Episode 11

‘Priya, where are we on the first item? I hope we are on track.’, Sukanya asks standing in front of my cubicle.

So far today has been a long and tiring day and it isn't yet over. Our client had unceremoniously asked us to rework on the presentations so far. This has been considered as a bad thing and the sales team is pressurizing the technical team. There was a round of blame game and finally action items were proposed. I have been at it without any break. Sukanya had followed up on this once already, even though I have a week to do this. Talk about micro management. I smile, trying to make the smile indulging like you would smile at a child or some adults whom you don’t want to show your irritation to but would want to show them that they are over-doing it. I can be polite.

‘Yes, it is going fine. I will let you know if I need anything’.

‘Make sure that if anything, anything at all you come to me immediately.’

I nod. I understand that she is under pressure. This is how my day has been going. Shan dropped by a couple of times asking about status or progress and now Sukanya. I had already spent a lot of time in meetings. I am not capable of superhuman speed. But I understand; there is pressure.

I haven’t done anything critical so far, I had felt my work was not important. Maybe that was the whole problem here. I am someone who needs to be convinced that what I work on has a greater impact. If I am not convinced of that, I am unhappy. Very possible.

I am still at work and it is quite late, almost nine p.m. My parents had called a couple of times. Aditya asked if I would join them for dinner. Well, it has been a couple of days since Anitha and Naren declared they are on a break. They did not break up, they are on a break. In fact, Naren wants to restart the relationship. After a few days, he is going to ask her out again and start over , second attempt and all that. But after a couple of interactions with Naren, I decide to maintain a distance. Vivek tells me a week should be fine for him to start acting normally, because, he would definitely ask Anitha out in a week. So I am not to be in his vicinity now, especially since Anitha hangs out with me now. She even stayed over both the nights. Being on a break can cause awkwardness too somehow.

Well, they both know they like each other. Why go through the initial stage again? Naren’s brilliant idea! Anitha is okay with this. If it had been me, just the effort to restart things would have made me incline towards break up. Aside from the heart break and associated pain, post break-up time is like recovery time post-surgery. People treated you with kid gloves and you get to abuse their kindness and pamper yourself in all possible ways.

Well, I can find a positive side to anything can’t I?

Finding myself distracted, I decide to leave. I call up and book a cab to go home and start wrapping things up. I get a call, it could only be the cab driver, I don’t even see the display, and I take the call and start talking.

‘I will be down the gate in five minutes’.

‘Priya?’.

The voice on the other side is not a voice I would forget. I did try to forget, but I am obsessive.

I decide for some unknown reason to play the ignorant, maybe it makes me feel safe.

‘Yeah. Who is this? Cab right?’.

There is a pause. ‘This is Karthik, as I am sure you know.’

‘Oh, hi Karthik.’, I ignore his statement.

I can hear the smile in his voice when he speaks next.

‘So you are going to pretend you really did not recognize my voice?’

‘No, I – ’

I get cut short.

‘What are you doing now? Where are you? I was wondering if you wanted to meet me for dinner?’

‘What?’, I am not kidding when I say my entire being is shying away from meeting him. I am still embarrassed. A girl is supposed to be subtle in her signals. My mind conveniently conjures up a third person view of Karthik and me on my doorstep.

‘Are you free now? Sorry, I know it is late. But I have been really busy.’

‘Karthik, I am still at work. I - ’

‘No problem, I can pick you up. Give me fifteen minutes’

Before I can say anything, he hangs up. The nerve! I call back, he doesn’t pick up. Damn.

I call again. No answer.

The cab guy calls, instinctively, I tell him I am not going to be able to make it and listen to what he thought about people who change their mind in the last minute after making him drive all the way.

I rush to the wash room. I look tired. I try freshening up. I do not carry perfume with me to work; I should add that to my small collection of touch-up kit. I still look tired. Well, that’s that. This mirror only reflects.

Karthik calls me and we decide to meet at the gate. I have to lug along my laptop and all that and this is probably a date. I actually rush and when I near the gate I decide to not look too eager and start to walk slowly.

He stands leaning on his car, his hands folded on his chest in a light shirt probably blue or gray with some dark pants probably navy blue or black, both only lightly crinkled or that is how it looks in the dark against the yellow light on the street. I walk to him and say ‘Hi!’.

He smiles. Opens the passenger door for me and then silently moves to the other side. Okay, silently chivalrous is our Karthik.

‘Any preference?’, he asks getting in and starting. Assuming he asks about a restaurant, I shake my head and shrug for more emphasis. Awkward silence follows. I occupy myself looking out the window. Maybe not a date, he is going to give me a piece of his mind about what he thought of my little act the other day after dumping him for no good reason.

After a few minutes of me alternating between looking at him and the window, he stops and parks near an Italian cuisine restaurant that looks good from the outside.

He asks me to leave my laptop in the car and we walk in silence to the restaurant which has slightly muted lighting and romantic music blending into the background. It is a date then, right?

We wait till we are served water and asked about a drink. He orders some soda. I am happy with water.

‘How have you been?’, Karthik asks.

‘Umm.. ya good. And you?’.   

He nods. ‘I have been really busy Priya. I had to travel back last Sunday and I have been swamped. I came here morning today.’

‘Ohh..’, is that his way of saying he couldn’t call or text? I expect an apology actually.

He looks at me, shakes his head as if something occurred to him and smiles.

‘Sorry Priya. I couldn’t call you or text. I did not want to, when I was really occupied’.

Good boy. ‘That’s okay. I understand.’.

A menu is shoved at my nose at this point, I am least interested, I open the menu and order the first thing that catches my eye, some sort of pasta. I am not very interested in eating right now. He orders a Caprese salad. Damn, he orders salad and I order pasta. But he asks for a soda refill. Okay, maybe I am not such a glutton. 

‘You had to make me apologize isn’t it.’

Well duh! ‘Nuh.. Nothing like that’

He shakes his head.

‘Okay, yeah. I deserved an apology. Since you were busy, I accept the apologies’.

He smiles, a beautiful smile, announcing he is satisfied that he guessed right.

‘I haven’t stopped thinking about you, you know. I had to see you.’

Ohhh… So direct. My brain experiences a short circuit. I blink. I just look at him.

‘I had to see if I imagined the whole thing the other day. I had to remind myself again.’

Phew. This guy is killing me. I continue to look at him.

‘What? Nothing to say? I assumed you would like a direct approach. You seem like someone who appreciates directness’. He frowns ever so slightly.

I do prefer directness. But this, this is something else.

‘You look shocked. As if you have never heard someone say anything like this to you’. He pauses and a mischievous look enters his eyes. ‘I get it. You do not have any experience in this’. The note in his voice is a disbelief mingled with amusement. Why my long lasting status of singledom amuses him, I would never know.

I clear my throat. ‘In this?’, I ask finally. Which this?

‘You know, dating’, he makes the word dating sound scandalous. Apparently, it will feel that way to the very inexperienced me. Well, at least I am sure now that I am on a date.

The food arrives and I stay silent waiting for the waiter to serve and leave.

‘Does that make you feel better? Perhaps, my inexperience makes you confident, I won't mind boosting it a little bit for you.', although I say this, I know that the problem with him is over-confidence, my fault too.

‘Ahhh.. I am confident enough to impress anyone with any amount of confidence.’, he smiles with complete certainty. ‘And you, I won’t have any problem impressing you’.

 The arrogant show off!

‘Right. For a minute there you had me fooled. You had me thinking, what a modestly chivalrous gentleman’.

‘Oh, I am not. At all’.

‘Figures. You are arrogant, bossy, with a bloated head…’, I could have gone on.

‘You are spoiled, air-headed, have such a feeling of entitlement..’, apparently, he could go on too.

We both laugh, what a foundation we lay down.

‘I have been busy too you know’, I tell him, also changing the subject.

‘Shan tells me what a professional you are’, he says with a heavy dose of sarcasm. I snort. 'Shan wouldn't know what that word means'.

This is how our conversation went, verbal sparring and meaningless arguments. We both knew what strangers did not know about each other. We did not know any more than what you know about someone you know of.

The dinner ended much quickly than I would have liked and we continued our talk until we reached my home. He asks a lot of questions about me. I answer, I don't ask him much. We reach. He again says he will accompany me to my apartment. He tries to take my laptop bag and I don’t allow him to.

We reach my apartment floor; I see Anitha waiting outside, leaning against my door, engrossed in her phone. It is almost eleven p.m. She has a duffel bag with her. She looks up at me.

‘I just got here, I am texting you to ask when you will be here.’, she says, waving her phone.

I turn to look at Karthik. ‘This is Anitha’, I tell him pointing at her with my hand.

‘This is Karthik’, I tell Anitha, although she knew.

‘Oh I know.’, she offers her hand and he shakes it. ‘Do you wanna come in?’, she asks him.

Okay, she is waiting outside my door for me. It clearly implies that this is not her apartment. I don’t think she should be inviting people in. I give her a look.

‘Okay, I have put Priya in a spot. Consider my welcome withdrawn’, she says to Karthik. Damn.

Karthik smiles, looks at me, ‘Goodnight Priya.’, he says. ‘I will call you’, gives me a half hug. ‘Bye Anitha, nice meeting you’, he says and leaves.

I drop my laptop bag to the floor and lean against the wall to catch a breath.

‘Tell me everything’, says Anitha. I simply open the door and walk in.

Link to previous episodes : Episode 1  Episode 2  Episode 3  Episode 4  Episode 5  Episode 6  Episode 7  Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10