Lying by Omission

"Yeah, and probably coming out tomorrow morning," Stephen deadpanned. The siblings giggled, reveling in their gross-out humour as they'd always done growing up. Nyssa was relieved to have this reprieve with her brothers after mooning over learning about Ilan's engagement. It had been a month since she'd found out and she was feeling better. Not well, but better.

"Mmmm, god, Nyss, who turned you on to this?" Noah said several minutes later when they got their food. He tempered the burning on his tongue with a spoonful of plain yogurt between shoveling in bites of kothu roti. "What is this even called? It's incredible."

"Note to self," Stephen muttered after swallowing a mouthful. "Marry a Sri Lankan girl so you can eat this stuff forever." Nyssa bristled, then called the server to ask for a second glass of red wine.

"Anything special going on with you guys?" she said. The two men paused and exchanged a solemn look before Noah nodded to his brother.

"Nyssa," Stephen straightened up. "Dad passed away about a month ago." While they were unsure how their sister would process the information, Nyssa simply stared at Stephen for about five seconds before picking up another bite.

"Okay," she said. "Did you guys need any help with funeral costs?"

"See, I told you," Noah said to Stephen, who fished out his wallet with his clean hand and passed over a five-dollar bill.

"How'd he croak, anyway?" Nyssa asked, taking a sip of wine.

"Choked on a chicken bone," Stephen said casually, before it dawned on him how they all sounded. "Damn, anyone listening to us right now would think we're all grade-A sociopaths." He shook his head with a half-smile.

"Correction," Noah said, "Anyone listening to this conversation who has no idea what it's like to suffer emotional abuse while being raised by narcissists would think we're sociopaths. They have no clue, man. No clue what kind of psychological warfare we had to battle since we were kids. No idea what it's like to have to buckle under and sacrifice basic dignity just to keep the fucking peace every fucking day.

"Nyss, you stood up to them what, like, five years ago?"

"Six," she corrected.

"Six," Noah nodded. "When you did that, I was only 17 and Steph was 18. We didn't know talking to them like that was an option. I still thought anything they did, it was for our own good. Shit, you were only 23 and still had another year of school ahead of you, which I didn't realise until way later made it all the more badass."

"Guys, it's okay," Nyssa smiled, not wanting this night to get too emotional, especially after the month she'd just had. "It's okay to not be bothered about the death of your abuser, and it's okay to have not spoken to them for years prior. They were the adults and they all knew how they were messing with our heads."

"We couldn't have gotten out if it weren't for you," Stephen said, gently nudging Nyssa's shoulder and giving her a grateful look. "Which brings me to the next thing. Obviously, dad didn't leave you anything in his will or you would have been contacted by now. Most of it goes to mom, some goes to uncle Chet, and some to me and Noah."

"The two of us want to pool our shares and split it three ways," Noah finished.

"Guys, come on," Nyssa protested. "I'm a lawyer. The pay isn't what it would be if I was charging $450 an hour at a Toronto firm, but it's better than decent. I was able to sock away enough to put both of you through school even during my first year working."

"Exactly," Noah countered. "Which is why even if he left us a grand total of fifty bucks, it's getting split three ways."

"Isn't it enough that he's probably spinning in his grave, thinking about us loving Sri Lankan food together?" Nyssa joked.

"Nyss, please," Stephen said, his voice low. "Just let us do this. Even if you don't want it, donate it to Black Lives Matter or something."

"Holy shit, he'll spin so fast he'll drill a subway tunnel," Noah muttered as they all snorted.

"Are you still in touch with mom or uncle Chet?" Nyssa asked them.

"I lurk her social media sometimes but other than that, no," Stephen shook his head. "She hasn't changed. Just a bunch of posts about 'I'm entitled to think what I want about those people.'"

"Honestly, if I ever meet The One, no matter what race she is," Noah added, "I'm just going to be straight-up about why my brother and sister are the only ones in my family she'll ever know." He picked up the remaining veggies with his last piece of kothu roti. "Then together, we'll just tell everyone else who asks that my older family members are dead."

Oh wow, that's a good idea, Nyssa thought wistfully. Wish I'd thought of it six years ago.

***********

"Last minute arrest?" Nyssa wrinkled her nose at Ilan a few afternoons later as he handed her a folder. "It's three-thirty and they're not going to get a hearing today even if I can get ahold of someone."

"Open it," Ilan smiled. "I didn't want everyone to see."

Inside the file was an ornate, embossed wedding invitation that was maroon and yellow. Nyssa was simultaneously impressed and chagrined. She lowered her nose to it.

"Is that jasmine?" she asked, taking in the heady fragrance.

"Yeah," Ilan sheepishly responded. "I wanted something simple but Priya said you only get married once so..."

"Maybe bring her here for family court one day," Nyssa kidded. Ilan grinned at her.

"Glad to see your spirits are up a bit," he said as Nyssa took the card out of the envelope and read it through. She stopped and glanced up at him.

"Oh," she said. "I was that transparent, huh?"

"A little. Have you been okay lately?"

"Yeah," Nyssa shrugged, having finally accepted she'd lost him forever. "You know how it is. Just issues with some guy."

"I find it hard to believe any guy would let you have 'issues' with him instead of resolving them," Ilan said, "but there's nothing like the next to forget about the last. You should come to the wedding with Kai. I gave him an invite too."

"He deserves better," Nyssa elusively muttered. Before Ilan had a chance to ask her what she meant, she pointed to the card. "Hey, is this banquet hall actually in Markham like it says?" she asked. "Because I've been to a wedding at one with a similar name in Vaughan. Just don't want to get lost on the day of." Ilan grabbed the card and peered at it.

"Son of a bitch," he mumbled to Nyssa's surprise. He looked unsettled for a moment.

"Hey, a typo on your wedding invitation isn't a big deal; Markham and Vaughan are right beside each other," Nyssa offered.

"That's not it," Ilan said, his voice somewhat bothered. "I'll get back to you."

Ilan's mind raced as he walked out of the building and into the parkette across the street from the courthouse, pulling out his cellphone. He thought about how Priya had simply handed him a stack of cards to give to his colleagues at work, and he'd just stuffed them in his shoulder bag without first looking at them because he was eager to get a head start on his drive west.

The first thing you do is read through every boring document you get and you didn't even think to read your own wedding invitation? he chastised himself as he searched for his fiancée's contact in his phone.

"Hey, I thought we agreed to get married at the temple," he blurted out when she answered.

"Hello to you, too," she replied, unimpressed.

"Well?"

"I'm not appreciating your rudeness right now, Ilan, but I told you what I thought of that idea."

"You were serious about that?" Ilan said in disbelief.

"Yeah. You know people only get married at temples if it's their second or third marriage, or if they don't have enough money to afford something more grand."

"Priya, that's bullshit and you know it," Ilan was trying to calm himself as he stalked around the playground, but he knew his voice sounded more agitated than he intended. "Does anyone ever think getting married in a church means you're on your third marriage?"

"You know how people talk," Priya tried to appease him. "The priest will still come to the banquet hall and do the exact same rituals. The difference is, the hall will have rooms for us to get ready in, and we'll have much, much better food there."

"No, actually, the difference is, I told you I really wanted to do this in the temple just like our parents and their parents, and their parents had done, and you said you agreed. Then you booked a hall and printed the cards behind my back when I trusted you."

"I didn't say I agreed; I said okay. As in, 'okay, I get that's important to you.'"

What Ilan really wanted to ask next was whether she was fucking kidding him. But he looked up at the sunny April sky and tried to refocus.

"Oak Point Banquet Hall isn't cheap," he said quietly. "How are we paying for that again?"

"We each make good money. And our parents also said they'd help."

"Did you not even think to tell me any of this information before I asked?!" Ilan burst out again. "This isn't fucking chair covers for the reception, Priya!"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that!" Priya shouted back. "The gall of you not getting involved in the planning and then criticising everything I've done!" Her voice quavered but Ilan wasn't having it.

"Don't you remember I tried? Don't you remember I gave all the vendors my contact information as well but you said you'd take care of it and you didn't need my help? I didn't want to just show up to my own wedding like a mannequin, Priya, but I thought you'd represent both our interests instead of just doing what you wanted!"

"Look, I need a break, Ilan," Priya said shakily. "And so do you. Call me back when you can talk to me like you actually love me."

"Dammit!" he rued as his fiancée hung up on him.

"Hey, careful!" a familiar voice called out from the other side of the playground. "You're tall enough to smack your head on the monkey bars back there." Ilan sighed, then turned around.

"How much did you hear?" he flatly asked Nyssa.

"That's not important," she deflected. "Let me cut to the chase. How long have you been thinking about this wedding?"

"Thinking about it? Like planning it?" Ilan queried.

"Yeah, just the day; not the marriage." Nyssa's low-heeled pumps crunched the wood chips beneath her as she walked closer to him and sat on a swing.

"I dunno, maybe since I proposed. Maybe a few days after that?" Ilan said, taking a seat on the adjacent swing.

"Priya's probably been thinking about this since the first year you were dating."

"No way, Nyss," Ilan rolled his eyes. "Who does that?"

"People who are serious enough that they know you're The One within a few months," Nyssa said. "A lot of people think ahead. Whether they can introduce you to their family, whether you'll want the same things together..."

"Whether you'll still stay friends even after the sex dries up?" Ilan offered. Nyssa briefly glanced over at him, her pale cheeks rouging.

"You were right back then," she responded, even though she really wanted to pretend that entire fuckbuddy episode had never happened. The memory of Ilan's weight on top of her and his forehead pressed against hers haunted her dreams most nights. "It was a good thing we stopped."

"Why didn't you and I work out, again?" he questioned.

"Come on, man, nothing good can come of this."

"It's the one question I never figured out the answer to," he pressed. Nyssa pushed off against the ground and swung back.

"Like I told you, I wanted to stay focused," she lied. "The question isn't, why didn't I work out with you; it's why I didn't work out with anyone. But that's neither here nor there," she rushed on.

"You should consider the possibility that Priya knows what she's doing because she's been thinking about this a lot longer than you have. She works in insurance for Chrissakes. She's not going to take crazy risks for one big event."

"But I feel like she doesn't care about anything I want," Ilan protested. "I know it's this running joke that guys just show up and say 'I do,' but this is my wedding too and I'm not asking for a lot."

"How do you know she hasn't already taken your wants into consideration?" Nyssa countered. "I got within earshot just before the call ended, but I could see you losing your mind from across the street. It didn't look like you let her explain a whole lot. By the way, you realise this side of the building is where all the judge's chambers' windows are, right?"

"Shit on a stick," Ilan laughed as he tipped his head back and looked at the sky.

"Go talk to her, bring her flowers, and I'm sure a few more things will make sense," Nyssa said softly. She ignored the lump forming in her throat and instead held up her wristwatch to show her friend. "We've got 10 minutes left on break and the guy who was arrested for dancing on a car last night swears his friend is going to show up to bail him out." Ilan laughed again and dismounted the swing.

"Good. Car-dancing guy is exactly what I need right now."

As they strolled back across the street and through the courthouse parking lot, Ilan tried to push away the nagging thought that he wished things had ended differently with the thoughtful woman walking alongside him.

***********

"Ilan... yes, baby, yes, yes, yes..." Priya breathed as her fiancé sucked on her left breast, then added a third finger to the two that were already inside her. After she shuddered and collapsed back on the bed, she hoped he would put on the condom because she didn't really feel like going down on him today.

It was the first thing he'd done to her as soon they'd gotten into her bedroom, but she figured this was part of his apology. As though he'd read her mind, Ilan rolled on the sheath and got back into bed. Priya wasted no time pushing him onto his back and mounting him, then rocking herself to another orgasm.

"Baby, if you stop now I'm gonna have to flip you over," Ilan gasped. When Priya steadied herself with her hands on his chest and drew closer, he took it as a yes and made good on his promise.

Looking into her brown eyes and enveloped in the light pine scent of her skin lotion, he remembered all over again why he fell in love with her.

As Ilan collapsed atop his fiancée, half-balanced on his elbows, he smiled and quickly pecked her lips before drawing out.

"I'm really sorry, again," he told her after returning from the bathroom.

"For that?" Priya joked. "Don't be." Ilan laughed and slipped under the covers with her.

"You thought about the logistics of getting dressed at the venue and how to feed our guests," he said, "and I hadn't. You're planning all this stuff in addition to your job so that I don't have to. I should have thanked you instead of yelling at you."

"Don't worry about it," Priya said, nuzzling her face against his neck.

"There's just one thing, and it's not too late to change it," Ilan remembered, turning to face her. "I want you and me to pay for everything." Priya raised her eyebrows just as Ilan looked away, trying to collect his thoughts.

"My parents live in a 50-year-old house in Malvern," he said. "I don't know how your parents are doing, but I do know you're an underwriter and I'm a Crown attorney. We can definitely swing this."

"What about saving for our future, baby?" Priya asked, her fingers in his chest hair.

"We earn enough to swing this and save for our future. I don't know if you talked about anything concrete with our parents, but we should tell them ASAP we don't need their help. We also need to think about them and their futures."

A silence ensued as Priya considered what her fiancé was saying.

"Okay," she finally said. "I'll let them know we can do this on our own."

"All of it," Ilan confirmed. "The wedding, the rehearsal dinner, and the reception."

"Right, the rehearsal dinner," Priya sighed. "That's another production we have to pull off."

Ilan returned to work the next day rejuvenated and wishing he'd made up with Priya earlier instead of waiting a few days. He looked around for Nyssa to thank her for the pep talk but she didn't seem to be assigned to bail court with him.

"You got laid, didn't you?" Kai asked him as he and Ilan went for subs at lunch.

"What if I'm just in a good mood?"

"Because you got laid, didn't you? Come on, man, I'm happy that at least one of us did."

"That, and I was able to make up with Priya after we briefly fought," Ilan capitulated. He told his friend about the mix-up with the wedding invitations and how he'd gotten a different perspective from talking with Nyssa. The look Kai gave him while pulling on the door of the subway place wasn't comforting, though.

"I'm not trying to be a jerk about this, Ilan, but I have to ask. Is this your first serious relationship?"

"What?"

"I know you're writing this off as a misunderstanding, but if my fiancée printed up the wedding invitations without clearing it with me first, then sent them off with something on there she knew I didn't agree to, I sure wouldn't think I was wrong for being upset." He made sure to keep talking so Ilan wouldn't get the wrong idea.

"I mean, it's not about the venue or the centerpieces or whatever. It's the fact that she went behind my back when I trusted her with a huge job. She wanted to do all the planning on her own, right? You're not just being an arsehole and begging off?"

"No, no, I wanted to be involved but she said she wanted to do it her way."

"Yeah, and that's exactly the problem," Kai pinpointed. "You're clearly a more forgiving guy than I am, but I'd see a red flag that she seems to think she's the only one getting married. You're not an accessory--you're her partner and she's not treating you that way."

Ilan was quiet while they ordered and had their sandwiches made, and Kai was afraid he'd overstepped. After they paid on the other end of the line, he tried to backpedal.

"Look, I'm an arsehole," he conceded when they sat down at a table.

"No, you're not," Ilan laughed. "I mean, you are, I've seen you rip people apart on the stand--"

"If you're talking about that cop who was caught on the dash-cam imitating a Chinese accent when he traffic-stopped that Asian man, that motherfucker had it coming."

"--but I think you're just being a good friend here," Ilan finished. "I appreciate it. I wanted to reset where we were so I told Priya it was important to me that she and I pay for everything and not to bother our folks for money."

"Hey, I hope it works out exactly the way you want it to," Kai said. "And I'm honoured you haven't revoked my invitation to the rehearsal dinner."

"Aaargh, I'm gonna need you there, man," Ilan said. "Maybe you can pull out those Maori skills and lead a haka to liven things up for me." Kai laughed, then coughed as he'd been in the process of swallowing a bite of his sub.

"Yeah, I'll be the only one doing it and your bride will then have me thrown out for disturbing the ambiance."

Is that how he sees Priya? Ilan pondered while they ate for the next minute in silence. Kai hasn't even met Priya and all he knows about her is what I've told him. Is that how I talk about her?

What he'd loved about her when they'd met was how she was spontaneous and easy to please. He thought back to when he first spotted her at the Pongal festival at their temple, wearing a bright yellow sari and standing across the aisle from him and his mother in front of a deity.

When his mom waved to her mom a few minutes later and they talked after the service, it seemed perfect that they were already family friends.

"I'd ask if you came here often, but by the way you're looking around like it's a museum..." she smirked at him as their parents caught up. He found himself flabbergasted staring into her wide eyes outlined with a black liquid liner.