Jun 8, 2019

Floating away

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or otherwise, is entirely coincidental.

This isn't my own vehicle, I'm just the driver and I can't afford to pay for your bumper repair Said the driver who had just swiped my car after overtaking from the wrong side. You should have thought of that before swiping my car da kaatupanni!  I thought to myself. Luckily the incident occurred right outside office and a couple of my friends were with me. We got the driver to do some on the spot repair and clean-up. There were still a few scratches but we let him go because all I wanted was acknowledgement that the mistake was his. Sometimes that's all we want in life.

I entered the office floor in a hurry as I was late for a meeting. Who schedules meetings at 9 in the morning anyway? I placed my bag at the desk and rushed into the conference room, only to be told that the meeting was postponed. Walked out, got some coffee and spent the rest of the day working. Didn't even realize it was late in the evening until the security turned the lights on. There was so much more to do. Work was very tight lately with long hours and conference calls becoming the norm. My phone was buzzing. By this time last month, it would have switched off  due to battery issues. I had to go all the way to the service center and pay 1/4 the cost of the phone to get the battery replaced. What's it with phones and batteries nowadays? Don't even get me started about powerbank and headphones. I miss the old days of Nokia 1100. The soft touch pad, being able to compose your own ringtone, the monster battery. That phone was a work of art.

We had started sharing the same apartment a couple of months ago. I had also agreed to be her office ride.I thought this was an easy way to earn brownie points. What could go wrong! We met each other during a half marathon and had been dating for over a year before I moved in with her. She was waiting to be picked up. I answered my phone and told her I will be down in 5 minutes. Get in.. Do we need to buy anything before heading home ? She didn't answer and kept looking at her phone after she got in the car. I kept driving. The old me would have asked questions and eventually get all worked up but I was past that. Nothing good comes out of conversations anyway. We had started off all excited but as months passed, we couldn't spend enough time with each other. I had moved in hoping it would improve the situation but you know how that goes, right?  We reached home and I looked at the clock. I had 2 hours left before my conference call.

Enna ji straight ah shoulders ah? asked the instructor at my gym as I was going through my second set. I didn't have time for warm up and cardio. Making it to the gym was in itself a monumental effort. I spent the next hour lifting and looking at myself in the mirror. My gym provides a unique DJ experience free of cost, everyday - they play teenage english music in the background with the instructors watching romantic tamil songs on TV in full volume. It works wonders. There's no water. She announced as soon as I entered the house. I went downstairs to the common pipe to fetch two buckets of water and used one for a shower. She had made upma. I used to hate upma but not anymore. You'll start to love upma too as soon as you move away from your mother. It was a bit salty but it was edible and that was good enough. I had 8 minutes to go before my conference call.

5 minutes mela pesa mattiya complained my mother on the phone after I told her I was late for a call. I spoke to her for a few more minutes and joined the conference bridge. I apologized for being late. She finished her dinner,entered the bedroom and gave me a glance. She plugged her earphones in and started watching some series with good looking guys in suits. She appeared to give me dirty looks but with her, I never know. The call went on for another hour. After the call ended, I snuggled into the comforter, borrowed one earphone and started watching the series with her. We both realized how long it had been since we had been goofy and carefree. The episode we were watching ended soon after and I drifted into sleep. We were woken up by a knock on the door. It was 7 am, I opened the door in my boxers to see a middle aged aunty with a bag in her hand. She looked scandalized. I immediately closed the door and rushed to the bedroom.

2 comments:

madhu said...

Wow! Glad to see you back. Excited to see more of your posts.

Jerly said...

To be continued?

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