Comedy of Confusions

21. Minax: Rebellion

Minax realized the hour only when she noticed empty workstations around her. What started on a terrible note with her being kidnapped, paraded in front of a vain body shaming gully cricketer, the rest of the day had slipped away quietly. Minax finally rubbed her eyes and relaxed back in her chair. Was her back hurting? Or was it her abdomen? And when did it start hurting if it was hurting at all? Oh darn! It was hunger. She shook her head and sat straight. Coming in late, she had so much to catch up. With that she had long missed the lunch hour. Her usual lunch buddy Priya was out of office ever since she left in the middle of the night with her fiancé. It was too much to expect his Highness Mr made in America to take up on her offer on lunch. Indeed it was a strange day. Having reached a logical endpoint at work, she decided to stop. The lunch Appa had brought for her was still staring at her, untouched. Should she just go home? She could. Maybe she should. She shut down her machine. She grabbed her bag looking for her Rajdoot keys. Panicking for a moment she remembered her kidnapping earlier that day. Her Rajdoot was safe at home leaving her at the mercy of public transportation or ride share.

"Damn" she muttered. She threw her bag back under her desk and decided to go home as late as she could. In any case, she was sorted with respect to dinner. All she had to do was to take it slow and make sure she did not reach home till 10 in the night. This was her rebellion against Amma's kidnapping plot. Make Amma wait

She gleefully rubbed her two palms together and gathered her lunch bag. Before she opened the bag though, she looked around her to find herself almost alone on her floor. It was not long before she was overcome with self pity. Her peers were having a whale of a time and all she was doing was having her lunch for dinner, alone. If only the boyfriend thing had worked out, something like Chandan minus coffee. If only he could get back to work. She sighed softly. She was going to die an old maid because her only other plausible option was to marry an obnoxiously vain guy like Sriki. "Hell no" She surprised herself by the loudness of her uttering. She mindlessly gathered her belongings and dashed out. Not thinking where she should head. She walked up and down the street a few times, finally she remembered the cozy outdoor seating area near the back entrance to her office building. "Yep" she mumbled to herself. She had found a good spot to while away the evening. It checked all the boxes. It was close by, safe and totally not crowded. She could peacefully sit there, finish her food and while away the rest of the evening, maybe work on her boyfriend-snagging app..

She turned around the corner to the back entrance mindlessly and bumped into a couple making out in the quiet corner. Too embarrassed, she hastily turned into the alley to her left that led to the straiway. The scene had rubbed salt into her raw wound. All she could do now to save whatever was left of her pride was to focus on the food. She reached the rooftop terrace with no signs of another soul. The abandoned rooftop cafeteria that served lunch late into the evening reminded her of the time when she frequented there with Nandini and the rest of her team for quick late lunches. It must have been months that the place closed down. The awning by the food counter was retracted. The seating area was dotted with a bunch of overturned chairs on a few table tops. The evening haze seemed to mask the coat of all pervading dust. At a distance she spotted a stray chair by the edge of the roof terrace with a good view of the well lit street and tree tops below. She reluctantly dragged herself towards the chair, wondering what she would not give to be spending this evening with a boyfriend. Such a case would have opened up a galore of options. Drinking at the most hip bar, eating at the coolest restaurant, motorbike racing on the outskirts of the city. If the boyfriend is adventurous unlike Sam and Cheney, she could even try to wheelie. The thought of wheelie unknotted a few threads deep inside her leading to an earnest smile. Peering into the dark sky, "Someday..." thinking of wheelieing with boyfriend, "For you, F*** you Sriki, F*** your fitness, F*** your silly cricket and whatever stupid prize you won. If you think you are some god sent gift, let me tell you that the kids gully cricket team in my area would not consider you for a 15th man. F*** you."