February’
2003,
Midtown, Manhattan Borough, NY.
It had been a long time for Aryan since he went out with Rekha. He felt ecstatic touring with her, and he thought for all that was had been substantial if Vivek would had joined them but he reminded himself that there was no space for to be remorseful about.
It was on a mid-day Friday. Aryan was driving the car with Rekha seated in the back seat. While he was pondering over his abstractions, he arrived at one of his most-liked restaurant to which he had planned a while back to take Rekha.
“Mom, this is an Italian restaurant and I like it here. Will walk in, what say?” he asked to look-see if she is gonna give something the nod.
“You think? Let’s get going,” She said passively.
“Great, I will park the car and come, you may want to wait over there in the lounge,” he guided her with a gesture.
Aryan drove into the loft. While he was ticketing for the parking his phone beeped. Aryan read it in his mind, “Are you alive? I’ve not heard from you since coon’s age. I’ve called you several times, you are unreachable on phone. Call me back when you see this”. Aryan thought he should respond to the text positively later in the evening and he put the message as a remainder. He was really bad at remembering things and the remainder helped him a lot with his daily routine. He slid the phone into the overcoat pocket and walked with Rekha inside the restaurant.
“Looks like something’s equivocal. Why are you smiling?” he asked her when the shill opened the restaurant door and solicited them in. “Good afternoon sir and madam, could you please let me know If you had any reservation made for the afternoon,” the lady receptionist asked in polite tone. “Not really,” Aryan answered her. “Yes please,” there came a voice from behind which caught the attention of the lady receptionist but it took Aryan by utter bolt out of the blue, “we have seats reserved for two and here are the details of the booking,” Rekha handed over the invoice to the lady.
“Are you kidding me?” Aryan murmured, “When have you made the reservations? How did you figure out that I would drive you to this particular restaurant?” He asked in a flabbergast. Before Rekha proceeded to answer, “Madam, our head waiter will walk with you to your table,” the lady confirmed on the booking.
“You wanna tell me now Mom,” Aryan repeated his question, “how?” he stressed. “Madam and Sir, this way,” the head waiter said and they both followed the man. “I will let you know after we are seated,” Rekha said on their way, “don’t be anxious,” she said and spanked on his back.
“Mom…” Aryan gazed into her eyes displacing his left hand onto his bahookie. “What?” Rekha asked in turn raising her brows, “Just because you left puberty doesn’t mean I shouldn’t spank you” She said. Aryan had an only choice to put a wide smile on his lips and remain silent. He eagerly waited to be seated before he could make any more queries.
“Okay we are seated and I am not gonna wait anymore,” He said filling the highball glasses with the bottle of cocktail, “When have you called the restaurant? And how did you know that I would drive you here?” He asked her yet again handing a glass over to her. She sipped a little amount and squinnied as it sent a shudder down her spine, “It’s been days since I had cocktail,” She pulled herself up and said, “and to answer the question you are longing for. That’s a little magic trick from your mom. You know the necromancy and stuff, how is the show honey?”
“Oh! That is really a cool trick and I am impressed but guess what, check this,” he gave her the bill of the advance payment for the assortment of viands at the same restaurant. “Oops! Clever son. How did you know that I wanted to have tachos this afternoon,” She asked him in an amusing tone. “Ah! Mom, that’s a little magic trick from your son, how is the show darling?” He repeated her last statement laughing out loud but little did he know that Rekha has an ammunition of a riposte, “but I already had stolen the show son” she said.
The waiter arrived in medial conversation, “Sir, would you like to place more orders before I bring you the Tachos”.
“No, we are good. Thanks,” Aryan answered, “We would like to have enough calories to carry tachos” he said with a smile. “No worries,” the waiter uttered and left the spot.
Rekha vocalized her preconceptions, “How is she? Did you talk to her lately?” She enquired breaking the silence. Aryan felt the jerk running through his dorsum and spouted the cocktail from his mouth. While it caused him to be at a stand, “Who is that she being referred to?” he asked her as if he knew nothing about the ‘she’ on whom Rekha showed her concern.
“Are you giving a word to the wise that you are having more than one girlfriend?”
“What do you mean mama,” he asked preparing himself with a thinking hat about the subject.
Aryan was excited and tensed at the same time after learning the fact that Rekha found out what he had been burying deep in his heart for some time then. Something always knocked him outta his tracks, lugging him back from talking it out with his mom. That moment what so ever thwarts into the screenplay, he decided to weigh up on the matter as she herself ushered him into the talk.
“I am talking…” She grabbed the snail fork and cheese knife, “You couldn’t help yourself to bring it to my knowledge so I had to learn on it by myself. You seem to spend much of your time with her lately, giving her your available brief time, loving her with all your heart and etcetera,” She asked casting her eyes away from Aryan.
“Yes, mom,” Aryan hesitated gulping down the last of his cocktail drink, “I share and care as well, I feel different for her. It’s inexplicably bizarre but enticing and beautiful at the same time. Mom, she’s become a special person in my life all together. I wanted to make her mine,” he let it out in prominence, “truly and completely. I feel she is the one for me and she might have actually come in to this world just for me,” He was on a free flow in his tenderness, “Just for me,” he repeated pressing his fingers on his heart, “I wanna grow old with her” he finished telling Rekha looking right through into her eyes with no trace of being in two minds.
Rekha envisaged the tenderness of Aryan but she had compact knowledge about Aryan’s chivalry, “You are engrossed by her thoughts, aren’t you?” She smiled in a pause period and continued, “Why don’t you let the cat out of the bag? You should talk to her, see what she is up to in your case. Do not impel on the matter, take it nice and easy,” She reposed him into his comfort zone by dabbing on his aplomb.
“Do you think so,” He tried to dig deep on perspicuity.
“Personally, I don’t see any defaults by which she is gonna say ‘No’ to you. You are together for several years. I meant, you guys grew together since your childhood. You might have known each other well enough by now, which is essentially a concern in a relationship,” the waiter arrived with the viands intervening them in their confabulation.
“You are persuading my mind to be in line with yours. I have the same hunch but you know, I see I have responsibilities to take up and besides I don’t want myself to take lead in this because I can’t lose or face her if things don’t favor us,” She isn’t Mruna He thought for a while and continued, “I am actually waiting for the time where I can show up to her and tell her my feelings looking right through her eyes. To love and express is not be planned, it is to be happened, mom. Come on! Have the corn,”
“By the way, I was asking, did you talk to her lately?” She said, “Umm! This corn is amazing. Your daddy loves it as well. He’s really missing something delicious this afternoon,”
“Yeah! The dish is amazing, I never expected it will turn out to be this delicious but I am waiting for the tachos” Aryan said and gestured for the waiter. “Coming to Kalki, I didn’t talk to her for a long while. She doesn’t even know about the demise of Nemo. I didn’t tell her, she only knows that he is ill and under medication. I received a message from her an hour ago while I was parking the car. I should be calling her this evening,”
“You don’t wanna miss her out today,” Rekha encouraged him.
“I won’t,” Aryan assured her.
They spent a lot of time at the restaurant before they returned to the house. Rekha sorted things out for Aryan from his multiple interests. While Aryan braced himself for what he ought to do next and he never knew what was coming on his way.
Power and Pelf 