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Tuesday 12 January 2010

That Greek God...Part 7a


“Yeah, come on in. I promise I’m not the serial killer who has been tossing young women into the incinerator.” said Karthik, with a wicked grin.

Awww, bless that dentist of his. Even the devil wouldn’t have such a perfect set of teeth.
On a serious note, I couldn’t believe the guy was actually sensitive to the tiniest of thoughts in my head. I wasn’t quite able to place the nagging sensation; but I could sense it share its basic trait with a shade of betrayal. I took a deep breath and stepped into the tastefully decorated apartment. I had been there before, to his aunt’s apartment. She had invited me over once, during Navrathri. But Karthik wouldn’t have known that.
The afternoon sun was softly hushed by the shades drawn across the French Windows. He invited me to take a seat by the coffee table and offered to get some water for us.

“My aunt loves thumbing through books on interior design. Every single thing in this apartment was personally collected by her.” he said, handing me a glass of cold water.

I smiled and took a sip from it. My insides were churning with a mixture of myriad emotions; nervousness coupled with an excitement and I was overwrought with tension. It was a wonder I kept my mouth shut firmly through it all. It felt like biting into a bar of rich dark chocolate without worrying about the extra calories- an aphrodisiac with no conditions attached; except that this was even better. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I tried to concentrate as he was explaining about the whole write-up and what he exactly wanted for the script.

“All the reading material is in my room. We can work there, if you don’t mind. This coffee table is hardly comfortable.”

I nodded, swallowing hard. It was like being given permission to enter Vaikuntam by the Dwaara-paalakas. He ushered me into his room and drew the shades back, allowing the light to come in through the window. It was the spare bedroom, sparsely furnished and I could see how much he had made himself at home with all his paraphernalia strewn about. To be honest, it looked like a disaster area, the only thing missing being the vultures scanning the zone to scavenge.

“Oh, my God, I’m really sorry; I thought the housekeeper would have cleaned my room by now.” He looked so embarrassed, I had to force myself not to giggle.

“I am guessing she didn’t.” I said before I could stop the words from tumbling out.

He gave me a wry look and raked his fingers through his hair. I had to admit that the guy had a gorgeous mane. It fell in endearing waves over his forehead and I had to drag my thoughts back to the untidy bedroom.

“At least, the table is decent enough to work on. Why don’t you start working while I get all this cleaned up?” he suggested.

I agreed and switched my laptop on. I sifted through the reading material as he finished shoving everything into the cupboard, closing it firmly, lest they should all fall off. My eyes fell on a framed picture on the table. Vichitra and Karthik were smiling into the camera and they both looked a tad bit younger. I realised that the niggling feeling in my mind bore its roots from there- that connection between them. I smiled sadly as I acknowledged that they actually looked so good together. That roused my curiosity and set in motion the chain of events thereafter, that I had no control over, whatsoever. I asked the question that put his cranial function into overdrive.

“So when are you two getting married?”

“Huh, what?”

“When’s the big day? I mean you and Vichitra.” I divulged the obvious auxiliary information in an effort to help him as he opened and closed his mouth like a confused fish.

“Sorry? I don’t get you. Did you just ask me if I was getting married?” he asked incredulously.

“No. The question was when. Wait a minute, did you say ‘if’?”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, walking forward toward me.

I swung around in the chair and pointed at the photograph. He bent over across me as he reached out for the picture. His head was right above my shoulder and I forgot to breathe. He straightened up and looked at me amusedly.

“You thought we were getting married?”

“Did I say anything amusing? I don’t understand.”

“Ha, we are just friends. Vichitra and I. She’s getting married. You got that part right. But not to me.”

“Oh!”

He’s not getting married? No, he’s not. Definitely not!!

The whole world tilted around me as I tried to hoist myself out of the chair. I handled a weak smile while I desperately racked my brains to think of something intelligent to say. Karthik gave an encouraging nod and grinned back.

“So why would you think that we were going to get married?” he enquired curiously, clearly puzzled, I am sure, as to how his aunt could have such a whacko for a neighbour.

“I..umm… No. I just assumed, I guess.” I finished lamely. My mouth! How I wish I could detach it from the rest of my body and squish it, till it begged for mercy and promised to keep quiet. Like any typical guy, he took my answer at face value and didn’t question me any further. Ah, Thank God for that. If it had been a girl, my fate would not have been satisfied till it had seen me being plucked apart, pulled inside out, and giving answers to all the whys, whos and whats.
However, he continued regarding me with a strange glazed look. I fidgeted and cleared my throat. That broke his thoughts.

“Okay, so let’s get finished with all this work. We will have some coffee, later, huh?”

I couldn’t have agreed more. I was dying to get back home and just absorb the whole episode in; to have a decent reality check.

3 comments:

  1. I read bits of your blog . You have a great style of writing . Persue it . Goodluck .
    Regards,
    Mads
    www.mads4u.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Dirish,

    Thank you so much for going through my blog. You have put up very good articles on public speaking and others on your website... They were all a very good read.. :-). You take classes on public speaking as well??

    Regards,
    Mrudula

    ReplyDelete
  3. You reckon a typical guy took the words out a woman's mouth for its face value? :)

    ReplyDelete