Jersey stories
It was almost 3 AM when the last of the guests left. II held back Nandu and Shravu on Shravu's request
She was totally worn out
When she went up she found him asleep sprawled across the bed, his daughter sleeping in the exact same position three feet from him on the giant bed
She went to the sun room and lay down
Ritu had brought up a bunch of her CMU connections over dinner eliciting not much of a reaction from R&B.
She claimed to have the CMU jersey of every kind.
II tried to jog her memory over where she had said she worked while in the States.
II knew she had lived in NY? New Jersey?
It was trivial. What she did in her previous life didnt matter to II whatsoever
It was long ago. A time when she didnt know R&B
But the fact that Ritu sat on it for almost two years and chose to leak portions of it while she was in Paris to Bally in August seemed weird
And now at the party, to drum up closeness with a direct report that she thoroughly hated?
At the direct report's house?
It rankled II
She wanted to ask R&B if he dated her
AND SHE DID
Not known for her patience or tact
She came out with it
She did that after dinner, before dessert when everyone gathered in the front lawns to do some "pre diwali" fire crackers
she found him alone and asked him
"Did u date Ritu while at CMU?" she asked bluntly
He looked shocked, Makarand tapped on his shoulder
He looked at her piercingly for a few minutes, letting his hold go afterwards
He refused to eat dessert and went up to crash when Akka was leaving
"Isko aaj nahi rakhna tha dinner party" Akka hugged him and muttered
"Umm.. I dont sleep much Vandita" he said politely
"Ghar par aa boss kabhi, Amma Appa tujhe yaad kar rahe hain" Bala laughed
He nodded politely
"Come for Navaratri no?" Akka pleaded
He nodded
Shubhang was asleep in the car, Ranjan was guarding the boy with open door
"I can take both boys to Munirka" Akka offered
"Are u kidding? NO KA!" II declined vehemently
"U watched Nandu when Sam was in paris" II muttered
Sam's in laws had refused to attend dinner causing Ranjan a lot of grief
They were home but refused to attend...
"Sam ko kehna I will call her tomm" Akka lowered her gaze sadly
II nodded
"Ja bhai abhi aaya hai, aaj raat ko beech beech mein tujhe 10 baar call karta hoon" Bala winked
R&B nodded expressionless "Do that" he said
Akka looked at II, there was no outrage or argument on II's face
"Itni jaldi mein hai da yeh she wont even respond" Akka teased
II went out to the drive way, R&B went up to sleep
He poured his espresso out and hit the "OFF" switch on the machine
It was after Noon on the Sunday
II came down with a showered and dressed Nivi squealing and chattering
The boys were still asleep...
"Well... look" she began
"I dont want to talk about whatever is in ur mind II" he said quietly getting out of her way
"Ek min... meri baat sun lo please?" she requested
"Of all the machinations your mind could come up with, this is the best one?" he was livid
He held Nivi, she looked shocked
"hey bud." he cooed... he handed her a animal cracker from a jar shaped like a jersey cow
"she has been nasty to me the whole time, and all of a sudden I am being told she knows u and people from CMU" she muttered choking up
"Oh yeah, thats GOT TO BE because ur husband dated her" he said bluntly
She cringed
"I had sex with a few women in my 5-6 years at Pittsburgh, but she was not one of them" he said
She turned red at the scathingly harsh admission
"Well... does that make you happy now?" he challeneged
OH HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?
HOW CAN YOU HAVING SEX WITH MANY WOMEN MAKE ME HAPPY?
She looked up at him with cloudy eyes
"The next time u drum up some grudge against your boss/ ex boss I suggest you leave your husband's bed out of it" he said coldly
"I DID NOT KNOW" she whispered
"Ofcourse... when u dont know stuff, you assume your husband took the woman to bed, that should remove the fog" he said
He turned filled up his coffee... "I have meetings" he said
"Dont do this" she whispered "I am sorry"
"I am not sure whats going on II. U accept another role, invite your boss for dinner, dont tell ur husband, and then at the end of the night accuse him of dating her" he said
SHITTT
IT SOUNDS HORRIBLE
I KNOW
IT DOES
"U will no longer work for her, you need to let go of the hate" he said firmly
"I have never bothered to ask her any personal Qs da" she whispered
"And thats somehow MY problem?" he asked
Nivi got off his godee and ran after Mavvy since he had a bowl of her fave oatmeal, cream, brown sugar and strawberries
"I didnt want to ask because I didnt want to know, she was stressing me out enough already, knowing abt her personal drama wud only make my bitterness worse socha" she whispered
"U had no basis for asking me that question. I havent lied to u about my past. You know about ...umm... (did he cringe?) Marliese..." he exhaled as if it was hard for him to speak
II HATED THE WAY THE NAME ROLLED OFF HIS TONGUE
WITH THAT PERFECT FRENCH ACCENT
"Any woman you DONT get along with is NOT my orgy partner" he exhaled "Dont make that assumption" he said coldly
The lump in her throat threatened to cause her neck to blow up, it choked her so badly
The second he took the back stair case, she ran down the ground floor corridor and locked herself in one of the bedrooms across from Ranjan & Savvy's and began to sob her heart out.
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