Chapter Fourteen: Prem — Summary and Study Guide

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Otherwise, let's dive in.

(Note: All claims below are based on the chapter's events as presented in the book.)

Summary

The chapter opens with a text exchange between Prem and his mother, who has seen the public kiss at the Met Museum and immediately pressures him about marriage. Prem deflects, but his mother's insistence—and her threat to visit if he doesn't come home soon—sets the tone for the family expectations that loom over him.

Prem then attends a dinner party hosted at Kareena's family home. He's there partly to see Kareena again, and he's brought his friends Bunty and Deepak as a distraction. He's been consumed by thoughts of her since their second kiss, and he's desperate for a private conversation.

At the party, Prem speaks with Dinesh Uncle, who praises his plan to open a medical center for the South Asian community. Prem is pleasantly surprised by the support, but his attention is elsewhere. Soon, Kareena's father approaches him. The man is clearly wary—he knows Prem kissed his daughter in public and has heard about their earlier video argument. He confronts Prem about his intentions, and Prem insists that he and Kareena aren't lying to each other. The father warns that Kareena is softer than she appears, and then directs Prem to the shed where Kareena is sitting in her mother's car.

Prem slips out of the party and crosses the yard. He finds a payal (anklet) on the ground and pockets it. In the shed, he discovers Kareena lounging on the hood of her BMW, dressed in a colorful lehenga. They talk about her mother's legacy—the themed parties, the home renovations, and the shed itself, which Kareena considers uniquely hers. Kareena admits she's thirty and still chasing a fantasy of a love marriage, and she's frustrated that she's asking gossiping desi women for help. Prem tells her that if she believes in love marriages, she should wait for the right person, even though he doesn't share that belief.

He returns the payal, and as he fastens it around her ankle, the tension between them ignites. Prem apologizes for having called their kiss