His eyes opened up. Wide. Nilay took her face in his hands and pulled it close to his, making sure she was looking into his eyes while he said this.
“Ritu, your father was a loser and a bastard and I have no shame in saying this to you — but he was a misogynistic pig for putting your mother through that. Although,thatyielded you, so I can’t complain. I am telling you right now that I will never be that. Before you, I wasn’t even going to have kids. Didn't even want them. With anybody. It is you. I wantyou, and to multiply the craziness with you. If that doesn’t work out, we will make enough of crazy between ourselves. And there is always MM. We will spoil her crazy so that she will stay more at our house and less at her parents’ house.”
Her tears were unstoppable, but so was the shy smile that began to bloom on her mouth.
“And while we are at it, what is this bullshit about gratitude and hero worship?”
“It’s not unheard of,” she sniffed. “Patients make gods out of their doctors, start to see them as their saviours. Especially after something so life-altering. For us, it all got mixed up…”
“Idiot, idiot, Doctor. You don’t know the E of emotional intelligence. Allow me to educate you…”
“Don’t patronise me!”
“Come with me and I promise not to… mostly.”
“Here!” Gautam’s holler broke them apart. Nilay turned, and cursed. Gautam was standing there, panting, her passport in hand. “Somebody had thrown it behind the sofa,” he eyed his wife.
“She doesn’t need it,” Nilay announced.
“Shecan make her own decision.” Ritu stepped out from behind him, her face cleaned of tears now. He stared her down — “Make it then.”
She glanced at Gautam, then Maya, who was was half turned away, using MM’s hand to wave like a white flag.
“Give it here,” Ritu held her hand open for her passport. His heart stopped. “I am not going.”
Maya whooped. And his missed beat synced back again.
“Let’s go home then, we’ve had enough of a scene here as it is.” Gautam looked around. People were staring, but nothing unusual. Airports were always scene-fests. Nilay eyed the commotion beyond. His car’s wheel had been locked.
He turned to Ritu — “Go home with them,my home,” he emphasised. “I’ll sort this out and come back.”
She nodded.
Before she could, Nilay flicked her passport from Gautam’s hand. “I’ll hold onto this until your flight takes off,” he pocketed it.
“There is always the next flight,” she sassed back.
“Let me come back, then I’ll make sure that doesn’t take off either,” he whispered in her ear. Her skin turned red. “I’ll see you at home… Maya?” He shook his head unbelievably at her. “You are the star.TheStar!”
“I’m the reverse Amrish Puri!” She beamed. “Aa, Simran, aa, jee le apni zindagi.” She jiggled with MM, and her loud gurgles were the best thing he had heard this morning after Ritu’s ‘I’m not going.’
With his Doctor thus secured in the city, for the time being at least, Nilay turned to the security surrounding his car. He ran a hand through his hair and pulled out his wallet. He nodded at the security man who had shadowed him.
“Nilay Patel.” He handed him his driving licence. Then held up his mobile. “Would you like to speak to Minister of Cultural Affairs Maharashtra or the Union Textile Minister?”
Ruk jaa o dil deewane…
Nilay turned, and Maya was playing it on loud on her phone, nudging Ritu towards Gautam’s car. He turned and kept going.
“At least get your car like a normal human!” Ritu chided over the music. He waved her off and kept going.
————————————————————
Nilay turned the key in his door and pushed it open. There she was, sitting on his sofa, scrolling through her phone. His final bit of anxiety melted away. The early morning sun was bright behind her, sieving in through the sheer curtains, illuminating his home. Hishome.
Why was he thinking like some domesticated Casanova? Nilay found himself loving the word ‘domesticated.’ He closed the door behind him and the click startled her. She began to rise.
“Keep sitting.” He commanded. Her eyes widened.Yeah, he wasn't done firing.
