16

Pluto Is about to Wake

‘Sitara!’

‘Drive as fast as you can,’ I said to Abhimanyu who was putting the car into gear. Sahana was outside the house yelling at the top of her voice.

‘You cannot possibly leave right now!’

‘Sorry, Sahana,’ I said, waving at her as we drove by. ‘I’m sorry we’re missing dinner, but I have to leave because I’m feeling sick.’ Before she could say anything else, we left her standing outside the gate with her hands on her hips. She was shaking her head with that mix of disappointment and frustration I was used to seeing from my family.

‘I’m sorry you had to go through that,’ I said to Abhimanyu. After this evening, I didn’t think I could call him a ‘colleague’ any more. He had been regaled by my family’s quirks in full colour. And, he now knew all about my past. To his credit, he didn’t seem fazed by either.

‘Well, it was way more entertaining than television,’ he laughed.

‘Oh my family can beat any TV show when it comes to entertainment,’ I said.

‘So, what’s the next song?’ he asked.

I busied myself with setting up the car’s Bluetooth. Soon, we went back to blasting his cycling songs and singing out loud. Even though traffic was moving at a snail’s pace, we were not bothered because we were having so much fun.

Suddenly, my stomach growled. I pretended to clear my throat and sang the chorus of ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ even louder, hoping that the beats would divert attention from the fact that my stomach sounded like an angry bear.

‘Hey, there’s this new Italian restaurant that has just opened by your house. Let’s grab dinner before I drop you,’ Abhimanyu said.

‘Oh, no! You don’t have to do that,’ I said, completely embarrassed that he felt the need to stop my demon stomach from growling so loudly.

‘Come on, it’ll give me some time to hear some more embarrassing stories,’ he joked. ‘Or, I can share a few of mine so we’re even?’

I tried to refuse out of politeness, but he insisted. I gave in. After all, I had missed dinner and I didn’t have anything else planned. Besides, I had promised to treat him to dinner in exchange for the ride.

‘How can anyone like pesto?’ I said, wrinkling my nose.

‘I love pesto!’

‘It’s green,’ I said, making a face. ‘Nothing green tastes good! You must be one of those horrible people who like pineapple on pizza.’ Or maybe this was a result of his health kick. Green food. I shuddered at the thought of it.

‘I’m not. Pineapple on pizza is blasphemy. However, I think you’re the weirdo who eats cold pizza taken directly out of the fridge the next morning!’

‘Guilty,’ I laughed. ‘It tastes much better, you know.’ And while I wouldn’t admit it, I was too lazy to spend the few seconds microwaving food when I was hungry.

I took a sip of water.

‘OK! Favourite movie?’

‘Ratatouille,’ he said without missing a beat. ‘I rewatched it last night, that’s why I felt like ordering it today . . . ’

‘You expect me to believe your favourite movie is an animation? Seriously?’

‘Why not? I love animated movies, especially the old 2D ones. I even considered becoming an animator, but it didn’t pay enough.’

‘You’re kidding! I love animated movies too! Who’s your favourite Disney prince?’ I asked cheekily, expecting him to say he hadn’t watched the princess-y ones.

‘Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid. He can sing and he loves dogs. Also, he doesn’t care that Ariel can’t talk, he accepts her for who she is,’ he said, with a smile that rivalled Eric’s swoon-worthy one.

My mouth was hanging open in shock.

He laughed.

‘I have two sisters,’ he explained. ‘I have seen every princess movie multiple times. I know all about Barbie’s extended family as well as the plots of The Baby-Sitters Club and the Sweet Valley High series.’

‘So you’re used to this reaction when you subtly throw out trivia on these topics,’ I said.

‘Haha, your turn. Who’s your favourite prince?’ he asked.

‘Well, not really a prince,’ I said, as the server placed our food on the table. ‘But my favourite is Peter Pan.’

‘That means you know why Peter Pan flies all the time,’ he said, taking a bite of his ratatouille. I racked my brains but couldn’t think of a reason. I wondered if he would notice if I sneakily pulled out my phone and tried googling the answer.

‘Give up?’ he challenged, as he picked up a piece of garlic bread.

‘Fine!’

‘Peter Pan flies all the time because he Neverlands,’ he announced, looking extremely pleased with himself.

I glared at him. ‘Clearly, you stayed in Neverland mentally! Have you been telling this joke since you were ten?’

‘You’re just mad you didn’t get it,’ he said. ‘It’s obvious you hate to lose.’

‘Who told you that?’ I asked indignantly.

‘It’s evident from the way you’ve been trying to push your project forward. Also, a little birdie told me how you were so focused on winning the team Quidditch race at the office picnic that you tripped someone with your broom.’

Oh God. I wondered who told him that story. Possibly someone from the admin and HR posse while trying to hit on him. They were always the source of all gossip.

‘Inaya also told me some entertaining stories,’ he said, as though he could read my mind. ‘Something about a lemon and spoon race . . . ’

‘I didn’t trip anyone,’ I defended myself hotly. ‘It was an accident. She just happened to be in the way of my broom. Not all of us are super coordinated athletes who cycle every day!’

He stopped laughing abruptly. I’d hit a nerve yet again.

What is it with him and cycling, I wondered.

‘It’s not my finest moment,’ he said softly. Yet again, I’d said that out loud by accident. I started to say he didn’t have to confide in me, but for some reason, he decided to speak.

‘I used to be in a cycling group when I was in Delhi,’ he said. ‘We went on trips to nearby places . . . ’

‘Do you miss it?’ I asked.

‘Actually, no. That’s where I met my fiancée.’

For the second time that night my mouth dropped open. I didn’t know he was engaged. It felt like a punch to my gut. The air whooshed out of my lungs. I wondered if the wine I was drinking was getting to me.

‘Ex-fiancée,’ he corrected himself. ‘We broke off the engagement. That’s why I moved. I wanted to move immediately after the break-up, but my horoscope kept indicating it wasn’t the right time. I had to wait until my move would be most fruitful.’

I couldn’t hold back any longer.

‘You’re one of the smartest people I know, and yet you insist on believing in this horoscope, “right time” type stuff! Why?’

He sighed.

‘Come on, it makes no sense. You stayed in a place with terrible memories all because you were waiting for the right time?’

The wine was definitely getting to me. I was saying way more than I would otherwise.

‘Firstly, this entire conversation is off the record. And by that, I mean don’t share this with anyone on the team. I really don’t want to be the newest hot topic of gossip. Especially on your group chat,’ he said.

He was well informed on what we were up to in our private groups. I wondered how he’d heard of it. None of the other bosses knew of their existence.

‘I’m not going to tell anyone,’ I replied. ‘After all you’ve done for me today, you’re a friend and I don’t gossip about my friends.’

He smiled.

‘I didn’t believe in astrology or horoscopes and all that,’ he began, taking a deep breath. ‘A year and a half ago, I met Pooja . . . ’

Pooja.

I had visions of a tall, athletic looking girl, wearing stylish athleisure clothes and looking like she had stepped out of the pages of Vogue. I bet she had silky straight hair and was always perfectly made up. I tried not to roll my eyes.

‘It was love at first sight. Within months, we knew we wanted to be together and so we decided to get engaged. Except, my family astrologer insisted it was a bad time. He told me to wait. At the time, even a few months sounded like eternity. I refused,’ he said, a dark shadow falling over his face.

He seemed to be struggling to get the words out.

I reached out and held his hand, hoping to offer him some comfort. I had never seen him look so vulnerable.

‘Listen, you don’t have to tell me the rest of this story,’ I said.

He took a deep breath.

‘No, it’s fine,’ he said, composing himself. ‘On the day of my engagement, my grandmother passed away.’

My heart stopped for a second. Was he carrying the burden of that guilt upon himself? I squeezed his hand and wondered if it would be terribly inappropriate to give him a hug. We were friends, but he was still a colleague.

‘I’m sure that was a coincidence,’ I said, opting to stay seated. I didn’t want to freak him out with any sudden moves.

‘I wish,’ he sniffed. ‘Weeks after that, I discovered that Pooja was cheating on me. With the guy who ran the cycling group.’

He buried his head in his hands. I moved mine back, wondering what to do with it now. It was tingling all over.

‘I was so stupid. It had been happening all the while, and I just didn’t see it.’

‘I still think it was a coincidence,’ I began.

‘Maybe it was,’ he said. ‘But the timing was exactly based on what the astrologer had said. You think I would risk taking a chance after that?’

His voice was muffled, so I reached out and held his hand again.

‘Abhimanyu, how can you be sure this works?’ I pressed. ‘The other day, you said you were using the AstroZone app, but this happened because you didn’t listen to your family astrologer.’

‘I couldn’t really go back to the family astrologer because I’d argued with him. There’s no way I could admit I was wrong. So I tried out many different things before I discovered this one works best. Whenever I’ve followed it, things have gone perfectly!’

Of course. Even when it came to something as unscientific as astrology, he still went about identifying his preferred source in the most scientific way possible. I was about to point out the irony of what he’d said, but I didn’t want him to think I was making fun of him. I sensed it took him a lot to confide in me. And so, I did what I would do for any friend. I got up and gave him a hug.

For a second, he was still, almost statue-like in shock. And then he hugged me back with a muffled thanks. My stomach exploded with butterflies. The blood rushed to my cheeks. Slowly, I went back to my seat, wondering if he could hear my heart pounding.

‘Thank you,’ he said again. ‘You’re a good friend.’

I smiled and looked away quickly as my heart began hammering in my chest. I busied myself with taking a bite of my pasta so I didn’t have to look at him.

During the drive back, he insisted we listen to my playlist. In the spirit of our newfound friendship, I played the list that had all my favourites. Whenever an A.R. Rahman song came up, he sang along in Hindi even though I only had the Tamil versions. It was quite impressive to see how he managed to keep track of the lyrics.

It wasn’t until he turned off the ignition that I realized I was home.

‘Thanks for the dinner and the ride,’ I said. ‘And for putting up with my family. And of course, your help with that presentation.’

‘Friendship main no sorry, no thank you,’ he said, doing a perfect Salman Khan impression. I laughed.

‘Seriously, you would have done a great job even without my help. I’m fairly certain Ash will green-light this, and I’m excited for you.’

‘I needed a lot of help and I appreciate the time you took out for brainstorming,’ I said. I wondered why I was suddenly sounding so formal. It was time for me to go home, but somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to step out of the car and end the night.

‘See you on Monday,’ he said, effectively breaking the spell. ‘Thanks for dinner, it was. . . fun,’ he finished.

‘Somehow, you’re not convincing me,’ I replied with a wry smile. ‘I hope you have a fun Sunday! Thanks for rescuing me twice today!’

I got out and walked into the house thinking of what an odd day it had been. It had started out terribly, with Dhruv’s attempt to botch up my project. I lost my entire Saturday to work, and I was worried about presenting to Ash on Monday despite Abhimanyu’s confidence. I also couldn’t believe that Abhimanyu had walked into that disaster of a party and survived it.

And yet, I hadn’t had such a fun evening in a long time.

Maybe the butterfly earrings had brought me some luck after all.