Even as she tried unsuccessfully to find an answer to these questions, she felt like running her hand through his hair, which was exactly what she always wanted hers to be like. Silky as hell and ridiculously glossy.
He got off the phone, and stood in front of her and waited for her to finish the coffee. She kept drinking it as if it was a glass of milk handed to her by her mother, and not the stunning Adonis standing over her. She stole a few glances at him, and suppressed an urge to cling on to his arms.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked and unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them to his elbow. ‘It was a long night, eh? I wasn’t expecting a huge crowd a day before the 31st and we were woefully short of staff. I had to tend the bar for a couple of hours and it was terrible.’
‘Hmm,’ she mumbled. She thought not saying anything was a better option than saying something stupid and losing the most handsome man she had ever seen.
Looking at his rolled up sleeves, Shruti wondered if that’s how he looked after a long night, what would he look like after a shower? Or in the shower? She had started imagining herself being in it with him, when, all of a sudden, she realized she was with him, a stranger, sipping coffee in the resting room of a club, and that it was awkward and she should probably leave. The urgency of the situation crashed into her straying thoughts.
‘Yes. Who are you? I am sorry I didn’t ask before and I apologize if I caused trouble to you,’ she said, embarrassed and nervous. ‘And do you have a Nokia charger? I am out of battery. I will just charge my phone and leave.’
‘I work here, and don’t worry, it’s all part of the job,’ he said, took her phone and plugged it in the charger.
As the phone started charging, she realized she would have to go soon and she didn’t want to leave the pretty guy’s company. She switched on the phone and her phone started beeping with texts from Garima, and then it started ringing and it was Garima again and Shruti cut the call. Garima texted her asking when she would be back home, and Shruti texted her back telling her that she didn’t know as yet, and switched off her phone.
‘Your friends must be worried about you?’ the guy asked.
‘Yes, they were calling, but it’s okay,’ she answered, and fiddled with the phone, wanting to call Garima and wanting to hug her and kiss her and tell her how much she missed her.
‘Where is Rahul? The guy I came here with?’
‘We sent him home. He wasn’t on his best behaviour last night.’
‘I know. He is a bastard,’ she said, recalling that it was Rahul who had gossiped about her, and not her friends. ‘Did I do something stupid yesterday?’
‘Not really. You just broke Rahul’s nose.’
‘I think I remember that. Did I say something stupid or do something stupid after that?’
‘You said a lot of things. Mostly non-stupid. I can try a hand at writing your biography, but it was more of a sob story and that, too, without an ending.’
‘Shit,’ she said and covered her mouth.
‘It’s all cool. I had an interesting night. Tell me when you are ready. I will be behind that door. If you need anything, just shout out to me,’ he said.
Shruti wanted to pull him down and hug him and snuggle with him and go to sleep. But she kept sitting there, looking at him, till she realized that her mouth was half open and her eyes were blank.
He smiled and walked away.
She flopped back onto the couch, grabbed a pillow and hugged it real tight, wishing it was him instead. Images came back from last night. Slowly, her face began to burn with embarrasment, because she had done so last night; she had hugged him and told him he was pretty and told him not to leave her alone. She saw him disappear behind the doors that had the word ‘Manager’ embellished on it. She was still sure she had seen him on the cover of a fitness magazine.
It took a frantic Shruti ten minutes and a bag full of cosmetics to come out all shining and fresh, as if woken up from an eight-hour sleep. She sat on the couch and held her head between her hands and thought about the sentences she had told herself last night: I am not going back to them. It is my life. My happiness. I am not going back to Delhi. I have no friends. I have ZERO friends. They think I am a slut!
She told herself that everything would be okay, and she wiped off the beads of tears and felt good about herself. Ten minutes passed by before she mustered the courage to finally knock on the manager’s door. She took a deep breath and rapped with a confidence she did not feel.
‘Come in,’ he called from inside.
She entered. ‘Hi.’
‘Oh! You are looking … fresh,’ he said, as he slapped down his laptop and scrutinized her.
‘Thank you,’ she said and looked around his office. It wasn’t huge but it was tastefully done, one side of the wall was lined with books, hardbound and paperback, the other side had irregularly framed movie posters, and it all came together well.
‘Where do I drop you?’ he asked and got up from his chair.
‘Hmmm?’ The word home skipped her tongue, a touch of sadness came across her face and she looked down.
‘Why don’t we have breakfast first?’ He got up and walked up to her. ‘Shall we?’
‘Sure,’ she said, one half lost in daydreams of him, the other half thinking about the abyss that awaited her.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
‘Yes, I am,’ she said and they walked out of the room.
He walked down the stairs and took her hand, believing that she was still not in a good shape. She wasn’t in good shape, but the reason wasn’t the hangover. It was him. His hand felt like a thousand feathers on hers, only that they were strong and could have snapped her fingers into two. She walked behind him to the parking lot, unsure of the stranger, and it struck her that she hadn’t yet asked his name. The beautiful stranger fetched his car keys from his back pocket, pressed the keys and the lights of a Porsche, a gleaming blue convertible, came on.
She was still standing there, waiting to make sure that it was actually the car she had to get into, when he opened the door and swished his hand, motioning her to sit. As if the guy wasn’t handsome enough, he had to drive a nice car too; this was just unfair. Is it really his car? Maybe not. Maybe it’s his boss’s car, and he is driving it around like it’s his. He backed the car out of the driveway like a maniac and drove like it was his car.
‘I am sorry but I didn’t catch your name,’ she said.
‘I am Rishab.’
‘I am Shruti.’
‘So, Shruti, where do you work?’ he glanced at her and asked.
‘Silverman Finance. I mean I used to work in Silverman Finance but I resigned,’ she said, and even as she said those words, she couldn’t believe them.
‘Silverman Finance? I knew that you had resigned but not that it was from Silverman. I heard they are laying off a lot of people. Anyway, are you feeling any better from last night? Why are your eyes red? I hope you’re not getting a fever,’ he said and put the back of his palm on her forehead, and the world seemed to end, and she started to melt.
‘I am okay, I think,’ she said. ‘Can I ask you something, Rishab?’
‘Sure?’ he asked.
‘I feel like I have seen you somewhere. Your face is very familiar,’ she said. She wanted to take his name again, which, too, sounded like a name she had heard before.
‘I get that sometimes. I think I have a very common face,’ he said, and she wanted to smack his gorgeous face and tell him otherwise.
‘Nice car,’ Shruti said, even as she wanted to say ‘face’ instead of ‘car’.
‘Thank you. It’s not really mine,’ he said disdainfully.
‘Don’t say that. You seem to be doing well. You’re the manager of Elan, so that’s good enough, right? Almost every second day it’s in the papers, and I remember reading about the club and the man who was behind the idea. So yes, managing it is a big deal!’
‘I think it’s a waste of money. The same money could be better
spent, and I don’t consider it an achievement of any sorts,’ he said.
‘It’s paying for your bills, Rishab,’ she said. ‘And you have an easy job with no boss overseeing you in the club, so that’s cool, isn’t it?’
‘I am my own boss,’ he said.
‘That’s an arrogant thing to say,’ she responded.
‘No, no, you’re getting it wrong. I am my own boss. I started Elan, and it’s my club,’ he said, his face almost red with embarrassment.
‘What? It’s your club? You own it? Oh! Wait! That’s how I know you! You were the one in the article. Why didn’t you tell me? I have a very common face, bullshit!’ she exclaimed. ‘This is so cool, and strange. Why are you acting as a chauffeur to a drunken guest like me? I mean, surely, you have better things to do.’
It was his car and it was his club, and she had cut a complete fool of herself. It was his car? Now, she remembered the name from the article as well, and she knew he knew that she knew where he had studied, where he had grown up and what he liked and disliked. But she kept it to herself and thought better than to discuss it with Rishab.
‘Tonight is the 31st night bash, so I thought I would give my people a break. And moreover, it doesn’t hurt to have a beautiful girl by your side on a breakfast table, does it?’ Rishab said, smiling and blushing like a child whose secret is out.
Her cheeks went red and hot, she sank into her seat, melted away and became one with the seat cushions.
‘Probably, yes. Thank you,’ she said, all flushed. A part of her wanted him to keep on making her feel like a million dollars, the other part wanted the beautiful, rich boy to shut up since he was so out of her league.
‘Where would you like to have your breakfast, Shruti?’ he asked.
‘Wherever you want to. You’re the fancy club owner, and so you should know all about the nice places to eat,’ she mocked him and he shook his head.
‘I will make it easier for you. I will drive past a few eating places. Choose the one you like.’
‘Okay. Done.’
He was yet to drive by the first eating joint, when Shruti shrieked out, ‘That one!’ And then looked the other way as if it was a mistake.
‘Which one?’
‘Nothing.’
‘You mean that?’
‘Umm … yes … but it is no compulsion.’ She had pointed to the small roadside dhaba that the four of them used to go to after office. They were the first ones to pass by that day. Shruti was really embarrassed to have chosen that one. Rishab drove off the road and parked the car. A boy of fourteen came to their table as soon as they settled down and said, ‘Rishab bhaiya, kya loge aaj?’
Shruti looked at him with a shocked expression on her face.
‘Not my first time. You see, every other eating joint in the city is competition. So I like this place and I was glad you chose it!’
She laughed, and acted surprised even though she remembered from the interview, and the many others she had read about him, that he liked roadside north Indian food.
25
Garima and Saurav waited for the worst while Abhijeet called Riya up, and smiled at them, and tapped his drunken feet on the floor, waiting for Riya to answer the call.
‘Hi. Riya?’ Abhijeet said.
‘Yes. Who is this?’ she asked.
‘Abhijeet.’
‘Hi, Abhijeet. How are you? It is so nice to hear from you. How are you?’
‘Yes, Riya, how are you today? Have you seen Shruti’s place? We want you to come here. Can you? Will you?’
‘Yes, sure, but why?’
‘We all want to see you. When is the earliest you can be here?’ Abhijeet asked.
‘I am not yet up, so I will see you at twelve? Give or take a few hours?’ she said.
‘Okay! Cool,’ he said and disconnected the call. Garima and Saurav looked at each other and laughed. ‘What? What?’ he kept asking them for the next five minutes and they kept laughing.
It was well after an hour when Abhijeet finally got back to his senses and realized what he had done, and wondered it he had said something unwarranted.
‘I knew what I was doing, people. I know I was drunk, but I also knew what I was doing.’
‘Yes. I guess so. Anyway. I need to eat something,’ Saurav said.
‘Garima, I think it’s your turn to make something now. I opened the bottles, Abhijeet made the Maggi, and now it’s your turn to make paranthas or something. Garima? Garima? Lost?’
‘Wait yaa, Saurav,’ she said. ‘I think my texts to Shruti just got delivered. Let me call her.’
She called her and Shruti disconnected the call. Garima texted her asking when she would be back home and she replied that she didn’t know. Her phone was switched off again. They sat in a huddle and kept trying her phone, wondering where she was for the next hour or so and then they gave up.
‘I think I need some sleep,’ she said, and the others nodded, their eyes red and their bodies tired. ‘Wake me up when Riya comes over.’
The three of them found couches, and bedspreads, and slept wherever they found space. It was not until two in the afternoon that they got up, slightly hungover and hungry.
Garima made coffee for the three of them, and they missed their toothbrushes and a good night’s sleep. They had forgetton they had called Riya over, and Riya who had lost Shruti’s address had called them multiple times and no one had picked up her calls. Saurav called her up and explained to her the route to Shruti’s place, and then laughed at Abhijeet for the drunken call he had made.
They all talked in incomprehensible mumbles, groaning and cursing about why they drank so much the night before. It wasn’t until another hour that they felt sane and normal.
‘Hey, guys,’ Garima said. ‘I have an idea. Let’s decorate this place! What say? A sorry, plus a New Year’s party? And then we will call everyone over and have a big bash?’
‘Everyone?’ Abhijeet asked.
‘I mean Deb and Avantika. Sameer?’
‘Then we will need food, won’t we?’ Saurav asked.
‘Fine by me,’ Abhijeet said.
‘But then, when do we order the food and stuff?’ Saurav asked. ‘I am dying of hunger, man. Any longer and I would eat you guys up!’
‘We’ll need five pizzas? Or do you want six?’ Garima said.
‘Okay then, ten pizzas on the way,’ he said, flicked up his car keys and barged through the door before anybody could say anything, leaving Garima and Abhijeet smiling at each other.
‘I need to brush,’ Abhijeet said.
‘Call Saurav and ask him to get the necessities,’ she said and Abhijeet called Saurav and asked him to get three toothbrushes and toothpaste.
‘We need to get the house in order,’ Garima said, with both her hands on her waist. She let out a deep sigh and stared at Abhijeet.
‘Don’t tell me you want me to get all this cleaned up,’ he said and looked the other way.
‘As a matter of fact, I do.’
‘Arey, we will do it together. What will you do if I do this?’ he protested.
‘We need to decorate this place. I will go and get balloons, and frills, and other stuff. I will go get those.’
‘Please let me go. You will have to walk so far to get them. Or let me come with you and then we will do it together,’ he argued. ‘And why should I do it? It’s not my responsibility!’
‘We are in this mess with Shruti because of you and Saurav! So I’m certainly not cleaning this mess in her apartment! Now shut up and get to work, and by the time I come back, this should be clean,’ she said and left before he could protest more.
He looked at the floor and then looked heavenwards.
26
They had ordered more than their fill that day. Hot laccha paranthas with dollops of butter, and bowls of thick daal, and then they finished off with a glass each of frothing lassi.
‘Now that’s real food,’ Rishab said and hardly kept from burping. The plates were licked c
lean in a matter of minutes, and even though they were full to their noses, they wanted to eat more. ‘Ab bas, I need my bed and a warm quilt to doze off! Brilliant start to a great day.’
‘True,’ she said with a bit of sadness in her voice, which Rishab was quick to catch.
‘Unless, of course … Ms Shruti,’ he leant forward, ‘has some other plans?’
‘Other plans? No,’ she said. ‘You have had a long day, you really need to sleep. Thank you for this. But I can’t take more of your time, and moreover you have a long night today to take care of, don’t you?’
‘You are not taking my time. I am wilfully offering it to you! Shall we?’ He thrust out his hand to pull her out of her chair.
‘Rishab, I think I need to go now,’ she said. ‘I really have to go.’
‘Why? Is there somebody waiting?’
‘No, but …’
‘Then shut up and tell me if you want to catch a movie? Just name the first movie that comes to your mind!’
‘I don’t know, New York?’
‘Okay, New York!’ he said. ‘Will you drive?’
‘I can’t drive! Not this.’
‘Have a licence?’
‘Yes, I do, but I have never really driven. I just use it as a proof of my age.’
‘Here.’ He threw the keys to her.
She looked at the keys and the four buttons on it, all of which seemed equally capable of opening the car. She pressed one and nothing happened. She pressed all and the car opened, started to beep and light up, and Rishab pressed three of them and it stopped and they got in.
‘These things are a little funny,’ he chuckled.
‘Shut up. Whatever happened to insert and open?’ she asked, exasperated and always nervous.
Now That You're Rich: Let's fall in Love! Page 17
