Page 64 of Made in Mumbai

Maybe I’ll call her later in the day…he consoled himself, feeling out of sorts. After all, her doctor had asked her to take it easy. And even though it was Saturday and he wouldn’t see her, he had a moral responsibility to ask after her wellbeing.

Gautam closed his eyes and let sleep claim him, thinking if this cheesecake would be safe to consume tomorrow for her or he would have to order a new one.

————————————————————

He waited until 2 pm to contact her. That was late enough to let her catch up on her sleep.

“Hello?”

“Maya, hi, Gautam here.”

“I know, I have your number saved.”

“Why are you talking so fast? Where are you rushing to?”

“Nowhere, just please tell me what it is, I am a little busy right now?”

“Doing what?”

“Getting shit sorted… nothing serious. What is it?”

“What shit?”

“Gautam!” Her exasperated voice huffed.

“I called to ask how you were feeling.”

“Oh,” her voice softened. “Much better, thanks. Now bye.”

Gautam stared at his phone, then at the blank call screen. Had she hung up on him? The audacity… and after he had spent the whole night at her service? He seethed, reminding himself of that careless teenaged girl who had just as rudely dismissed him. How ruthlessly she had… his thoughts screeched to a halt. He course corrected. That was what he had done these past months with Maya. Written her off just as rudely as she had done to him as a 19-year old. The only difference was, they were 34 now, and he was reacting based on old wounds again.

He took a deep breath. Then glanced at his phone.

No point in redialling. He grabbed his keys and stormed out of his house.

Her building wasn’t too far from his. In effect, they lived just a few lanes away, and she was closer to their office. In the light of day, her building looked even more worn, the compound walls crumbling with age. If thieves didn’t jump the gate near the snoring watchman, they could easily scale these. Gautam parked his car at the same spot and strode in. The day watchman was just as useless. Didn’t even ask him where he wanted to go.

He climbed the stairs two at a time and stood in front of her door, finger pressing the doorbell. She didn’t answer. He pressed again. Still no response. He pressed again, ready to draw his phone out and call her to check if she was home when her screen door opened.

“I told you I will leave, Jafrey bhai…” Maya stuttered to a stop. “You? What are you doing here?”

“Checking in on you. Who is Jafrey bhai?”

“Nobody. You go from here,” she hissed, craning her head to check the alley. It was such a narrow alley that another person would have to half squeeze him to stand there.

“Who are you looking for?”

The staircase thundered from above, that’s how flimsy the building was. And Maya immediately threw open her door and pulled him in. He stumbled inside just before she whirled her door shut with a bang.

“Kal tak ka waqt hai, Mayaji, ghar khaali karo!” An angry male voice yelled from outside. She rolled her eyes, throwing her head back on the door. “Warna saman uthaake phek doonga!” The voice resounded, threatening to throw her things out if she didn’t vacate tomorrow.

“Who was that?” Gautam thundered, turning to her, reaching out to move her aside.

“My landlord,” she whistled through her teeth, standing her ground. “Why are you here?”

“What does he want? How dare he threaten you like that…”

“He saw me pregnant last evening and the night watchman went and opened his big mouth about you!”

---