‘Yes, as far as I know,’ I volunteered. ‘But maybe there’s a girlfriend or partner I don’t know of.’
‘I haven’t noticed a ring. How is he still single though?’
I smiled. ‘Maybe he’s not single. We just don’t know who his partner is.’
‘It’s easier to move the way he has, just up and leave, shifting jobs and homes if you’re single,’ she said, nodding. ‘Still, I can’t wrap my head around why he did this.’
I shrugged. Why had Andrew moved back to Bengaluru? WhyMorning Herald?
‘I introduced Pooja to him thinking he was single.’
I nodded.
‘She’s my best friend’s daughter, and she’s coming off a nasty break-up,’ Sudha said. ‘Her parents live in the same apartment building as Andrew.’
I was listening.
‘She came gushing to me a little after he had moved here. She wanted him to model for her.’
‘Maybe he’s coming off a bad break-up too. Who knows?’ Why was I talking? Why couldn’t I shut up?
‘Maybe.’
‘They make a handsome pair,’ I said. Sometimes I knew what to say and how to say it.
‘They may look good together, but I don’t think there’s a pair there or there’s any chance of that.’
I exhaled. Living in the moment. Heard of that?
‘He’s an old 30, she’s a very young 21 or 22. Too much Gen Z.’
‘Too bad!’ When did this go from a slightly uncomfortable conversation to an enjoyable one?
‘Were you guys friends?’
I told her we knew each other. How quickly the weather changes in Bengaluru!
‘He’s a super-smart man, Myra.’
If she was hawking him like home-grown produce in a market square, he had impressed her, which wasn’t easy to achieve either. Sudha wasn’t given to superlatives, in life and in her stories. She was the very definition of a reporter.
She obviously thought I didn’t have a boyfriend. Ravi Rao’s and mine was a noiseless affair. We didn’t stroll the streets hand in hand or otherwise, and as a couple, we didn’t have a social media presence. It’s the way both of us wanted it, but it was more me. I didn’t want people to know, particularly because I was in the media. Once we were official, engaged, maybe it would be okay to make it public, but before that, it was best to fly under the radar.
I smiled. I needed a rocket out of this personal space we were in.
‘What’ll he quit and do? I’m not sure if people are waiting to take him back from where he came?’
‘He’ll write columns, books, cover elections,’ Sudha said. ‘This level of expertise is always in demand. There are too few of them in the ecosystem.’
I nodded. ‘They’ll have to afford him.’
‘He could freelance. There are organizations that don’t cost cut on intellect.’
I was beginning to wonder if Sudha’s source was Andrew Brown himself.
‘You probably know him longest,’ she said.
I nodded. She was waiting for me to add to it, but I forced my backside off the settee to get more hot coffee to burn my mouth.
