Sorting Out Sid (13 page)

He succeeded in distracting Aditi enough
–
she stopped giving him that penetrating gaze. In fact, she looked a little guilty as she said, ‘Listen, I said it was a dinner party. The perfect size for a dinner party is just six people.’

‘Okay.’ Sid settled himself comfortably into her sofa. ‘I don’t mind intimate. I can do intimate. So who are the other three guests, then?’

‘Well…’ She looked distinctly uncomfortable now. ‘Actually, one couple dropped out … So, it’ll just be the four of us … Krish, you, me and…’ her voice trailed off.

‘And?’ Sid strained his ears to hear her.

‘A friend,’ Aditi said, slightly louder.

Sid was blank for a second, and then his ears pricked up like antennae having picked up a danger signal. He cried, ‘You’re trying to set me up? Is this a double date?’

‘It’s not a double date, it’s just a dinner party.’

‘But we need
six
people for that,’ Sid hissed.

‘Look, Sid,’ Aditi said, ingratiatingly, ‘I’m not trying to set you up … I just thought it’ll be nice for you to make some new … you know … friends. You guys have a lot in common. You’re both…’ She broke off, unsure of how to proceed.

‘Oh,’ Sid sighed. ‘Separated, right? We’re both separated. Go ahead. You can say that.’

Aditi was quiet for a moment. ‘I was going to say, funny, creative people who work in similar fields.’

‘You’re a bad liar, Adu.’

She opened her mouth to say something but then shut it again.

He sighed. ‘Okay. Look, let’s all just have a nice relaxed dinner, okay? Just don’t try to play cupid, Aditi
–
I’m not interested.’

She nodded, but looked a little too innocent for him to believe she had really got it. He thought he had already made it clear that he planned to be a happy singleton when he told her three months ago about his impending divorce. He hadn’t given her the details of his reading with Cynthia, or his discovery about Vikas and Mandira. He only told her that Mandira and he had talked about their marriage and decided it wasn’t going to work out. And then, partly to avoid talking to her about the whole messy affair, he had fastidiously avoided meeting Aditi over the last several weeks.

‘So,’ she said, after a brief pause, ‘why the hell have you been avoiding me?’

‘Arrey! I thought we just went over this. I told you what it’s been like for the last three months, and you said…’

‘I
know
I said I know.’ It was rather funny the way she put it, and Sid was about to make fun of it but she went on, ‘But I’ve been worried about you, Sid. I thought you may be … I don’t know, depressed or something.’

‘Depressed?’ Sid scoffed. ‘Are you crazy? I told you she and I are much better off this way. I’m convinced about it. There was no feeling left between us anyway. I’m fine. It’s just that the stupid judge insisted on this stupid, six-month cooling-off period.’

‘Hmmm … So you’ve got another three months to go before she moves out?’

‘Yup.’

‘And how have things been at home? Isn’t it awkward, living with someone you’re divorcing?’

‘It’s okay, not that bad.’ Sid rubbed his temple. He really did not want to discuss this. He looked up at her. ‘Listen, Adu, I know I always have to remind you because you’re such a terrible hostess, but I’m coming straight from work and I could really do with a drink before we start to play twenty questions again.’

‘Okay.’ Aditi sighed loudly. ‘I’ll get you your damned beer. And relax … Like you said, we’ll just have a chilled-out evening.’

She went off into the kitchen. Sid sank deeper into the sofa with a sigh, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back. Between all that was going on these days at work and at home there was hardly a moment when he didn’t have to be on his guard. But tonight, after the longest time, he was among friends. Aditi could be a pain, but she meant well, and Krish, of course, had a heart of gold. Sid breathed in deeply once more and felt more relaxed than he had in ages.

Then Aditi’s doorbell rang, and he winced as the tune of ‘B-I-N-G-O’ started to fill the room and every corner of his head.

‘Can you get that?’ Aditi sang out from the kitchen.

‘Okay, okay,’ Sid said, heaving himself up and out of the sofa. He strode over to the door, reminding himself that no matter what happened, he wouldn’t greet Krish with a hug tonight.

He swung the door open and his gruff man-to-man greeting died in his throat as he looked at the short, pixie-faced girl in front of him.

‘Hello,’ she said, smiling.

That Girl.

Neha. With whom he had embarrassed himself so thoroughly several months ago, right here in this very place. And now, Aditi had set up a dinner party which involved him and this girl talking to each other. He would kill Aditi. He sensed her come up behind him. She called out ‘Heyyy sweetie … Sid, please let Neha in!’

Sid moved over to the side, following ‘Sweetie’ with his eyes as she walked past him in stylish, pink, high-heeled shoes. Why did women use that word with each other so freely? Even with all the embarrassment he felt, Sid couldn’t help notice that Neha looked great. Her hair had grown a couple of inches, and the curls fell delicately to just below her collarbone. She was still voluptuous, but that slight bulge around her waist was now gone
–
the one that had caused so much trauma the last time they had met. She was wearing a reddish pink blouse made out of some flowy, sheer material, and a short skirt which revealed shapely, fair-skinned legs. He quickly averted his eyes from those legs, and instead caught Aditi’s eye. She was looking at him over Neha’s shoulder as she hugged her warmly.

He shot Aditi a look that clearly said, ‘WTF?’

Aditi just raised her eyebrows eloquently. He read it as something along the lines of, ‘What could I do? If I had told you, would you have stayed?’ But it could also just as easily have meant ‘Balls to you!’

Sid decided he would use this unexpected opportunity to make a good impression on Neha and wipe out all memories of his idiotic behaviour the last time. He could always kill Aditi later. For now, be Witty Sid, he urged himself as Neha turned to face him again with a wide smile. He cleared his throat to deliver his line.

‘Hi.’

It was bad enough that it was all that he could think of at the moment, but did it really have to come out in that weak croak? He coughed a bit, and Aditi gave him a strange look, before jumping in.

‘Neha, you remember Sid, of course?’

Neha’s eyes narrowed in confusion. ‘I do?’ She wore only kohl in her eyes today, and he thought she looked even better with minimal make-up
–
her pretty face with those high cheekbones and sharp features didn’t really need any. Then he realized what she had just said.

She had forgotten him? So many times in the last few months this pint-sized girl had popped into his head and she hadn’t thought about him even once? He realized he was being irrational, especially when he should have been relieved that Neha didn’t remember what an ass he had made of himself. But he felt embarrassed and a bit annoyed
–
what an arrogant little upstart of a woman.

Then Neha’s face cleared and she stretched out her hand. ‘Sid,’ she said slowly and wonderingly as he took her hand to shake it, ‘of course.’

For a moment, Neha stared right into Sid’s eyes. Then, still holding onto his hand, she started giggling softly and soon her laugh was building up into what he knew would end in that tremendous, unabashed musical crescendo. It was clear that she did remember
–
and apparently she held no grudges.

What a lovely girl. And even that long nose with its little halfway bump was beginning to grow on him.

‘We win,’ Aditi sang out. She held her hand out to Neha, who languidly high-fived it.

‘We
let
you win,’ Sid corrected.

‘Hah!’ Aditi returned as she started to clear up the game of Tabboo. ‘You guys want some coffee?’

The others all shook their heads. Sid got up, caught Krish’s eye and indicated the balcony with a subtle movement of his head. Now was the time to slip out for a smoke while Aditi was distracted and in a good mood with her win. Man! That girl was always so competitive, even when it came to silly party games.

He had been initially aghast at the thought of playing a geeky game like Tabboo, especially when there was a relative stranger around, and especially when that relative stranger was Neha. However, the game had been a great success. Krish and Sid lost by a large number of points to the girls’ team of course. But Sid had secretly been tracking the number of times he had managed to make Neha laugh out loud
–
eleven, and that was a high enough score for him. Initially, Krish and he had been making some honest mistakes, but then he had deliberately taken to quips and false guesses, just to be able to hear Neha’s laugh. So, when Krish had tried to make him guess the word ‘sweep’, without using the banned words, saying ‘this … is what the guy does … every morning … outside the building … on the … street …’ Sid confidently replied, ‘Susu!’

He had pretended to be flabbergasted as the other three burst into laughter and he was most gratified to note that Neha was clutching her tummy because she was laughing so hard.

Now, Krish smiled and declined Sid’s invitation to the balcony, gesturing with his head towards Aditi, who was still busy gathering up the cards from the game. He whispered, ‘Apparently, I’m quitting this week. Again.’ He smiled in his good-natured manner and went over to help his wife clear up.

With a slight shrug, Sid headed out to the balcony himself. The evening had been fun, and the conversation had flowed relatively easily. Sid hadn’t even done anything stupid around Neha, so that was a big deal. But still, he really felt the need for that smoke. It was tiring being the life of the party.

Sid was gazing out into the black night when he noticed Neha had materialized by his side. He hesitated a moment and then offered, ‘You smoke?’

‘Only socially,’ she said, accepting his cigarette. Sid lit it for her wondering why he should feel as reluctant as he did. Maybe she just looked too young and fresh and healthy to be holding a cigarette in her hand. Most women he knew, including Aditi, always chided him for smoking, and it did nothing to make him want to stop. However, right now, as he watched Neha take a slow drag, smoking just felt wrong. He shook his head to clear it
–
what was wrong with him?

He fortified himself with another long puff and stared out into the darkness again. They both leaned against the balcony railing and smoked together in silence. Sid realized something strange. It was a comfortable silence, and that almost never happened to him.

She was close enough for him to smell her perfume. It was a nice, fruity fragrance
–
one that Mandira never used. The thought of his soon-to-be-ex-wife brought his mood down a few notches. He continued to puff away in silence.

‘So, what is it that you do, Sid?’

‘Me? Oh.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I work in marketing.’

‘Really?’ she said. ‘I work in Advertising … HMA … Where do you work?’

‘Oh, HMA? When I worked at Coke, we did some work with HMA.’

Taking a drag, Neha asked again, ‘So where do you work now?’

He hated this part. He took a drag and whispered as he exhaled, ‘Kollin’s.’

‘Kohl?’ She was straining her cars to hear him. ‘Wow! That ubercool make-up brand? I love their stuff.’

Ah, dammit! Sid cleared his throat and clarified, infusing as much confidence into his voice as he could muster. ‘No, no. Kollin’s. The … bathroom hygiene company, best known for its, er, toilet cleaners. It’s the market leader.’ His words hung in the air. She gave him a polite nod, but her smile wavered a little. He decided to go with his standard joke. ‘We’re number one as a toilet brand! We try harder.’ Encouraged by her light giggle, Sid continued, ‘One day, we’ll make it to number
two
! Get it?’

Neha started with her infectious giggles and he found himself getting a bit worried that she might end up waking the neighbours
–
it was almost midnight. Fortunately, she stopped a few seconds later to take another languid puff. She looked up at him curiously. ‘So … why would you leave FMCG to work in toilets?’