"I'll have a virgin mojito," I said to the bartender. We were at the bar stools at the counter. Soft music and laughs rang out, the main chatter coming from Mika and the other staff members. The side of my head was not left aloneâI could feel someone lasering holes into it.
It was Frankie. "No alcohol?"
"I'm not much of a drinker."
The corners of her lips dipped down as she nodded her head, saying, "I'm intrigued."
"Is that all it takes?"
"It really doesn't take a lot," Mika said, poking her head over Frankie's shoulder. She was holding a glass of beer in her hand. "As long as you have a dick."
"A working dick, thank you very much."
I shook my head but couldn't help but chuckle. These women were something else. "I think just being here listening to you two speak is ruining my innocence." I thanked the bartender as he placed my drink in front of me.
I sipped it as Frankie said, "Don't give me that. You've lost all that innocence as soon as you got married."
"You're not wrong there."
"Speaking of marriage, you should bring her here. This place is my absolute favourite." I hummed in agreement but didn't bother responding. My phone chimed.
Anish: 'You free to call?'
"Who's that?" Frankie asked.
"A good friend of mine. One second." I texted him back and almost immediately his name flashed across the screen. Frankie turned to speak to Mika, thankfully, so I picked it up.
"I see you're busy at the bar," Anish's husky voice spilled in my ear.
"How'd you know?"
"Sandra told me," he said dismissively. "More importantly, how was work?"
"Great, mom. Can't wait to do it all over again."
"Sarcasm has been duly noted."
"I'm glad. Now can I enjoy my drink in peace or do you want to go over that as well?"
"Nope, I think I've been insulted enough for one day." I tried not to snicker. "Why'd you call?"
"Why do you always ask me that like I'm after something?"
"Because you usually are."
"I'm being a good friend checking up on you." He questioned me some more like he was my second mom before hanging up.
"Sounds like you two are close," Frankie said after downing a shot of vodka.
"Yeah, weâ" I trailed off as my eyes caught the reflection behind her. I swivelled around in the bar stool to look at the front door. I thought I was going blind but no, it really was Veer. I hadn't seen him in years. He was with a woman I'd never seen before; she was wearing jeans and a traditional top and looked out of place but there was something about her that made me tilt my head.
Veer caught my gaze and his expression turned to one of recognition. He lifted a hand up in a wave and came over.
"You know that guy?" Frankie whispered, leaning into me.
I whispered back, "Yeah, he's my wife's ex."
"What?! And you're cool with talking to him?"
"I mean, he's a chill guy. He was my GP for a little while before that."
"Wow." She snorted. "Small world."
Veer came over, the woman beside him, head held high and carrying herself in a way that was familiar. Though once her eyes settled on me, they began darting everywhere else so maybe confidence wasn't the right word. She seemed kind and almost childlike as she blinked at Frankie and the others before staring at the ground.
"Dhruv," he said, extending his hand for me to shake. I grabbed it and gave it a firm handshake. "Didn't expect to see you here."
"Neither did I. How's life treating you?"
"Good, good. I'm now aware that I may actually get a social life outside of my patients." He gestured to the woman who seemed to have gone pale. I studied her. She had a nose ring curving her left nostril and thick black eyebrows that angled over almond dark eyes. She glanced up, and catching my gaze, instantly turned to Veer. "This is Mouna, a good friend of mine."
I extended my right hand, the one that wasn't holding the drink. "Nice to meet you. I'm Dhruv, a...somewhat acquaintance of his." She was very reluctant in taking my hand, glancing at Veer before she did. It was very limp, almost as if she couldn't wait to stop touching me. I hadn't realised there were still shy women like her around these parts.
"An acquaintanceship, exactly," Veer agreed. "Our relationship is a bit convoluted."
"That's putting it lightly. Do you want to join us for a drink?"
He waved his hand in the air. "No, no. You seem busy. We'll let you be." He paused. "How's Rani, by the way?"
I don't know. Strange. Instead I said, "Yeah, good. You know...um, we're the same as usual."
Veer smiled, but there was no hint of malice or envyâthe man was as kindhearted as they came and I was incredibly grateful for it. "Great. Then I'll see you." They went off toward an unoccupied wooden table near the brick wall at the very back. The Mouna woman glanced at me over her shoulder but upon seeing me looking, snapped her head back around and hurried up to catch up with Veer. I furrowed my eyebrows before shrugging.
Frankie leaned over. "Two hot men in one night? Am I lucky or what?"
I laughed.
***
Coming back that night, I'd fully expected to be greeted by a dark house since I'd texted Rani I'd be working overtime. Instead, as soon as I opened the door, I saw her sitting on the couch, elbows on her thighs and chin in her hands as she watched, open-mouthed, whatever was playing.
Going closer, I saw that it was a Hindi movie. Since when was she interested in those? I thought. But seeing me, she shot up like a bullet and said, "How was work? How was the bar?"
"Good," I said, scratching the back of my neck. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to respond to that. We hadn't done proper conversation in a long time. I sniffed the air. "That smells really good."
"I read somewhere that after drinking you should eat so you don't feel sick. I thought I would make more food. I also made my infamâI mean experimented some cake slices." She went over to the kitchen to get out a plate and I grinned. She caught me. "Why are you smiling?"
"No, it's just weird to see you there. Usually I'm the one in the pink apron, cooking food and getting you food. To see you do it..." felt kind of nice, I finished. I wasn't going to say that. I didn't even know what saying that meant. Seeing her bright smile aimed at me, though, apparently she knew what I was trying to say.
Oh crap, I thought, glancing at my bag and seeing the untouched lunchbox. "Oh, wait, actually. I didn't eat your lunch so I'll eat that for dinner. Save me the food you made for tomorrow."
Her face deflated, something I hadn't seen from her. "Oh."
I found myself reassuring her, "I'll eat it. There's nothing wrong with it. It completely slipped my mind at work. Everything was chaos."
"How was work? You smell like you were rolling around with them."
I laughed. "That was pretty much what I had to do. I think afterâ" I cut myself off before finishing with, "I can see myself doing this for a little while."
"You seem like someone who would be great with animals!" That sentence made my smile fade a little. It made us as disconnected as I was feeling before. There was an awkward silence that insinuated afterward and, as if she knew she had said something wrong, she came forward. "I-I didn't mean it like that."
"I know. Don't worry about it." As I went to freshen up before I ate, I said, "You don't need to cook for me. I appreciate what you're trying to do but you have work."
"That's okay. I like cooking."
"I get that butâ"
"I'll cook for you when I have the time, then. We can even alternate."
Nothing was going to crack her. Her stubbornness hadn't left her despite everything which I guessed was a good thing in some ways. "All right. That sounds good to me."
After taking a nice, much-needed hot shower, I got dressed in slacks and a grey shirt before heating up her food. The smell made me drool like one of the big sheepdogs every time he saw his food. I was sure I resembled the same look. I forked some rice and chicken as well as the yoghurt salad leftover and the mango pickleâand it was like all sorts of flavours bursting inside my mouth. There was the tanginess from the pickle, the fresh sweetness of the yoghurt and the spice of the marinade of the chicken.
It was incredible, and certainly not something from an amateur cook. I stared at Rani wiping the table down before heading over to the couch to look over some of her work files. I had never seen her so focused on something that had to do with our home life before.
And for her to make something as amazing as this? I chewed as I thought. Maybe she was trying. Even if her memories hadn't fully come back, she seemed to want to impress me. Would it be bad if I tried to take her up on the offer? If they come back and she still felt indifference then I would be okay with that.
But if not...would things be different?
Frankie's words popped into my head and I ran my tongue over the front of my teeth. "Hey, Rani?" I found myself saying before I could stop myself. I grimaced but seeing as how she sat up on her knees from her place on the floor, waiting for me to finish what I was saying, I pushed through. "The bar I went to was nice. Somewhere you'd like." She blinked, like she didn't understand where I was going with this. To be honest, neither did I. "Do you want to go when you're free sometime?"