Chapter 1: The thrill of a night out

She wiped the sweat beads from her brow and hurried along. Her bag full of vegetables and other groceries seemed heavier by the minute, but she didn’t mind. Vegetable shopping for the week was to be done the next day, but she wanted to relax the whole of tomorrow and not leave any chore undone. At last she got into the lift heaving a sigh of relief; up to the fourth floor and then a 30 second wait for her daughter to open the front door. “Arre Ma, such a heavy bag! What all did you bring today?” asked her 10 year old. Ignoring her daughter Piya hurried into the kitchen and started unpacking the groceries and got started with making dinner. Across the city, three other women were getting ready to dress up and meet with their girlfriends that night. “I can’t believe Piya is actually coming tonight” texted Shamita to Alia. “ Yes! I know..I am so excited to meet her after such a long time!!!!” came her reply.

A few hours later Piya looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. “Not bad…Despite my negligence, I still look okay.” she thought to herself as she stood on her tiptoes trying to see how her outfit looked in the half-length bathroom mirror. Glancing at her watch, she hurried along applying eye-liner, mascara and lipstick. She was always shy of using too much make-up and tonight she was even more conscious about how she looked. “Well, I don’t care if anyone else likes it or not. I like the way I look and this is the way I’m going tonight” she whispered to her reflection trying to gather confidence and get the flutter of butterflies in her stomach under control.

A quick peek into the kids’ bedroom and she saw that both her children were fast asleep. She smiled as she blew them a kiss and mentally promised to take them out to the new mall with the game arcade that had opened up just last month. Both her son and daughter had wanted to go, but Amit had straight out refused saying they would end up spending too much money. Everyone in their friend circle had been there, and the children even promised to look around and not spend more than their father would want to; but he still hadn’t budged. He could be strict like that sometimes. Anyways Piya was thankful for the yoga classes she took once in a while, she had saved up some of that money and put it away for a rainy day. “I promise I will use all of it at the mall for you darlings” she thought as she softly closed their door. She straightened her shoulders and picked up her purse and walked into the living room. “Ok Amit, I’m leaving now, dinner is ready on the table sweetie, please eat it while it’s still warm, the kids are asleep and don’t worry about me, Sheena has said she will drop me home and I have the key so you can go to bed any time you want.” Amit turned and looked at her, stunned for a few seconds at how beautiful Piya looked all dressed up. “Huh, what?” he replied, still distracted by her. Piya smiled, almost blushed and said “Dinner is ready; eat and sleep.” “What about the kids? Do I have to feed them?” he asked incredulously. “They have finished dinner and are asleep Amit” “Oh! OK. Well, don’t you think you look overdressed?” He had a way to make her feel embarrassed and self-conscious for no reason; that was the power his words and tone had over her. Expecting this, she drew in a deep breath and asserted herself, “there is nothing wrong in wearing jeans and a top, what are you talking about?” “So much makeup.. Are you going for a wedding??” he chuckled, mostly because he was at a loss at words and didn’t know what else to say. She chose to ignore his words, “I will focus only on positive words” she repeated the mantra in her head, smiled and waved bye. Exactly at the moment she wore her shoes and stood up, her phone rang. It was Sheena, “I’m coming down right now” she said into her phone and quickly waved at Amit and was out of the door in a flash.

Piya ran down the steps; too impatient to wait for the lift; and there was Sheena, looking fabulous as ever, peeking out from the driver’s side window. Her face broadened into a huge smile when she saw Piya walking toward her. “Oh girl, I am so happy to see you, for a minute there I thought you would cancel on me; like last time; but here you are looking so gorgeous” Piya laughed, feeling carefree and happy to be with her best friend since college and super excited that she was actually out for the evening. “I had planned to come up and drag you down if you didn’t show up” Sheena laughed back. Laughing and chatting excitedly about what they would be doing that evening, they drove off in to the night.

 

“Where are these girls? They are usually never late.” Sheena was getting impatient. They had reached within 30 minutes of picking Piya up and now they were scanning the crowds looking eagerly for Shamita and Alia. Unlike Piya, Sheena would meet up with the other two girls every month and often three of them would gripe about how Piya always had an excuse ready to cancel on them. “There they are! There, by the last table at the right” Piya and Sheena waved out to catch Alia’s eye. A few minutes later, after hugs and excited chatter of how everyone was doing the girls settled down into their seats. A waiter was summoned and after the appetizers and drinks were ordered they sat back relaxed, appraising each other. “I have lost the last of those two kilos I wanted gone, and I have exercised every day this week, so I’m going to eat everything I feel like tonight” said Alia, always obsessed about being fit and healthy and not exceeding her BMI ratio by even a point difference. “Oh come on Alia, you need not be so particular, relax once in a while, you are in fab shape. The person who needs to worry about how much to eat tonight is me!” said Shamita in a false wail. “Oh no no, you are perfect Shamita, don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. Did your husband comment on your weight again?” Sheena rushed to support her. “No my darling hubby is sweet Sheena, don’t you blame him again. He is supportive of everything I do, and I do ask him for his honest opinion; can’t blame him for being honest now, can I?” Shamita brushed her off. “He is sweet enough that he takes care of the house, dinner and kids once in a while when you come to meet us” said Sheena grudgingly.

Piya couldn’t help the sad smile on her face, she wished Amit would be helpful around the house and with the kids and be supportive of what she wished to do, but he was a good provider and took care of the kids and her. So what if the romance was dead since so long that she couldn’t remember the last time she felt a connection with him, these things didn’t matter after they had children. Feeling special and all silly things like such are only for teenagers or newly married couples; although she couldn’t remember when after their wedding he had displayed such affection toward her. Oh no, I mustn’t think like this, she reprimanded herself. He is so good to me, I must look at those good qualities, after all every person is going to have some drawbacks, and I do have a comfortable life. If I desire romance and gestures and proclamations of love then maybe I need to change my outlook, I must want simple things which can be achieved. Life is not a Shah Rukh Khan movie after all!

“Oh hello! Where are you??” Alia waving her hands right in front of her face startled her suddenly, drawing her out of her reverie. “Oh no, nothing”, she blushed, “just wondering if Amit had his dinner already” “Oh noooo” groaned Sheena and Alia together “come on, you are out for just a couple of hours, don’t think about home, just enjoy yourself” prodded Alia. “Look! Over there” Sheena said in a low hushed voice and everyone turned at once in the direction she pointed “Don’t all look at once!”, she groaned. “Ok Sheen, who or what are we looking at?” whispered Piya bending her head low down to the table imitating Alia and Sheena and suddenly everyone started giggling at once. Shamita was in splits, laughing in her usual loud style “I’m not going to bend low like that girls, please sit up!” “That is one lucky guy there at the first, second, third! At the third table from the corner of the lotus painting” said Sheena. “You see, I know that girl, she is the sister of a friend’s friend and she is an amazing woman from what I’ve heard. Sweet, simple and super successful in her career, not to mention that she looks amazing! And all at 30!” while they all oohed and aahed over the successful pretty girl, Shamita dramatically widened her eyes staring straight behind Alia. “what is it Shams?” they chorused. As they followed her gaze to the front door they saw over a dozen men and women dressed in formal business attire walking in one after the other. “Oh what is this? Are they having some kind of fashion parade in here?” mused Shamita. The group was welcomed by another group of people waiting inside. “They look like some corporate meeting types, all in suits, and oh look there are a few foreigners too” said Alia. Several pair of eyes focused on the group of people walking in, such was their aura and entrance.

As Piya looked on, she saw a tall man wearing a clean cut navy blue suit enter and for the briefest of seconds he looked straight at her. She gasped out loud “Karan!” As though he heard her, the man looked up again at Piya and then squinted his eyes, trying to figure out if she looked familiar or not. He was interrupted by two people who came forward to speak with him, and he moved on ahead to his table.

“Karan??! Who is Karan?” they all chimed out and Piya turned a shade of pink. “Oh a friend from college, don’t you remember him Sheena? I thought I saw him, but I guess I was mistaken.” “Oh! Yes, how can I not remember Karan, he was very close to you” “We were such good friends; in fact you and Karan were my best friends” “Yes, I remember him all right”, said Sheena with a twinkle in her eye.

The four friends enjoyed their dinner, chatting voraciously, catching up and discussing everything from the news to what was going on in their lives. Their dreams and ideas and plans on when and how they would achieve them. After dinner they relaxed, and fell into casual conversation. Shamita talking about the histrionics she was subjected to, being the mother of two hyper active boys; Alia, on being engaged to her perfect man and planning for her wedding which was about six months away. Sheena discussing her work, and all the wonderful places she got to visit around the world travelling for work. Piya quietly listened to them all, putting in a word of advice or encouragement, sharing with them about her hobby classes and the new desserts that she whipped up in her kitchen. “You all must come for lunch or dinner one day” she said to everyone. “I’ve drunk two glasses of coke and one of water and now I really have to go to the washroom” announced Sheena. “I need to go too” said Shamita and they both stood up. Alia was busy checking messages on her phone and when Piya looked up, she was surprised to see a familiar face looking down at her. She jerked back her chair and Alia looked up and said “Hey! Whats going on here?”

 

“Hi Piya! What a surprise to see you after so long. How are you? You look great by the way.” Piya was stunned into silence and after mentally kicking herself; she stumbled out a “Karan! Hi..i thought I saw you at the entrance, but then I thought it was someone else, oh my gosh! I’m good, how are you? You look good; well you always did look good, even in college.” She stopped abruptly, mentally cursing herself for having no control over her rambling. She laughed, “I’m sorry, I’m rambling on and on..how have you been?” Alia had a huge grin plastered on her face, which she wiped out the minute Karan turned towards her. “Hello, I’m Karan, Piya and I go way long back, we studied in college together.” “Oh how silly of me, I didn’t even introduce you two, Karan this is Alia; Alia, Karan.” She waved her hands back and forth between them. Just then Sheena and Shamita came back and Sheena said aloud “Karan, so good to see you after all these years!” “See now I should have said something like that” Piya mentally waggled her finger at herself. “Good to see you too Sheena, you two are still the best of friends I see, that’s so good” Karan smiled. Sheena pulled up an extra chair and motioned for him to take a seat.

After a while of chatting, Karan looked toward Piya and said, “Can we go out to the terrace, it’s too loud in here” Piya nodded and turned to the three and said, “I’ll just be back” They all waved them away, continuing with their discussion about the latest Bollywood gossip and how dreamy Hrithik Roshan’s eyes were.

“Your smile is still the most beautiful.” He said. She smiled at him, “How have you been? How are uncle and aunty? What’s going on in life?” “Mom is good, dad had a heart scare some time back, but he’s good now. I took them on a Europe tour just earlier this year, they liked it a lot. So what’s up with you? How are your parents and ..uh.. husband?” Piya thought she detected a tad bit of delay before he said husband, but she brushed it off. “They are both good, my brother got married three years back, he is expecting his first child in a few months.” They walked till the edge of the terrace and leaned against the wall “Oh Sanju’s going to be a dad! That’s wonderful news. Do pass on my congratulations to him” “Why don’t you tell him yourself? He is back in Mumbai now” “Oh he moved back from Bangalore huh?” “Yes” “And do you have kids?” “Oh yes! I have two! Riya is 10 and Amey is almost 7, he is counting the days till his birthday, it’s in two weeks. He is super excited because Amit finally promised to get him a skateboard! Oh you know what; you should come to the party. I’ll send you the details of the venue as soon as we finalize.” “Oh wow, thanks Piya, ill see if I can come” “What see? You better come. This feels so good, just like old times, it’s been so long we were out of touch.” Karan just smiled at her and looked around for a waiter. He found them a table in record time, considering the lots of people standing and milling about. “So is Bloody Mary still your favorite drink?” “Oh I haven’t had that since a long time! You still remember?!” she was pleasantly surprised “Of course! We were best buddies after all.” He motioned the waiter over and asked for two glasses of the drink. “Virgin!” Piya yelled loudly before the waiter could turn back, then looked absolutely mortified when Karan looked at her with his eyes wide “Oh yes”, he recovered quickly, “both drinks virgin please”. As soon as the waiter turned his back to them, they both looked at each other and burst out laughing, “Come on, we are not teenagers anymore!” Piya groaned. “Hey so, you didn’t tell me if you are married or not” she said. “No” “I know you didn’t tell me, I’m asking you silly” she retorted. “No, I meant I’m not married” he said.

 

The night raced ahead and it was close to midnight when they were ready to leave. Piya and Karan were chatting non-stop reminiscing the old days and it felt like they could talk for hours together. The girls insisted on taking lots of photos and selfies “To prove that you really came out with us Piya”, Alia teased. “So how are you all going back home? Can I drop someone?” Karan asked “Shamita and me are sharing a cab, we stay in opposite buildings” said Alia. “I drove down with Piya, I’m going to drop her on my way back” said Sheena. “Shall I drop you Piya? I have a car with me” Karan asked looking at her. “Oh don’t go out of your way, Sheena will drop me home” “Actually; its quite late and I’m a bit tired; if you don’t mind Piya, is it ok if I go home straight and Karan drops you?” “Oh..alright, actually I can call a cab and..” she stopped midsentence looking at Karan. “Ok Karan, hope it’s not out of the way for you though” “Not at all” he smiled. “Well, thank you lovely women for a wonderful evening. I had a good time. It was good meeting you all, especially you Sheena”. They all hugged and said their byes with a promise to meet again next month and took off in their respective vehicles. “The valet should be getting my car around shortly, we can wait inside if you are feeling cold; it is a bit chilly tonight.” “No, that’s ok”. Somehow it got very awkward to stand there, just the two on them alone at the entrance of the hotel waiting for the valet to appear. After a couple of minutes Piya saw the headlights of a car shining out of the underground parking, a BMW. They both got in, buckled their seat belts and Karan started the car. “Just a minute till I adjust the AC, these settings are a bit complicated” “Nice car” she mused “Haha, it’s not mine, it’s a rental from office” “Where’s your car then?” “Piya I live in Australia. Have been there since the past twelve years now and dad doesn’t like to drive anymore, so he sold the car we had here.” She just stared at him. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Twelve years is such a long time” “Yes, I moved away about a year after you got married.” She smiled a knowing smile and so did he. They stared at each other for a few seconds like that. “How’s it there?” she asked softly “It’s alright” he said, driving out on the road, “But my parents love to visit me there, you too should come sometime, now that we are back in touch”, he grinned.

 

#Why has Karan come back to Mumbai? Why had he moved out of the country? How will this person from Piya’s past affect her life? Wait for the next chapter to find out!