‘Friends,’ she croaked.
Arjun cleared his throat. ‘How long have you and Rishabh been... together?’
Her eyes widened. ‘Rishabh is gay.’
‘You know that and you're still with him?’ he asked, horrified.
She burst out laughing.
He frowned. ‘What’s so funny?’
She shook her head. ‘You know when we first met, I really thought you were normal.’ He gave her a baffled look and she continued, ‘Rishabh and I have been friends since we were kids. When we were sixteen, we went to watch Veer Zaara together. We held hands during the movie, but when we stepped out of the theatre, he said, “I find Veer hotter than Zaara.” In doing so, I became the first person he came out to.’
‘Oh,’ Arjun said stupidly.
‘Now, Mr Khanna,’ she said with a smug smile, ‘may I get back to work?’
And without waiting to hear his response, she spun around and walked away.
Risha stood inside the living room and zoomed in to the photo booth. The guests could not see her as they stepped up on the platform and posed for the event photographer. She adjusted her lens, but just as she was about to click, her screen went pink. She looked up to find Pinku standing in front of her.
‘Candyji,’ he said with a nervous smile. ‘How are you?’
Risha took in his pink satin shirt and shiny aviators atop his gelled hair. His jeans were snug on top, wide at the bottom, and on his pocket, embroidered in sequins, was the word ‘swag’. He smelled like he had just showered in Axe deodorant.
‘I’m good,’ Risha said politely. ‘How are you?’
‘Very fine. And how are you?’
Risha smothered a laugh. ‘I’m good, thanks. And you?’
‘Fine.’ He smiled at her and looked around nervously. A few seconds passed in silence.
‘Did you see the Tetris photo booth?’ Risha asked.
Pinku shook his head. ‘I didn’t went there yet.’
Risha pointed to her camera. ‘I was just taking some photos. Would you like to pose for one?’
Pinku nodded eagerly, puffing out his chest. The action exposed a jungle of thick black hair in the gaps between his shirt buttons. Risha had not seen such a hirsute chest since Anil Kapoor in Tezaab. She took a step back. ‘Why don’t you look out at the pool and I’ll take your profile?’
Pinku’s eyes lit up. ‘Facebook profile?’
‘Um, no. Your side profile, uh, side pose,’ she clarified.
Pinku went pink in the face. ‘Yes, yes! Side, front, behind, whatever you like, Candyji.’
‘You can call me Candy,’ Risha said magnanimously.
Pinku’s chest expanded further, as though dropping the formal ‘ji’ made him part of her inner circle. Risha clicked a few pictures, all the while trying to avoid the curly black hair that threatened to burst out of his shiny shirt. Punjabi men, she thought with disgust.
A vision of Arjun’s smooth tan chest flashed before her.
Risha shook her head vigorously, trying to make the image disappear.
‘You didn’t liked it?’ Pinku asked, looking crestfallen.
On the contrary, she thought, her mind still on Arjun’s sinewy arms and broad shoulders. His decision to go tieless tonight was going to be her undoing. She remembered the adorable look of confusion on his face when she’d told him Rishabh was gay. Despite the five o'clock shadow on his rugged jaw, he had looked oddly boyish. And cute.
‘No, it’s great,’ she told Pinku, briskly snapping more photos.
‘Well, well,’ said a deep voice behind her. ‘If it isn’t Auto Rickshaw.’
Only one person called her that.
‘Vikram!’ she squealed, turning around to give him a hug.
‘Like my new hairstyle?’ Vikram asked, tilting his head and flashing Risha his famous crooked smile.
Next to her, Pinku blurted, ‘Very much! You look very handsome, Walia. I mean Waliaji. Vikramji. Vikram sir. Very handsome, sirji. Just like your new toothpaste ad!’
Vikram turned towards Pinku and held out his hand. ‘Vikram Walia, nice to meet you.’
Pinku looked at him with unabashed reverence. ‘Arre, you are so down-on-earth, sirji. Who doesn’t knew you? Myself Pankaj Sabharwal, Nitisha Didi’s cousin from Patiala.’ And out came the stack of visiting cards.
Vikram took a card politely before turning back to Risha. ‘How’s it going? Did you—’
‘I have played cricket at district level, sirji. I was a fast baller and they used to call me Rawalpindi Express after Shoaib Akhtar. Don’t mind, sirji, but India doesn’t has too many fast ballers so they had to call me a Pakistani cricketer’s pet name.’
Vikram slapped his back affably. ‘No worries, man. We should play together sometime.’
‘When, sirji?’ Pinku asked, his face pinker than ever with excitement. ‘I have to went back to Patiala on twentieth, any time before that we can play.’
‘Aren’t you playing for Nitisha’s team tomorrow?’ Vikram asked, referring to the cricket match scheduled for the next morning.
‘Oh yes, sirji!’ Pinku said, looking perilously close to exploding. Then he leaned in and spoke in a clandestine whisper, ‘But don’t worry, I will try to control my balling speed.’
Not unaccustomed to overzealous fans, Vikram said, ‘I appreciate that, man.’ Turning to Risha, he said smoothly, ‘Do you mind taking a picture of us?’
‘Yes, yes, Candyji. I will made it my profile photo,’ Pinku said, putting his arm around Vikram, his expression positively worshipful.
Risha gave a little giggle, and Vikram said, ‘Hurry up.’
She clicked a picture and feigned a frown. ‘I think you guys are not standing close enough.’
Pinku inched closer to Vikram, and Risha took another photo. ‘Much better.’
‘Thanks,’ Vikram said, stepping away.
‘Candyji, one from my phone also,’ Pankaj said, handing her his phone.
‘Of course,’ Risha said. ‘Why only one? I will take three!’
Vikram gave her a look.
Pinku did a thumbs up in the first photograph, a victory sign in the second and a ‘rock on’ sign in the third. Vikram looked straight ahead with a practised, but warm, smile on his face. ‘Thanks, Pankaj,’ he said, and before Pinku could make any further conversation, added, ‘I have to go find my wife.’
Pinku nodded and Risha said, ‘And I have to take some photos. So I’ll see you later.’
‘Bye, Candyji. Bye, Vikram Walia sirji. It was pleasure to be meeting you,’ he beamed, pronouncing ‘pleasure’ as ‘player’.
Vikram gave him a little wave before turning to Risha. ‘You’re dead!’ He laughed, taking her in a friendly chokehold and dragging her outside.
Risha gasped with laughter, punching him lightly in the stomach, trying to break free of his grip.
‘Where’s Nidhi?’ she asked, as soon as Vikram let her go.
He gave her a hurt look. ‘You haven’t seen me in weeks and all you care about is Nidhi?’
‘How was Australia?’ Risha asked, fully aware that he had brought home the Man of the Series award after the five-match tournament.
‘It was fine,’ he said modestly. ‘I missed Nidhi.’
Risha felt a sudden twinge of envy. She loved Nidhi and Vikram dearly, and she’d been genuinely thrilled when they overcame a series of misunderstandings and finally got together. But at that moment, the look of complete contentment in Vikram’s eyes made Risha long for something similar.
‘Well, she didn’t miss you at all,’ Risha said, straight-faced. ‘She was perfectly happy to spend all her time with me.’
Vikram laughed. ‘What do you call the girl version of “bromance”?’
‘Womance,’ Risha said, swiftly taking a picture of him laughing.
‘What are you guys talking about?’ Nidhi said, walking up behind her husband.
‘The fact that Delhi is so much better than Mumbai,’ Risha said without missi
ng a beat.
‘Yes, Vikram, you better agree with that if you want to stay married to me,’ Nidhi teased.
Vikram looked at her with unhidden warmth. ‘I’ll agree to pretty much anything to stay married to you.’
Risha cleared her throat. ‘Okay, kids, I’ve gotta run.’ She walked a few feet past them, then turned around and clicked a picture. Vikram had his arms around Nidhi, and he was gazing into her green eyes. Risha looked at her output screen and gave a satisfied nod. Back to work.
Risha stepped out of the restroom and looked around the empty terrace in surprise. Had the party wound up in the sixty seconds she had taken to pee? The dip in temperature had gradually been driving the crowd inside, but at this point there was literally no one outside.
Risha heard a muffled cheer from the living room and walked inside. Seated on the couch opposite the TV, their brows furrowed in concentration, were Arjun and Divya.
‘What’s going on?’ Risha whispered to Nidhi.
‘They’re playing Tetris against each other and it’s a pretty high scoring game,’ Nidhi replied.
Lounged on a La-Z-Boy chair, Arjun’s friend Angad said, ‘First one to 300 has to take a shot.’
The server placed two shot glasses in front of them and stepped aside.
Risha found a good spot a few feet from the TV. Satisfied with her view of the players and the audience, she pointed her camera to the couch and took a picture.
Arjun’s gaze flickered to her briefly before returning to the screen. ‘You’re distracting me.’
‘Sorry,’ Risha mumbled, taking a couple of steps back.
‘300!’ the crowd echoed. Divya downed her shot and a waiter replenished her drink.
In contrast to the excited buzz in the room, Angad spoke in a monotone, ‘Whoever gets a Line next has to take a shot.’
Divya immediately got a Line and Arjun laughed. ‘Burn!’
‘The next person to reach a multiple of eleven has to take a shot!’ Rohan yelled.
Nitisha gave him a look. 'Nerd.’
‘No one is sober enough to calculate, bro,’ Angad pointed out.
Without looking away from the screen, Arjun said, ‘Candy hasn’t been drinking tonight, ask her to do it.’
Great, Risha thought. Arjun and Divya were tied at 310. What number after 310 was a multiple of 11? 333? She had always been bad at math. Not that a roomful of drunk people would notice if she got it wrong.
‘It’s 333,’ Risha said confidently.
Arjun slanted her a lopsided smile, his fingers dancing rapidly on the controller.
‘330?’ Risha said sceptically.
Arjun looked precariously close to laughter.
‘319!’ Rohan shouted. ‘Divya has to take another shot!’
Divya downed her shot and gasped for breath. Arjun gave her a sympathetic look.
When they reached 400, they were both on the edge of their seats and there was pin-drop silence in the room.
‘Is this a world record?’ Nitisha whispered.
‘The world record,’ Angad said in a lackadaisical tone, ‘is over a million points.’ As the blocks grazed the top of their screens, he added, ‘The loser will take a shot.’
Risha saw Arjun slide Divya a sideways glance. The girl could barely keep her eyes open, and it seemed like the only thing keeping her going was adrenaline. Arjun got a Line and placing it vertically would make four of his rows disappear, giving him a definitive lead over Divya. He placed it horizontally and the audience gasped as the blocks immediately piled on top of each other, ending his game. ‘Damn!’ Arjun groaned.
Divya screamed and jumped on top of him, practically pinning him to the sofa. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. ‘Best day ever!’
Arjun chuckled and gave her a congratulatory hug. ‘Good game.’ To acknowledge his defeat and appease the crowd, he raised his shot glass and chugged his drink.
Risha stood in the corner and went through the last few pictures of Arjun and his girlfriend. They did look kind of cute together, she thought reluctantly. He obviously cared about her enough to throw the game just to prevent her from drinking too much. Not that he had succeeded, Risha thought wryly, watching Divya jump up and down on the couch like it was a trampoline.
At 3 a.m., there were still a dozen people hanging around and the party was far from over, so Risha didn’t feel right going home. Nidhi was tired and Vikram had seemed overly protective of her all evening, so he insisted on taking her home right away.
‘Are you sure you’ll be okay?’ Nidhi asked Risha for the third time.
‘Yes! Now please go home,’ Risha assured her friends.
She saw Vikram walk up to Rohan and say something. Risha smiled, certain that Vikram was instructing his friend to make sure Risha got home fine. Vikram’s concern, while sweet, was unnecessary. Tanvi had designated a car and driver for Risha, so she did have a way of getting home. She was a tad uneasy about commuting alone with an unknown driver at this hour, but as a worst-case scenario, she could always ask Rishabh to come get her. Him being a night owl paid off at times like these.
An hour later, Risha was reminded of another retro game as she tiptoed carefully across the living room to avoid stepping on the half dozen people that had passed out on the floor: hopscotch. Most people had left for the night or fallen asleep in one of the rooms, and it seemed like the party had finally wrapped up. Risha was glancing at her watch, ready to call it a night, when she ran straight into a broad, hard chest.
‘Ms Kohli.’ Arjun smiled, holding her shoulders to steady her.
‘Hey,’ she said casually, as if his touch hadn’t just sent a tingle down her spine.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ he asked, his hands still on her.
‘I’m working,’ she said.
‘You didn’t say no to Nani yesterday,’ he pointed out.
‘Does anyone say no to Nani for anything?’ Risha asked.
Arjun laughed and took her hand. ‘Come on, one drink won’t kill you.’
Risha looked down at their interlocked fingers and then up at Arjun. His smile faded and he let go abruptly. Her hand felt cold.
‘Okay,’ she agreed, more to defuse the sudden tension between them than anything else. ‘One drink.’
Something like relief flashed in his eyes, before he gave her an impish grin. ‘One Patiala.’
‘No way!’ Risha laughed, following him to the bar. ‘I’ll stick to a cocktail, thank you.’
He carried their drinks over to the nearest table and pulled a chair for her. They clinked their glasses and sipped their drinks in silence for a few moments.
‘Vikram and Nidhi seem nice,’ Arjun said.
Risha’s face broke into a wide smile. ‘They’re the best.’
‘How come you didn’t leave with them?’ Arjun asked.
Risha seemed surprised by his question. ‘The party was still on and I didn’t want to miss another Tetris face-off.’
Arjun studied her with a glint in his eyes, something that resembled... respect? ‘Rohan was right about you.’
‘What about me?’ she asked.
‘He said you are sincere. True to your work.’
‘He did? That’s a nice surprise.’
‘Rohan is usually quite stingy with compliments, so, yes, it is. Although I have to say this particular compliment is well deserved.’
Risha looked at him in shock. ‘Did you just say something nice to me?’
Arjun laughed. ‘Come on! I’m always nice to you.’
She eyed his drink dubiously. ‘What is in that thing?’
‘Ha ha,’ he said blandly.
She smiled and sipped her drink. The wind was tossing her ponytail about, and she looked relaxed for the first time that evening. Not that Arjun had been watching her.
Risha admired the glimmering Gurgaon skyline, an asymmetrical crown against the dark night sky. The grandeur of the cityscape was so awe-inspiring that a small sigh escaped her lips. ‘The view is gorgeous.’
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‘Yes, it is,’ Arjun said, looking straight at her.
Risha blushed and averted her gaze. Why was he watching her like that? His hot girlfriend was the lead singer of a band and a Tetris pro, he had no business flirting with Risha.
She stood up. ‘I’m gonna go.’
He nodded, also standing up. ‘I’ll drive you home.’
She scoffed. ‘No way, you’ve had too much to drink.’
He gave her a wry look. ‘Actually, barring the shot I took three hours ago, this is my first drink.’
‘What about the glass of wine you were drinking earlier?’ she pointed out.
‘Someone’s been keeping count,’ he teased.
‘No, I haven’t!’ she exclaimed defensively.
‘That was like eight hours ago, it doesn’t even count. I’m good to drive,’ he said.
She shook her head. ‘I don’t want to trouble you.’
‘It’s no trouble,’ he assured her.
‘No, really. I have the driver’s number, I’ll just—’
‘You’re not going alone with a driver at this hour,’ he stated flatly.
‘Fine, then I’ll call Rishabh. He’s probably up anyway.’
‘Rohan asked me to take you home when you’re ready, so I’m taking you home,’ Arjun said firmly.
Oh. Rohan had asked him.
‘Fine,’ Risha said nonchalantly. ‘I’ll get my things.’
‘I’ll meet you at the elevator in five.’
It was nearly 4.30 a.m. as they hit NH8, en route Risha’s home. The early-morning traffic consisted mostly of DTC buses and BPO cabs, so Arjun was driving at an easy pace.
So far, Risha had thwarted Arjun’s attempts at conversation with polite monosyllables. He asked if she was feeling cold; Risha said ‘no’. He asked if she was enjoying shooting the wedding; she replied ‘yes’. He teased her about her ‘yellow uniform’; she gave him a cordial smile.
After a few minutes of feeling like a clingy toddler, Arjun gave up and focused on the road instead. When he accelerated to 120 kilometres per hour, Risha grasped the armrest and gritted her teeth. If he thought driving over the speed limit could intimidate her into a conversation, he had another thing coming. She stared out the window in stubborn silence, watching backlit hoardings disappear under flyovers.
The Wedding Photographer Page 12
