Mixed Masala

Chapter 9

"Are you asleep?"

Meera had left her bedroom door unlocked and now her sister was standing in the half open doorway after a peremptory knock. It was well past midnight and everybody had retired for the night ... except, it seemed, for her older sister.

"Yes," Meera replied from under the bedcovers. "And I'm in the midst of a really nice dream where Suresh is proposing to me, so go away and don't disturb me!"

Jayashree sighed and came in to sit by her side on the bed. "Look, I know I was meddling but ... He seems so nice, and he really does like you."

Meera sat up and switched on the bedside table lamp. She squinted at her sister under the glare. "And I like him too ... but not in the way you think." She paused, then said, "We had a really nice chat this evening when you so conveniently left us both alone." She broke off and gave her sister a disapproving look. "Next time, try not to make it look so obvious," she added as Jayashree blushed.

"So, what did you two talk about?" the older girl asked after a few moments.

Meera shrugged. "This and that. He was really easy to talk to. In fact, it was just like talking to Kavitha or Sudha ..."

Jayashree gave a snort. "Except that he's not one of your mad girlfriends. He's a guy who has admitted, in a sort of round about way that he is interested in you. So what do you have to say to that?"

Meera sighed. "We're meeting for coffee on Wednesday ..." She broke off as her sister squealed with delight.

"Shh! You're going to wake everyone up from their dreams about Suresh proposing to me," Meera scolded her sister. "Except for Raj. He's probably dreaming he's a Jedi Knight again."

Jayashree was smiling. "So you two really hit it off! I'm so glad."

Meera shrugged again. "I'm comfortable with him and he's comfortable with me. We're going to have coffee, no big deal. So don't make it one, okay?"

It was Jayashree's turn to sigh now. "Okay," she said slowly. "And I won't tell Amma anything ... yet, although she's dying to know what the two of you talked about for so long."

Meera turned off the bedside lamp and snuggled into bed again. "I'm not the type to kiss and tell," she paused, then added mischievously, "And I'm not going to tell if I kissed."

*****

Wednesday was a hectic day for Meera as she rushed to meet the deadline which had been set for her task. She worked through lunch and only looked up at the clock when it was a quarter past five o'clock in the evening. She was exhausted and would have liked nothing better than to head home, have a shower and fall right into bed ... but then she couldn't very well do that today because she was meeting Suresh in the lobby downstairs in fifteen minutes.

She quickly made her way to the ladies' room to freshen up and then headed downstairs, the crowded elevator seemingly stopping on each of the fourteen floors on its way down before finally depositing her on the ground floor. She had barely stepped out of the building when Suresh drove up the paved driveway and stopped his car at the kerb in front of her.

"Oh, please," Meera said as Suresh started to get out of the car. "If you're getting out to come open the door for me, don't bother. I think I can handle the handle."

He grinned and settled back in his seat as Meera slid into the passenger seat beside him.

"I can see that chivalry is wasted on you, ma'am," he said as he put the car into gear again and drove out of the office compound.

"Where are we headed?" Meera asked, curious.

"Well, since we both opted for coffee, I thought we should go to the best coffee place in town."