Page 9 of 12 Years
‘Let’s discuss what happened,’ Kushal said.
‘What? Nothing happened. She’s being a greedy bitch. She’s squeezing me because she knows I want to get this over with as soon as possible.’
‘Really? Nothing happened? Try to remember, Saket,’ Kushal said. Even through his 480p laptop webcam, I could see his judgemental looks.
‘I have no clue what happened. You told me she’s entitled to fifty per cent of all my assets, plus a monthly alimony.’
‘Yes, that’s Californian law.’
‘We decided to give her sixty-six per cent of the assets, in lieu of a monthly alimony. Because I don’t want to deal with her ever again. That’s the deal we agreed to sign and submit in court. I’ll get my divorce without going to trial. I’ll be poor, but free.’
‘Yes.’
‘And now she suddenly wants eighty per cent? After we agreed to a sixty-six per cent deal? Tell me, is she a greedy bitch or not?’
‘I cannot comment on a statement like that, Saket. However, I understand from Ms Raashi’s attorney that there has been some provocation and a breach of the agreed-upon conduct from your side.’
‘What is that supposed to mean? Oh, fuck,’ I said as I spilled some coffee on my laptop.
‘Language, Saket.’
‘Bro, my coffee just spilled all over my keyboard. If this laptop conks off, I can’t work. I don’t have the money to get a new one. Because you’re ensuring we give everything to her. So, pardon my language, and wait a minute.’
I placed my laptop on its side on the window ledge to make the coffee drip off the keyboard without any of it going into the circuit inside. Then I ran to the kitchen and came back with a washcloth. I wiped the laptop and resumed talking to Kushal.
‘What provocation?’ I said.
‘Did you communicate with Ms Raashi last week?’ Kushal said, tilting his head. ‘And why am I seeing you sideways?’
‘I am draining the coffee out of my laptop. Anyway, I had a brief WhatsApp chat with her. She wanted to know if I had paid the property tax for our, sorry, nowher,her California house. She’ll get the house. She’ll live there. But I need to keep paying the property tax.’
‘Until the settlement is done, yes. Did you converse with her about anything else?’
‘I asked her why she hadn’t signed the settlement agreement yet.’
‘Why? Didn’t we agree to speak about the settlement only through each other’s attorneys?’ Kushal said.
‘I know, Kushal,’ I said, wiping the keyboard one final time before straightening the laptop. ‘But I’m getting impatient.’
‘Did you, at any point, use abusive language during said chat?’
‘No.’
‘Are you sure, Saket?’
I opened my phone and scrolled through my chats with Raashi.
‘Okay, at one point, I did use some strong words,’ I said.
‘Strong as in?’
‘I said, “Go fuck yourself, Raashi.”’
‘Come on, Saket,’ Kushal said, raising his voice, unusual for his perennially calm personality.
‘Sorry, Kushal. I got carried away. She said I could not bully her into signing the agreement. I wasn’t bullying her. I was just urging her.’
‘Well, she has the right to interpret it as threat and intimidation. With use of abusive language suggesting harm.’
