Page 30 of 12 Years
‘Do you think about me? Do thoughts about me randomly pop up in your head?’
‘Yes … sometimes …’
‘What kind of thoughts?’
‘Oh … I feel like talking to you. Spending time with you. I wonder about what you are doing. I think about you performing at the comedy club.’
‘How many times a day do you think of me?’
‘I don’t know. Two? Three? I haven’t counted. How often do you think of me?’
‘Fifty, sixty times.’
‘What?’
‘Relax. I’m joking,’ I said, laughing. ‘But I think of you a fair number of times.’
‘Okay,’ she said, looking uncertain and amused at the same time.
‘Also, I know I’m divorced and older. So it’s not an easy decision for you.’
‘Well, I’ve never been married or even dated anybody.’
‘I know.’
Payal leaned forward. ‘Whatever this is, Saket, take it slow, please,’ she said. ‘I’m curious about things. I want to see where this goes, but I really haven’t done this before.’
I removed my hand and looked into her eyes. ‘Slow is good.’
‘Thank you.’
‘From now on, I’ll be like an actor in a slow-motion movie,’ I said and picked up the menu card in slow motion. Then I lifted my wine glass and sipped the Prosecco in slow motion.
She laughed.
‘Shall we order some dinner?’ I said, gesturing for the waiter in slow motion.
‘Do you want me to get you a cab?’ I said. ‘Parel, right?’
We were in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel, having come down after finishing dinner.
Payal checked her watch. ‘It’s only 10 p.m. Not that late by Mumbai standards,’ she said.
Okay, she wanted to spend more time with me.
‘You want to go somewhere else?’ I said. ‘Like a nightclub or something?’
‘Somewhere we can take a walk? Near the sea maybe?’
‘There’s the Bandstand in Bandra. Shall we go there for a bit?’
‘Sure,’ she said.
We took a black-and-yellow cab up to one end of Bandstand.
‘That’s Galaxy, Salman Khan’s house,’ she said, pointing to an apartment complex.
‘Yes, and at the other end of Bandstand is Shah Rukh’s Mannat.’
