Page 71 of Red Flags and Rishtas
‘Ananya!’ he said my name like he was scolding a teenager for saying something impolite at a family dinner.
I fell silent, my back hitting the lightly cushioned seat of the auto as it rode over pothole after pothole. Had I spent any amount of time today analysing the events of last night and this morning, I could’ve saved myself the embarrassment of this conversation. But instead, I’d spent the entire day avoiding my thoughts and compromising my senses.
Serves you right, I thought to myself.
‘I’m about to get engaged.’ It took him a while to say the words. ‘Last night should not have happened.’
‘But it did.’ My voice was small.
Wait, did he say he was engaged?
‘I know. I fucked up. That whole bet thing … it just screwed my head up. It made everything so exciting … I guess I forgot what was on the line.’ I could hear him pacing on the other end.
‘The bet, right,’ I said. ‘I get it.’
He was engaged. To bemarried.
‘It was so silly and immature. What were we thinking?’ he said, letting out an uncertain laugh, like he was hoping I’d join in.
Had he left so hurriedly in the morning to meet the girl he was marrying? After making love to me all night?
‘I don’t know. Let’s just call it off,’ I said, my mouth on autopilot while my brain computed the information I was being given.
‘Yes, exactly. The bet is off,’ he said, sounding relieved. ‘Besides, we both won.’
‘Huh?’
‘I’m getting engaged to Sneha … and you’ve got that guy …’
‘Madhav,’ I offered when he failed to come up with a name.
‘Yes,’ he said, forcing cheeriness into his voice. ‘It’s kind of perfect, if you think about it.’
It’s an absolute fucking disaster, I wanted to scream at him,and it’s all your bloody fault.
I’d had the ugliest fight with my best friend in years. I’d ruined my shot with a guy who may have actually liked me for who I was. All because of the fucking bet.
But I couldn’t tell him any of that. Because if I did, he’d know he had won. Not only had he managed to find himself a wife, but he had also successfully played me in the process. It was an epic win for him and a shameful loss for me. There was no way I was letting him bask in that knowledge.
‘So … we’re good?’ he asked me as the auto pulled over in front of his house.
I cursed under my breath. I’d forgotten I’d told the driver to bring me here.
‘We’re perfect,’ I said and hung up, leaving no room for goodbyes.
I got out of the auto, paid the driver all the change I had, and stood under Aadar’s apartment building, waiting for my Uber to take me home.
17
Kicking the Corporate Ladder
Monday came and went, but I stayed in my bed. The idea of stepping into the shower, getting dressed for work and hitching a forty-minute ride with my dad to the office seemed like too much effort if all I had to look forward to was hiding behind my desk all day. I couldn’t even get myself to switch my phone on. It’s not that I was scared of what might be waiting for me when I did – angry messages from Vrinda, some fuck-yous from Madhav, maybe another insincere apology from Aadar. No, I was petrified of finding an empty inbox.
My mother came to check on me around 11:00 a.m., and so I faked a cough for her benefit. It was better for her mental health if she assumed I’d caught the flu. She touched my forehead with the back of her hand before flipping it over to caress my face.
‘I told you not to exert so much.’ Her reproach was familiar and comforting, the way only a mother’s could ever be.
I grumbled and turned on my side, pulling the covers over my head.
