Chapter 39: Still Getting There
Anuj had started filling the balloons with hash smoke and putting them in Kartik’s lap. Anand was still trying to figure out what he had done wrong and how a sure-shot proposal backfired. Not like the two of them hadn’t discussed everything they were planning on doing together for the next five years. She was looking forward to Antwerp, and understanding the diamond market while he worked with his client. He was looking forward to holding her tight in the snow.
— “You know what a friend of mine used to say?” Anuj tied the end of a balloon into a knot.
— “What?” Anand gave him a hand.
— “If she says no, she must be a lesbian.”
— “Trust me, that is clearly not the case.”
— “Women are good at faking orgasms, you know that right?” Anuj blew smoke into the balloon till it was as big as a melon. “Maybe she was just experimenting with dick and the two of you got along so well that it ended up being this serious?”
— “Now, you are just fucking with me.”
— “What are you planning on doing with these balloons?” Kartik was holding three of them when Anuj handed him the fourth.
— “I am not sure yet. I wish I could write on them.”
— “When was the last time you and Veena fought?”
— “I don’t think we have fought in a while.” Anand pulled a marker out of his pocket and handed it to Anuj. “The last we fought was months ago when we were deciding what colour our duvet would be. She wanted to go with a girly colour.”
— “Girls who let you win decor arguments don’t plan to settle with you.” Anuj pocketed the marker and continued blowing the next balloon. “You have a marker too?”
— “But we had a deal, she got to do the living room like she wanted to. She also picked the bedroom lights and the bathroom mirror.” Anand handed Anuj a cellotape. “I have this too, in case you need it.” He ran his hands through his hair as he dropped his head and bent forward. He tried to remember every part of Veena’s face through the argument that lasted from the elevator to the car.
— “I repeat, girls who let you win decor arguments don’t plan to settle with you.” Anuj put the tape with the marker.
— “You are just projecting Seher’s aesthetic fascism onto Veena.” Anuj had always described Seher as an aesthetic fascist everytime he had bitched about her during their relationship. He had never bitched about her after their relationship.
— “I’m sorry, man. If I knew you were planning this we wouldn’t have done the Anjali thing tonight. I bet the Electronics Anjali failure somewhere contributed to this entire fiasco.”
— “Kartik, I don’t think we say this often enough but all of us knew that wasn’t going anywhere.”
— Anand did not see a better opportunity than this to tell Kartik the truth. “I had faith in you like every best friend should but the rest of them, nix.” He knew Kartik wouldn’t have gone all Katti on him in this situation.
— “You don’t need to shit on my love story just because yours got a little mixed up tonight.” And without a pause, he continued. “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lash back at you like that.”
Avantika stood up on the wall. She had gotten up to throw her empty coffee cup as far as she could into the sea. When she felt the breeze slip around her legs, her neck and her hair. It made her smile. Inside her head, the sea in front of her was a private helipad and Shah Rukh was stepping right out of a chopper which had just landed.
— “Get up!” As soon as (invisible) Shah Rukh’s feet touched the non-existent ground, Avantika leaned sideways and grabbed Veena’s arm.
— “What? No! My dress will fly up!”
— “Just shut up and do it. Seher, stand on the other side and hold the hem down.”
— “Why, but?”
— “Just like that. It is fun to stand like this when you are this high. It reminds me of my first boyfriend from school. He used to have this bike and we would drive to the outskirts of the city to get stoned and make out.” Avantika added, “Well, he wanted to make out. I just wanted to get stoned. Although, a dumb river or a dam is no comparison to the shoreline of the greatest city ever.”
— “Were you making some point?” Seher held Veena’s hand as she got up.
— “I was coming to that but I also just like this feeling. Doesn’t it make you feel like you can do anything?” Avantika was looking somewhere in the distance over the surface of the ocean as her hand waited for Veena to get into position so that she could lock Veena’s dress down.
— “You know what, this does make me feel different.” The focus of Veena’s eyes was set far into the sea.
— “Does it make you feel like you can dry-hump Shah Rukh Khan, in slow motion in the middle of a private landing pad.” Avantika’s excited question made Veena shake her head and Seher facepalm.
— “It reminds me of having completed a marathon.” Veena looked at the boat lights flicker like stars that were about to set except they didn’t. She held her legs together as Seher and Avantika held her dress down firmly. “Remember that time we ran the marathon?” Veena asked Seher.
— “Yes!” Avantika jumped in. “That’s a brilliant story! Tell it to me again.”
Both Seher and Veena gawked at her. Avantika had not been a part of the gang then. She hadn’t even met Niyati yet. That, for the record, was the only really sore moment that evening in Avantika’s act of being Niyati for all intents and purposes.
