Page 64 of Red Flags and Rishtas
We made a stop at their table to check in on Mr Gupta. Having sponsored all the venues as well as most of the food for the celebrations, he was easily the most important person at the party. Judging by the number of empty whisky glasses in front of him as well as the way he was beginning to roll his r’s, he seemed to be having a pretty good time. His wife, on the other hand, had not hopped onto the party train. She was cradling a glass of water, awkwardly smiling at whoever came to speak to her husband.
‘Can I get you anything to drink, Mrs Gupta?’ I asked her.
‘Oh, no …’ She shook her head and said, ‘I don’t drink whisky.’
‘Some wine, perhaps?’ I asked.
She smiled. ‘I didn’t realise there was wine.’
There wasn’t. But for the plus one of our main sponsor? I’d stomp on the grapes myself if I had to. I pulled a waiter from the bar and instructed him to pop open a bottle of Pinot Noir from the private selection for the lady.
I spent the rest of the evening drinking with different groups of people, at first with Pooja by my side, and after an hour or so, without her. After having gauged that I had things more or less under control, she switched off from work mode and joined the office folks at what I called the ‘fun table’. The editorial writers, social media interns, stylists and sales reps were all huddled together, laughing and talking animatedly.
It was 10:00 p.m. when the magic of all that whisky started creeping in. I abandoned my glass at an empty table and replaced it with a bottle of water, knowing full well that the endof the night was not yet in sight. Finding a window between all the socialising, I escaped to the parking lot to make a quick phone call.
‘Hey, you.’ Madhav picked up on the first ring.
‘What’s happening?’ I asked him, leaning on the passenger door of a white WagonR.
‘Just came out for a few drinks with the office peeps,’ he said, directing my attention to the faint hum of music behind him.
‘Nice,’ I said, then added teasingly, ‘looks like you’re having plenty of fun without me.’
‘Please,’ he laughed and said, ‘this is all so I don’t lose my mind waiting for you to call me back.’
I felt a pang of guilt for not speaking to him all day. I’d meant to call him back earlier, but there had always been something more pressing.
‘I’ll make it up to you,’ I said, mentally pencilling him in for a date or two in the coming week, when things would’ve slowed down on the work front.
‘Let’s meet tomorrow?’ he proposed. ‘It’s a Sunday and you’ll be done with your wedding stuff, right?’
‘Tomorrow is a bit difficult. Vrinda’s boutique has a small launch party in the evening,’ I explained, wondering if he’d expect an invite after I told him.
But he only said, ‘Ah, damn.’
We spoke for a few more minutes before he admitted his friends were nagging him to hang up. I urged him to go have fun and promised to call him whenever I got free from the reception, however late it might be.
‘That didn’t sound like a Tinder date,’ a voice from behind me made me jump.
Aadar was walking into the parking lot, no doubt to smoke the pack of cigarettes he was holding.
‘Jesus, will you please stop being such a ghost?’ I said, placing a hand on my heart for effect.
‘Don’t change the topic,’ he said, narrowing his eyes. ‘Who was that?’
‘God,’ I said, ‘didn’t take you for the jealous type.’
‘Pfft.’ He blew out a puff of air and said, ‘I’m just making sure you’re not breaking rule number one.’
Right, we were supposed to keep each other in the loop. I’d completely forgotten about that with everything that was going on.
‘Okay, fine,’ I said, giving in. ‘I’m seeing someone … kind of.’
Aadar took a drag of his smoke, observing me closely.
‘So you’ve got a boyfriend?’
I moved away from the car and slowly walked over to where he stood on the other side of the WagonR, enjoying the dreadful anticipation I knew he had to be experiencing.
