Talk soon
“Ritu?”
“Hmm?” She startled up from her phone.
“We are going in the bus with everybody else,” Nilay grumbled. “If we wait for another town car, we may miss the take-off slot… Are you listening to me?”
“Yes. Yes. It’s fine with me.”
His brows drew together. “Is everything ok?”
“Yes,” she worked to pull a smile from some long-lost corner of her chest. “Dr. Shravan is back tomorrow. Good news — you get to be treated by him now.”
His frown remained knitted, his mouth remained turned down. A long minute passed. And then he nodded.
10. Ek Din Aap Yun Humko Mil Jaayenge
— RITU —
Life was still life. The vacation was still the same. In fact, now it was a real vacation. No rushing across town, no dashing between the clinic and hospitals, no Cath Labs and procedures, no reviewing emergency reports over distressed patient calls. Life was waking up at dot 5 with MM’s cries for food, then waiting it out for Gautam or Maya to quieten her and wind down, before going downstairs to sit quietly in the serene dawn of a wintery Mumbai.
The fortnight that passed should have felt exactly what she came to India for — a break. With Maya and her family. And Ritu constantly told herself that. Reiterated. Convinced. Chided. She tried it every day and forced thoughts of a certain obnoxious man with a penchant for reaching for her waist away. She tried to not think about his fortnightly reports, or his progress, or if his cholesterol was under control yet.
“This is not done, Maasi.”
Ritu glanced up from the cup of green tea in her hand. Maya was thumping down in her pyjamas, rumpled and looking like the cutest witch with narrowed eyes. Sheet mask, messy hair all over, eye patches.
“How does Gautam look at you in the morning?”
“He dare say this to my face and then he will see how.”
“He will need said face to say it to.”
Maya threw the bundle of newspaper roll she had collected at her. Ritu ducked, reaching for the pillow.
“Not that! The sequins are loose on that one!”
Ritu made a show of considering it before hurling that exact pillow at her. Maya ducked but got caught in the face. The sheet peeled halfway.
“Maasi!”
Ritu snorted, breaking into a run with her tea sloshing as Maya came behind her, collecting whatever she could from her hall — pillows, throw, remote?
“Are you mad?!” Ritu gaped over her shoulder. “Put it down!”
“G will get a new one!”
“Remote or my head?!”
Maya made a show of hurling it and Ritu turned — “Sorry, sorry, sorry, you lunatic!”
Loud chortles. She could still laugh like a baby. Ritu rolled her eyes, turning around to find her setting the things back in her hall. She collapsed on the sofa, the remote still in her hand. Ritu eyed it skeptically.
“Come, come. I won’t throw it at you. G won’t get a new one. Even if he does, I will hear about it for the next hundred years.”
Ritu thanked Gautam’s sanity in this madhouse as she padded back to the hall and took a seat farthest from Maya.
“What are your plans for today?” Maya yawned.
