Page 56 of One Indian Girl
He introduced me to Clara, who told me she couldn’t believe how hard we all worked.
Forty-five minutes later the crowd frittered away from Harry’s. In smaller groups, people left for their own respective dinner plans. I had none. I walked out into the freezing cold and tried to find a cab. I couldn’t, given it was Friday night. I walked into the subway and looked at my phone. Debu had not called or messaged. Dizzy with alcohol, I realized I had not eaten anything for a long time. I came out of the train station. On the walk home, I picked up a pizza slice for myself from a small takeaway deli. Even in my incoherent state, I wondered if that idiot Debu had eaten dinner. I packed another slice for him, just in case.
I reached home. Debu was sitting on the sofa, hypnotized by ESPN.
‘What the...you are here?’ I said. He stood up and came forward to help take away the pizza boxes and my handbag. I removed my winter coat and placed it on the hanger.
‘I just arrived. Ten minutes ago. Honest,’ he said.
‘You ate dinner?’ I said.
‘No, not really. Just some bar snacks.’
‘Come, let’s eat. I got pizza,’ I said.
‘Thanks, baby.’
‘Don’t “baby” me. Just eat.’
‘What? You upset? Everything okay?’
Is he a moron to ask?
I didn’t respond. We sat facing each other at our small white dining table in the living room. I took out the pizza slices from the boxes and put them on plates. Strings of molten cheese hung from slices.
‘Looks yummy,’ he said.
I looked at the cheesy pizza slice and thought of Amanda.I bet she doesn’t eat this stuff. No wonder she looks like she does.My anger multiplied at the thought of eating this calorie-bomb dinner. I pushed my plate away.
‘What, baby?’ Debu said, mouth stuffed with food.
‘I am not hungry.’
‘Why?’
‘I can’t eat this. Too fattening.’
‘You only bought it, baby.’
‘Yeah, because I am stupid. Okay? And stop calling me “baby”.’
Debu put his pizza slice down.
‘Listen, I know you are upset. I didn’t come to your party. But I had a really rough day.’
‘So it is about you now?’ I said.
‘They took me and two of my juniors off the Under Armor account.’
‘What? How?’ I said. ‘That was your account!’
‘I told you. Politics. They called it a reshuffle. However, they stole it from me.’
‘It all happened today?’
‘They announced it today. But they had plotted against me for months. All planned.’
‘Sorry to hear that. You still have other good accounts, right?’
