Page 128 of 12 Years

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I opened my eyes again. She was wearing glasses, the laptop hiding half her face. And she was mumbling softly as she typed.

Okay, it has to be her.

My eyes popped wide open.Payal?

She was dressed in a grey tracksuit, her hair tied in a long ponytail. Her face looked slightly fuller than when I had last seen her five years ago.

What do I do?Should I leave? Sit somewhere else? Should I go up to her and say hi? What if she’s with her husband?

I observed her for a while. It didn’t look like she had any company.

I walked up to her.

‘Payal?’

She stopped typing and looked up at me. It took a few seconds for recognition to set in.

‘Saket?’ She stood up.

‘I saw you from across the lounge. Sorry, I know you’re busy. But I thought I’d say hi.’

‘No,’ Payal said as she regained her composure. ‘It’s absolutely fine. Saket Khurana! God! How long has it been? Five years?’

Five years, eight months, thirteen days.

‘Has it?’ I said.

‘Yes, it has been that long,’ Payal said, exhaling deeply.

For a moment, we both hesitated, unsure whether to hug or not. I settled the confusion by holding my hand out towards her.

‘Hi,’ she said, shaking it.

The touch of her hand still felt familiar.

‘Good to see you,’ I said.

‘Same here. Where are you sitting?’ Payal said.

‘Right there,’ I said, turning and pointing to my luggage on the couch across the room. ‘We’re all stuck today.’

‘Yeah. Have you eaten dinner yet?’ she said.

‘No.’

‘I was about to go eat. Want to come with me to the buffet?’

We walked over to the dining area. We took a plate each and did a round of the buffet. I loaded my plate with kebabs. We came back with our food and sat across each other at one of the many small dining tables.

‘Dal chawal? That’s it?’ I said.

‘Yellow dal and some chawal, that’s heaven for me. What more could I want?’ Payal said.

I smiled.

‘You’re still hitting your protein targets, I see,’ she said.

‘Trying to,’ I said, eating one of the chicken kebabs.

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