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She
briefly took the phone wire from her mouth and greeted the receptionist. Then fixed
it back again and continued speaking into it.
“Come
on, Shyam, Do you expect me to believe such nonsense?”
She
pulled out a chair from an unoccupied table and sat down. She was slim and
tall, around 5’8”. Her bright red lips matched her red and black tops.
Even
Salman who was threatening the waiter with a
‘if you had just told me I would have showed
the lot of you to make an omelette the right way,’ turned around to see what others were looking
at.
And
naturally the waiter had to see why Salman had stopped so suddenly.
A
small white rabbit peeped out of her right pocket. The girl stroked its head
and throat gently and then thrust it inside, all the while continuing on the
phone.
“Okay,
Shyam, it may be an ordinary matter for you. But it doesn’t suit me one bit,
understand?
“What?
“YES,
I agree that I’m traditional in my values, very traditional. In fact I’m
surprised you didn’t notice it till now. So let me get it clear once and for
all. Its goodbye forever and I don’t want to hear your voice or see your face
anymore, got it?”
She
pulled the earphones off and buried her face in her hands. The whole place was
silent as if to share her loss. “A glass of apple juice first please,” she said
to the waiting waiter, uncovering her face briefly.
“You
serve this dish to that lady there,” Salman continued in a whisper “and see
what happens. Your chef will be fired in ten minutes.”
“Excuse
me, Sir, but that lady was so pleased with yesterday’s pudding that she gave me a 500 rupee note tip.”
“Nonsense!
You think I’ll believe that?” Salman said, thumping the table so forcefully
that the young girl sitting at the opposite table let out an involuntary cry.
Her
big eyes were fixed on the door. She huddled herself like a mouse on hearing a
cat’s approaching meows.
“Relax,
Rita, they’re not going to search for you here now,” the elderly lady by her
side said. “My brother has cleverly diverted them to the north. In fifteen
minutes we’ll be travelling south. You must spend the night at Ravi’s house. In
the morning he’ll take you to the registrar’s office. Shankar will be waiting
there. Just sign the register, pose for a photo and you’ll come out as a
married woman, understand? Now show me how you’ll hold Shankar’s arm tomorrow:
Ah! That blush will do. Now finish your coffee and let’s go.”
But
Rita kept staring at another couple who were happily sharing a drink using two
straws. Their eyes were half closed, half admiring as they looked up from their
drink to smile at each other now and then.
Shankar and she never enjoyed such a peaceful
moment together. Would things suddenly change after tomorrow?
She
stretched out her hands to hold the table but her head was spinning rapidly and
she found herself moving closer to the floor…
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