Page 138 of 12 Years
‘Who’s Nadia?’
‘This girl I’m dating. Whose cousin I want you to meet.’
‘Nadia?’
‘Yeah. Nadia and Amelia. They’re from Ukraine.’
‘Ukraine? What? How did you even meet them?’
‘At a bar.’
‘You’re dating a Ukrainian girl?’
‘I like to know more about other cultures. Besides, I like helping people.’
‘Helping?’
‘Well, I support her. Financially. A little bit.’
‘What? Mudit. What the hell are you up to?’
Mudit laughed. ‘Whatever it is, it’s better than this emotional drama you’ve carried in your heart for years. We’re men. We don’t have to get so emotionally invested to have fun with women.’
‘So, you …’
‘I what? Have a sugar baby? Yes, I do. It helps her and me.’
‘Mudit, that’s weird.’
‘Weirder than compulsively looking at pictures of your ex and her husband? Almost six years after your break-up?’
I didn’t answer. I put out my hand, and Mudit placed my phone back in my palm.
‘What do you think? Meet Amelia?’
I looked at Payal’s Instagram account. A recent post showed Parimal and her in the Maldives, eating breakfast in their private pool villa. I showed the picture to Mudit. He just smirked.
‘You’re right, Mudit. I’m almost forty. This shit isn’t funny anymore,’ I said, deleting the Instagram app from my phone. ‘I have to truly move on.’
‘Good job, bro,’ Mudit said. ‘So, double date? Nadia, Amelia, you and me?’
‘Nothing else has worked so far. Let’s try it your way.’
‘Great.’
‘Is it really a date though? It almost sounds like a deal.’
‘What’s the difference anyway?’ Mudit said, laughing.
A DJ played the latest hit song, ‘Bom Diggy Diggy’from the movieSonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety,as the SecurityNet team hit the dance floor.
Michelle, from the design team, ran up to us. ‘Come on, Mudit sir, Saket sir. Join us. We all have to dance!’
‘Let’s go,’ Mudit said, and dragged me with him to the dance floor. ‘Learn to let go, bro,’ he said. ‘And don’t just stand—dance, bro,’ he said.
Six years later …
‘Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?’ Wajid, the lead singer of the Dubai-based band The Seen, spoke into the mic. His drummer and bassist kept a soft beat going in the background.
