Page 73 of 12 Years
‘I’m kidding,’ Payal interrupted me. ‘I’ve also missed my man for ten days.’
‘Won’t it be weird if your parents find me in the house when they arrive? Just with you?’
‘I thought of that too—you spend an hour with me, then leave. Have a coffee somewhere in Ghatkopar, and come back after 1.30 p.m. Sounds doable?’
‘Absolutely doable. Wow, great thinking, Payal. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.’
‘Same here,’ Payal said before ending the call.
How had I lucked out so much? How did I find a girl as amazing as Payal?
I switched off the lights and hit the bed, hoping to fall asleep fast so that the morning came sooner.
‘Landed! And early. It’s only 10.35 a.m.!’ I messaged Payal as soon as the aircraft touched the ground at Mumbai airport.
‘Super! We get more time then. Come soon. I’m so nervous,’ Payal replied.
‘Why?’
‘In case you forgot, you’re going to meet my parents in less than four hours.’
‘Oh yes. I almost did forget that. Okay, baby, let me come over and calm your nerves down.’
The cab pulled into the driveway of a posh and swanky building called Riddhi-Siddhi Niwas. A guard stood at the barrier gate. He asked me for my ID and other details.
‘Whose house?’ he said.
‘Mr Jain,’ I said.
‘There are eight Jains in the building.’
‘Anand Jain, fifth floor,’ I said.
‘Purpose of visit?’ he said, typing on a touchscreen tablet.
‘To have tea,’ I said.
I couldn’t tell him it was to have sex with Mr Anand Jain’s daughter and then to talk to him about marrying her.
‘What?’
‘They invited me for tea.’
‘I’ll put “social visit”. It’s an option here. Thank you,’ the guard said. He finished typing in his tablet and pressed a button, making the boom barrier go up.
‘You wore a suit? Payal said, looking me up and down.
She’d answered the door before I even had a chance to ring the doorbell.
‘This is the same suit that I wore for the Reliable Polymers shows. It’s the only formal clothing I have.’
‘Thank you for making an effort to dress up. It’s sweet,’ Payal said.
She wore a cream-coloured salwar kameez with a red-and-yellow bandhini dupatta. Even in this simple outfit, she looked beautiful. What she wore didn’t matter. Payal would’ve looked beautiful wrapped up in an IRCTC bedsheet.
‘I have to impress the parents,’ I said. ‘May we hug? Is it safe?’
‘Yes, I’m alone at home.’
