Page 125 of 12 Years

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‘Why? What else is bothering you?’

I took a sip of my beer. ‘Nothing really, just that … nothing interests me in life now. I work, and that’s it. If I’m not working, I feel weird.’

‘Weird? As in … lonely?’

‘Maybe. Don’t get me wrong. I have you. The people in the company. And we’re growing, doing amazing. But sometimes, it all feels meh. Like, what’s it for?’

‘Okay, bro, I know what your problem is.’

‘What?’

‘You need love in your life.’

I recoiled. ‘No, thanks.’

‘Okay, fine. That was just a nice way of saying it. What I meant is, you need to get laid.’

‘What?’

‘When was the last time you got some action?’ Mudit said, gesturing with his hand to make things clearer.

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Why is that important? And do we order some more food?’

‘Don’t change the topic. You haven’t even touched your burger. Tell me, when was the last time you did it?’

I shook my head.

‘Bro, don’t tell me that you haven’t since …’ he paused mid-sentence.

‘I haven’t. You know I haven’t dated anyone.’

‘Yes. So, wait, nobody since Payal? Wow,’ Mudit said.

Oh, why did he mention her name?It’s going to ruin my first happy evening in months.

‘You need to go on dates, bro. At least try,’ Mudit said.

‘I tried. A while ago.’

‘Oh?’ Mudit raised an eyebrow. ‘And you didn’t tell me?’

‘It was lousy. No reason to talk about it.’

‘Why was it lousy? Who did you go out with?’

‘This girl, Neha. Met her at that office party.’

‘Oh, that hot chick? Alok’s best friend’s sister, right? She and her brother came to pick Alok up after work one day and I saw her.’

‘Yes. That’s her.’

Mudit mock-punched my shoulder. ‘Not bad, bro. What happened?’

I recounted my awkward date at Attiko. ‘And that’s it. We didn’t really communicate after that,’ I said.

‘From what you tell me, she was DTF, bro,’ Mudit said.

‘DTF?’

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