KAREENA: A Love Story

6. Nasha

Karishma Singh looked carefully at the dinner table. There were fried momos for starters, butter naan with chilly chicken for main course and oranges for dessert.

'Yeh dinner hain ya SAARC Desho ka Sammelan?'

Haseena Mallik pouted. 'Pata tha aap nuks nikaalengi! Isi liye puchha tha bata dijiye kya khana hain! Aapne kaha "Surprise me". Hum decide nahi kar paye aur nervous hokar sab ka ek ek order kar diya. Aapko pasand nahi aya toh kuch aur mangwa lete hain.'

Haseena looked dejected. Karishma melted faster than butter.

'Nahi nahi yeh bahut achha idea hain. Humko na bahut dino se fusion food experiment karne  ka mann tha, lekin mauka nahi mil raha tha! Aur yeh sab dekhte hi humko jor ka bhook lag gaya hain. Chaliye jaldi se kha lete hain.'

They served themselves, laughing and joking through dinner as they swapped stories of crazy food experiences that they had at the different locations they had been posted to. Karishma announced that the fusion of cuisines was actually tasting good. Haseena's dimpled smile widened hearing this and Karishma mentally fist pumped.

'Kal reports ayenge, yaad hain na,' said Haseena, sucking on a piece of orange.

Karishma didn't reply. She was watching Haseena's orange-eating.

Haseena looked up when she didn't receive an answer. 'Karishma Singh?'

'Huh?' Karishma shook her head to clear the cobwebs. 'Umm haan kal hum headquarter chale jayenge,' she replied vaguely.

'Headquarter? Hum toh apne medical reports ki baat kar rahe the?' said Haseena in confusion. 'Aur shaam ko doctor ka appointment hain toh aap chalengi na saath mein?'

Karishma blushed. 'Haan haan bilkul chalenge. Aur hum headquarter mein ek kaam lipta ke aapke saath chale jayenge... woh hum aise aa rahe the.' She tried to awkwardly cover the slip-up.

'Achha,' said Haseena. She still looked a little suspicious but decided not to push the matter. 'By the way yeh oranges sach mein bohot achhe hain. Matlab Billu jitna jaan chhidak raha tha inpar utna bhi nahi, par achhe hain.'

'Haan sach mein. Meetha bhi hain, lekin juice mein unique sa... ek tangy type ka taste bhi hain. Billa sa puchhna padhega kanha se khareede usne,' agreed Karishma.

...

Neither of them were feeling particularly sleepy so they decided to watch a movie after dinner.

'Romantic,' said Haseena Mallik.

'Suspense Thriller,' said Karishma Singh at the same time.

Both stood looking annoyedly at each other.

'Humare real life mein bohot thrill aur suspense hain,' said Haseena petulantly. 'Free time mein bhi thrill nahi chahiye.'

'Romance films pakao hote hain,' said Karishma resolutely.

They stood there eyeing each other, neither willing to budge from their respective preferences.

'Comedy?' Haseena finally offered as a compromise.

'Comedy,' Karishma agreed.

They decided to have the second set of oranges too as they had really liked them. When Karishma returned with the fruits, she saw Haseena had settled on the sofa and chosen the film Chennai Express.

'Yeh Romance hain,' exclaimed Karishma furiously.

'Romantic Comedy,' said Haseena victoriously and patted the seat beside her.

'Yeh cheating hain,' complained Karishma, but nevertheless took the invitation and sat down beside Haseena, leaving very little space between them.

As the film progressed, the two women finished off the fruits which strangely tasted even better the second time around.