Tantalizing...
She followed her father like a faithful stray puppy, following at a quiet distance.
The walk from the seaside restaurant to home was one of the most picturesque.
He walked on the beach side she couldnt bear to even look at the sea
It invited her tantalizing with its silver waves and big sounds
"How can you ignore me?"
"I am your favorite"
"See how big my frothy waters are?"
"I even threw out colorful shells on the sand, come Trisha, come collect some"
He left the front door open after he entered the house.
Its not like he did not know
He was too upset to appreciate her presence.
It was a busy day at the restaurant, overseas college kid tourist demographic returned this week or next before colleges began in their home countries
the collection was really good for the day, between Noon to 3 PM and 7 to 10 PM, the 6 hours of business sometimes got extended due to demand and there was no leftovers for home
An average of Rs.50 a plate, at full capacity of 60 guests, every half hour yielded Rs.3000
The day had yielded between Rs.15-20k depending on what was ordered.
Such days were rare.
Younger people wanted to be out in the sun on the beach or if they went inside they wanted the place to serve alcohol.
He had begun to close on Sundays offlate because he was too old to be on his feet for 15 hours a day
He placed the collection on the top drawer of the old dresser and went to the backyard to wash his feet
She didnt know what to cook, harle losani a ginger garlic stirfry in ghee she knew was easy and had learned from her mother.
She opened the storage room frig there was crabs in a bag for the restaurant, kurle ambat she did not know how to make
She looked her phone up for the recipe
Her father began to make rice
"I am making food" she said quietly
He nodded absent mindedly and left the kitchen.
She found him fast asleep with his head hung sideways on his easy chair when she went out to the front patio
She stood bearing a steel plate laden with rice and the two things she had made
She had burned herself yet again her wrist bone this time.
"Aanu" she called out. She went back in covered the plate and went to her room and began packing her research and thesis papers and journals and books she would need.
She sat down and cried when she noticed Jayadev's stick figures in some
He had made smiley faces inside the chemical compounds
And written inappropriate messages for each
He was childish and silly and fun
She missed laying down on the floormat with him on the terrace, staring up at the sky, on sunday evenings at this house in Ullal
She found a pair of short shorts He had forced her to buy at the beach street bazaar near the restaurant
"How come you dont wear this like city girls? the french women look "mast" he would say urging her
It was white and skimpy.
She heard her father walking across the central hall
She sprinted to go remind him
He didnt need to be reminded, he opened the lid and carried the plate to the easy chair and ate quiety
She ate, and found the crabs werent salted properly and it was too too spicy.
You dont show enough interest in cooking, only cleaning. What use is a gleaming house when stomach is empty? her mother would argue
"Your man will want to be fed first"
She wrapped everything up a stickler for cleanliness she scrubbed and scrubbed.
Locked up the door leading to the backyard and opened all the top windows around the house
She lay awake wondering if he even noticed she was gone
thats what happens when you marry a uncaring stranger
Jayadev walked you to the bus stop and watched you board the Ullal bus every night
He would wait at the Mangalore bus stop faithfully after receving text she had boarded at Ullal every morning.
The second day was exactly the same without the Ready Noodle revelation
The folder lay on the floor exactly where she had placed it near the shrine
the third day she went to the university to see if she could get a proctoring type job
She spent a few hours in her lab and returned home to pick up her suitcases
Her father was on the between lunch and dinner break snoozing on the easy chair
"Can I come next week?" she asked longingly
"If you need to take care of college work" he said pointedly "dont come to help out at the restaurant"
He couldnt bear to see her leave with suitcases, he wobbled inside when her auto was being loaded
She returned to Indira Nagar three whole days after she left. It was Saturday morning now.
She took an auto "home" from Majestic
She didnt have keys. Maybe he gave it to her? Maybe he didnt..
She rang the door bell nervously at 9
The cook opened the door expressionlessly
She wheeled the suitcases to her room
She had some help BTW
A guy living on that floor held the elevator door open.
He was holding a cat in his arms
A fluffy over weight cute cat
She was introduced to it also
She wheeled her suitcases and bag to the little walk in closet nook and lay down after a quick shower, a striped capri and a faded purple tee
He woke close to 11 and walked to the kitchen
And found her asleep leaving her door accidentally open.
Her short hair splayed all over the powder blue pillow. Her firm curves luring him towards something unobtainable
He had a bad night. And a bad friday at work. His mother had blasted him yet again in a brief 5 minute call and had promised never to stay with him if she ever returned to Blore.
He shut her door gently and heard it click
"I should just lock it" he thought letting go of the door knob after a pause
as an unexplained emotion akin to possessiveness washed over him
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
