Sorting Out Sid (33 page)

Instead, he said, ‘Early stages, boss. We, uh, haven’t yet done justice to marketing its actual proposition to the right audience. After all, there’s a segment of affluent consumers that we’ve identified who are in the psychographic segment of the “indulgents” and these can be reached only through a specific communication channel plan. Their media habits are distinct from the rest of the mass audience. We should appropriately target them with a clearly different voice to convey the personality of the new range and also generate awareness and education about the distinct promise of the enhanced product range. This will automatically lead to higher demand and trial, post which we can expect to hit the tipping point.’

There was another pause, and the CEO nodded curtly and said, ‘A new ad, eh? That makes sense. Create the proposal for it and let’s discuss it next week.’

Saved. Thanks to the idiocy that existed in such abundance across levels of the company. Sid sighed and noticed that Akash was looking at him again, this time with approval. Akash then glanced around the room with a smirk, and the message was clear, ‘I’ve taught this kid all he knows today.’

Sid checked his phone twice on the way to his office from the boardroom, and once more after he was seated. He sat staring in disappointment. He still hadn’t received a reply from Neha to his last message. What was going on? He knew Kippy had been unwell, but it had been quite a few days now. So why was she still so busy?

Neha had taken inordinately long to reply to his messages over the last few days. The one sent three days ago, ‘Hope all well?’ had got a ‘Managing, thanks.’ with a smiley. But it came several hours later and with no invitation to come over.

Sid hadn’t wanted to push her, thinking she was caught up with a sick baby. So he hadn’t offered to come over himself. Then, two days ago, he had sent her a, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ and she hadn’t replied all day, eventually getting back in the night with a mere, ‘Sorry, saw your message only now. Been caught up.’ With a smiley.

Sid didn’t know why, but the smileys were bothering him vaguely. Had she used them with him before? He didn’t think so. Sid scrolled through her previous messages and noticed the smileys were all conspicuous by their absence. Strange
–
did it mean something? And now, ever since his text to her last night he had heard nothing, and that message most definitely did warrant a reaction.

‘Up for a work trip in October to Munich! How cool is that? Other news too. Meet soon?’

Sid had wanted to tell her in person about the upcoming trip to Germany, but they just had not got the chance. However, what he really wanted to tell her was what happened two days ago, on Wednesday.

The all-important date had rolled around. Mandira and he made their final trip to the court for signing the divorce
papers. The formalities were all over and they were now legally divorced. And then, yesterday, Mandira announced that her new flat was ready and she would be moving out immediately. Sid had been surprised by the suddenness of it all. He had offered to help her move, but of course, she had refused his help.

‘I’m hardly taking anything with me, anyway,’ Mandira had snapped, so he had not pursued the matter. Fine. Let her move by herself while he was busy at work. She was supposed to be done with the shifting today.

He was now a free man. Finally. The next step was to focus on things with Neha so that they could begin to figure out their future together. You couldn’t discuss all this on SMS, though.

But no response from her. Why? Was she mad at him? Was she playing hard to get? They had moved kind of fast in the last few weeks. Sid was suddenly afraid. Had he been acting too desperate? That might have put her off, she was definitely one of those free-spirited types. Calling her or messaging her again might drive her further away. He frowned at his phone. What could he do?

Akash’s voice boomed in his ear, startling him. ‘So, Sid! Making good progress on that presentation for the annual conference?’

Sid gritted his teeth. Akash always entered his room without any warning. Usually, Sid was vigilant enough to spot him coming from a mile away, but today he was too distracted by the whole thing with Neha.

‘It’s all good, boss. Don’t worry,’ Sid said. He was lying of course. He hadn’t even started on the presentation and didn’t intend to for another month. This time he was going
to outsmart Akash. Sid knew his boss wouldn’t ask to review until the last possible minute anyway.

Akash cleared his throat. ‘So, I’m glad you made that point to Rakesh in the meeting today. Good thing we discussed it earlier.’ Sid almost choked in indignation, but Akash went on, ‘But, Sid, I’m getting the impression you’ve been a little … distracted this week. Why is that?’

Sid narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his boss for a second before making a conscious effort to relax his facial features. Had Meenakshi gone and blabbered something to him? Or was his distraction so obvious that even Akash could pick up on it? Of course, a lot had happened this week.

Apart from his worry about Neha, he had also been dealing with the after-effects of his little evening out as a foursome with Mandira, Vikas and Sunny. They had had a rollicking time. Sid had been at his funniest, regaling them all with tales of the office. Mandira hadn’t passed a single sarcastic remark
–
in fact, she had been much quieter than usual, casting glances around the room at all three of them. Sid thought she was deliberately ensuring that her gaze didn’t linger on Vikas for too long. Vikas had laughed uproariously at Sid’s jokes, exclaiming loudly at regular intervals how good it was to see him after such a long time, and warning him not to disappear again. Sunny appeared quietly pleased, smiling happily that the four of them were together once more. Sid wondered if Sunny even had an inkling about what had happened. Immaterial. Sid doubled his efforts at being funny to avoid thinking about that.

The entire act had killed him from inside and put him in a black mood whenever he thought of it. That was the other reason he had been missing Neha. Not that he planned to
tell her about that night. He wouldn’t get into all of that. It was too murky. But she always proved to be such a great distraction. That’s what he really needed
–
and now, he hadn’t seen her in several days.

But for Akash to be able to see through his ‘I’m-Fine-at-Office’ act? Clearly, Sid was losing his touch
–
the mask slipping would mean the end of everything.

‘Just exhausted, I think, boss.’ Sid attempted to look tired. ‘It’s been a long week.’

Akash had on a concerned-boss face. ‘How much leave have you got piled up, son?’

Sid did the maths and said, ‘About seven weeks, in fact…’

Akash started. ‘Seven weeks! Then you must take a couple of days off soon.’

Wow. How generous of you, boss … Sid bit back the words and instead said, ‘Sure. That’s a good idea. I’m sure it will give me some much-needed … relief.’ Sid emphasized the last word, giving Akash a meaningful smile.

As expected, it took a second or two but Akash was soon cackling, slapping his thigh with delight. ‘Relief! Relief! Yes…’ When he finally stopped laughing, he said, ‘Why don’t you go home early today?’

Hmmm … Sid thought about it. Mandira would be done with her moving out by now. He distinctly remembered her saying that the packers would leave by 5 p.m. By the time he got home, she would be long gone. It was an important day to be home early.

So he looked at Akash for a moment and then said, ‘You know what, boss? I think I will.’

Sid stood at the door to his house. It was all dark and quiet inside, as he had known it would be. Sid gave it a moment of solemn silence, as a gesture of respect. An era had finally ended. And then, as he fished in his pocket for the key, Sid started to sing ‘
Happy to be a Bachelor Boy
…’ He crooned the words softly to himself while turning the key in the door, and deliberately stopped singing when the words ‘Until my dying day’ came up. After all, he didn’t plan to be a bachelor for very long. Wait, was he a
bachelor
? That wasn’t technically correct. After all, wasn’t a bachelor someone who had never been married? Well, as far as Sid was concerned, from this moment on, he had never been married. So it was okay. He stepped inside, ready to reclaim his home as his own. As his … Bachelor Pad, yes. Hah!

Sid stood in the hallway for a moment. Things did feel different. Mandira had said she would only take the things that she bought herself. Only a few possessions were to be split half-and-half, such as his … okay,
their
… CD collection. Sid had thought about joking that perhaps they should also split Rukmini into two. He refrained from mentioning it, well aware that such a suggestion would only result in his being accused of cruelty to maids. Mandira’s sense of humour had died a sad death over the last few years. And one had to be respectful of the dead.

Speaking of the dead, he realized he was feeling a little creeped out. It actually seemed like most of the furniture was gone; the house felt strangely empty and quiet. It was a little eerie. Actually, now that he was thinking about it, it was a
lot
eerie.

This was ridiculous. He had been alone plenty. He was used to being alone and he loved it. He reached out to turn on the light.

‘Aaaaaaarrgghh!’

Rukmini and he spent the next few seconds screaming wildly at each other. His shriek set hers off. Finally, he stopped and pointed a shaky finger at her, saying, ‘Tummmmmm!’ in a manner that struck him as strangely familiar although he didn’t quite know why.

‘Tum yahan kya kar rahi ho?’ Thoughts raced through his head even as his heartbeat slowed down to normal. Had Mandira decided to leave this specimen behind for him? Was this intended as an unexpected farewell gift for him? Or was it a cruel joke, some sort of last-minute vengeance on her part?

After a couple of minutes of blubbering on the part of the little, frightened maid, Sid finally understood that while Madam was no longer at home, young Rukmini was to stay here tonight. Sid dropped his laptop bag, which he had been clutching tightly to his chest while screaming. He fumbled in his pocket for his cellphone and dialled Mandira’s number.

‘What?’

‘Hello,’ he said in as friendly a manner as he could. ‘I’m hooome.’ There was stony silence on the other end of the line. He grit his teeth and added, ‘I think perhaps you’ve … er … forgotten something?’

‘I haven’t forgotten her.’ Mandira’s voice was cold. ‘Her room here isn’t ready yet. And there’s just a little more stuff to be moved. We’ll be done by tomorrow morning. Don’t worry … I’m not spending another night there.’

‘Oh, I see,’ replied Sid with exaggerated politeness, ‘I thought Rukmini was perhaps accidently left behind in all the excitement. You know, very
Home Alone
.’

‘Cut the sarcasm, Sid.’

‘Okay.’ He paused and said less facetiously, ‘Listen, if there’s anything that you need, please do let me know.’

There was a moment of silence and he waited, fully prepared for his head to be bitten off.

‘Thanks.’

Sid was surprised to note that her voice wasn’t sounding as curt as it had been a few seconds ago. He didn’t really know how to deal with it. Finally, he said, ‘Okay then, goodnight.’

Mandira said, ‘Goodnight,’ the edge back in her voice, and hung up abruptly.

Sid stared at his phone for a while. He looked up and saw Rukmini peering curiously at him with wide eyes. Instinct almost made him order her to make him some Maggi, but he stopped short. She was no longer his maid. Mandira and he were now divorced.

Sid suddenly didn’t feel like spending the evening at home. In any case, with this ghoulish maid hanging around, his beer-and-porn plans to celebrate his first night of being single again were shot.

He glanced at his watch. It was 8 p.m. Not that late. He made a quick decision. In any case, he had to figure out why Neha hadn’t messaged him back yet. He picked up his keys. He would just drive to her place. If she was home, good, if not, too bad. At the very least he would have killed some time. And then, there was always good old Aditi to fall back on.