Chapter 37

2 years ago

varshaoforange

@varshaoforange

Imlie joined Aryan and the rest of the group in the corridor and they all headed downstairs to the parking lot.

Downstairs, Shiv asked, “So how do we all want to get there? I drove here, and I assume Radhika, you and Dev came together, did you drive too? Also, Chitra, if you didn’t bring your car, you can come in mine.”

Chitra said, “Thanks, I’ll take you up on that, I’d actually like to bother you about work a little, so that’s good.”

Shiv chuckled and added, “When exactly does working at the firm get easier, you mentioned it might?”

Chitra grumbled, “I’d hoped when I made partner, but Shiv…it might be never. Aryan, Imlie—you two are welcome to join us?”

Shiv added, “Yes, please do. Imlie’s already confirmed I’m a solid driver. Right?” He grinned, and winked at Imlie. Imlie bit back a grin after noticing the split scowl from Aryan.

Aryan butted in, “I drove here, with Imlie—this morning I mean. So I think we’ll just go. Just message me the address, Shiv?”

Shiv nodded, not fighting it. He didn’t know Dev, at all, but he caught Dev’s eye, and he could tell the both of them were thinking the same thing, ‘Aryan was as gone as anyone could be for someone else. And it was a hilarious sight to watch.’

They all got in their respective cars, and after Imlie buckled herself in, Aryan did the unexpected, he turned on the radio.

She gaped at him as he pulled out of the parking lot, a loud and upbeat Bollywood song blasting through the speakers.

She yelled over the song, “Are you okay?”

Aryan looked at her, and lowered the volume on the radio a little bit, “I’m fine.”

Imlie looked at him. She just stared.

Aryan rolled his eyes at her, “What? I can’t turn on the radio without an interrogation into my motives?”

Imlie shook her head, “No you can’t. I mean…I know today was a lot—“

Aryan cleared his throat ostentatiously, “I’m gonna stop you right there, I’m not in the mood for one of your senti lectures right now. Or a deep dive into what I might be ‘feeling’ at this moment now that my four year quest for revenge against a pathetic and largely boring reporter ended in failure. I’m instead going to focus on how I’ve managed to become richer because a different horrible man is going to lose his job.” Aryan grinned at Imlie, trying his best to prevent her from probing further like she loved to do.

Imlie looked at him, then increased the radio volume, “Fair enough. Now you have to sing.”

Aryan gave her grin a withering look, “Do I really?”

Imlie nodded, “Yes.” She started singing, badly.

Aryan decided to risk it, and he joined in.

Before he knew it, the two of them were, poorly, belting out the lyrics to a song neither of them knew well enough to sing to. But by the time they reached the restaurant, they were laughing and in better spirits.

Aryan and Imlie walked into the restaurant to find the four others already seated at the table. It was a large circular table. Chitra, Dev, Radhika, and Shiv were seated in such a way that Aryan and Imlie took the remaining two seats next to each other. Imlie was next to Shiv, and Aryan next to Chitra.

Shiv smiled at Aryan briefly, and then looked to Imlie, “So we’ve all basically decided what we’re getting, have you had American food before?”

Aryan interrupted, “Imlie hates most foreign food. Especially breakfast food. I once saw her gag when Didi tried to give her some oatmeal. Imlie, I’ve been here before, you should just order off the Indian part of the menu, the masala dosa is great.”

Imlie picked up the menu, moving directly to the Indian section, Aryan was right, she didn’t like most foreign food.

Shiv shook his head, “That’s no fun, Imlie. Oatmeal obviously isn’t a good representation anyway. One of the best things about American brunch dishes is that they’re usually sweet. You told me about your famous ‘moti rotis,’ right? Try the pancakes. Especially with the berry compote.”

Dev chimed in, “I’ve had pancakes before, they’re excellent. It’s a good first start Imlie. You should get that.”

Aryan wanted to argue, but Imlie jumped in, “If you two say it’s good, I’ll get it.”

Aryan looked grumpily at the menu, he’d already decided on the French toast and some mango juice instead of orange juice. But now he’d add a masala dosa, to be safe.

The waiter came around and took everyone’s order.

“It’s a shame some of us drove here, it’s not really an American brunch without mimosas…” Chitra mused.

Dev laughed, “I don’t mind if we order a pitched for the table, I can always walk it off before I drive. Also, one won’t have a large effect anyway.”

Radhika agreed, “I’ve had them before, it’s amazing. Honestly, the countries that have brunch as commonplace and mimosas every weekend are so lucky.”

Imlie was confused, “What’s a mimosa?”

Aryan and Shiv said, at the same time, “You don’t want it.”

Shiv laughed, “He’s right. You don’t drink, it’s champagne and orange juice. Luckily champagne, like a lot of wine, has a low alcohol content, but still.”

Chitra added, “While I would never ask someone to drink if they don’t, if you’re going to try Imlie, it’s smart to start with something like champagne or beer, much better than any hard liquor.”

Imlie nodded as if she understood anything Shiv and Chitra had just told her, she didn’t know the difference between champagne and wine, or wine and beer for that matter. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to find out, her friends after classes on Fridays were always going out for quick beers, and none of them had ever talked about partying or the like that she’d seen at the bar she went to with Priya a while ago. She knew for a fact there wasn’t any harm in it, but still…

Aryan spoke, trying to keep his irritation to a minimum, “She can’t even handle one cocktail, I doubt she’d be able to handle champagne. I’d just order the mango juice, Imlie.”

Imlie nodded to him and then added to the table, “Honestly, I don’t see anything wrong with it, having a mimosa…is that what it’s called?” Shiv nodded and Imlie went on, “But, I’m not really in an experimental mood right now.”

Chitra nodded, “fair enough.”

The waiter took all their orders and left.

Aryan was worried about what conversation he would make. It had been so long since he’d decided to hang out with a group of friends, let alone with three people he barely knew. He and Dev got together occasionally over the past four years, and he had met up with other friends of course, but it hadn’t been to the extent it used to be before Arvind died. He’d had more time back then, he’d also felt he had the right to have fun. Now everything was difference.

It turned out he needn’t have worried. Dev and Radhika easily managed to kill twenty or so minutes getting out all the details from Shiv and Chitra about their work. Then Dev talked about his plans after work on Monday. Dev was sure that Khanna would find a way to either get him fired or at the very least absolutely hated at the company, luckily he’d been planning on leaving the firm for a while ever since he’d met Radhika, so he just had to reach out to the right places where he’d already gotten offers from after Monday. Radhika talked about her work, and how she too was considering looking for a new firm; Chitra helpfully suggest her and Shiv’s firm was always on the lookout for new paralegals and secretaries. Dev was very curious about Shiv’s time in New York, Dev had done his MBA there (as had Aryan) and he was planning on visiting again soon. Finally, the conversation turned to Aryan, after Dev asked him if he was planning on visiting the U.S. any time soon.

Aryan cleared his throat, “Nah, I don’t really need to, but I might have to depending on how the Rathore board meeting goes next week.”

“Wait, can you tell us exactly how you managed that shakeup at Mahendra?” Chitra asked, smiling at Aryan through her eyelashes.

Aryan drank some water from his glass, he only glanced at Chitra, “It wasn’t that difficult, I’ve done it before. Not really a glamorous story.”

Chitra looked disappointed for a moment, but before she could ask Aryan another question, Shiv chimed in.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been wildly ignoring the most interesting person here.” Shiv looked at Imlie.

Aryan clenched his jaw briefly and then loosened.

Imlie shook her head, “No. No, this is all been so interesting, your lives, they’re fascinating.”

Radhika chuckled, “Shiv, you’re completely right, we can’t ignore the guest of honor at the fan club meeting.”

Dev grinned, “Wait, who’s the fan club president?” He hadn’t expected an answer but he got one.

Shiv clapped his hands, “Obviously, me, perhaps my sister, if I have to be fair. She is the one who introduced me to you. Honestly, Imlie, she won’t stop talking about you. Priya,” Shiv looked around at the table, only slightly taken aback by Aryan’s less than subtle glare, “she never talks about the interviews she does. She never even reads anything people in the press write about her. But she loved your piece so much, she’s upped her vanity game and she’s had the piece framed.”

Imlie smiled, touched, “That’s so sweet. I really need to figure out her schedule so I can meet her again. It was such a blast meeting and getting to talk to her. Actually, do you know about her next project, because my editor wanted the junior reporters to find out more about it?”

Shiv pondered this, “All I know is that it’s a thriller, it’s the first one she’s done, but that’s it. I’m seeing her tonight, I’ll tell her to call you.”

Imlie grinned, “Thank you, that would be amazing. I’ll tell her she was right and you’re not half bad as a friend.”

Chitra asked, “So, Imlie tell us, how did you decide to become a reporter? Also, how’d you manage it so fast, Shiv mentioned that you’re still finishing up your degree?”

Imlie was about to respond but Aryan did for her. Aryan didn’t want to hear a story about Imlie’s inspiration, because he knew who it was.

“She started as an intern, but she moved up to a freelancer and then a junior reporter because of an op-ed she wrote about working women in India. I remember it was one of the highest circulation days for the paper, I think one of the highest days we had in ten years.” Aryan said, he looked proudly at Imlie.

She looked back at him, confused, and then joked, “This is a rare sight for you all who don’t know ABP well, he’s complimenting someone else? I’m truly in awe.”

Aryan rolled his eyes, “I compliment people, if they deserve it.”

Imlie laughed, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you do that. Let alone me. It’s totally a historical moment. Dev, you’ve known ABP longer, I’m right, right?”

Dev nodded, “Oh no, you’re right. Aryan, you’ve been like this even before—“ Dev was about to say Arvind’s death, but he stopped himself, “even before you started running your company.”

Aryan put on a face of faux outrage, “I am appalled, that my one friend at this table would say something so inaccurate.”

Imlie put on an even bigger act of outrage, “Excuse me, your ONE friend? Who am I then?”

Aryan looked at her and grinned mischievously, “The thorn in my side. The biggest problem magnet I’ve ever met.”

Imlie looked back at everyone else at the table, “And you all were wondering how he could manage to pull someone else’s company right from under their feet, the man is ruthless.” She laughed.

Chitra butted in, “But exactly how did you get involved in this case? Was it just because you met Shiv?”

An awkward silence fell over the table, but before Shiv or Aryan could interject, Imlie answered the question, “It’s a complicated story, but the easiest way to tell it is that I owe the Tripathis a favor, so I helped their son.”

Imlie’s matter of fact answer shut down the conversation, but only because Chitra had enough sense not to push further. That and she caught the subtle shake of the head that Shiv offered her, indicating this was not going to be polite let alone jovial brunch conversation.

Aryan’s jaw clicked, he could hear the slight break in Imlie’s voice, and now, before the waiter came, before anyone else at the table decided to ask her some stupid question, Aryan wanted to take her away from here. It was irrational, it was nonsensical, but in that moment all Aryan wanted to do was to get on a plane with Imlie and take her to the opposite end of the earth, in the hopes that maybe that would end the questions, end the reminders, finally obliterate the memories.

Just then the waiter came over with their food, and Dev made the tact decision of changing the subject matter. He started talking about his other favorite lunch and breakfast spots around the city, asking Imlie if she’d thoroughly explored Delhi since she moved here.

Aryan took the moment to pull out his phone, and text Shiv.

Aryan: Send the message to your friend.

Shiv: Consider it done.

Shiv looked over at Aryan, and winked. Aryan kept his face level.

Imlie took a bite of her pancakes, and tried not to make a face. The maple syrup was too sweet, and though the pancakes were clearly as thick as her rotis, she absolutely didn’t like the taste. Even when she was a kid she never ate rotis with ghee and sugar, so the sweetness overload was too much for her. Imlie wasn’t a stranger to Indian sweets, of course, but she found this sweetness nothing less than bizarre. She preferred to eat savory things for breakfast, she sometimes wouldn’t even drink the orange or mango juice that Kaki Maa offered her in the mornings.

Almost immediately, after her first bite, Imlie noticed her plate moving towards Aryan. She watched in astonishment as Aryan moved another plate in front of her, this one with a giant, piping hot, masala dosa on it. Of course, it came with sambar and chutney. Imlie looked at Aryan and mouthed the words, ‘thank you.’ Aryan merely nodded, and put the pancakes over to his left.

Shiv watched all of this but kept his chuckle to himself. Radhika, however, did not.

“It looks like we were wrong about you liking the pancakes, Imlie. But I’m glad Aryan knows you so well. Very impressive, Aryan, I must say.” Radhika said. She was smiling knowingly at the both of them.

Imlie, already taking a second mouthful of dosa, looked at Radhika, then Aryan, and shrugged apologetically.

Dev put on an air of faux disappointment, “I’ve been friends with the guy for ages, and I doubt he knows where I live, let alone my favorite food.”

Aryan’s ears turned red, as they always did when he was embarrassed. He tried to distract everyone from that by adding, “It’s fine, I like pancakes. Also, Dev, the reason I don’t know where you live is because your house is probably the most messy house I’ve ever been in. Why can’t you keep it clean?”