Once we thought we had bought enough to last the length of our internships, we trundled to an eating joint nearby. She ordered white sauce pasta and I ordered noodles and some chicken.
‘Joy?’ Manika said. ‘You know what, it’s almost insulting how depressed you are after losing her, since you never really had her in the first place.’
‘Why is it insulting?’
‘You didn’t shed a single tear when we parted!’ she said and slurped a long winding string of pasta. ‘In fact I guess you were pretty happy about it. And now that you have broken up with Natasha, look at you! You’re a mess.’
‘So what? You were nothing different! You can’t blame me for something you did too. You went ahead and made a boyfriend within a few months of breaking up with me! That, too, a pretty serious one,’ I said.
‘Joy, I was devastated. I needed someone to pull me out of the mess, and he was there, guiding me, consoling me, because you were too busy with your little dates.’
‘Actually, when we broke up, I never thought we would stay away from each other for long. I thought you would eventually miss the awesome sex and come running to me!’ I chuckled.
She didn’t find it funny. ‘Shut up,’ she said. ‘You lost your chance, Joy. You dropped the ball. Stop hitting on me now!’
‘I know I did,’ I said. ‘How’s the pasta? These noodles suck, so oily.’
‘It’s equally bad. I don’t know why you wanted to come to this shitty place, as if the food isn’t bad enough, their service sucks, too. We could have gone someplace nice. You’re such a miser.’
‘At least I got you here. My Plan A was to go back home, make you cook, read a book, and then go to sleep.’
‘Stop spreading your depression around, Joy! For heaven’s sake! Okay, I know an Italian place where we can go. Awesome food and it’s pretty cheap, too. Plus they have very generous happy hours, if you want to drink!’ she said, pushing her plate of generously slimy pasta away from her.
She left me no choice; we paid the bill for the food we hadn’t eaten and after about an hour and a half, we reached the nice Italian place she was talking about earlier. The restaurant was dimly lit with candles, the engravings on plates and forks and the knives were complex and beautiful, a huge chandelier hung down from the high ceiling, and the waiters were nattily dressed.
‘This seems expensive,’ I whispered in Manika’s ear. ‘We are so out of place here.’
‘You would be out of place. I am born for this,’ she said, winked, and the manager whipped out a table near the artificial fountain.
‘I feel so awkward with all these rich people around,’ I said.
‘But you’re a fucking writer, Joy. You should be at ease anywhere you go. You’re allowed to be awkward and out of place and goofy,’ she said.
‘Correction. A bad author,’ I said.
‘Well, that’s true, but at least you’re well read. That’s got to count for something, right?’ she said.
‘Yeah, it makes me a nerd,’ I answered. She asked me to shut up and we ordered roasted lamb chops, fettuccine Campania and a couple of Long Island Iced Teas to wash down our food with; despite cursing the noodles at the roadside restaurant I had eaten a lot and I was considerably full.
‘So, tell me about Natasha,’ Manika said, her chin resting on her knuckles.
‘Tell you what?’
‘Anything. What do you like about her? Anything special? What reminds you of her? What do you think when you think of her?’
‘I don’t want to talk about her,’ I protested.
‘No, please do. Let’s get it out of your system. Go. Start talking or I will punch this fork right through your heart. Tell me anything about her,’ she said and waved the fork around.
‘Okay, okay …’
‘Go on,’ she said. ‘Anything!’
‘Natasha? She has three strands of grey hair that she absolutely hates; she has two tiny moles on the left foot; she likes her coffee without sugar in the mornings, and with two spoons full of it in the evening; she always puts the left shoe first before the right; she always carries ballerina shoes with her just in case; she hates to sleep with a pillow, prefers bolsters instead; and she uses a kiwi flavoured lip balm because everyone else uses a strawberry flavoured one.’
‘Okay. That’s an impressive start. You remember quite a lot, don’t you?’ Manika said and stuffed her mouth with a piece of bread, not impressed at all.
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘But I was just kidding. I made that all up. If I think of it now, I think I hardly knew her. Thank you for asking that question.’
‘Thank you? Why?’
‘I couldn’t think of anything about her. I guess at certain levels, Sidharth was right. Maybe I am just used to being in a relationship.’
‘Hey!’ She shrieked and I figured she wasn’t even listening to me.
‘What? What?’ I said.
‘Look!’
‘What? Where?’ I looked at the direction of her hand.
‘Isn’t that her? Your girlfriend from school? The one with the long legs!’
‘Sarah!’ I gasped.
‘Go! Say hi!’ she said. ‘She was after all your first kiss! Go meet her.’
‘I am not doing that!’
‘Why? Why not? You always thought she was pretty hot … go!’
‘We parted on bad terms and I have never seen her since. I am not going up there. It will be quite strange.’
‘C’mon! It’s been five years now!’ she said. ‘Go on!’
‘Okay. Maybe I should,’ I said and got up from our table, and as I walked towards her, she looked at me. She recognized me and both of us broke out into smiles. Seeing her smile, the guy who was with her with his back towards us, turned in my direction and our eyes met.
It was Arnab! Arnab? I thought of turning around, but it was too late. She had seen me now , and so had Arnab. I hate coincidences.
‘Hey,’ I said as the two of them stood before me. It was awkward.
‘Hi, Joy,’ she said. ‘Long time.’
‘Yes. Very long. Hi, Arnab.’ We shook hands. Arnab was still as fat and bald as I remembered from the last time I had seen him on Facebook. Even Sarah had gained considerable weight and her cheeks were puffy. They looked like siblings.
‘You look great,’ I said. Well, lied.
‘Thank you,’ Sarah replied. ‘You look good, too.’
‘So, you two? Like, you are together?’ I asked.
‘Yes, we are,’ Arnab said. ‘Why don’t you join us? And we will tell you …’
It was strange—the animosity, the hatred, and the bad blood between Arnab and me had evaporated in an instant.
‘I would have loved to but I am with someone here.’
‘So what? Ask her to join in too,’ Sarah said.
I protested vehemently because it was still awkward but soon the four of us were sitting together at their table, exchanging smiles and numbers, and passing food to each other and narrating anecdotes.
‘So, Manika, you guys are still dating? I saw the last book didn’t have your name on it,’ Arnab asked Manika.
‘No. We used to. Not anymore. You used to read our books? I am surprised.’
‘Naah. But I do see the updates on your profile,’ he said and chuckled.
‘But how come you guys are together again? Joy told me that you guys broke up, then Joy started dating Sarah, and there was a huge fight between the three of you and all of you swore not to talk to each other again?’ Manika asked and I looked at them, embarrassed and listless.
Arnab smiled and answered, ‘After the huge fight that you just mentioned, I realized what an ass I had been, letting her go. I should never have. I mean, within a few days, I was miserable and lonely.’
‘What did you do?’ Manika asked.
‘I went out and got her back! It was tough, and she really made me wait before she finally buckled and gave in. And that is after she was the one who made out with my best friend back t
hen! It was her fault really.’
‘Shut up! I had the right to do so. You had dumped me for no reason at all! But he was pretty persuasive,’ Sarah said. ‘Three days, three nights, he spent outside my house, just to get me to talk to him. It was very sweet. He followed me around, bought me things and asked for my forgiveness at least a million times. You can’t say no to that, can you?’
‘Aww! That’s sweet,’ Manika said and looked lovingly at Arnab.
‘And after that, everything was history. He has been the sweetest, clingiest boyfriend ever. Now the sweetest fiancé!’ she said and flashed her ring, huge and sparkly.
‘What? No way!’ I let out.
All three of them looked at me strangely. It was awkward again.
‘That’s beautiful,’ Manika said and broke the awkwardness. I still wasn’t out of the shock.
‘You guys are getting married? Unbelievable!’ I said. ‘Seems only yesterday when he was trying to get rid of you. But aren’t you too young to get married?’
‘It will be a crime to let a good thing go,’ he smiled and kissed Sarah.
‘Aw!’ Manika said and clutched my hand. What’s so awww in seeing two fat people kiss? Only Hollywood stars look good when they kiss!
‘See, I told you it would be fun to go out. You met your old friends!’ Manika said as we got back home.
I was still reeling under the shock that Arnab and Sarah were together again. And this time, it was forever (which is death really, but yeah, forever).
‘It’s unbelievable that they are getting married. And after what happened. It’s crazy. How things change!’ I said.
‘Yes, look at you!’ Manika retorted.
‘But you shouldn’t have told them about Natasha and the whole depression thing. It’s embarrassing.’
‘But you are depressed, aren’t you?’ she winked.
‘I am not! Not anymore. See, I am happy, I am smiling,’ I flashed my teeth.
‘Are you?’ she said and her phone beeped out loud. ‘Okay, shut up, it’s Ravi.’ She picked up the call, went inside the room and bolted the door.
I sat outside, still going through what had happened that evening. Arnab and Sarah! It was crazy. They were getting married at the year-end. It made me feel stupid about myself. They were getting married and moving on with their lives and I was crying myself hoarse over a girl whom I had just met weeks before. I was still being juvenile and stupid. Somewhere deep inside, when we were sitting there with them in that stupid, expensive Italian restaurant eating the stupid pasta with Manika by my side, it felt so right. Manika and I, together, behaving like a couple, with a couple—it seemed so perfect, but she had a boyfriend, and she was talking to him on the phone, door locked and far from me.
I switched on the television and flipped through the channels. And suddenly, I heard muffled shouts from Manika’s room. I turned down the volume and tried to listen. I crept up to her bedroom door, the one she had occupied in my flat, and pinned my ear on the door. I could hardly hear anything.
‘What?’ Manika said as she opened the door and found me leaning against the wall with my ear against the door.
‘Oh, I am sorry,’ I said, ‘I just heard some noises. What happened?’
‘Ravi knows.’
‘What? What does he know?’
‘He knows that I am living with you,’ she said, wiping her tears on her sleeve.
‘What? You didn’t tell him? I thought he knew!’
‘Are you stupid, Joy? Why would he allow me to live with another guy?’ she said, still crying a little. ‘And that too it’s you.’
‘So? Why did you? You shouldn’t have lied to him!’ I said.
‘You needed me, Joy. I knew what I was doing. And I didn’t know he would get to know,’ she said.
‘Now what? What did he say?’
‘Nothing. I handled it. He will be okay with it,’ she said.
‘You are moving out tomorrow. Your flat is barely minutes away. I can come over to your place anytime, no issues. And moreover, Manika, I am fine now. I don’t want to be the reason behind any trouble with you and Ravi. I have already made you go through a lot.’
‘Shut up, Joy. I am not going anywhere. I came when I felt like it and I will go when I feel like it. And I said I handled it. He is okay with it now. I will leave when I want to! Stop pushing me out of your life like you always do,’ she said, went inside the room and banged the door behind her.
‘She fought with him because of you?’
‘Yes.’
‘So sweet of her,’ I said.
‘She had always been unrealistically sweet,’ Joy said. ‘It was in her nature. She couldn’t help it.’
‘Did she shift?’
‘Nope. I tried convincing her for days, but she said things were fine between the two of them. She stayed on. I didn’t want her to go, you know. I wanted her to stay with me.’
‘And how was your depression thereafter?’
‘It vanished. It was like Natasha never existed!’ he said. ‘Things were back to where they were. I got over that stupid phase. I was back in the Manika phase of life!’ he smiled. ‘And the Manika phase of life had always been awesome.’
‘You are such an asshole. So what happened after that?’
‘I met Nisha again,’ Joy said.
‘That eight-year-long crush of yours? You are kidding me!’
‘I am not!’ he said.
Joy continued his narration.
The School Reunion
‘You are back early!’ Manika said as I entered through the main door. A month had passed since she had moved in and life couldn’t have been better. We had surrounded ourselves with books and good food and sitcoms again.
Sidharth and Liss had moved in with us after their India tour that had stretched out to three months. Sidharth had taken a semester off from Paris and so had Liss, so both of them had a full six months to themselves. They were turning out to be quite a couple. They were fun! We partied, ate out, shopped, and got drunk like crazy! Every day!
Meanwhile, Manika and Ravi kept fighting but they always patched up after a few days. After one such fight, Manika started making plans to shift to her own place, but Sidharth and Liss asked her to stay on, and she did. I stayed shut but I was happy when she decided that she would stay on for the month. Thank God for Sidharth and his persuasive abilities.
‘Where are the other two?’ I asked.
‘They told me they had to attend a party; free drinks for expatriates. They are lucky, they don’t have to work!’ she said.
‘Yeah. Sure they are,’ I said. ‘But anyway, why are we being so sad? Our internship gets over in about a month and we will be back to being college students. You will have to go back to Bangalore and that sucks though.’
‘Yes, it does. Oh, by the way, Sarah called. She said you didn’t call her back.’
‘Oh, I forgot!’ I said. ‘What did she have to say?’
‘She was saying something about the school reunion this Saturday. She was asking if we could come. She said you told her that you would let her know but you never called her back. Are you avoiding her?’ Manika asked.
‘I am not in the mood. Plus, these reunions are really boring. Initially, it is when you see all these familiar faces, and then you realize you have nothing to talk to and it becomes boring and awkward,’ I grumbled. ‘I really don’t want to go. I am not attached to my school at all.’
‘They actually wanted to go out and have dinner with us after that,’ she said, yearningly. I had killed her spirit so much, that she almost whispered the sentence. I wished I could kiss her and tell her how cute she was.
And yes, about kissing her. I don’t know how I had been holding out. I wanted to kiss and hug Manika a zillion times every day, even though she never really wore the satin nightdresses anymore. The time when she cooked, watched television, washed clothes, read books to me, did her Pilates, hung out the clothes to dry—you get the drift, every time I was near her, I wan
ted to snuggle the life out of her. But I couldn’t. She was someone else’s. And it had started to bother me.
‘As long as we leave early from school, I am fine. I will call up Arnab and tell him that we are coming.’
‘Sure,’ she said and smiled.
‘Fucking asshole! You are not coming?’ I barked at Arnab as he cancelled on me. ‘You know this could be the reason for us not talking for the next five years, too. Fuck you, man.’
He said something about a flat tyre and no mechanic for miles, said he was very sorry and hung up. I felt like shit, as I drove into the parking lot of my school. I just didn’t want to go back to that place.
‘Oh. Nice building,’ Manika said. ‘They are not coming, are they?’
‘Nope. Should we just go?’ I asked. ‘It’s going to be really boring inside.’
‘At least show me your classes and stuff, Joy. Then we will go. I promise,’ she squeezed my hand.
‘There is nothing to see! And you know how much I hated my school!’ I protested.
As I said that, someone from my old class spotted me and waved at me. NOW, I was stuck.
‘Hey, Joy! Long time! And you have changed,’ the guy from my old high school class said.
‘So have you,’ I said, trying hard to recall his name.
‘Great to see you, Joy. I will rush inside. See you in a while, right?’
‘Right,’ I said. We shook hands and he dashed inside.
‘Who was he?’ Manika said.
‘I have no idea,’ I said. ‘Let’s go inside.’
Inside, our juniors were performing some dance number, then a rock show, some speeches, a small skit, a funny one at that! And I have to admit, it wasn’t boring. I remembered the time when we were kids … we were really an untalented bunch. These guys did a hell lot of things.
‘They are good, aren’t they?’ I nudged Manika.
‘I thought you hated your school and everything about it!’
Ohh Yes, I'm Single: And so is my Girlfriend Page 16
