Page 48 of That Same Old Love

He proceeded tonegotiatethe terms of their time together pretty openly in the most controlled and sexy manner. Some of them were a little vague and he claimed to leave them to her imagination, and her imagination was running pretty wild and graphic in her head. Then, in his low pitched rumbling voice, he began to provide some details about what he wanted to do to her, and also some of the things he expected in return. It was enough to raise her temperature to a fever pitch.

“Holy hell Samrat, stop! Yes! I don’t object to any of those things. In fact I would object, if you leave out any of those things during our three weeks together,” she said, increasing the cooling of the car air conditioning, and then directing the cool air towards her.

He smiled. “Good. Then I think we can start our deal the moment we land in San Francisco.”

“Actually, about that… can we start it a little later in the night? I was invited for dinner at my brother’s house tonight.” She paused while she thought of something. “And also since we will technically be in a sort of relationship, you should join me as my friend. You already know and met most of my family.”

Samrat frowned, but said, “Okay.”

Then he made a call to one of his executives, stating that he will be taking the commercial flight that morning and to have someone else replace him.

After he hung up the call, he said, “I’m dressed formally because I thought I would be working on the company jet, just in case you had second thoughts after hearing my terms and conditions.”

“Hmm… Okay, but why can’t I join you on the company jet?” she asked him curiously.

“Sorry, I don’t allow family or friends to use it. Only employees at a higher executive level can. We always make sure that the seating capacity is filled to the maximum, saving us money, even if it is still a lot of carbon footprint. But the jet’s schedule is more… predictable, and it has conference rooms and other provisions that the commercial flights don’t usually offer.”

Mahi smiled at the word predictable, but nodded in understanding.

Soon they reached the airport. Samrat purchased his tickets and made necessary changes to Mahi’s to be able to sit next to each other.

They ended up working during most of the flight journey.

Mahi didn’t want to stay in the company owned condo that Samrat usually stayed during his SF business trips. She also didn’t want to stay in the hotel next to the office that she had initially made reservations for.

So she took some time during their flight to book a vacation house for their three week stay. And since Samrat upgraded her tickets for both ways and was paying for their car, she insisted on paying for their vacation house.

* * *

When their flight landed in San Francisco it was delayed by an hour. Not having enough time to check-in to their vacation house or to even freshen up, they decided to simply go directly to Mahi’s brother’s house for dinner.

By the time they got there, it was seven thirty in the night. After some uncomfortable and forced pleasantries, they sat down for dinner.

Mahi kissed her nephew Nikhil goodnight and helped her sister-in-law place the dishes and other silverware on the table before joining everyone at the dining table.

Her father was enquiring about the progress of Samrat’s senior community and also about some common neighbors they knew.

Mahi’s mother interrupted the conversation between Samrat and Mahi’s father. “Mahi, you already had two rotis, are you sure you want to eat rice as well? You have put on a lot of weight in the past three months. Even your skin looks darker than before. Are you not taking care of yourself while you are there?” she asked loudly in a very concerned tone.

“I’m fine,” Mahi replied in a surly tone, hating how she always regressed back to that young and unwanted girl in her parents’ presence.

Mahi’s mother made tsking noises and looked at Samrat. “At her age, I was still very slim and had milk white flawless skin. People were always complimenting me wherever I went. And by then my Dhanush was fourteen years old and Mahi was ten. Unfortunately, Mahi got my mother’s medium complexion and average features along with some of her personality traits,” she said in a sneering tone.

Then looking towards her son, “My Dhanush looks more like me. No one can believe that he is almost forty years old. But thenpeople are shocked when I tell them my age,” she said, laughing softly.

“I’m very proud to inherit my grandmother’s looks and character,” Mahi commented, grabbing another serving of rice.

Samrat felt uncomfortable and even more so when Mahi’s mother peered at his face. “You and your sister have very good golden complexion and really sharp features. I think you take after your father’s side of the looks,” she said.

When Samrat didn’t reply or even seem remotely interested in the topic, Mahi’s mother looked at Mahi and then back at Samrat.

“Oh, speaking of complimenting my looks, Dinesh who was Mahi’s husband used to tell me,Aunty I wish you were younger by fifteen years, then I would not have married your daughter, I would have stolen you away instead.”She laughed softly and then wistfully added. “Dinesh is such a good boy.”

Mahi’s father brightened up as well. “He is also from a very good family. His ancestors were very rich zamindaars who owned a lot of lands around a few villages, and they have passed on those riches to the current generations. They are of very old money. Even now most of his family members are sitting MPs and MLAs around that area,” he told Samrat, and proceeded to list the names and roles of Dinesh’s relatives in politics.

Mahi’s mother once again looked at Samrat, who was waiting to get done with the dinner soon. This time she had a sneering smile. “There is so much new money in India these days. People get rich all of a sudden for some reason or the other. But one thing they cannot buy is class. That can only belong to those who are of old money.”

Mahi clenched her fists and tried to control herself from lashing out at the obvious dig at Samrat. But she couldn’t remain quiet.

---