‘Not bad. Busy. The usual, just some stuff to be done, put together,’ she says.
‘Like lists?’
‘You are not going to let me forget this, are you?’
I shake my head. I know I am on an audio call.
‘Are you in Jaipur?’ she asks.
‘Yeah,’ I say before throwing the question back at her. ‘Are you in Jaipur?’
‘No, no,’ she replies a little too quickly.
‘Are you in Bengaluru?’ I ask.
‘Yeah, in my office.’ she says.
She’s probably wrapping and unwrapping her fists. Her nervous tic is relentless.
‘Just checking,’ I say. ‘Didn’t want to bump into you by accident and owe you a tea I didn’t sign up for.’
There’s an audible silence at the other end before she goes, ‘Teeeaaaaa?’
I laugh out loud.
I’m not sure when I get on my feet and start walking around the room, but that’s what I’m doing now. I move towards the lounge chair on the other side of the desk and settle on it.
My finger accidentally hits the Instagram app; notifications are popping up like corns in an oven. Our wedding announcement is everywhere.
@TittleTattle has posted another picture of Aaditha; this was three minutes ago. It is another old shot from her college days in Ohio. She is wrapped in a puffer jacket and walking hand in hand with the same dude she had coffee with at her café.
‘I just saw the announcement,’ she says.
Just saw? Prathap Gowda hadn’t told her about it two days ago, when the palace got in touch with his office?
‘I saw it earlier yesterday, before it was sent out to the media.’
She is about to say something but holds back. I can tell by the sharpintake of breath. ‘It’s all a bit crazy,’ she says slowly.
‘The pace is whirlwind,’ I agree with her. I wait for her to talk, to tell me something about how she feels.
‘I’m worried I’ll be married off before I inhale again!’
I nod. I laugh. It is a light sound.
‘It is gratifying to know that it isn’t the case,’ she says.
I nod and let the silence stretch, willing her to speak.
‘So, you’re really going through with it?’ she asks in the same tone she’d use to enquire about the weather.
I hold back for a few seconds, letting the charged quiet settle. ‘Is this you pretending you’ve never taken a decision and hoping I’ll blink first?’
I hear her inhale.
‘This engagement can’t work.’ Her voice bursts through the line. ‘We come from completely differentworlds, Vedveer. Yours… your life is alien to me.’
I inhale. The midday air feels heavier than it should.
