Party And Prejudice

26. Take Off

"So this time tomorrow, you'll be in Mumbai?", Reyansh asked.

"No I'll be on the flight", I said.

Sixteen hours.

That's all we had till we went back to Mumbai. Zoya and I had decided to quit and go back home with Riya and her parents too. We couldn't let Riya go back alone. As much as the bitch was...well, a bitch, we had to stick together.

Riya's parents had taken a room in the resort for now. They had asked Riya to go and stay with them but she wouldn't leave the quarters. It had suddenly become Mysore Palace for her.

Reyansh, Maya and Joshua were going to stay back. They had after all not been stupid enough to mingle with Sanam and Ameesha. It was torturous for me to chose between Reyansh and Riya but given the sensitivity of the circumstance, I chose the later.

"Easy girl", Reyansh said.

"You go and sit in jail for five hours and we'll see how easy it is", I said.

"Forget it no. Can't Riya's parents be convinced?"

"The bitch didn't even try. Anyway, what's the point? We deserve it I guess. At least that's what Saba Aunty said".

"Shall I try?"

"Don't. She's not exactly fond of you right now".

"What? I've met her. She's nice".

"But she doesn't think you're nice", I said and explained. Reyansh didn't look so cheerful by the end of it.

"So the woman thinks I'm running some drug racket here because of what I did in Pune? Doesn't she know about Chameli?", he asked in a tone that automatically came to him whenever his past was brought up.

"Don't say the woman Reyansh. You just said she's nice. And she is. Saba Aunty just misunderstood".

"Yeah, go and stick with your Saba Aunty then. Why are you talking to me?"

"Don't be stupid now..."

"Yeah I'm the stupid", Reyansh agreed "You choose to go back with them don't you? Even though they didn't ask you to? Didn't want to stay back with me did you?"

"What nonsense is this now?", I said. I had never heard Reyansh talk like that. To other people, yes but never to me.

"I don't know...you're the genius. You tell me", Reyansh said.

"Reyansh can you calm down? You aren't making any sense, man. Will it make it better if we talk about something else?", I asked, trying my best to control my temper.

"I don't want to talk at all, okay?"

"But why are shouting at me?"

"Get lost".

•••

The thing about a bummer like spending some solid hours in jail is that, it blows the crap out of you. After being locked up in a cell, nothing feels more important than some propriety. You just feel the need to show some discipline even if your had been locked up for no mistake of yours.

So me, Riya and Zoya went to the penthouse to apologise to Laksh's parents. For what, even I didn't know.

It was Riya's big idea to impress her potential in-laws. We dressed in the only sets of salwar kameez we had brought with us, the same ones we had worn to Meghna Saxena's wedding.

We wrapped the dupattas around ourselves like blankets to cover as much skin as possible. We tied back our hairs into plaits and did not get into the makeup part at all. I did not see why we had to take the good-girls act so far.

But Riya insisted that any Indian elder can be wooed by this decent-dressing-sense act. I didn't want to tell her that it wasn't going to work when Lakshan's mother had already seen us in shorts and crop tops.

The getup didn't hoodwink Revathi either. She had completely ignored us when we had gone into our rooms and when we came out, she saw our costumes and snorted at our obvious pretence. We ignored her and trotted straight to the penthouse.

•••

It was Lakshan who opened the door. And his mouth fell open when he saw Riya. She was in a perfect 'take-me-to-meet-your-mother' look.

Lakshan stared at us for a few seconds before he yelled, "Ma! Pa! The girls who came for the volunteer program are here".

Neel was pragmatic as always. He brushed off our mellow apology quickly. He said it wasn't our fault. It was really Sanam and Ameesha who were guilty. He also said that sometimes innocent people get into trouble for no reason. The man was intelligent, if you ask me.

Riya then made a big show of touching Tara's feet and apologized profusely for all the trouble that the resort had to go through because of all of us. I still didn't know why we had to do all this when we weren't even actually guilty but still Zoya and I stood in the background murmuring incoherent apologies.

For Tara, however, it was like nobody existed except Riya.

She hugged Riya with tears in her eyes. She then picked up a huge slab of swiss chocolate, out of nowhere and handed it to Riya. It was very melodramatic and all that. I could never picture myself doing something like this but in Riya's case, it suited her. And it suited Tara too.

They would make a nice mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair, I thought wryly. Both over-the-top, both corny and both obsessed over Laksh.

I was watching the drama unfold, when Sulochana entered the room quietly and tapped on my shoulder.

"Can I talk to you?", she said.

I nodded, perplexed. She led me into the verandah. The others didn't bother. Tara was busy screaming at the servants to bring stuff for us to eat. I remembered my last visit and thankfully followed Sulochana out.

I looked at the girl wondering what she was going to say. But she didn't say anything. She leaned against a pillar and burst into tears.

"Sulochana? Yaar..what happened?", I asked in surprise. I saw Lakshan leading Riya to the back garden. Poor Zoya would have to eat everything alone.

"I swear, Mishti, had I known you were Reyansh's girlfriend, I wouldn't have disturbed him... I'm really sorry".

My mind was in a whirl with thoughts of swiss chocolates, police vans, salwar kameez and cocaine sashes. It took me a few moments to unplug myself and comprehend what Sulochana had said.

I couldn't believe she had figured out. And I couldn't believe she was apologizing. The whole thing seemed like a stupid issue after all the drama at the police station yesterday. I mean, it was not like the girl had gone and jumped straight into Reyansh's lap. Reyansh was a good looking guy. Girls like Sulochana were bound to flirt with him. And anyway how did it matter? Reyansh was upset with me now.

No problem, honey, I wanted to say. Actually you might have a chance with Reyansh now because he isn't talking to me.

Instead I said, "Hey, it's.. it's okay. Don't worry about it", and patted her shoulder clumsily. I turned around and saw Lakshan planting a kiss on Riya's forehead.

Maybe this family wasn't so bad after all.