Her skin felt too tight, her identity a cloak that was smothering her in the moment. She hurried away from there, her head down so she didn’t meet anyone’s eyes, even accidentally. She needed to not be herself, for a while, just for today.
She got into her car, slamming the door behind her and stared at her wild eyed reflection in the rear view mirror. Her fingers trembled as she pulled out her phone and dialled.
“Vedu? What’s up?”
“Kimi, I need you.”
Kimaya Kashyap didn’t hesitate for a second. “Where are you?”
“I know you’re at work,” Vedika murmured, feeling horrible for pulling Kim out of her own life to deal with her epic anxiety attack.
“Vedu, where are you?” Kimi enunciated crisply.
“In the office parking lot.”
“I’m on my way.” With that, the line went dead.
Relief flooded Vedika as she sat in her car waiting for her cousin and best friend to show up. Kimi worked with her father in his NGO and most days were a constant hustle. She really shouldn’t have pulled her away from work and into her mess. She should have the spine to face the shitstorm her poor choices had caused.
But no…she sat in her car, struggling to hold back tears while her cousin drove to her rescue. She was pathetic.
“Whatever it is you’re thinking,” Kimi said, yanking the passenger door open and sliding in. “Stop right now.”
“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” Vedika replied, the tears escaping her now.
Kimi’s face softened. “You think you’re useless and pathetic and a waste of space. You’re not.”
Vedika dropped her head back on the car seat, staring out at the rows of cars parked there.
“I never thought ‘waste of space’,” Vedika muttered.
“Well,” Kimi said pragmatically. “There’s a first time for everything. So,” she added briskly. “What are we doing here? Watching the cars or the people clocking in for a hard day of work at Thakkar Industries. Not that I mind, that hottie getting out of that SUV in the corner is very easy on the eye.”
Vedika didn’t even bother turning to look. She wasn’t interested in an SUV hottie. She wanted the damn Hainan Gibbon…and what did that say about her?
“I need to not be me,” she said, straightening in her seat. “Not for today, maybe not even for a long, long time.”
“Alright then.” Kimi strapped her seatbelt on. “Let’s get on that agenda. What’s first? Shopping?”
The last thing Vedika wanted to do on a regular day was shopping. So maybe, it was the perfect thing for a ‘Not Vedika’ day.
“Let’s go,” she said, putting the car in gear and driving out of the parking lot. She came to a screeching halt a minute later.
“Shit. I have to email my manager about my day off.”
Kimi unbuckled her seatbelt. “You do the admin. I’ll drive.”
Vedika spent the rest of the day burying her head in the sand. If she didn’t focus on the debris of her life, it didn’t exist. It was a simple motto and one she was going to follow to the letter. But when her cousin insisted on buying out most of a shopping mall, she had to dig herself out of the sand a little.
“Let’s check that store out. The dress on the mannequin is gorgeous.”
Vedika groaned. If shopping was an Olympic sport, Kimi would medal. Nothing less than a podium finish for her girl. Vedika on the other hand…she whimpered a little as she said, “Kimi, we’ve got enough. Half these clothes I won’t even wear.”
“Sure you will. ‘Not Vedika’ would wear every last teeny, tiny piece. In fact,” Kim’s eyes narrowed. “I know just what we’re going to do.”
“My legs hurt,” Vedika whined.
“I will fix that too,” Kim murmured ominously before ushering her towards the escalator in the mall.
