Page 58 of One Indian Girl
‘What do you mean I don’t do anything about us?’
‘My mother calls me every week. She wants me to start looking at boys. I tell you every time she says that. Do you ever take the hint?’
He kept quiet. I had brought out all the touchy topics at one go.
‘You have seen how my career is going at the moment. If only it was okay, I would have thought about it.’
‘So do something about the career, Debu,’ I said.
I left the room. I took a shower and went to bed. I switched off all the lights.
Debu changed and slid into bed next to me. He placed his arm around me. I brushed it aside.
‘Come here, baby,’ he said.
‘Go to sleep,’ Isaid.
14
‘We made a ten-million-dollar investment. We will now recover thirty-six million dollars,’ I said.
I made my final comments on the last presentation slide. We had invested in City Properties, a Manhattan real-estate firm gone bust. Fortunately, the property market had improved after our investment and we tripled our money.
‘Fantastic. We should sell. Now that is what I call a home run,’ Jon said. ‘What a deal! Well done, Radhika.’
‘Jonathan and Craig guided me through it all,’ I said.
I came back to my seat. I called Debu. I wanted to tell him about Jon’s praise.
‘Hey,’ he said.
‘What’s up?’
‘Just working on a pitch. I don’t think we will get it, though. How about you?’ Debu said.
‘I am at work. Another deal closed.’
‘You called for a reason?’
‘Yeah,’ I said. However, at that moment I didn’t want to tell him my success story. Perhaps it was better not to share it than to do so and not get an enthusiastic response.
‘What is it?’
‘Well,’ I said and wondered what to say next. Why was I hiding my success from him?
‘I just had a good day at work,’ I said.
‘What? Managed to make more money?’ He laughed.
He was being funny. Still, I didn’t like what he said, or maybe it was just his tone. I ignored his barb.
‘No just... I don’t know. I just felt good. Grateful for what we have. We should be grateful, no, Debu? We have so much. We have independence, jobs, health, family, a great city we live in and love. We have love. It’s a lot to be grateful for, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah, baby. We do.’ He sounded like he was about to yawn. ‘That’s sweet. Anyway, I better go back to my pitch.’
‘Sure. Sorry I disturbed you.’
‘Bye, baby,’ he said and hung up.
