Finding Company

I wanted to be her first. At half past ten, this morning, I used the office phone to make the international call. I pictured her in bed, tousled hair, waking up with that lovely impish smile, her sleepy sexy voice whispering my name. I let the phone ring for a minute. I disconnected and tried again. I got through.

I heard her voice. ‘Max, a G&T for me, please… Max, stop that…’ There was loud booming noise in the background.

‘Arpita…?’ I tried my deep husky voice.

‘Hmm…?’

‘Arpita…!’ I used my shrill shout.

‘Hmm… Max, there is someone on the phone… now, be a darling and get me that G&T…’

‘Happy Birthday, Arpita…’ I tried once again.  

‘Awww… thanks for remembering,’ she sounded pleased. ‘Max, stop it… you are tickling me.’ I wanted to know how this Max was tickling her with a G&T.

‘Who is Max?’ I asked.

‘Huh?’

‘Who is Max?’ I shouted.

‘Max? He is my… by the way, who is this?’ she asked.

‘Arjun…’

‘Arjun…? From school…?’ she queried.

‘Yes.’

‘Been a long time…’

‘Yes.’

‘Hey, I can’t hear, ok…and the band is about to play…’

‘Which band plays at 6 am?’ I thought loudly. ‘Aren’t you in Berlin?’

‘I am in San Francisco…hey…let me catch you later, ok?’

I felt relieved. A Max tickling her at night in some club sounded better than a Max tickling her at 6 am. I held onto the phone for a while listening to the disconnected tone.  I was also glad that I used the office phone for that long call.

I concentrated on my work till lunch-time when I got a call from my sister.

‘Hey, did you know…?’ she asked without preamble.

‘Know what…?’ I inspected the measly cucumber sandwich in my lunch box.

‘Chandrika is gay… Molly Aunty told me just now…’ my sister kept on jabbering.

Chandrika was my first love. At age ten, I asked her about her inner wear. She told her mother who told my mother. I got spanked. We were separated. At age thirty, we met again. We went out for a few dates. We even went shopping together, for inner wear and other stuff. She told her mother who told my mother. This time, they hoped that we would get married. But, we went our separate ways.

That news left me terribly distressed. If she had met with a fatal accident, it would have been less inconvenient. I was left without a first love and I could not think of a replacement.

I checked my Inbox. There were no personal mails… as usual. I kept on working.

At half past four, I took a break. I phoned Sharmila. She is some relative’s family friend’s daughter. Or, is it some family friend’s relative’s daughter? Couple of months back, she came to me for career counseling. I did that at her house twice and once at a coffee-shop. I suggested a movie once but she was busy that day. I wanted to hear her soft, bubbly voice.

An old gravelly voice came on the line, ‘Who is it?’

‘This is Arjun, aunty,’ I told her mother.

‘Ah, Arjun…’ I waited for her to continue but she did not.

‘Aunty, is Sharmila there?’ I asked.

‘She is in Macau.’

‘Has she gone there for work?’

‘Honeymoon…’

‘Honeymoon…?’

‘Why didn’t you come for the wedding?’ she asked.

‘Ah…I was out of station…’ I lied and ended the call. I thought about the many reasons Sharmila must have had not to tell me about her wedding. That seemed easier than thinking that she had no reason at all.

Work got over before six. I left office at eight. It looked better that way. In these bad times, even the unemployed get home late.

I got to my door at nine, tired and sad without company. I rang the bell. My wife opened the door.

 ‘Ah, look at what the cat brought in…’ she teased. ‘Come on, now, another tough day…?’

I nodded my head and sat slumped at the dining table, too weary to change or wash. I hardly heard my wife’s rambling account of her day, till…

‘Guess who I met at the supermarket this morning,’ she sounded terribly pleased, ‘Gaurav… remember Gaurav… the guy who was after me in college? He lives in this area, you know. In fact, he used to work close to your office. He is now between jobs. Chucked out, it seems. You have not been chucked out, right?’ I shook my head. She continued, ‘He is married and has got three kids…’ Her voice was building up to the grand climax. ‘Guess what he did… he made a pass at me… he asked me to have lunch with him… I know that he is depressed and all that… but still… I laughed out loud… I just could not stop myself… he looked devastated.’ My wife laughed.

I laughed too. It felt nice to have the company of that guy who had a bad day, maybe worse than mine.