“Good. Come here.”
He walked her to the dining table and stood her on one side. Then circled around to the other side, grabbed the rag he had set there for this express purpose and threw it over his shoulder. Her mouth widened, those perfect teeth making an appearance.
“Butter mat dalna, Bhaiya.[19]” She played along.
“Pakka?[20]” He cocked an eyebrow.
“Pakka. Aur, chutney ekdum kam. Ek hi side pe.[21]”
He went full ballistic with the chutney on both sides for her. She bit her lip, looking naughty again. The last few days had sucked the energy and joy out of her. It hadn’t been apparent, but now that he saw that bright smile, he realised how scared she must have been. He had all but blackmailed her into performing his angioplasty. He hadn’t asked her what she had felt.
“Extra salad!” She demanded, and he blinked down at the cucumbers he was slicing. Nilay grinned up at her — “Masala?”
“Ekdum kam.[22]”
“Taste hi nahi aayega, Madam.[23]”
Her shoulders hunched in glee, vibrating. He lay the bed of veggies one upon the other, now an expert himself because he had spent his entire adult life eating this sandwich on Mumbai streets. He threw a generous dash of Sandwich masala and closed the bread, pressing down and cutting it into nine pieces.
She grabbed a plate but he held up his finger, bringing out the newspapers he had torn and readied earlier.
“I am impressed,” Ritu observed as he set the newspaper on the plate and slid the sandwich from the chopping board onto it.
“Kaddu wala sauce?” She asked.
“Sorry, forgot,” he winced. “It was a hustle to get everything before you came. I promise you, next time.” He held the plate out to her and she leaned in to get it. At the last moment, he pulled the plate back and pushed his face — “Payment, Madam.”
“Khaane ke baad.[24]”
“First pay, then eat.” He tipped his mouth closer to hers. She smacked it and kissed his cheek, taking the plate from him.
“No more sandwiches for you,” he rubbed his mouth. She laughed, her mouth full of his sandwich. And Nilay leaned forward and stole that kiss before jumping back to save himself from her whack. He didn’t even stop to think if this date was romantic or not. It was them, eating some of their favourite food, laughing. That was all that mattered.
————————————————————
She was a two-flavour of ice cream kinda girl. He had discovered this the first time they had gotten ice cream together, but now it was reiterated and set in stone. She wanted to eat one flavour but also needed to enjoy the other flavour. And he happily supplied in that department, sitting cross-legged on the coffee table with her aping him on the sofa in front of him, spooning ice cream from her cup.
“Want?” He offered her his Sitafal.
“Then you’ll say I ate all of it.” She turned her spoon full of vanilla ice cream with dark choco chips upside down and popped it into her mouth. She had a unique way of eating ice cream.
“I won’t. Here,” he scooped some and held it out to her. She pulled her spoon out and leaned forward, just in time for him to turn the spoon for her so that she could have it on her tongue. Her eyes fell closed and she smiled. The kind of smile he had been dying to see again.
Ritu opened her eyes and saw his expression; her smile melted.
“Nilay…”
“I am ok now,” he said softly. “You can take the kiddie gloves off.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have been exhausted, I see it, Ritu. I am sorry you had to deal with my illness and then my horrendous patient behaviour. I swear it was to have fun and not trouble you…”
“I know,” she sat forward. “I know, Nilay.”
He exhaled. “Good. Good. Then I can move on to what I want to say next.”
Her eyes fell shut again.
