Vows of Misfortune

22.

The cake box had been surrounded by items when I opened the fridge. I relaxed, feeling a little more at ease. After that useless conversation with Romir on the balcony I realised that my best bet was just buying something that I thought Jose uncle would like.

There was no point in speaking to him because clearly he didn't want the peace he so claimed he'd wanted.

So here I was, after finishing up one assignment, at a gift shop. It was Jose uncle's birthday tonight and it had to be perfect. Since I didn't know my way around, I'd ended up at the wrong store one too many times. Somehow I'd ended up at a corner nook saree store which I didn't even realise could fit in such a small alley.

I peered through the glass at some watches kept under glass displays and whistled low under my breath. Some of the prices on these were out of this world. But it made sense because they were bulky and beautiful.

"Hi, can I help you?" A woman clad in all black and a neatly tied ponytail asked. I smiled and shook my head.

"Oh, I'm just looking around." I pretended I was interested in some more of the watches before sneakily making my way out. Okay, so watches weren't on the card. I sure as hell didn't want to buy chocolates. Those were gifts people got strangers when they didn't know what they would like.

There was a mall right opposite me. Maybe a nice shirt or something? The air conditioned mall made me shiver. I went up a level to the men's floor and browsed the array of different shirts neatly folded. A woman rushed up to me in a pencil skirt and white blouse with a friendly smile on her red painted lips.

She didn't say anything, only followed me around like a shadow. I would never get used to the hospitality. I was going to ask her what she recommended for a middle-aged man when I happened to make eye contact with a woman on the other side, watching me.

Why did she look so familiar?

It was only when she looked away that my forehead released the tension. It was that same woman that had been outside the cake shop. I looked back to see that she was staring at me. Again. What was her deal?

My skin prickled and I tried to ignore the obvious gaze on the back of my head as I spoke to the saleswoman. She led me over to the section where there were packets of dress shirts laid on a table.

"This is our best-selling shirt," she said, pointing to a black dress shirt with tiny white dots. It was the one that I liked the most. I fingered through the other ones to see if there was something else. Jose uncle wore a lot of dark shirts, though, so I figured this one would be good.

"Can you please wrap this up for me, too?"

"Is it a gift, ma'am?" I nodded. "That'll be extra."

"That's fine." As I followed the saleswoman, I turned casually. The other woman was still staring. I snapped my head back around. What the hell?

Even after leaving with the gift bag, I could see from the reflection of the glass doors that she was following me. So as soon as we got out and to the cement steps, I whirled around on her. She stepped back, dark skin dusted a little red at being caught.

"Why are you following me?" I demanded.

"I noticed you with Romir the other day," she stuttered. "I wanted to know how you knew him."

He didn't tell her? "We're married."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. You can stop following me now."

"Look, I'm sorry. I—just figured he was lying."

Wait what? "So he did tell you?"

She rubbed her bare arm. "Yeah, I didn't believe him." She stuck her hand out. "It's nice to meet you though. I'm Preethi."