‘I would like that,’ said Anupama, smiling.
‘Great. So, I guess, I’ll call you.’
‘Sure.’
‘You take care, Anu.’
He held out his hand for a shake, just to be on the safe side. Anupama pulled him in for a hug. And thus they stood, arms around each other, surrounded by the swarm of walkers, joggers and children moving to and fro. Unnoticed, unheeded.
Renu was stuck in traffic, so it would be at least twenty minutes before she got home with the baby, leaving Anupama with some time to kill as she wandered about the neighbourhood. She had just navigated her way across one of the main lanes, when the thought struck her that there was another spot around there that she was familiar with, although she had only been there once. An idea popped into her head. She wondered whether they were still open. It was worth a shot.
Feeling a little giddy with excitement, she took a rickshaw and five minutes later, she was in the reception area of the same boutique salon where she had rushed to meet Charlie almost a year ago, back when he still worked there. The receptionist was the same too. Anupama wondered if she remembered her.
‘Hello, is this your first visit?’ she asked sweetly. Nope, no luck there.
‘Not really.’
‘Would you like a haircut?’
Anupama took a deep breath. ‘Yes, yes, I would.’
She was escorted into the minimalist white décor interior, where a styling chair awaited her in front of a large, asymmetric mirror. She sat down and looked around. She didn’t know why she felt so excited, like it was the start of another adventure. It was almost closing time at the salon so the styling area was nearly empty, and that suited her just fine, because she had wanted this moment to be private. The stylist approached – a smiling, cheerful woman in her late twenties.
‘Hi, I’m Jasmine.’
‘Anupama.’
Running her fingers gently through Anupama’s hair, Jasmine glanced at her through the mirror. ‘So, Anupama, is there anything specific you have in mind?’
Anupama shook her head, smiling. ‘Surprise me.’
Acknowledgements
This work is dedicated to a few special people in my life.
To Papa, Mamma and Tinu, for being such an incredible support system. Words can’t do justice to my feelings for you, so just want to say I hope to make you prouder in the future. And thanks for being there. Love you!
To my unwavering sources of friendship, love and support in the big bad city life – Anshul, Anubha, Dharam, Pushpa. Thanks for making me smile when the times were tough for us all. It’s been a long and unpredictable journey, and our bond was one of the main things that helped me get through it.
To the friends who call – Dhirendra, Sarita, Karthik, Pournima, Priya, Jyoti, Sweksha, Rachita.
To the kind souls who showed more excitement about my works than myself at times –Prats, Rucha, Ritika, Ila, Nadiya, Tarang, Aradhna, Niharika and Riddhima. Muchas gracias!
To the whole Irengbam clan back in Manipur, for the memories.
To those old buddies who just don’t give up on me despite my dominant anti-social behaviour – Tanmai, Prateek, Deepak, Atiet, Adrian, Shardu, Bora and the gang of ABH and Venky (English Honours) batch 2004-2007.
And of course, to my gurus at FTII, Venky, Impulse and the film and TV industry, who have moulded me into the writer that I am today. I thank you.
Special note of thanks to Prerna, Diya and the entire team of HarperCollins Publishers India, for their faith, hard work and support in bringing out this book in the form that it is today. Without them, it would just be another manuscript sitting in my cupboard. Keep the good work, guys! Thanks to Manasi, for having the first look and giving it the nod that began its journey.
Due thanks to my indomitable agent-cum-sounding board, Kanishka, for being the wizard of pitches, follow-ups, and angry emoticon reminders.
And of course, a warm note of thanks to you, dear reader, for picking this book and being a part of this journey. I look forward to hearing from you. Cheers!
About the Book
Mrs Anupama Arora, 42, struggles every day with the memory of her late husband even as she battles the two hormonal time bombs that are her children. But it’s been two years and her nosey neighbours just don’t seem to understand that it’s time she moved on.
While her friends are desperately trying to hook her up with suitable men – and keep her from drowning her sorrows in cough syrup – Anupama can’t seem to kick her addiction to surfing a certain ‘adult friendship’ website … until Charlie moves in.
Her new neighbour is 24, single, annoyingly effervescent and fiercely commitment-phobic. In other words: trouble. But Mrs Arora is only looking to satisfy her curiosity – after all, nothing could possibly happen between them. Or could it?
About the Author
Debashish Irengbam is a Mumbai-based scriptwriter by profession – and now a novelist as well. He has written episodes for TV crime thrillers and youth-based shows like Dil Dosti Dance, Adaalat, Aahat, Webbed and Gumrah.
Charlie Next Door is his second novel with HarperCollins Publishers India, following Me, Mia, Multiple, which was published in 2015.
You can find out more about him on
www.debashishirengbam.com
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First published in India by
HarperCollins Publishers in 2017
A-75, Sector 57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301, India
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Copyright © Debashish Irengbam 2017
P-ISBN: 978-93-5277-443-2
Epub Edition © November 2017 ISBN: 978-93-5277-444-9
Debashish Irengbam asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction and all characters and incidents described in this book are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers India.
Cover design: Sanchita Jain
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Charlie Next Door Page 26