Chapter 41

2 years ago

varshaoforange

@varshaoforange

—Sunday, February 6, 2022, 7:30AM—

Aryan walked out of the gym after his morning run and headed to his room to shower, on his way he heard Imlie singing the aarti in the mandir. He walked towards her. For once, her singing sounded melodious instead of the usual nails on chalkboard type screeching Aryan was used to. He slipped off his running shoes and approached her as she put down the plate and turned.

“Eugh, I wondered what that smell was, why are you here if you haven’t showered? Tum bhaarat mein hi paida hue the, right?” (You were born in India, right?) Imlie exclaimed, shooing him out of the mandir.

Aryan chuckled, “I just came to see who Maa hired to sing in the morning, because that clearly wasn’t you singing, I didn’t hear any birds flying into the windows and dying from the shock—“

Imlie shoved him, “Shut up. As if you’re the twenty-first century Kishore Kumar, critiquing my singing, tum—“

Aryan grabbed her before she could pull her hands away after pushing him aside, and put on a faux shocked face, “Imlie, tujhe sharam nahin aati? Apne Sita Maiya ke saamne kisi aur ki bhurai karne me? With such harsh words, too. Tsk tsk.” (Imlie, aren’t you ashamed, complaining about someone else?) He grinned, not letting go of Imlie’s wrists.

She pulled them away and lifted up her chin, “My Sita Maiya knows when someone deserves a dressing down, especially if they come into her mandir without taking a shower. Tujhe sharam nahin aata? You’re so rich, yet it’s clear you can’t afford to buy a single bottle of deodorant.” She turned and started to head to the kitchen, and Aryan followed her.

“This is the scent of success, Imlie. You’re looking at someone who managed to break a personal record today. What have you done all morning?” Aryan shot back at her, but surreptitiously wiped the sweat off his forehead with the towel around his neck.

Imlie replied, coolly, “Besides my puja, you mean? Well, I have showered, for one.” She sniffed loudly. “Also, I finally finished studying for one of my classes, so that I have the whole day free for whatever favor you need today. What is it, by the way? Tell me quickly, I have an exam coming up, so I want to set aside enough time to study outside of work.”

Aryan shrugged, “I haven’t figured it out yet, but when I do, I’ll be sure to let you know.” He grabbed an apple from the kitchen counter and bit into it, winking at Imlie and leaving the kitchen.

She called after him, “You can give the whole world motivational lectures about making smart and quick decisions, but you can’t follow your own advice, very nice!”

Aryan smiled to himself as he walked away, this was more fun than he’d had in a long time.

—Sunday, February 6, 2022, 8:30AM—

At the breakfast table, everything was as it usually was. Kaki Maa gushed over Imlie’s cooking, though she had just made her usual this morning, moti rotis and curry. Arpita was talking about a great art exhibit she recently visited with Sundar and Rupi Didi. And, like every other day, Aryan was silently looking at something on his laptop while drinking his bitter coffee with no sugar or milk. Imlie shook her head at him as he took a sip, how he could drink that stuff she could never figure out.

Aryan looked up at her right as she was shaking her head, and she blushed fervently. Then she cursed herself for blushing, why should she be embarrassed at his coffee choice?

He mouthed, “What?”

She whispered back, “When I have to watch you drink what you call good coffee it gives me a stomachache.”

Aryan pressed his tongue on the side of his cheek, fighting a smile. Then he offered the cup to her, “Did you want a sip, I’m so sorry, I didn’t offer before.”

Imlie rolled her eyes, “Just tell me the favor, I’m not going to keep it open forever you know. You’re not going to come to me in five years and collect.”

Aryan pretended to be scandalized, “Wow, a favor from Imlie has an expiration date? Is that how they treat favors in Pagdandia? I had no idea.” He went back to his laptop.

Imlie wanted to strangle him, she could tell he was enjoying this. She should have never agreed to it in the first place, she hated the feeling of being in debt to anyone. And Aryan’s request was absolutely ridiculous, but he’d made puppy eyes and she momentarily assumed he actually needed something from her to start to get over his grief over Arvind. However, looking at him now, it was clear he just liked to mess with her. She couldn’t deny that it was good to see him smile though. His face looked completely different when he smiled, as if years of hurt and sadness were wiped away and he were a decade younger again. It seemed like the right face for him. Imlie shook her head to snap out of it, she was staring at him, and eventually he’d notice again.

Imlie heard her phone ring and she turned it over to see Shiv’s name on the caller-ID. She picked it up, greeting Shiv, enthusiastically. He’d helped her so much, she never thought she’d ever be able to pay him back.

“Hi Shiv, what do I owe the pleasure of this call today?” Imlie asked. She was so happy he called. In the past few days, she’d found a new friend, someone who actually liked to listen to her talk, and shared his life with her too. It was one of the few times she’d actually felt she belonged in this city. She’d never felt this way when she was in the Tripathi house, though she had started feeling an affinity with the city when she’d started her internship and then her job with Bhaskar Times under Aryan.

Aryan’s ears perked up and started to turn red when he heard Imlie answer the phone. He couldn’t hear what that idiot was saying to her but he knew he hated how chirpy Imlie always sounded when she was talking to or about him.

Shiv laughed, “Well, I wanted to ask again if you were free for the bookstore today? I know yesterday you had work, but today’s Sunday! It’s the weekend. You’re not working today as well, right?”

Imlie pondered this, “Well, I don’t have any work at the paper, but I have an exam coming up. I should be studying for that…”

Shiv sighed, but he tried to hide his disappointment, “That makes sense, school should come first, of course, maybe—”

Imlie interrupted him, “But how long could a bookstore trip actually take? And technically, since my exam is for my history class, I can just have you quiz me. You’re probably an expert on Indian legal history in the twentieth century, anyway, right?”

Shiv chuckled, “I don’t know if expert is the right word, but I did study history alongside law in college, so of course I can help. Should I pick you up?”

Imlie shook her head, and then remembered Shiv couldn’t see her, “No that’s okay, I can take an auto—”

Shiv interrupted her, “Nonsense, I’ll pick you up. You don’t even know exactly where the store is, I’ll see you in an hour, or do you need longer to get ready?”

Imlie put on a faux condescending voice, “Mr. Agarwal, don’t you know, Imlie always wakes up ready.” She laughed, “An hour is fine. I’ll see you.”

Arpita asked Imlie about it first, because she was no stranger to Aryan’s reddening ears and what they meant, “Imlie, are you going out somewhere?”

Imlie looked at her smiling, “Haan, Didi. Shiv, you know that lawyer friend I met recently, Priya Agarwal’s brother? He’s recently come back to Delhi, and he found a bookstore he thought I’d like. I should be back in a few hours max. I think I might also take a book or two of mine for my history exam. Shiv mentioned he studied history…” Imlie trailed off. She started looking through her bag she’d brought with her to the table. She’d originally planned to spend the day at the university library, but talking to Shiv would be better. She’d gotten so used to studying alone, she needed a way to destress and talk through her questions and thoughts with someone else.

Aryan finally spoke, and tried his best to keep the contempt for the situation out of his voice, “Ok, but why does he have to drive you? You could just take one of our cars, and there’s a driver—I mean why inconvenience him, right?” Aryan asked the last question with as much sweetness as he could muster.

Imlie, not really paying attention, “It doesn’t really matter if I take an auto, or if Shiv drives, we’re ending up at the same spot anyway. Didi, Kaki Maa, I’ll see you guys later, I’m gonna go finish some work and get ready. And you…” Imlie looked at Aryan and whispered the next bit quieter so Didi and Kaki Maa couldn’t hear her, “You figure out what favor you want soon, or no deal.”

Aryan shot back, “Didn’t you say earlier you have an exam coming up, should you really be going out today? Also, is that Pharma piece you were working on done?” Aryan stopped short of basically ordering her not to go, but it was difficult.

Imlie raised an eyebrow at him, “You don’t want me to go…fine, I won’t. If that’s your favor? Is it?”

Imlie waited as Aryan sat there, then he leaned back in his chair, lifting his chin, “No, it’s not my favor. But—”

Imlie didn’t let him say anymore, “Great! I’ll see you later!”

With that she left the dining room and headed up the stairs to her room.

—Sunday, February 6, 2022, 8:45AM—

Aryan finished his breakfast, stabbing at his food slightly harder than normal. Arpita and Narmada looked concerned at him.

“Aru, is something wrong?” Arpita asked. Though she knew full well what was bothering him.

Aryan looked up at her, and put on an even face, “No, nothing’s wrong. Why would anything be wrong? I have to go, I have a lot of work to do.” Aryan stood up, and left the table.

Narmada yelled after him, “Aru, you forgot your laptop. And if you have such a problem with Imlie—”

Aryan came back in a huff, “I have no problem with Imlie. None!” He took his laptop and headed up to his room.

Slamming the door shut, he whipped out his phone and dialed Shiv’s number. If the idiot didn’t want him calling him, he shouldn’t have given him his number, Aryan thought. It rang once, then twice, and then finally Shiv picked up.

“Aryan! This is a pleasant surprise. How are you doing man?” Shiv asked. Shiv was aware that Imlie had probably told Aryan and the rest of his family her plans for the day, but he honestly hadn’t expected Aryan to call personally to give his reaction. Shiv tried to keep the obvious amusement at the situation out of his voice.

“Forget how I’m doing, tell me, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Aryan asked, louder and ruder than he’d intended. Aryan had hoped to keep his cool, but Shiv’s happy go lucky attitude didn’t help, it just frustrated Aryan more.

Shiv was genuinely confused, he knew that Aryan was clearly jealous of Aditya, but he’d hoped he’d managed to convince Aryan that he had no feelings for Imlie, at least not romantic feelings, “What are you talking about? The bookstore—listen, I know Imlie mentioned she had an exam, but I won’t keep her out for too long today. And knowing her, she’ll end up talking about her exam the whole time anyway. It’ll be fine. You tell me, what are you doing. I mean I got the call back from my editor friend in Mumbai, Mr. Tripathi’s job there is basically guaranteed. But, shouldn’t you be moving your timeline forward too?”

Aryan sputtered, “What—no. That’s not why I called—there’s no timeline. I just don’t understand why—”

Shiv interrupted him, “Listen, man, what’s the point in denying it now. If you like her, you need to tell her. Do you need tips? I mean I’m not an expert, but I’m sure flowers and chocolates could work on Imlie too. Though perhaps she’d prefer chai and a bouquet of samosas…”

“Shut up. I don’t like Imlie. That’s not why I have an issue with you two hanging out. Nothing of the sort. The issue is, Imlie hasn’t been in the city for very long, she’s not a great judge of character, in fact, she’s horrible at it—”

Shiv jumped in again, “Yea, I also can’t believe she stayed with Mr. Tripathi for that long. And don’t bullshit me, I’m a lawyer, remember? If you didn’t like her, why get Mr. Tripathi a job away from Delhi? I mean, Imlie didn’t tell me exactly everything behind the whole lawsuit situation, but I can tell you have a multi-layered grudge going on against Mr. Tripathi—”

Aryan gritted his teeth, “Listen to me, you imbecile. I hate the man, sure. I had you get him that job because that’s the easiest way to get him out of my hair. That’s it. Now when it comes to Imlie, I don’t have any feelings for her, I just don’t want her to fall back into—” Aryan stopped himself, he was about to say ‘love with Aditya.’ But that would not be helping him make his point to Shiv.

Shiv laughed, “Right, right. Of course. I know you didn’t call to ask for my advice, you called because you’re concerned about Imlie, right?”

Aryan replied without thinking, “Right. Wait, no. It’s not concern, it’s…she should just be focused on school and work, not…other things.” Aryan finished, weakly, knowing he wasn’t making as strong of a case as he should be.

Shiv replied, exaggerating his understanding, “Ahh, I see. Well, I’ve been through just as much school as you, college, graduate school—though law school is tougher than an MBA, but I digress—Imlie will be fine if she spends one Sunday in a bookstore, talking history. But back to the advice, you should stop denying it. Sometimes, we wait so long to do something, we just get used to living in that denial, that we don’t realize we’re losing it. If you don’t take a chance, then who knows, someone else could beat you to it—” Shiv stopped abruptly. He didn’t know why he’d said that. It wasn’t as if there was some sort of ticking clock on Aryan, nor did he know enough about Imlie to assume she would develop feelings for someone else so quickly.

Aryan, however, did not take this advice well, he gritted his teeth again, “And what do you mean by someone else? Do—”

Shiv recovered quickly, his tone jovial again, “Arre, I just meant, you’ve seen Imlie, you know the effect she has on people. It took less than an afternoon for my sister to completely fall for her, and fewer than fifteen minutes for someone like Radhika to understand her, I just meant…don’t waste your time. Let me tell you one thing, my law professor once said this, ‘If you want to build a connection with someone, don’t do them a favor first, ask them for a favor first.’ I have seen that work first hand all the time, get Imlie to do something for you, don’t just jump out with your roses and chocolates first.”

Aryan stayed silent for a beat, this guy was much smarter than he’d first assumed. Shiv had suggested Aryan try a strategy that he’d already though of, but this meant that Shiv wasn’t someone to underestimate. Aryan ended the call with, “Just don’t waste too much of Imlie’s time today, you know she has work and school to manage. That’s it.” He hung up, not waiting to listen to Shiv’s protests that started with, ‘But—’

—Sunday, February 6, 2022, 9:25AM—

Imlie made her way down the stairs and met with Arpita Didi and Kaki Maa before she left. They were in the living room, Narmada was watching a movie, and Arpita was reading a book.

“Didi, Kaki Maa, I’m heading out. I’ll call if I’m going to be later than the evening, okay?”

Narmada smiled, “Okay beta, have fun. Be safe!”

Imlie waved bye and headed to the front door, as she passed the main staircase again, she noticed Aryan making his way down the stairs.

“ABP!” She called out at him, “Have you figured out the favor, or are you planning on letting me know what it is in my next life. Though, do you think we’ll meet in our next lives? I honestly don’t see that happening, I mean I imagine I’ll be reincarnated as someone glamorous and rich and very important, but you…” She put on an exaggerated sympathetic expression, and then grinned.

Aryan rolled his eyes, “Shut up. Kuch bhi bolt ho. And no, I haven’t figured it out yet. Mera mar math kaa.” (You’ll say anything…Don’t eat my head.)

Imlie made a face and stuck her tongue out at him, “Whatever, I’m going, see you later.” She turned to the door but Aryan called after her.

“Acchhi lag rahi ho.” Aryan blurted out, and before Imlie could turn around he cursed himself. (You look good.)

Imlie turned around slowly, exaggerating her confused expression, “Tum…mere tareef kar rahe ho?” (You’re…complimenting me?)

Aryan stammered, “What I meant was…tum acchhi lag rahi ho, lekin kyun? It’s early February, I mean I know it doesn’t really get that cold after January, but still. You know what, you should wear that sweater, that ugly—no I mean, it’s very pretty—it would look ugly on me, I don’t usually wear red. But Aparna aunty made you that sweater once, I’ve seen it. You should wear that. Over the salwar kameez. You know.” (You’re looking good, but why?”

Imlie raised an eyebrow, “I think you need to go to the office or do some work or something, because if you’re not talking about work you never make sense. It’s not cold outside, I also know to pay attention to the weather…anyway. I’m going. Unless you want to keep acting like a pagal kutta has bit you?” (crazy dog)

Aryan closed his mouth, then opened it again, “Sure sure. Who’s stopping you?” he muttered. Then as she reached the door, he shouted after her, “If you end up needing a ride, call me! Jungli! Are you listening?!”

Imlie waved to show that she’d heard him.

Aryan watched as the door closed behind her, and then he trudged to the living room and handed two tickets to Arpita.

“Here, I get these tickets every so often as perks from randos, I can’t go. But you and Maa can probably go. It’s this evening.” Aryan told Arpita, doing his best to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

Arpita looked at the tickets Aryan had shoved in her face, and she realized full well he hadn’t gotten these tickets by accident, “So who exactly regularly gives you tickets to plays, you’ve never given us tickets before?”

Narmada hid her smile, but not well.

Aryan looked at Arpita and made a face, “If you want the tickets, they’re there. If not, whatever.”

He walked back up to his room and decided to spend the day finishing so much work that he wouldn’t have time to think about anything or anyone else. Not Imlie and her evident joy at the idea of spending the day with Shiv. Not Shiv and his stupid ideas or warnings. Just work.