Page 6 of Red Flags and Rishtas
‘We’ll try to dunk this bottle cap in it. Whoever does it first wins,’ he said.
‘All right, why not?’ I took the bottle cap from him and got up so fast that his right butt cheek crashed onto the sofa.
‘From there,’ he said, pointing to an imaginary line next to where he was seated. ‘And no leaning.’
I closed one eye, aimed for the mouth of the glass and tossed the flimsy cap in the general direction. Of course, being the terrible shot I am, it didn’t even land on the table. It sat lousily on the rug under the counter, mocking me.
Jay laughed, getting up to squeeze my shoulders from behind. I resisted the urge to shake off his hands and pull a face.
‘Don’t worry. Maybe on the next try,’ he said in a way that suggested there wouldn’t be another attempt.
And sure enough, he dunked the damn thing in one go, turning around and whooping endlessly, as if he was in a stadium full of fans. When I didn’t join in the celebrations, he walked over to me and handed me the bottle cap.
‘As my prize, I’d like to take you on a date, pretty lady,’ he said, smiling widely, presumably in a bid to charm me.
‘Um, I’m not really interested. Thanks, though,’ I said in what I hoped was a polite tone.
I could tell he hadn’t expected me to turn him down. I didn’t particularly enjoy being this blunt, but he should’ve read the room. If his ego hadn’t impaired his 6/6 vision, he’d have seen I was far from showing any interest in him.
‘Okay … how about you give me your number,’ he began slowly, ‘and we can talk later?’
‘I … er …’ I mumbled, trying to think of an excuse, and when I couldn’t find one, I decided to use the liquid courage. ‘No, thanks.’
‘You know what? I’ll give you my digits, and you can hit me up if you change your mind,’ he said as he winked at me, unmoved by the rejection.
I was about to tell him I wasn’t going to let him do that either when Aakash appeared at my side.
‘Hey babe, want a drink?’ he asked, touching the small of my back.
Jay turned red as realisation hit him. He held up his hands immediately. ‘I’m so sorry, bro. Didn’t know she was your girl,’ he said, beginning to retreat.
That pissed me off more than anything that had previously come out of his mouth.Do not engage, I reminded myself. But it was too late.
‘Oh, so you’d stop hitting on me if I’m with someone, but not because I’m simply not interested?’
I had to practically shout the last bit because he had sprinted for the balcony.
My date shifted his weight awkwardly, clearly not thrilled to have rescued me. My little outburst attracted the attention of a few of the others in the living room, and Vrinda and her boyfriend rushed to my side.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, touching my arm.
‘Nothing, don’t worry,’ I said, deciding this wasn’t important enough for her to fret over.
I did, however, throw a dirty look in Saurav’s direction, who should’ve known better than to let one of his weird friends hit on me. He had tried to set me up twice before, once with and once without my consent, and had failed both times on account of the total lack of compatibility between both parties. It’s not like he didn’t know me. I had been third-wheeling him and V for years now, after all. But when it came to finding me guys, he always went for who he liked, not who he thought I would like. I think he just wanted to make sure he had a partner in crime for our future double dates.
‘Aakash, what happened?’ Vrinda asked, directing her attention to my date, who was looking away and taking imaginary sips from his empty whisky glass.
When he didn’t respond, she tried again. ‘Aakash?’
I elbowed him in the ribs, and his head shot back to the four of us. ‘Oh right, me.’
Okay, so maybe I’d lied. His name wasn’t really Aakash. But I had managed to convince him to pretend that it was, and that had to count for something, right? He’d been weirdly unbothered by it, as if this was a regular request by girls he met off dating apps. But I’d realised over the course of the night that that was his general demeanour. He wasn’t super inquisitive, avoided confrontation and was as easy-going as they came. Which worked perfectly well for me.
Vrinda took my hand and led me away as Karan (aka Aakash) and Saurav escaped to the balcony for another smoke. We walked hand in hand down the hallway to the master bedroom and shut the door behind us. I dove onto the bed, bouncing a few times over. V joined me, giggling as her dress flew up in her face.
This was another one of our rituals – the mid-party catch-up session. I think it was her way to check in on me and make sure I was having a decent time, but I liked to look at it as a brief hiatus from the pretence outside. During this period, we could gossip, kick off our heels, crack PJs and adjust the wedgies under our dresses.
‘I’m sorry if Jay bugged you,’ she said, handing me the bottle of tequila she had picked up on her way.
