Part 19: Saturday musings
That Saturday she woke up with a head as heavy as an iron ball.
Once, she'd ruined his shirt for good, he'd left for a change of clothes and come back when they had been well into spoofing a pivotal scene from titanic: one where Jack convinces Rose to get on a boat and leave.
JACK (Yash) : Go on. I'll get the next one.
He'd come in taking the same chair as before, as she let her gaze find her next line in the script that Yash had found in the internet and sent to each of them through chat. In the time he'd been gone, Meera had picked the first random video in YouTube which had turned out the be the famous scene from Titanic. They had quickly picked their roles without much discussion on when they would start to mix in their own dialogues, when all had concurred that the element of surprise would greatly add to the forced humor, by catching the person next in line off-guard.
ROSE (Meera): No. Not without you!
CAL (Geet): (low) There are boats on the other side that are allowing men in. Jack and I can get off safely. Both of us.
JACK (Yash): I'll be alright. Hurry up so we can get going... we got our own boat to catch.
They all had exchanged quick glances, hinting for someone to go off track.
CAL(Geet): Get in... hurry up, it's almost full.
On the large screen, they had seen Lightoller grab her arm and pull her toward the boat. Rose had reached out for Jack and then had stepped into the boat which had been the cue for Meera to pitch in.
LIGHTOLLER (Meera): Lower away!
The two men had watched at the rail as the boat began to descend.
And she'd felt a rush of spontaneity then.
CAL (Geet): (low, with longing) At last, we are together, she'd said in place of the lines in the original script, "You're a good liar", making him spurt out the sip of wine he'd just taken from his glass. It was as if he'd not remembered what they had been upto up until she'd gone off the script.
JACK (Yash): Finally, my love...
He'd shook his head and eventually laughed along with the others, hearing the actual dialogue, "Almost as good as you..." that had played low in the background.
CAL (Geet): I always win, Jack. Both in bed and outside...
"I always win, Jack. One way or another", being the actual lines that Cal had said in the scene.
She'd winked at Yash for authenticity and that was the end of Meera as she'd fallen to the carpet from the tickle of laughter.
"Good one..." She'd heard him say with the last of the incredulous look still lingering on his face. But that had been the end of all smiles for her that night. She'd then gone straight to the kitchen and reached for the wine bottle directly.
A big gulp of wine. What had she been thinking? Both in bed and outside... Another gulp and so on and so forth until she'd downed alcohol like she was only chugging cold water to put down the fire of embarrassment she'd felt inside. The things that came out her mouth when he was around! By the time, she'd finished one bottle and had already moved to the second one, Meera had come in and packed her off to bed.
Still in bed, she pushed aside the sheets and picked up her cell phone to check for messages. There was one from Dev, telling her he was off to Texas for a few days, taking three consultants for their client interviews and that he missed her at home. Despite, the fuzz that her head was, she'd been able to pick out the almost imperceptible change in his tone when he'd added that last sentence for good measure; as was expected from any husband in love, staying away from his wife for the length of time they have.
Falling back into her pillow, she'd couldn't help but wonder what it would do to her if Dev were to give any real depth of feeling to his voice, when he said such statements that, for another couple, might bear the real weight of their affections for each other. It was as if three people were born inside her with that reflection: one that took instant grief for the separate lives they led; one part that felt some relief that they weren't a normal pair; and the third person who rebuked her that it was perhaps time she made Dev that man who wouldn't let the second personality of hers go in searching of what her former disappointed self sought after.
She waited for the tears to come, wash away the numbness she felt then, but when time trickled by without nursing either of the throbbing head that she did feel and those that she didn't, she took to the bathroom to get ahead with the day. Having washed her face, she decided to put chai on the stove, hoping that the tea would take care of her pounding. Well! she wasn't going to tell Meera to get hold of the apt remedy for her headache for fear of hearing her 'told you so...' followed by a long discourse that she didn't need that morning.
She came out of the bedroom with a cup and saucer in one hand and her other arm making striding motions against her teeth with a toothbrush; a thin gauze of white foam coating her lips and stopped at the bedroom door stock stunned seeing him tower by Yash's couch; her eyes flaring wide from his unexpected presence.
There was a mild look of surprise in his eyes too and she took in his patronizing smile.
Shit! Her eyes darted down to her tweety-bird white t-shirt, blue patiala pants, the cup and saucer and then to the brush that she'd taken out of her mouth. And that same instant, she turned about and disappeared into the thick air of embarrassment that was beginning to envelope her.
Oh! why-oh!-why did she have to come out like a street urchin when he was dressed for ramp with a similar ubiquitous medley of a white shirt and a blue jeans on; her hair a havoc as a bird's nest while his tufts stood for what they called a perfect dishevelment was.
Once the chai began to pick up froth on the side, she left the kitchen and zipped past everyone in the living room to wash up and change into a fresh set of clothes. This time when she made her way back to the kitchen, her eyes caught him on the same side of the room in a lazy chat with Yash on the latest mobile phones that were showing up in the market.
She leaned on the kitchen counter and braced herself on bother sides, taking a deep breath. There hadn't been a direct conversation between them since the mildly alleging remarks they had made on each other at the party. If he'd been hanging around to resolve the cold shoulder they had unknowingly begun to give one another, then she'd no way of telling that was the case, when he'd not made efforts to speak to her. Of course, she hadn't given him an opportunity either.
The sound of chai rising inside the vessel brought her out of her thoughts and she gathered cups to serve the chai in and stir in the sugar.
When she made an appearance in the living room, Yash had been praising her good work in the apartment and that made her roll her eyes at him.
"Nowadays, we don't eat here if it isn't Geet's cooking. Meera makes dog food"
Sure enough, Meera smacked him in the head and plunged to get her mug of tea, while she helped with Yash's cup.
"What did you get MK? I think he prefers Coffee..." Yash looked up at him who still hadn't taken a seat.
"Chai..." She spoke low as she raised the cup in the general direction of where he stood, without meeting his eyes.
"Chai is fine..." He said.
Just as she was about to pick her own cup from the tray, Yash addressed him again, "You should hang out with us today, MK...we are all going for shopping...Geet, here wants to get some clothes..."
"No...I just came in to check on you. You guys should go ahead. I also have some work..."
It sounded like a train of excuses to her and since she couldn't find any real intention to convince him to come with them, she decided to finish her chai off in the kitchen while she started breakfast.
She went through the chores in a haze that came from a practiced banality of everyday work which required no thought to carry them out. And so there was an easy absorption when she chopped carrots and added it to the boiling water, thereby startling herself all the more when he came into the kitchen with his empty cup and it made her ponder, how he'd managed to do that when Meera would have insisted him quite openly on taking that from him.
"Good chai..." He said, placing the cup in the sink and she cornered herself into the nook of the counter that met from two sides of the room.
"Thanks..." She responded as she held onto the counter, tightly gripping it for more than required support.
"You need alka seltzer..." He said and that made her look at him with confusion, "Huh?"
"For your hangover..." He added, still standing by the sink, "I can get you one if you don't have it at home..."
"No...Meera should have some...", she said and read something in his eyes change then.
"Thanks..." he said, and she knew, he was leaving right after that and her pulse quickened, without reason, "I will see..."
"You should come..." She cut him off surprising herself, "I mean...I owe you a shirt and I can't buy it without you..."
By the time she'd asked him to come, she had already begun wishing she hadn't; not wanting to feel the disappointment of having asked and being rejected. After a long second, he finally spoke with his eyes fixed on her that entire time, "Ok...I will meet you downstairs in the garage whenever you are ready to leave...I will drive".
She smiled. But, before she could muster to speak in return, he had left the room.
Lord! He had to stop doing that, she thought, coming and going like he was Merlin.
Whatever that Saturday held for her, she mused, feeling a final wave of relief from his leaving course through her body and yet found herself on the edge in anticipation of what was to come.
Note: No copyright infringement intended for the Titanic content included here.
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Edited by 6th.Element - 13 years ago
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