The moment I spot Prathap Gowda’s silver-grey Mercedes, I take off my blazer, loosen my tie and roll up my sleeves. I tell Ratan, ‘I’m driving.’
I make my way through Aaditha’s office quietly, unlike the last time I was here.
I approach the store manager. He’s the one I asked to keep the change two months ago. He was in Jaipur, too, but I have forgotten his name. His name badge says ‘Manager’.
‘I would like to meet Aaditha. Is she here?’ I ask.
He doesn’t nod. No yes or no either; he reaches for the intercom behind him. I don’t hear him speak, but a few seconds later, he directs me to the door. He isn’t smiling.
Good, loyal team.
I like that I knew where Aaditha would be. Ratan had lost her, too, so I took a wild guess! Maybe not so wild.
I know so little about her daily routine, I could maybe count them on one hand – coffee connoisseur, wine drinker, lover of denims, likes to hang out at Lakshmi Bar, is not opposed to hiding behind a costume to avoid attention. Though the last two are not a part of her regular regimen.
The manager holds the door open for me before pulling it shut behind him.
‘Did you just get back?’ I ask Aaditha’s back.
‘I didn’t hear you,’ she says, spinning around. ‘Mohit, whom you’ve met before, just called. I couldn’t hear him clearly. I thought you were on the way.’
I’m exhaling a storm, offering libations in my head. She hasn’t thrown me out!
‘Apologies,’ I say quickly. ‘I knocked.’
‘How did you know I was here?’
‘I took a chance,’ I say.
Her face is as blank as an untouched school board on the first day of the year, but the dip at the base of her neck is pronounced.
‘I drove your father’s car,’ I say.
She smiles; the light catches her eye. ‘I’m impressed! First taste of my city’s infamous traffic snarls?’
Her smile is infectious. ‘It’s not so bad, actually,’ I say.
She exhales, and her shoulders drop a tad as she points at the chair beside me.
Between us stands a heavy mahogany desk, and heavier still, the weight of unspoken confessions.
‘I want to talk to you, Aaditha.’
She nods. ‘Can I get you something to eat or drink?’
Yamazaki on the rocks would’ve been good. ‘I’ll have a coffee,’ I say.
‘You don’t have to punish yourself,’ she says. ‘We have tea, too – the bags you left behind the last time you were here.’
‘My behaviour is inexcusable.’ I stop, the words catching in my throat. I shake my head, voice barely steady. ‘And that’s just the beginning.’
Her shoulders shift in a gentle motion. She leans back in her seat. Her tiny frame has taken up all the space in my head.
‘Would those bags be stale? It’s a couple of months already,’ she asks.
‘It will hold,’ I say.
‘Tea, then?’
