Sara's Trilemma

The False Paradox

I tried wriggling out of his hold, panic-stricken. What was he trying to do? What would Viraj say? Would he think of Sid? I threw a warning stare at Sid, who looked carefree as ever. Mr. Dublin was now only a few steps away.

"Hey," Viraj called out. The glaze on his dark suit shone in the twinkling lights of the shopping window.

"Hi." And that was all I could manage to mutter. My gaze was moving from the side, then momentarily at him and the rest of the time, on my toes.

"You didn't call," he said. "And now I know the reason." The way he force-smiled, it was paining me.

"No," I blurted. "I mean... I was meaning to call you. But I was caught up with work. It's nothing..." I actually pointed towards Sid. I did not have the slightest idea of why I did that.

Meanwhile, before I could finish, Sid advanced his hand to shake. "Siddharth Kashyap."

"Dr. Viraj Kaushik," he introduced with apparent emphasis on the doctor part and shook the hands. I noticed the subtle glare on a casual exterior they were exchanging. Both men stood at similar heights and a similar attitude.

There was a moment of silence followed by my nervous fidgeting. Oh boy, could this be any more awkward?

"What brings you here? And where is Miss Dub...? I mean your fiancé. What was her name again?" I blurted the truth. I turned out to be one of the rare occasion when my wits failed me.

"Cara Cavanagh," he answered. "I was just searching for a gift for her, probably some jewellery. What about you? You didn't mention that you had a boyfriend." He glanced sideways towards Sid, giving his charming smiles.

"Oh. He is no..." I stopped abruptly as Sid tugged me.

"Baby, you didn't tell me who your friend is, I guess you have mentioned about him once. I don't recollect." Sid spoke as if he was my bloody boyfriend. I looked at him with confusion. Are you out of your mind? I screamed with my eyes.

We three looked at each other, to and fro, the chaos was happening. Why was I not saying anything? Damn! "Viraj is my good friend," I muttered in a low voice.

In reaction, Viraj arched his eyebrows in irritation. "We were more than good friends. Come on! You haven't told your boyfriend. We were more than good friends, maybe had a yearlong affair."

"I...I. I am sorry. Viraj, Siddharth here is just kidding." I recovered, starting to think more like a sane person.

"Now baby, you caught me. Of course, you told me about Viraj Kaushik being your ex!" Sid spoke like a pro, now facing Viraj. No jitters in his blinding lie. But why was he lying in the first place?

"Huh?" I interjected.

"Actually Viraj, I hope I can call you that," Sid paused, looking expectedly at Viraj. And when he nodded a little impatiently, Sid carried on, "So yeah. We have been together for a month, is it? It seems like an eternity to me. We are definitely madly in love each other since the day we met."

I had an urge to puke. Why the hell was he making things difficult for me? Still, the ass of a man pulled me even closer to his side, his large hand circling my waist.

"Really? It doesn't sound like Sara," Viraj's eyebrows shot up again. Of course, he was guessing that the story was made up. "I mean Sara was never a romantic type."

"I am not," I agreed, encouragingly.

Another awkward silence followed. After some moment, a formal exchange about their background took place, both enough casual and nonchalant. Though there was some testosterone game was going on. That much I could tell.