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34. Rahejas
Vyan came to pick me up almost an hour after we were out of office the next evening. Throughout the way from my building to his house, I kept repeating to myself that it was no big deal, that people visited friends' houses and met their families. I did not want to think there was any other reason behind Vyan wanting me to meet his family apart from me being his business partner, and the friend who had went with him on a holiday and helped him choose gifts for his family.
As he drove into a locality of houses built with modern architecture, I couldn't help but wonder how these houses, which appeared to be small yet posh, were from the inside. I was just going to discover that in a few minutes, my mind reminded me. Vyan stopped in front of a house which had "Rahejas" labelled on the front wall. It was painted in dull peach bordered with chocolate brown. The choice of colours was visually pleasing, the designer in me concluded as I was led towards the ornately carved double doors.
There was no garden, I noticed. There were only a couple of large flower pots which were placed along the front wall. The colourful flowers in them gave an instant lift to the comparatively dull background. The insides of the house were very different. Vyan led me through a small chamber into a drawing room, which was very artfully decorated. I immediately spotted Vyan's style in the decorations. His designs had a roguishness to them which made them unique and appealing and the drawing room spoke of being handled by him.
"Mmm..." I murmured appreciatively. "Your designs." He looked at me and grinned.
"You recognised." He stated as he gestured me to sit.
"Of course. I can tell this much about your designs now, at least."
"Good." He commented and then told me to sit while he informed his mother of my arrival.
A few minutes later, a short, stout woman with plain features entered through the door with Vyan behind her. She was his mother and she met me very formally. She sat on the other sofa with her son as she exchanged pleasantries with me.
"Vyan talks a lot about you." My eyes drifted to him when his mother said that. He had his eyes on me and was smiling sheepishly.
We had only talked as much when a tall elderly man with salt-and-pepper hair, came to the room with a tall woman behind him. Vyan introduced them as his father and sister. As they sat with us, I noticed Vyan had inherited his father's features as well as his personality. The old man was jovial and talkative as he kept the conversation going with a little help from Vyan. Vyan's sister, Nidhi, and his mother were both very formal with me and they mostly remained quiet. While the mother talked cordially, Nidhi remained silent, occasionally passing me a smile or two when our eyes met. What impressed me about her was that she knew how to carry herself. Her clothes seemed branded, her hair streaked and her nails painted perfectly. It seemed odd to me though, that Vyan had told me his mother and sister had wanted to meet me and yet when I was there, they spoke nominally and not like a guest they had requested to meet.
Nidhi sat among us only for some time before she went away and then called all of us for dinner. I was hesitant because Vyan had not informed me about these dinner plans but seeing him pleadingly smile, I walked along with him and sat by his side on the dining table.
"Nidhi made this food today." Vyan proudly announced as we all settled and he picked up the dish of Chinese rice to serve himself. "You know Geet, Nidhi cooks the tastiest food I've ever eaten." I saw the sister in question smile at her brother's comment. "Have some of these." He heaped a spoonful rice on my plate himself before reaching for the curry.
The food was tasty and I said as much to Nidhi. A polite thank you in a sweet voice was all she answered with. She did not talk more than needed, I noted.
"Geet, you haven't tasted this pudding yet. It's good." Vyan then passed me the dish and I took a bit of it.
"So Geet." Vyan's father spoke conversationally. "How are you liking here? It's been, what? Two months since you're here, right? What do you think about our city?"
Before I could speak, Vyan quickly cut in. "It's not the first time that she's come here, Papa. She has lived here for three years before this."
His father looked at him and then back at me. "You have? That is great. But how do you feel now?"
"Well, it's been two and a half months since I'm here." I saw Vyan raise an eyebrow at that so I explained to him. "I was here for a fortnight before I joined work." He nodded. "To sum my opinion of this place up, I'm liking it a lot. I've met my old friends and made some great new ones."
I noticed all three sets of eyes turn to Vyan for a moment before coming back to me. It seemed funny with the way all of them acted in sync.
After dinner, we were seated back in the drawing room. A casual conversation, mostly about our work, floated across the room where Vyan's father made sure to include every person in the room. I wanted to go home now and I was wondering how. It did not seem nice to ask Vyan to drop me even when he had earlier said he would. I looked at my watch subtly when Vyan suddenly called me.
"Come, I'll drop you back." He immediately stood up. "It's pretty late." I looked at him gratefully. He had probably noticed me looking at the time.
Bidding a goodbye to his family, we walked to his car in silence. Instead of unlocking the car, he looked at me.
"Can we take a little walk?" He asked me. "I think I over-ate."
I chuckled. "Sure."
As we walked slowly down the street, I enjoyed the cool breeze of the night, which was a relief from the hot and humid days of summer. I commented on the locality and we casually talked, one thing leading to another.
"Your sister, Nidhi, she doesn't talk much." I told him of my observation.
"Yeah, she is like that." He put his hands in his pant pockets as he smiled slightly. "Reserved, the quiet type. She won't talk more than she feels the need. But I'm an exception." He spoke proudly. "She talks a lot with me, and my God!" He exclaimed, "her habit of staying perfectly spotless when it comes to appearances, it irritates the crap out of me!"
I laughed. He really seemed annoyed with it yet there was a fondness for his sister in his voice.
"She reminds me of my old self." I voiced my thoughts aloud. "Partially, that is."
"You used to be among the silent kind?" He asked incredulously and then shook his head. "When did that change?"
"Some time after college. After I left from here."
He fell quiet for a moment.
"What are you thinking?" I asked curiously when he did not comment.
"I was wondering how you made such different friends in college if you were a reserved person. I mean, none of the three is the kind who would become friends with a silent person. They seemed pretty adventurous to me." He genuinely wanted to know. "How did you make such good friends with them?"
"We were classmates." I offered as an explanation.
"But still... Who initiated it?"
I looked at him and thought back to the time. "Maan did. He was already friends with Ayush and Anaya. He took me into their group." He twisted his face in a strange manner so I asked what it was.
"No wonder. He's not the kind who would let the chance to be friends with a pretty woman slip."
I stared at him for a moment before letting out a peal of laughter. Vyan was envying Maan and the expression on his face was something I had not seen as yet.
"You might want to know that Maan was always a shy person. He would never have talked to me if he didn't need to, at that time. Plus, Anaya and Ayush played a huge rule in actually welcoming me to their group." I clarified his misunderstanding and recalled the time when Anaya had held her hand out for friendship. Now I knew how far that friendship was meant to go.
"Well, those two are great people. They can make anyone comfortable with them." He admired my friends' personalities. "I met them for the first time and it felt like I was old friends with them." I smiled in agreement. "I can't say that about Maan, though."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, he's more likely to intimidate someone."
"Maybe." I did not want to completely agree with him about this opinion of his regarding Maan. He was a charmer with whom he wished and he intimidated those he wanted to keep his distance from. Vyan had probably fallen into the second category for Maan.
He stopped when we reached back to his car, having turned around unknowingly. "There's a lot that changes with time." I shrugged dismissively and got into the car.
The drive from his house to my building was not a long one. It quickly passed in silence as he drove faster than usual on the almost empty roads. When we stopped in front of my building, I thanked him and started to get off but he called after me.
"Geet..."
I turned to look at him. There was a softness in his eyes. "Yes?"
"Thanks for coming with me tonight." He lips curved into the genuine smile which always brought out his eyes. I smiled back at him.
"Good night." He whispered, and after wishing him the same, I got out of the car.
He waited till I reached the entrance of the building before he put the car in reverse and drove away.
Once inside the apartment, I called Raya. She had strictly instructed me to call her once I got home. She had said she wanted to know what happened at my visit but I knew better than to believe that just this was the reason. Ever since Mamma and Baba left us and I had been living alone, she had slowly taken up the role of the elder sister when it came to worrying about me. I listened to her as she commented on everything I told her about.
"Sounds like you had a boring time!" I heard her yawn.
"Not really. It was nice."
"Well, yeah. When Vyan was there, it must have been nice." Her voice had suppressed laughter.
"Chhoti..." I called in warning.
"What?" She quickly said in her defence. "I just said Vyan is a nice guy to spend time with. You agree with that, don't you?" The innocence she feigned did not fool me. However, I could not disagree with her either.
The thought swirled in my mind as I lay in my bed. Vyan was a nice guy, there was no dispute over this. Personality wise, he was kind and considerate. He had the courage to laugh at himself as well as let other people laugh at him at times. He was really cute in that aspect. His appearance was impressive too. He was tall and lean, with blue eyes which always sparkled. His smile was open and contagious. His dressing sense was good too, I thought as I recalled the stylish clothes he wore everyday, which were always simple yet well-suited to him and his physique.
I thought about my visit to his place and his behaviour. He had been caring, speaking up as my advocate once or twice when his parents talked to me. I had understood he was making sure I did not feel uncomfortable, and I admired that fact. He was also very observant, I registered when I recalled how he had understood I wanted to leave, and then took it on himself to let me be excused. Was it normal for a friend to behave like Vyan did? The odds were against it. "Should I be keeping my distance with him and make it clear to him what I think of him?" So many thoughts swirled in my head that it was hard to be able to sleep until my temples throbbed and my eyes started to burn. It was only then that I tightly shut my eyes, willing for a dreamless sleep to take over.
Edited by mayyo - 9 years ago
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