Chapter 20

The silence after Kumar’s words stretched longer this time.

“The bad news,” he said quietly, “is how we would actually have to live.”

The warmth from moments earlier still lingered faintly around them, the half-finished laughter, the tangled legs beneath the table, Sofia absentmindedly tracing circles on his wrist while Layla argued passionately about future dance studios.

But now all three girls were watching him carefully because something in his voice had changed.

“Mi amor,” Daniela said softly, “what exactly are you worried about?”

He hesitated, his gaze drifting to Sofia. That small pause was enough to make her sit up straighter. She had rarely seen him look this troubled.

“I think we need to talk honestly about what this ... about us ... would actually look like to the world,” he admitted quietly.

Layla frowned. “Qué? You mean we’d just have to be careful, right?”

Kumar gave a small, grim nod. “It’s more than that.”

The girls exchanged uneasy glances.

Sofia exhaled softly first. “ ... Yeah,” she admitted quietly. “Okay. Si. Entiendo. If people in Tegus found out about all of us with you, it would be bad.”

Kumar blinked slightly as Layla snorted humorlessly.

“Bad?” Layla snorted. “It would be catastrophic.”

Daniela’s expression turned grim as she absorbed their words. Kumar leaned back and let them talk, listening carefully.

Layla rubbed a hand through her hair. “Can you imagine the scandal? If we were all caught with him?”

“Your dad would lose his mind,” Sofia said softly. “No matter how much he likes Kumar.”

Layla gave a bitter laugh. “Lose his mind? He’d probably try to kill Kumar. Hell, my brother would fly back from Belize just to help him do it.”

That finally pulled a tiny startled laugh from Sofia before the reality settled back over them.

Daniela sighed softly. “Everyone at the club would know in like one day,” she said quietly.

“Not to mention everyone at school and pretty much everyone we know and don’t know,” Layla added immediately.

“And then the business gossip starts,” Daniela finished grimly.

Kumar stayed quiet as he listened to the girls. He was happy that they were able to understand the consequences. He wanted them to reach this themselves. He wasn’t sure how it would affect them here but as he listened to them he got a clearer picture of how society here worked. After all, the girls understood elite Honduran society in ways he never fully could.

“It wouldn’t even be about morality,” Layla continued bitterly. “Half these assholes have mistresses anyway.”

“Si. The fucking machismo culture would probably think Kumar was some kind of king secretly. Anyways the problem would be for us women, not for him. They’d probably build some sort of shrine at the school for you. You’re probably already a legend for rescuing Sofia and Layla from Miguel and Diego. This would make you a deity to the boys and girls there,” Daniela muttered dryly.

Kumar actually huffed a faint laugh at that.

“But openly?” Daniela continued seriously. “Three girls attached publicly to one man? Girls from our families?” She shook her head slowly. “No.”

Sofia looked increasingly pale now. “It would become a scandal,” she whispered.

Layla nodded immediately. “And not just for us. For everyone.”

Kumar finally spoke softly. “Your families.”

All three girls nodded. Layla’s expression darkened. “My dad’s business would absolutely get dragged into it. Not to mention Tia Bella’s. Your dad too papi. This sort of thing would absolutely pull everyone into it.”

“And Tia Bella has tried so hard to take over from Tio since he passed away. It’s not fair - but all our parents would get steamrolled by the scandal. Even my parents back in Miami wouldn’t survive this. Their reputation in Tegus would be destroyed,” Daniela added quietly.

Sofia swallowed hard.

“People would think we were...” She trailed off, unable to finish.

Kumar squeezed her hand gently.

“I know.”

“Even Zara would get destroyed by this. Even though she’s a small girl. Pobrecita. She wouldn’t even understand what this was about.”

Layla was first to recover. “Okay,” she said firmly. “Then we just don’t act stupid publicly.”

Daniela looked toward her. “We already know how to be discreet.”

Sofia nodded quickly now too.

“We can still go out with you together ... just no PDA. Everyone will think we’re just friends. Everyone knows Layla and I are inseparable - and that Daniela is pretty much like us. So that’s no big deal. We can always go on one on one dates with him to be more intimate. One man with different girlfriends. People will worship you papi. Plus we will only go out to places where our friends or high society folks don’t go to much. We won’t attract any attention. Besides what we normally get.”

Kumar stared at Sofia. She laughed when she saw his face. “Don’t forget I’m a wild girl too papi.”

“Exactly,” Layla agreed immediately. “One at a time nobody cares.”

“And honestly?” Daniela added thoughtfully. “People already expect attractive girls to flirt with Kumar. That part won’t look strange.”

Layla grinned slightly despite herself. “That puta waitress already thought he was open to collecting girlfriends. As if that perra belonged with us. Before we could get with papi.”

“What about after he beds us?” asked Daniela, winking at Kumar.

“Oh, maybe we should go back and tell her we want free coffees everyday if she wants to get with papi.”

Kumar groaned softly. The girls ignored him. They kept talking about him and the waitress and the coffee shop until he cleared his throat loudly.

“Girls. I think we’re losing the point of this conversation.”

“Claro. Claro que si ... we get it. Anyways, the point is that we just can’t do PDA together publicly,” Sofia said thoughtfully now. “Not at the club. Not near school. Not around parents.”

“But private places?” Layla said immediately. “That’s easy.”

Kumar blinked. Layla rolled her eyes.

“We’ve all grown up in Tegus papi. We know like fifty places to make out without getting caught. Not to mention Tia Bella’s house. Your mom is out with her a lot too. We’ll get plenty of time to be alone with you.”

Sofia nodded seriously. “Tia Latha and Tio Rajesh help mama with her business sometimes.”

Daniela laughed softly.”The girls are completely correct. It won’t be so bad as long as we’re careful in public.”

Kumar shook his head helplessly.

“We can still travel together too. After the SATs. We were planning trips around Honduras and around the Caribbean,” Sofia added quickly. “Beach resorts in Roatán. Trekking in Copán Ruinas.”

“Tourist places would be much easier for us to be together. No one will care,” Daniela agreed.

“We can do the same in Charleston right,” Layla said confidently. “It’s America after all. We’ve seen the movies. You remember American Pie? They pretty much are open with sex?”

Sofia giggled. “You remember when Stifler gets peed on and he thinks it’s something else?”

“Si! I almost lost it when that happened. And Van Wilder. You remember that? That scene with the eclairs.”

“Dios! I haven’t been able to eat an eclair after that.”

“I mean in that movie they are completely ok with multiple girls with one guy right?”

Daniela was laughing hysterically with Sofia and Layla until she heard that. She looked at Kumar as he looked at them with a grim expression and immediately understood what he was thinking. And suddenly her stomach dropped.

“Oh no,” she whispered softly.

Layla frowned.

“What?”

Daniela looked at Kumar carefully.

Kumar looked down at the table for several long seconds. Daniela finally spoke up. “Chicas. What you see in the movies is obviously not like real life. Is the US more liberal than here? Sure. But that is different from place to place. Charleston is as different from Austin as Tegus would be from a village here.”

Kumar nodded slowly. “Yes.”

Sofia and Layla looked shocked.

“Wait, seriously? It’s not even a little like that?” Sofia asked, confused.

“But those movies always make it look like the guy with lots of girls is considered amazing. I mean we know that they are exaggerated, but there has to be some truth to it?” wailed Layla.

“College parties exist,” Kumar added quietly. “People hook up. People drink. People sleep around. Nobody’s saying America is some puritan country.”

“Women can absolutely be promiscuous there,” Daniela said with a shrug. “Honestly? More openly than here in some places.”

Layla immediately pointed triumphantly at Kumar. “See? I told you.”

“But that’s not the same thing as society accepting it,” Daniela interrupted gently.

Layla blinked. Daniela leaned forward now, trying to find the right words.

“Chicas, just because people do something doesn’t mean they’re okay with everyone knowing about it. You know how people are. They party all weekend and then judge everyone else on Monday.” She sighed softly. “College students party. They experiment. They sleep around. Everyone knows that. It wouldn’t matter if we were together as adults. We could just ignore it and choose to live our own lives privately. The problem is that you will be considered barely legal college students.”

Layla protested. “But we’re not some kids. We are adults. It’s not like we just turned eighteen or something. We will almost be nineteen.”

“That doesn’t matter chica,” said Daniela patiently. “As freshmen girls you would be considered vulnerable.”

Sofia’s expression slowly changed.

“Oh.”

Daniela nodded quietly. “Bebes, it’s a movie. They show you the parties and the hot guys and everyone getting laid. They don’t show you the gossip the next morning.”

“And those guys in the movies?” Kumar added dryly. “Most of them would absolutely be called creeps in real life.”

That startled a laugh out of Sofia.

“Si. I can imagine papi. If it were anyone but you, I would slap any guy who had multiple girlfriends.”

“I’m serious,” he continued. “A freshman or college guy sleeping around with freshman girls? People might think he’s immature or reckless. But an older man like me, especially one associated with the university, living with two freshman girls?” His expression hardened slightly. “That becomes something else entirely.”

Daniela moved to hold Kumar’s hand.

Layla frowned stubbornly. “But you’re not some old professor. Even though you are an associate professor. You are just going to be doing research mostly right?”

Sofia interjected, “You won’t even be teaching any Business courses. We wouldn’t be in any of your classes. What’s the problem?”

“No,” Daniela agreed quietly. “But he’s still older. Still tied to the university. Still connected to faculty.”

“And that matters more than you think,” Kumar added. “Academia is political. Just like any other profession. It’s not like my personal life would not matter. Reputation matters constantly. Especially in a place like Charleston. If we were in a place like Berkeley, maybe ... it wouldn’t matter as much. But in no place would it be considered ok for someone like me to be associated with one of you. Let alone both of you.”