by Ananth
I waved goodbye, shut his door behind me and went over to my office. I was looking forward to New York, especially after the accident. It was my favourite city in the world and I was even more excited that Nat was coming with me. I wanted to show her the Big Apple and make sure she had a great time. I got to my desk and called Cara on the intercom.
‘Hey.’
‘Hey back.’
‘Nat mentioned the video.’
‘Yes, it’s kinda ready.’
‘You didn’t say.’
‘It’s nothing. I don’t want to talk work when I am with you at home. You’ll see it today.’
‘Hmm.’
‘Come back to my place today?’ she asked.
‘I’d love that.’
‘Super.’
Later that afternoon we were in the conference room. We had zeroed in on the model GM was going to run with, positioning others as upgrades. It was a fully loaded luxury sedan with a new, award-winning engine and was finally going into mass production for the first time. Cara had put together a fantastic concept for the launch. It was an animated video of a typical family, with a dog, standing and staring at the car and individually imagining what they would do with it.
Both grandparents were picturing a long drive along the coast with each other, which was, in a way, a testament to the many decades they had spent together. The father was thinking about what it would mean to him as a symbol of affluence and the mother saw how it would be able to carry the whole family together, including her adult children. The son – and this is where all of us disagreed but decided to revisit it later – was eyeing the rear seats where he could make out with his girlfriend. The eighteen-year-old daughter imagined the car as her ticket to freedom, allowing her to go anywhere she wanted, and the animation was mocked up on a highway somewhere in Spain. I particularly loved the fact that the animation ended with a close-up of the dog, smiling. It was fantastic, and to think Cara had had barely two weeks to come up with something.
When the six-minute animation ended and even after Roy had turned on all the lights, the room was quiet. Cara had even incorporated subtle breaks through fade-outs, which meant one could play one and half minute ads for each member of the family. I was sure everyone in the room would realize that Cara, despite her status as an ‘intern’, was as good if not better that some of us. I definitely did. The animation video was also a smart trick – almost all agencies routinely used very good-looking models or actors to shoot videos, but in this case we wouldn’t have to fly a whole crew around the world to make the ad.
With a six-minute video Cara had scripted Alpha’s transition from a photo agency to an ideas company.
CD was the first to break the silence. ‘This calls for a drink!’ It was unusual coming from him—suggesting a drink at three in the afternoon meant he was really pleased.
Nat clapped and was visibly proud; after all she was the one who had batted for Cara to take on this project. Cara was thrilled that we loved it, but I could see that she had known we’d love it.
‘This is brilliant, Cara. Did you drop the idea of doing a Who’s Alpha?’ I asked.
‘I thought she should,’ Nat answered. ‘Let’s show them our work.’
‘If this doesn’t make the cut I don’t know what else will,’ said CD. ‘Even if we don’t get the nod from JWT or GM, I must admit this is great work. I am sorry I was cynical to begin with.’
‘We really are set for New York now, Sid,’ Nat said, grinning. ‘Take a bow, Cara.’
Roy gave her a thumbs-up.
Cara stood up and sweetly took a bow, smiling her bewitching smile.
That’s my girl, I thought to myself, unable to take my eyes off her.
14
Back in my office I called Aanya and we went over the details of the New York trip. JWT had suggested we stay at the Soho Grand at the end of Greenwich Village. The photographs on the website looked fab but as a photographer I was cynical about commissioned shoots. What did sound special though was that it was a pet-friendly hotel and despite my cynicism looked plush. The trip was going to be a short one: a day in the office with JWT and dinner that evening with Matt and his team; Nat had an aunt and uncle she wanted to visit the next day; I would use that morning to go back and see folks over at the ICP; and then one full day when I would show Nat around. ‘I am entirely in your hands,’ she had said when I asked her if there was anything particular she wanted to do.
There was a surprise waiting for me that afternoon. When I called the pantry and asked someone to bring me the takeaway menu cards for lunch, there was silence at the other end. I thought the pantry boy hadn’t heard me so I repeated the request.
‘Natasha has brought lunch for you and said we should warm it when you asked for it,’ he blurted.
Covering my tracks, I quickly added, ‘Oh, yes, I forgot. Could you bring it over, please? Thanks!’
He came in ten minutes later carrying a large tray with a bowl of spaghetti and pepperoni in tomato sauce, some garlic bread and a glass of orange juice on it. As soon as he left the room, I called Nat.
‘Thank you.’
‘For lunch? My pleasure, I hope you liked it.’
‘No, really, Nat, thank you! You shouldn’t have.’
‘Did you like it?’
‘I just sat down to eat.’
‘What is wrong with you? It’s almost four!’
‘Nat. Mommy. You fed me a large sandwich this morning.’
‘Right. Sorry, eat up. I am going to bring you lunch from now on.’
I thought about it and then decided not to complain.
‘Have you read all your emails?’ she asked.
‘Not yet. Is there something urgent?’
‘You know that insurance company shoot where Cara suggested you keep the girl and go colour?’
‘Yes?’
‘The client loved it, couldn’t stop talking about it, in fact. We’ve got ourselves a very bright girl there. And this morning’s video. She’s capable of a lot more than we think she is.’
I couldn’t agree more, but said, ‘Yeah. Your find!’
‘No, yours. I told you, she came here because she saw your work in New York. I thought it was strange then but it’s all worked out in our favour. So we have you to thank. Again.’
‘Should we make her permanent?’
‘It’s up to her. When I spoke with her before she joined she’d said she’d like to go back to New York at some point but it depended on how much she likes it here and if she has a reason to stay.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I don’t know. She said she’d let me know when she is ready to accept a permanent offer.’
‘Okay. Let’s keep her busy until then. I hope she decides she likes it here,’ I said, wondering what Cara had meant.
‘Exactly. You eat. We’ll talk later.’
‘Thanks for lunch, Nat.’
‘Stop it. Bye!’
I went back to work and it took me a couple hours more before I decided I had done enough for the day and got up to leave. I bumped into Aanya and Roy by the lift and was about to enter with them when I remembered that I had said I’d go home with Cara. I waved them off and turned around and walked back to her desk, only to find it empty. I texted her.
Girl, what’s POA
Aren’t you coming home?
I want to. Need to finish some shopping tho
Shopping???!!! You?
I need a summer suit.
You want me to come?
And we’ll grab a bite?
Hmm. No. You go. I’ll finish some work on the video. Come by later and show me the suit?
Yep.
See you.
It took me a while to get to the mall. The guys at the Hugo Boss store were very helpful and I found the ice-blue linen suit I was looking for. The trousers needed some alteration so they told me to come back in half an hour. While at it I spoke with their tailor and asked for the jacket to be tucked in a bit too t
o fit my shoulder. Trying to keep my arm straight while he measured me I realized I was still sore from the accident, and the word sore reminded me of Cara and I smiled. They said they might need an hour to get everything done, so instead of wandering about aimlessly, I decided to go to Cavalino’s, a sports bar in the same mall that I loved particularly for the bitter beer they brewed in-house. They also made delicious chicken wings.
I ordered my first beer and texted Cara to tell her where I was. She responded immediately, saying ‘Have one on me’. The chicken wings when they came were just as great as I remembered them. I sat there thinking about things to do in New York with Nat, and it surprised me just how much I was looking forward to the trip. I hoped spending time with her would give me an opportunity to get to know her better and, I must admit, I had developed a little crush on her. I hadn’t been taken care of or loved like that in a long time, a very long time actually.
Through most of my childhood I was in boarding school and then when my parents were yanked away I had to deal with the fact that A, they weren’t around any more, and B, to be brutally honest, having lived away from them for several years already I didn’t really miss them all that much. There were days when I would suddenly remember that they were dead, almost as if I had forgotten that fact. It was something I could never admit to anyone. My teen years were tougher, especially the years immediately after their deaths. The housemistress, a forty-year-old woman, was especially kind and loving. I spent many weekends at her place because she thought I shouldn’t while away time alone in my dorm. She had a son, a year my junior, who naturally hated me and a daughter, his twin, whom I got along with quite well.
Well, a little more than well. It was she who gave me my first lesson about a woman’s body. It began when I walked into her bedroom one day, unannounced, while she was changing. She taught me that patience pays in the bedroom as she sat on my lap, then lay down beside me, and let me touch her. I can still remember her vividly, naked except for white cotton panties. In the course of the year we fooled around in, I developed quite a fetish for them. I can tell you now that she had ten fingers like a mouth and a mouth that felt like ten fingers. Every time I had to manage my erection, she lent a helping hand or mouth, sometimes both!
I gulped down the remaining beer in the mug and ordered another. The girl at the bar, who was wearing a tight, cleavage-baring T-shirt that said HAVE ANOTHER JUG, walked over to a tap near me and began to fill draught beer into a tall mug. Handling the lever with her left hand and holding the glass in her right, she lovingly turned the mug this way and that, letting the beer rise while smiling at me intermittently. When she let out a small oops as the froth in the mug brimmed over, I learnt that to a susceptible dirty mind a beautiful woman could make anything look erotic. I felt so tingly that I had to get up and go pee. As I walked to the loo I turned to check out the DJ who was pumping out pretty great music. That’s when I saw them.
Aanya and Roy were sitting at a table, in a corner. She was looking straight into his eyes and he was holding her hand over the table. He wasn’t drinking; she was. I quickly rushed into the loo. I had known that Roy was having a tough time in his marriage – on the rocks is a term best used when talking about alcohol – and that his wife of many years was mercurial and often went away with their child to her mother’s. Roy wasn’t exactly a model husband either; he used every opportunity to stay away from home, be it at a party or drinking in a bar with friends or clients. Swiftly my brain started to connect the little dots.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. I adored both of them and they were adults who were free to see whomever they wanted, even each other, but how was one supposed to feel when someone you worked with closely was cheating on his marriage, and a friend you were terribly fond of was in a relationship bound to break her heart? He wasn’t going to leave his wife and she, Aanya, wasn’t going to be happy considering she was sharing him with someone else (or was she?). Stolen moments and secret sex were great when you were a teenager, but as an adult it was probably like warm beer – tasted bad and left you with a hangover.
Zipping up, I stepped out of the loo and peeked around; they were still there. The time for answers was later. For now, I had to leave the bar without being seen. I walked over as calmly as I could and asked the nearest waiter for the bill and then, rather than wait, just gave him a couple of five-hundred-rupee notes and left. I was praying as I walked out that they hadn’t seen me. Getting out of the mall, after a quick stop at Hugo Boss, I junked the idea of driving over to Cara’s and went home instead.
I texted her to say I was too tired and that I was going home directly. She replied instantly.
Poor baby. You want me to come home?
I said no, and told her that I wanted to go home and sleep.
She sent me an emoticon kiss.
When I got home I poured myself a drink, switched on an Ella Fitzgerald LP and sat down with a book. It got me thinking about Aanya and Roy again.
Half an hour later the phone rang. It was Roy. Had he seen me in the mall? My first instinct was to ignore the call but then I realized that if he had seen me it would probably confirm to him that I knew. Or maybe it wasn’t about that at all, maybe he hadn’t seen me, in which case I could definitely let the phone ring and meet him at work tomorrow. But what if they had simply gone out for a drink and I was reading too much into it? The phone kept ringing. Eventually I gave up and answered.
‘Hey, Roy! Sorry, I was in the shower.’
‘Hey, man.’
‘What’s up?’
‘Nothing. Did you see, the insurance clients loved your work apparently?’
‘Yeah. Nat told me and then I saw the email chain.’
‘Cara is good.’
‘She is.’
‘Erm . . . when are you guys going to the US? You and Nat, I mean.’
Roy never made small talk, especially over the phone. It was obvious he was struggling.
‘Roy, you didn’t call me to ask that.’
‘I didn’t. I saw you at the bar but you walked away before we could call you.’
‘We?’
‘Aanya saw you too.’
‘Oh, I didn’t notice, I would have stayed otherwise,’ I lied.
‘Right. We were just having a drink.’
We all want to be adults about our life and yet can never face the truth. I was hardly one to make judgements considering my relationship with Cara continued to be a secret, though it would have been perfectly normal if I was dating her.
‘Nice. I like the beer there,’ I said.
‘Sid, now you are being polite.’
‘Yes, fuck it. Are you and Aanya seeing each other?’
‘Yes, it’s been about six months now.’
‘Okay.’
‘Okay? Are you fine with this?’
‘Is Aanya fine with this?’
‘I knew you would ask that. In fact she wanted me to find out precisely for this reason; she knows you are very fond of her.’
‘You haven’t answered my question, Roy.’ I was getting angry now. He had touched a nerve.
‘No. She knows I won’t leave Rachel and she is not happy about that. Yet it’s been six months.’
‘And where are you going with it?’
‘I don’t know, Sid.’
‘Roy, I know what you and Aanya do is your business but I am very fond of her and I just hate it that she is going to come out of this unhappy.’
‘Or maybe not, Sid,’ he retorted, sounding defensive.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I think she is very happy.’
‘You just told me that she isn’t happy!’ I snapped.
‘She isn’t happy that there is no bigger future for us together. It is true that I have no intention of leaving Rachel and my son, and she knows that. But for the moment, while this is happening, I know she is very happy. We enjoy each other’s company and we have fun every time we hang out, or are . . . you know . . . together.’
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I stayed silent, because I knew what he meant.
‘Okay, listen all I am saying is that she, and I, wanted to be sure you knew about this and that you were okay with this, which I think you are, but also aren’t. I will let Aanya know.’
‘Whatever! The two of you have put me in a very difficult spot, Roy. Don’t get me wrong. It is your life and I’d be the first one to say do whatever makes you happy, but I still wish you hadn’t called and that we hadn’t had this conversation . . . Fuck it! I am too close to this to be rational. Let’s talk about something else.’
‘Thanks, Sid.’
‘Don’t thank me.’
‘Sorry . . .’ he paused, ‘and by the way both of us think you should be dating Cara.’
‘I am going to hang up now, Roy,’ I said and disconnected the call. I hated that they were trying to match-make.
I was surprisingly angry. So Roy and Aanya were seeing each other. I didn’t know what it was about that fact that nagged me, and made me so upset. Was it because Roy was married and was having an affair? Maybe. Was it because it was Aanya he was seeing? Definitely. I guess if I were to be honest I was also upset because what he had indicated in that brief conversation was that their relationship too was about the sex, which was exactly the case with Cara.
If we were to write a description of our relationship, it would probably go Hey, Hi, Now?, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, OH GOD, OH GOD, O-H-G-O-D!
So who was I to judge Roy and Aanya? I still didn’t know much about Cara, or she about me, even though we shared our bodies so openly with each other. I often woke up alone in either home, hers more often than mine. I didn’t call her in the morning, unless I was in her place and had to find something, and she didn’t call unnecessarily either. She did love it when I called her though, even if it was only about work. Every time I did there was a breathless, childlike joy in her voice that was palpable. At work things were extremely normal between us; although images from the previous evening or weekend flashed through my mind, she didn’t show any familiarity at all. I struggled at times with her aloofness; whenever she was part of the same meeting or when we were physically next to each other life would move into instagram-in-macro-setting mode. Her eyelashes, her lips, the way they felt when we kissed, or when they were wrapped around my cock, the curve of her neck and the heady fragrance of her perfume, the goosebumps on her cleavage from the air conditioning in the office, her breasts, the delectable rubberiness (is that even a word?) of her nipples, her fingers and the way they glistened when she wet them in her mouth before inserting them into her as she masturbated for me sometimes, her luscious bottom and the way she rhythmically moved her hips up and down my shaft when she was above me and facing away, her long legs which wrapped around my hips, drawing me deeper into her, and her toes as they curled when she had an orgasm. It was tough being around her and not imagining these things and objectifying her because she indeed was an incredible sex object and loved being objectified in this manner. She was the one person I knew who was absolutely capable of inducing an orgasm that could split your DNA strand into two.