“Yeah yeah! That old man is alive and very much healthy. If anything, I might die before him.” There was a mixture of annoyance and affection as he spoke about his father. Despite his unusual relationship with his parent, he loved his old man. After a lot of turbulence in his growing-up years, the two of them now shared a unique bond, unlike other fathers and sons.
“Is it...a woman?” Rahul was quick to plunge in with his query.
“No!” At his abrupt denial, his friends looked at each other, surprise and curiosity evident in their eyes. After all, this was their womanizing, commitment-phobic friend they were talking about.
“Hmm! By the way, speaking of women, I’ve been meaning to ask you this. How do you know Mia? Were you friends or something?” Neil finally asked that question that had also been in Arjun’s mind.
“I knew her a few years back. More of an acquaintance...” Armaan scowled into his drink as he spoke.
“Sure! Is that why you identified she was the one who had made the pie the other day; immediately after tasting it?” Arjun smirked at his friend, who gave him a dirty look.
“What the fuck do you guys want to know? How many women I’ve been with? Really?” Armaan snarled.
“Please! We can live without those gory details. All that I asked was whether you and Mia have some kind of history...she’s our friend too, you ass.” Neil snapped.
Armaan sighed and looked beyond, at the scenery. “Yes, she...she took care of me a couple of years back when I was setting up the offices in India. She was, huh, actually my employee; of sorts.” He noticed the interest in his friends’ eyes and wanted to snatch back his words.Whoever said only women gossiped was wrong. Men were no better many a time, he thought to himself with a mental grimace.
“You mean, the only time in your life when you were tolerable after which you drank yourself into oblivion?” Rahul absently mused. He continued, completely ignoring his friend’s scowl. “I now wonder if your drinking phase was connected to this mysterious Mia.”
“Okay, I’m officially done here. I just wanted to come in to congratulate the love birds. Now that we’ve also had this scintillating but completely unwarranted chat, I want to get out of here. Anyway, weddings aren’t really my thing.” Armaan placed his glass on the balcony railing and straightened. He moved in to briefly talk to the ladies before offering a salute to his friends. “Oh, and, I hope at least you can catch up with me since you’re mercifully single.” He spoke to Rahul, mocking the other two indirectly.
Rahul simply nodded, before he was interrupted by a phone call.
Chapter 2
Two months later….
Armaan woke up from a disturbed sleep hearing his phone beep. Absently patting the side table, he located his iPhone and unlocked the device. He noticed the WhatsApp group - the one with his friends and their WAGS - brim with messages. Usually, he didn’t respond much; not after Mia was also added to the group by Tanya. Mia’s words, asking him to leave her alone, still rattled his composure. Forcefully ignoring his rising temper, he scrolled through the messages. As usual, Tanya was chattering the most. She wanted all of them to come to Sunny Side Up. Yeah, right! He almost closed the app, when he noticed her latest ping. Guys, Neil and I have some exciting news to share. All of you MUST come in by 9:30. Mia darling, we are gonna give you good business today. We love u and ur decadent desserts. Muah!
Intrigued, Armaan decided to abandon sleep and go. Neil anyway knew he was back from the US; after a long, never-ending deal that had finally culminated a couple of days back. Until about a year ago, he would have immediately gone to Vegas to celebrate the deal. But something had changed inside him. He wanted to jump to the next deal, the next million. Even that failed to give him a high these days.
Snarling at his reflection and the depressing thoughts, he quickly showered after brushing. Pulling on a pair of denim and a button-down shirt, Armaan left his luxurious villa.
∞∞∞
Mia set the usual table for her friends. It was almost nine-thirty and the bunch would walk in anytime. Thanks to the lovely ladies and their handsome husbands, the crippling loneliness that she was used to, had dissipated... a little! She could at least smile at the happiness in their lives. Over the past two months, she’d re-lived Armaan’s words - past and present - a hundred times. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his grey eyes, his olive-skin, that smile that had been reserved for her in the past. Needless to say, deep sleep was a thing of the past. Just when she was finally getting better after...Damn! No, don’t go there,she chided herself.
When the chimes moved, indicating visitors, she looked up with a smile and froze.What was he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be in the US?
Armaan felt a strange sense of satisfaction when he saw Mia standing by their table. Dressed in a flowery dress that fell to her knees, and a cute, off-white cardigan, she looked the picture of poise and grace. He’d always loved her brown curls. In his world, where every woman looked sleek with artificially-straightened hair and perfectly sculpted bodies, her curls and her curves were soft and natural. Just like her!
“Hey.” He softened his greeting when he noticed her rigid stance.
“Hi.” Her smile faltered. “You’re here.”
“Yep! I know you asked me to stay away, but Tanya had mentioned…”
“No, no!” She cut him off. “It’s fine. I mean, yeah, you can join your friends anytime you wish to.”
“Our friends,” he immediately corrected her.
She fidgeted slightly, her hands alternatively holding and releasing the back of a chair. “They must be on the way. Have a seat. Please!” She indicated the empty chairs.
“Aren’t you joining us?”
“I have work. Saturdays are busy and…”
“I know you’ve hired Tom full-time now, and you don’t open for another hour. What’s going on, Mia? I thought we were friends.” His quiet voice directly pierced her soul.
