Episode 24

'Congratulations. This is the result of everyone's effort in this room', Sukanya says. We were all seated in a conference room and she had called us for a quick meeting. 'Thanks for all the hard work you guys had put in. We got the account'.

Niiiiiice. We got a project from the European Library chain. Sorry, the name was European and I refuse to think the name of the client, it is difficult to even think it, much less pronounce. I have been in this industry for almost four years now. After all these years, there have been only a few moments when I have felt that I am a part of something good or that I have done something that can be considered an accomplishment or even a significant contribution. This is one of those few moments.

'It is a big account and it is going to mean a lot more work, we are starting ramp ups from next month', she went on talking about road map, business plan and all that. I concentrate on stifling yawns. I had slept for less than five hours yesterday. Anitha had moved in and we were both in the new-roommates-together whirl and were having a blast. Yesterday whole night, we stalked people (mostly girls, okay, all girls) we hate in Facebook and commented about their recent photos while supporting each other in our right to hate them. Surprisingly, we were able to do this for a long time. We then went on to objectively look at crushes we had had in our lives and discuss any past relationships, by which I mean, my crushes and Anitha's relationships. Yes, crushes in plural (like dozens of plurals) and relationships in plural too. That woman had a lot of stories and she has never been single in a long long time.

I have no idea what has been going on in the conference room and suddenly Sukanya points at me and mentions my name and I stand up instinctively, someone points at you and calls your name, you stand. Did I do something?  Nope, I didn’t, I realize I am not in class. Did I nod off and am I drooling by the side of my mouth? I anxiously touch the corners of my mouth trying to appear like I am not checking for spit on my jaw. Sukanya looks at me dubiously. 'Priya was quite enthusiastic and we wouldn’t have gotten a good kick start without her help', she says. I realize, she has just been giving honorable mentions of people who contributed to the project and since I stood up, she had been forced to add a couple of more points. Suddenly I understand her emphasis on the word "enthusiastic". I sit down calmly trying to look not very embarrassed and as if I meant to stand up and get applauded.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Shan trying to not smile and looking down to achieve it. Of course, he would catch me no matter what I do or how I try to cover it up. I spend the rest of the meeting trying not to catch anyone's eye. No one wants to be the dork who is the only person who stood up when a person rattled of a list of names. I mean it, no one wants to be that person. I wait in agony for the meeting to get over. I am the first one to bolt right out when Sukanya talks about having fun and doing it again. Right.

'So, I gather you were very happy that we got the project?', my nemesis, smirk-smiles.

'Uhhh.. Ya ya. It is a good thing. It is a…', I am trying to recollect if I heard how many millions the project would bring the company, but nope, I of course slept off when those finer unimportant details were announced.

'It is a very good thing', I continue, sounding like a moron.

Shan smiles, more smile than smirk. 'So looks like you expected an award?'

'Ummm….', I say, articulating myself like a seasoned writer.

'Or maybe you thought you got caught snoring.'

Shit. I do the most logical thing to do. I defend my honor.

'I don’t snore.'

Shan laughs, shaking his head.

'I am throwing a party at my home this weekend. I have invited Karthik. I won't mind if you tagged along.'

'Wow. I feel very welcome'

Shan smirk-smiles. 'Well, you are. Try to come. I mean, really try'.

Okay. I nod. 'I will really try. I can't promise though.'

I don’t know. Shan's party? 'What is the party for?'

'I have just bought a villa. I have already done the traditional house warming. This is to break the ice on the partying side of the house warming.' he says.

I smile. Who would have thought Shan was a party throwing person? Then again I remember the photos in his phone on his hard-partying Shanky persona.

'Ohhh. That is good.' I ask him customary questions on his house and he goes into descriptions and explanations. We can have civil conversation. Not bad.

'By the way Priya. I have been meaning to ask you. I see from your status updates that you are alternately working on the same two defects every other day and never fixing them?'

Oops. 'Are you facing any issues? Are there any..', he continues to say and stops. He looks at me and smirk-smiles. 'You have been not marking them as fixed because you don’t want to work on anything else.', he says.

Busted. 'No Shan. They have been causing some issue or the other.' I go on the explain something too technical for his MBA brain to understand. Too bad, he does not get fooled.

'I expect to see an update on those defects by today EOD', he says, all serious, and walks away.

Shan, the man of many hats, one of them being make-Priya's-life-hell. Okay, so let me go and mark those issues as fixed and get myself more work, the kind I don’t always enjoy.

'Shan invited you?', Anitha asks in shock. I nod.

'Shan invited you?', she asks rearranging her surprise to another word. I sigh.

'Yup'.

'This is interesting.'

I shrug. Interesting? Right, in the alternate universe where we are buddies, or wait, where I am his manager.

'What are you going to wear?'

'That is what you are thinking?'

'Ya. I mean, this was bound to happen. Karthik is his friend and he is also your boss. So chances of you saying no is..', she makes a zero using her left index finger and thumb and curving all the other figures too.

Yup, I needed a graphical representation, words weren’t enough. I sigh.

'I am going to Naren's. Are you sure you want to cook?'.

'Yup. I told Karthik I will cook.'

She shakes her head as if she doesn’t get why I agree to such things. Well, I am trying to see if cooking can be one of my hobbies. You know I am lazy, but who knows, I might find my soul satisfied secretly. It has to be a secret, as until now, I haven’t felt it. But hey, it is easy to try cooking, so I am trying. Besides, call me backward-thinking, but I somehow did like cooking for Karthik the last time. Well, feminism means, I can be backward-thinking if I want. It is my choice.

I call Karthik to make sure he is going to be on time. But of course, he doesn’t answer. I think what I can cook. I get reminded of our first date and decide to make pasta with a white sauce. I quickly google the recipe and find that I have only one item from the required ingredients – water. I don’t even have butter or cheese. Well, I tend to snack on cheese, so it is actually better I don’t have it. But now I got to run to the store. I am still wearing the red kurta and white legging I wore to work. I quickly wash up, change to gray tracks and a blue tee shirt. I make a messy pony tail out of my hair, stuff my feet into my navy flip flops and run. I don’t have enough time.

I rush like a mad woman on a mission and fill my shopping bag. As if I have extra time and as if I am a talented cook, I also buy the pressure cooker chocolate cake mix and grab a thick chocolate syrup. Don’t ask me why, I just felt like buying all this. I am not sure if I am ever going to make the cake. But, I might use the chocolate syrup. So it is not a bad investment. I run back home. I had left my phone at home and so I go check it for missed calls or messages. None. He must be busy.

So I put the pasta to bake and think that I should buy a microwave. A microwave with bake mode will be good. I can get Anitha to make cakes and stuff.

I chop some carrots, capsicum and open the can of black olives I had bought. Yup, I am going gourmet. I put these to bake too. I start the butter and corn flour and very unsurprisingly, I burn it. I have once tasted something called as the burnt butter sauce. Can I make that? I taste the burnt-whatever in my pan but it tastes charred, not burnt. I am standing right in front of the pan, how did it char?

I start over again, I already baked the other two, and I don’t want to cook something else. I wish I had also bought a bottle of ready-to-eat sauce, just in case. But, hey, I was over-confident. I manage to only slightly burn the butter this time and I cover it up with the milk and the cheese. There was a huge list of spices on the recipe, but who has the time to measure and add all those. So, I add whatever will make this sauce authentic tasting – oregano and since I like pepper, I add pepper. So yes, I made the pasta with white sauce. The site online mentioned forty-five minutes as prep time. Bull shit. These sites lie, I took an hour and a half. I check my phone, still no answer, so I decide to make the cake too.

I just follow the instructions in the pack. A very good smelling chocolate cake is ready in no time. I let it cool but since it took some time I put it in the fridge for few minutes. I generously use the thick chocolate syrup as a substitute for cream. Since I am not entirely artistic, I just make a thick coat of the chocolate and refrain myself from making designs and such. Let's face it, me baking the cake in itself is an achievement worthy of awards. I briefly ponder telling Karthik and everyone else that I made the cake from scratch. Not a good idea, no one would believe it.

By the time the cake gets set and the pasta is almost cool, Karthik still hasn’t made an appearance, nor made a call and my stomach is reminding me of the lateness of the hour. I call him again. Luckily he picks up.

'Hey'

'Sorry Priya. Got held up. I am on the way.', he says right away.

'Okay.', I understand he was held up, but there are these things called mobile phones, through which you can call, leave a text message and what not.

'Sorry. I was rushing through, I forgot to call. Then thought better to make an appearance than to call'.

Sometimes, the man reads my mind. Okay, all the time, the man reads my mind.

'That is fine. How long are you gonna be?'

'I guess ten minutes?'

'Okay. See ya'

'See ya in ten'.

I rush back to freshen up again. The things I do for love!

I think if I have to change and then decide not to. It's not like I have subtly sexy dresses that aren’t too flashy for wearing at home. I fix my hair and put on lip balm and I hear the doorbell. Perfect. I practically run to go open the door and calm myself in the last few seconds. It is only Karthik, I tell myself. Right, as if that helps. I am as always eager and excited to see him.

'Priya', he says like someone says What's up or How do you do. As if that is the latest greeting trend.

'Karthik', I say in the same tone and the corners of his mouth lift up in an almost smile.

I feel like kissing those corners, but, I don’t. Am I shy? Maybe.

'Wow. It smells good in here.'

Oh yeah. The compliment gets to me. I give a huge smile and I find Karthik giving me a weird look.

'What?', I ask.

He shakes his head. He bends down and gives me a peck on my cheek. Hmmm.

He walks in, gets himself a bottle of water and sits on my couch.

'So, I hear you are coming for Shan's party?'

'Where did you hear that?'. I settle next to him.

'He told me he was going to invite you…'

Oh yeah, 'He did.'

He looks confused. 'Then?'

'I haven’t decided whether am going or not.'

Karthik's left eyebrow shoots up. 'Is there something to decide?'

Why does everyone think I should go? Rather, they think I have to go. Granted, I am curious and want to see what a partying Shan looks like. But, well. I will actually end up meeting all or most of Shan's friends, who are most likely Karthik's friends as well. They all probably know I kind of dumped him and well you can imagine how that can be awkward.

'Yeah. I have to think. It's Shan.'

'Shan is my best friend, since school.'

I don’t know what that says about Karthik, if you were to judge someone by their friend.

'He is my boss. He hasn’t invited anyone else from work, at least from my team. He has only invited friends.'

Karthik's left eyebrow goes up once again, much higher than the last time. He gets up from the sofa and starts muttering to himself. I catch words like save me, insane. Looks like his is muttering about Shan. I prefer to think that.

He walks back and forth for a few minutes and then mutters some more and then finally turns back to me. He takes a deep breath which suspiciously looks like an effort at calming himself. It is not looking good for me.

'I am hungry Priya. Let's have dinner?'

'Ummm.. Okay. Let me just heat the sauce?'

He nods. I have the sauce ready on a pan, I just have to re-heat it and toss the pasta and veggies in it. While I try doing it, I might have dropped some pasta and veggies, tossing is a difficult job. When I finally finish, I put the tossed end result onto a bowl. I don’t think it looks as perfect as I imagined, but it will have to do. I pick up a couple of plates, forks and spoons and carry them all to the hall.

I see that Karthik has found the can of aerated drink I had stocked up for him and he was sipping on it.

'It smells good really', he says with an encouraging smile.

I serve the pasta onto the plate and give it to him and fix myself a plate too. I wait for him to taste to catch his real reaction. His face is carefully blank and he nods. 'This is pretty good', he says. Is it really that bad? I did taste the sauce, it was decent.

I taste it and I realize the problem right away. The white sauce wasn’t bad. But the pasta hadn’t cooked through completely and the veggies were pretty bland, they hadn’t absorbed any of the sauce.

'Do you want bread? I think I have some'

'No no. I am good. This is good.'

'No I am serious. I won't feel bad if you wanted bread with the sauce. I can toast it lightly. I don’t have a toaster but we can use the tawa', I add.

Karthik sheepishly grins. 'Ya, bread please. If you don’t mind. Also, can I do the toasting?'

I narrow my eyes at him. 'Please. I am hungry', he says.

'No cake for you'

'There is cake?'

'Yup. I made it. No cake for you'

'That is unfair', he says, entirely sounding as if it is a fair deal.

I huff and puff and stomp to the kitchen with him following. I thrust the bread at him and he gets to work. So much for soul satisfaction. I stand beside him, my back resting on the counter. He butters the bread and puts it flat on the tawa to toast it. Right, as if I can't do this simple thing. So, when he is done toasting a few, I don’t wait for him, I just pick a toast, dip it in the sauce and start eating. It tastes quite okay.

'It is good. You can dig in.', I inform him and he gives his sheepish grin again.

I frown and glare and pout and what not. I am indignant.

'Don’t pout', he orders. He orders!

'I am hungry babe. I could not have waited if …'

'If? You think I can't make a toast?'

'You can of course. I just didn’t want you to, after all the effort you have put into preparing this dinner'

My jaw drops down, yet again. Was he always this, this Machiavellian? Always?

'More bread?', he asks. I eat silently, while he toasts and eats in the kitchen. When we both seem to be done and thankfully the sauce is almost over, I bring out the cake.

He doesn’t seem interested at all. So I just cut out one piece, put it on a plate and carry it to the hall.

'Babe come on', Karthik says. I take the first bite into the cake and I have to tell you, readymade pressure cooker chocolate cake topped with chocolate syrup tastes pretty unexpectedly good. I end up licking the syrup on my fingers, it is that good.

'Is it that good? Or are you just doing it?', Karthik asks suspiciously. I know right, he is impossible. But I don’t do the jaw-drop thing. I ignore him entirely.

He reaches for my cake and I smack his hand away. 'Hey', he says, but uses unnecessary force and gets my cake. Eats it too.

'There is a whole cake sitting in the kitchen', I point out. He shrugs.

'This is good. How can you not bake pasta, but can bake this?'

I guess I don’t want to tell him it is like readymade noodles.

He gets up, goes to the kitchen and comes back with two more pieces of cake.

We eat it in silence. 'The cake is really good. I did not know you could do all this. I did not even think you had the patience to do all this' he says, licking the syrup.

Okay, I feel a little guilty, if he decides to marry me because I make good cakes, then I don’t want to have misled him.

'It is just a readymade cake', I mumble. He laughs.

'Thank God', he says.

'Thank God?'

'Yeah, I was beginning to question the fundamental laws of physics. If you can make cakes, the world as we know it just was altered in some fundamental level'.

Yeah, very funny!

I punch him on his shoulder with all the strength I have. I punch him again and he blocks me, but I don’t give up. It is a good move really. I end up getting kissed.

Just like that, I lose all the steam.

'Okay, so tell me now. Why don’t you want to come to Shan's party?', the conniving schemer asks me.

'Why did I think you are a gentleman again?'

'You did? But babe', he says, as if that is a stupid thing to think.

Well, I might tell him many things, not this. 'I have decided to go. Don’t worry'

I get a hug. 'Good. But why were you not ready at first?'. I shrug.

'Okay, so safe to say that cooking is not my thing', attempting to divert him. I do not want to discuss the jilting.

'Sorry what?'

'I thought maybe since I liked cooking the last time around, maybe, it is my newfound love.'

Karthik chuckles. 'You could have asked me. I would have told you the truth in all honesty'. I sigh.

'I have no doubt', I add, laying on the sarcasm.

'Got to admit. The sauce was good. Maybe there is scope for improvement. It might be your thing yet.'

'You do know, if you encourage me, I am going to subject you to all my experiments in cooking?'

He hangs his head as if it is a grave circumstance, but he has no choice in the matter. The man can be so dramatic.

'I know. But I would do it.', he says and I also get a peck on the corner of my left temple.

Awww… He is a sweet conniving schemer.

'More cake?', I ask him and he nods.