thought, Mary was exactly the type of woman he fought hardest to avoid, so absolutely calculatingly attractive and so mind numbingly ambitious that you were entirely unsure where their facades began and ended.
Darcy now faced a bit of a conundrum, Fanny was exactly his type, she was obviously available, and he was totally infatuated with her business partner. Had this been a few weeks ago even, he would have totally asked her out. Yet, now he was torn. His mind knew that Elizeh was totally not his type. He had avoided Muslim South Asian women, and what they represented, his entire life. As his cousin used to say, ‘You don’t have a fling with a Desi girl; if you’re dating her it’s either short and you part ways, or you end up with a wife.’ And he knew that Elizeh was not wife material, neither in his eyes or his mothers. He had seen her family at Lata’s wedding and although perfectly innocuous and obviously well-born, they were not Aristocrats or even ridiculously wealthy. Two distinct strikes against them; no, they were just another upper-middle class wealthy South Asian family. If he got involved with Elizeh there would be all of these expectations from her family and she would of course start angling to become Mrs. Darcy, especially with all the power and wealth that came with the title. As he ruminated on this, the object of his contemplation approached them as lovely as ever in a loose flowing printed dress that accentuated her slim waist and fine sweep of her collarbone, not to mention delicately emphasizing her rather fine other endowments. And her hair, all swept up like that highlighted her graceful neck and brought out those gorgeous eyes…Stop, he had to stop waxing poetic about this random fellow doctor.
So as Elizeh turned towards them her mouth opening to speak He panicked
So he did the only logical thing he could think of.
He turned towards Franny and asked her out.
*The whole King of Lebanon thing is totally fictional.
*Meri Jaan= ‘my love’ in Urdu
*Desi= The term S.Asians use to describe themselves