Contradiction
She spent the evening at Karmakar party and returned by10:30 just to be safe and avoid creeps on the road
She had no idea what Raanav was attempting to convey
She had no idea why he would hate Abhishek, The possessiveglitter in his eyes when he became angry was new to her. They were not evenfriends… oh heck not even acquaintances
They had met a few times at Bua’s
He hated middle class and poor… and now he hated Abhishektoo
Satyen was pleasant and talkative, Raanav just vanished,Satyen left in 30 minutes as well
“You don’t talk to your Dad’s boss much?” she askedcuriously
“I don’t understand his work… fiber optic etc.. ameeron kanakhra boss”
“You barely greeted his son”
“Dekha uska shaqal toone? Bhai banda ekdum hero maafik..jaise yaha aake uski jaan nikal gayi” Abhishek was merciless
“Ah?!”
“U saw that look na?”
“I agree they are horrifically wealthy” she sighed
“I have a Ph D from Berkeley dude… I don’t have to takeshit from anyone” “Unlike HIM I worked for mine”
“But the Dad paid for your air fare right?”
“Yaar nahi to I cant take Baba or what?”
“I am sure you can…”
“Baba bhi pay kar sakte the”
“But then again… from his savings from the job right”
“Kiski side hey rey tu?” he laughed trying to chase andflirt with her as they ran up the stairs
“Baba so jaayenge” “just stay” Abhishek promised upstairsin the apartment, where both went to put away gifts received and framed awards theyhad brought down to display
Two aunts and uncles were visiting but they chose to spendthe night at other relatives’
“My Papa is home alone. My sisters usually don’t do theirhomework when they are unsupervised”
“how old are they?” he asked pleasantly
“You know… you saw them”
“Oh yeah I forgot” he smiled his eyes glinting knowingly
“They can be a pain in the a—”
“They sound like fun”
“Bhej deti hoon yaha pe, Ph D sab bhool jaaogey”
“Would love it bhej de” he laughed
“I mean it… they are fully into fashion, and clothes andmusic”
“Achha?” “What are their names?” je asked and yawned
She told him
“Sofe pe baithen?” he asked after they brought up the lastset of leftovers and things
“I really have to go”
He rubbed her back
“I can give u a massage”
She giggled relaxing realizing Raanav was getting into herhead too much and she should not be judging anyone based on Parashar standards
They sat on the couch as Mehul entered and smiled andnodded and went to his room after discussing something about clean up crew atcommunity center
Abhishek showed her pictures from the trip on his Insta
“that’s a funny handle”
AKar” she giggled
“Hum bolte hai na… yeh kar” waise… samjha?”
She smiled, he was quite funny
“Tujhe bhejta hoon friend request”
“I just post rants on Twitter about economic policy… I don’thave a Insta Account… matlab hai… but just Diwali diya photos… my sisters’nails… Ma’s Turkey trip food pictures… bas”
They added accepted each other
His had 1000s of pictures of himself, in various poses…and at various locations…
“How come u don’t have any of the “Records Room” shelaughed
“Men’s Room ka hai” he laughed showing how some studentshad removed the Rest room board and stuck it outside his office
She felt fine when she left
He tried to kiss her by the front door, long after Baba’ssnoring sound started coming out of his room
He rubbed her arm… and tried to feel her waist
Something about being intimate was still not cool with her
She was confused why her instincts were so opposed to it.
“Aise kab taq rey?” he pressed himself on her
“I know… I am just tired I guess”
“To ruk ja na… I have disco lights in my bedroom”
“No way”
“Yes way..” “Chal dikhata hoon” he dragged her to show
“Why?” she laughed softly
“Because dreams ka mood banana ke liye” he laughed
She inched back trying to get out
“Ufff” she cursed fighting that uneasiness
He held her face again by the door and bend down
“My sister is seeing this guy… she was making out and Papawalked out on them” she blurted
“Shitt mann” he cursed
“I know…. It hit the fan” she nodded
“Kaun hai?”
“Tumhare Baba ke boss ka cousin… matlab… his nephew orsomething”
“Ameerzaade… yoon ho hote hain… charsi hoga saala” “Aajdekha uska khud ka beta? Must be a stoner yaar”
“You think?” Viveka had never done any drugs… she didn’t knowanything about that “look”
“Pakka dude bata raha hoon tujhe”
And then she was back being edgy all the way home
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