Ding dong!
“Ma, open the door!”
Ding—dong!
“Ma?”
“MA!?”
Diiiiiiing dong!
Groggy and not wanting to get up, Rohit opens the door. Zarine pokes her head in. You’ve got to admit, there’s a certain something to girls in the early morning – all the freshness and innocence accumulates in them over the night. It was a picture perfect pose. She was wearing a sleeveless yellow suit with a hint of black embroidery, over blue jeans. Something better break Rohit out of his reverie.
“Hey! Still sleeping, eh? I thought so. I’ve got something for you.”
“Huh? Yeah! Come on in.”
“I’ve made pasta today. You love Pasta, don’t you?”
“Hmm…” Rohit took the covered bowl from her, and put it on the dining table, wondering where everyone at home had disappeared.
“Did you get my message yesterday night?”
“Yeah, but my cell was not in front of me. I saw it too late; I thought you’d have slept by then.”
“Oh! No worries. So tell me, what did you do all these days?”
“Usual stuff. Nothing extraordinary. What about you?”
“I thought you’d never ask. I’m working on this project with dad’s clients. If they like my work, they may ask me to join part-time.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if I’ll join.”
“Why?” Rohit asked, and instantly regretted it.
“It’s complicated. There’s so much work at home, I hardly have any time.”
“Hmm…”
“That’s beside the point. So go on, have my pasta. Tell me how it is!”
Happy at being let off without a fight, Rohit: “Yeah, let me at least brush!”
“Sure, go ahead. I’ll go back for now. Let me know how it is.”
—
Later, on Gtalk: “So, how was it?”
‘How was what? Oh yeah, the pasta.’ “It was good! I really loved the olives.”
“:-)”
“You know what?”’
Almost as if it were a dare: “What?”
“I made the pasta just for you. I’m so happy that you liked it!”
“:-)”, he had a heart too, you know.
“So…”
No response.
“Did you see Jab We Met?”
“No.”
“Me neither. But it sure will be my favouritest movie. The songs are so lovely.”
“Hmm…”
“Acha, let’s go and see it.”
Panic: “When?”
“Whenever you want. I’m always free. It is your time that is more important.”
Trying to fight his way out: “I don’t do many Hindi movies.”
“Then let’s go and watch something else. I’m so bored, yaar.”
Realizing there’s little he can do now, except commit for now and ditch later: “No, it’s ok, we’ll go on Tuesday.”
“:-D”
“:-)”
“Thank you soooo much!”
Pity, really. “I’ll brb.”
“brb?”
