Five-Thirty AM - XXXVIII

Maria and Matthew sat on the verandah in their rocking chairs. Their extended brood played out by the beach in the sun and sand and surf. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to have the entire family together like this.

‘So what do you think of Mitul?’ she asked.

‘She’s nice,’ he answered. He was thoughtful. ‘She makes him happy.’

‘She’s really his angel,’ his wife agreed. ‘Have you seen him this happy in the past five years?’

He shook his head. ‘No. He doesn’t have any shadows in his eyes any more.’ He contemplated his son, who was splashing with his nephews and his girlfriend in the water, their joyous laughter reaching them even so far out. ‘Why does he have this unshaven look, now, though? That’s not what they teach you in the army, to look so scruffy.’

‘It must be the new fashion, Matthew,’ she said mildly. ‘Besides, he acts in films. Maybe they wanted that look for the new movie.’

‘Hmmm,’ Matthew was not convinced. His gaze drifted to his other sons - Naval, whose fiancee Pakhi was sitting reading something, while he lay beside her; and Naveen and Shelley were lying on towels a little distance away. It was a peaceful scene and the heart of the parents were full of joy at a family that finally seemed to be coming together again.

‘Do you think Noel will ask Mitul soon?’ she wondered.

‘Give them time,’ he grunted. ‘They’re just starting out. Why get burdened with marriage and babies so soon?’

‘Babies?’ she sat up startled.

He chuckled. ‘Yes, babies. Or did you miss that thing on his neck?’

‘Matthew,’ she protested, blushing. ‘It’s your son!’

He laughed at her then. ‘Darling, don’t forget, I for one, do know what a mark looks like.’ He looked fondly at her.

‘Matthew,’ she giggled like a teenager. ‘Shut up! The kids will hear you.’ She got up. ‘Let me go check up on lunch,’ she said.

*****

Noel and Mitul came splashing out of the water, catching the kids and dragging them out. They loved their Noel uncle, but weren’t quite sure of this Mitul aunty. However, as it turned out, she was quite fun to be with. So they welcomed her with open arms as well, landing kisses on her cheeks before they ran over and jumped on their parents.

Noel stood laughing watching them go. He walked over to the towel where his and Mitul’s stuff lay, grabbing up a towel and tossing it to her. He’d been secretly pleased to see her wearing that black suit of hers. The special one. She’d blushed as he’d looked suggestively at the belly ring, a smile exchanged between them at the thought of what had happened the last time she’d worn it.

The ring had caught Pakhi’s attention, and she had tried to make Naval agree to get a piercing herself. He hadn’t been too happy about it, until Noel had said in a voice dripping with meaning, ‘you should try new stuff, Nav. You never know, you might like it.’ At which Mitul had blushed, as had Pakhi.

Now as they walked back to the house, Mitul tugged on Noel’s arm.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

‘What do I call your Mom and Dad?’ she said in a low voice.

He grinned wickedly. ‘Whatever you like. I mean, it’s not like you really helped me out with that did you, now?’

‘Shut up, Noel,’ she hissed. Thought for a moment and said, ‘so how do you say Aunt in Portuguese?’

‘Tia,’ he said.

‘Tia,’ she tried it out and he nodded. ‘And Uncle?’

‘Tio,’ he pronounced it Te’o.

‘Okay, so that’s what I’m gonna call them,’ she said, mumbling ‘Tia’ and ‘Teo’ under her breath, as she walked. He laughed at her, and she chased him till they reached the house.

Lunch was a typical heavy mid-day repast. Keeping in mind that both Pakhi and Mitul did not eat beef, they had excluded it altogether from the menu. Mitul was entranced by the taste of good, old-fashioned Goan home-cooking.

‘I want the recipe for this!’ she exclaimed while she took a second helping of chicken xacutti. ‘My parents will love it!’

‘Do you cook?’ Shelley asked her.

She nodded. ‘I do,’ she replied. ‘Mostly Ma cooks at home, but I help out. I try to learn from her,’ she added.

Pakhi she noticed, bent her head, while Naval covered her hand with his, bending to whisper something in her ear.

‘And she’s a very good cook,’ Noel added proudly, having missed that moment between his brother and his fiancee.

‘So you’ve already tasted her cooking?’ Shelley asked, giving him the universal look that older sisters-in-law give younger brothers-in-law, before they begin teasing them about their love life.

Noel was immune to it, however. He nodded his head, and answered honestly, ‘yes, she cooked me dinner one night. It was very good. Ow!’ as a well-aimed kick from Mitul landed on his ankle. ‘What?’ he looked at her, as she glared at him, and everybody burst out laughing.

‘By the way, Mitul,’ Maria said restoring some order at the table, ‘chicken xacutti happens to be Noel’s favorite, and when I’m next in Mumbai, I’ll teach you how to make it, okay?’

‘Thank you, Tia’ Mitul replied gratefully.

‘And when are you coming to Delhi to visit us, Mama?’ asked Pakhi, obviously having recovered from whatever had upset her.

‘Haven’t decided, yet, Nightingale,’ Maria replied.

‘We’re going to Mumbai sometime later in the week, probably around Thursday or Friday,’ Matthew added.

‘In that case, why don’t you’ll just come to Delhi from there?’ Pakhi said.

‘I guess that could be a possibility,’ Matthew said.

‘And plan on staying for a while,’ added Naval.

*****

While Noel and Mitul were having a wonderful weekend in Goa, back in Mumbai, things weren’t going so well for Dev and Myna.

Saturday brought some unexpected guests from Pune to the Imani household. Myna’s parents showed up. They were supposed to be in Mumbai for the weddings, it was true, but they weren’t due to arrive until later in the week. This could only mean one thing. They were serious about Myna marrying this Kapoor boy.

Myna had been sitting and sketching in her room, lost in the design she was creating. It was a wedding lehenga. She hadn’t yet thought about the colors for it, but she knew what she wanted in it. The skirt flared out from a low hem, the waistband a richly embroidered panel. from the bottom rising up were vertical panels of intricate embroidery. The layered bottom of the skirt showed an eight inch panel, again intricately designed. She was still working on the design for the choli, when she heard noises coming from downstairs. She frowned.

Putting down her sketchpad, she padded outside, and looked down into the hall below. She could hear voices from the living room, what sounded like, horrors! Her mother? What on earth was her mother doing in Mumbai?

She ran down the stairs, and entered the room to find her and Mitul’s parents sitting there. Rohan their help, was taking their suitcases up to the room they usually stayed in.

‘Mom, Dad? What are you’ll doing here?’ she asked.

‘Sit, beta,’ Kamini told her.

‘Myna, what is this about you taking a job here in Mumbai?’ her mother directly launched into her peeve.

‘Mom. I wanted to do something with myself,’ she said quietly.

‘You are getting married. To a guy in the US. What’s the point in taking a job here? and now?’ her mother demanded.

‘I already told you, Mom, I’m not marrying anyone right now,’ she said firmly.

‘Myna, beta,’ this time it was her father who spoke. ‘Why not?’

‘Because, Dad, I want to do something for myself,’ she said.

‘When did you not do something for yourself?’ her mother asked bitingly. ‘All your life, we’ve given you everything you asked for. We’ve never denied you anything. Now we’re asking you this one thing and you deny us?’ her mother’s ever ready tears bubbled into her eyes.

‘Maybe you should have, Ma,’ Myna said bitterly. ‘Then I would’ve learnt that not everything is mine for the taking.’

Kamini’s gaze flew to her niece’s face.

She was sitting there, no sign of distress on her face, holding her back straight, her gaze on her mother, direct and unblinking. Only her hands gave away the stress she was under. She had them clasped tightly in her lap.

‘I would’ve learnt to look after myself, and not been so dependent on you,’ Myna continued. ‘But now, this is what I want to do.’

‘And earn what? A meagre salary every month? Will that keep you in a place like Mumbai?’ her mother sneered.

‘Myna can stay with us as long as she needs, while she finds her feet,’ Aditya interjected quietly.

‘You both have spoilt her,’ Kuntala was fast losing her patience with the older Imani’s. It was all their fault that her daughter had turned out like this. Defying her mother’s one wish!

‘Kuntala!’ her husband jumped in, sternly. ‘That’s no way to speak to Bhai and Bhabi,’ he said.

She snorted and folded her hands, anger steaming out of her ears. There was an awkward silence in the room until Kamini broke it.

‘Come on. Go and get fresh, we’ll have lunch ready soon. I’m sure you must be tired from your trip,’ she said placatingly.

‘This is not over,’ Kuntala said grudgingly as she got up and made her way out of the room.

Myna let out a deep breath, bowing her head as the tension rolled off her body. Kamini put her hand on Myna’s shoulder.

‘You know your mother won’t rest until you say yes to meeting the boy, at least,’ her voice was low.

‘I know,’ Myna said in a small voice.

‘Perhaps you should meet him once and then see how you feel about it?’ her aunt suggested.

‘Badi-ma, you too?’ her eyes filled with tears. Dev! an inner pained voice cried out inside her head.

Her aunt slowly blinked at her. She understood. Her aunt understood! She was buying time for Myna. She hugged Kamini, as Aditya and his brother looked on.

*****

Kamini wandered out into the backyard, wondering how she was going to solve this problem without Kuntala getting wind of it.

Obviously, Myna had two things going on.

She wanted to work, she had found a job, and she was looking forward to it. Granted it was as a junior designer in a small fashion house. But it would be a job that she was trained for, and she would finally get to put her talents to good use. See for herself how she stacked up in what was becoming a highly competitive world.

And then there was Dev. As far as she knew, they hadn’t met since their last disastrous meeting. Yet Myna was trying to stay on in Mumbai, so she could be closer to him. While the job was a legitimate excuse, Dev was by far a bigger reason.

But she’d never met this boy, and she didn’t know what he wanted from her niece - if at all, he wanted anything or not.

It was not in Kamini’s nature to play cupid, but she needed to find out once and for all, if this thing with Dev was the right thing for Myna - she had been taking a blind leap of faith based on Myna’s feelings. But what if this Dev guy wasn’t worth it?

She thought it over, and then she called her sister.

‘Didi?’ she asked when the phone was answered. ‘I need your help,’ she said.

*****

Noel and Mitul were sitting on the beach. They’d just come out of the water and were drying in the sun. Mitul’s rapidly tanning body was clad in a one piece swimsuit. It was modest at first glance, the fiery red color showing off the dark tan that she was now sporting. It was one shouldered and covered her nicely, except for the two bands of netted material that went all the way around her body, one under her breasts, the other from her waist to her hips. As she stretched out on the towel, Noel could make out the glittering belly ring and he reached out automatically to play with it.

‘Don’t wear one pieces when you’re out with me,’ he growled, finding he couldn’t get his fingers through the mesh material.

‘Why?’ she laughingly asked.

‘Because that belly ring is mine, and I get to play with it when I want to,’ he said. Even through the aviators she could make out the glow in his eyes.

‘You’ve got a fetish for it,’ she grinned, enjoying the feel of his fingers on her stomach.

‘That and that anklet. It’s instant turn on,’ he admitted cheerfully, lustfully. ‘And it turns you on, too,’ he said, noticing her squirm as she lay there.

She noticed that he wasn’t joking about the turn-on thing. The tight knee length black speedo shorts that he had on left little to the imagination. When she’d teased him about wearing speedos, he’d told her that it kept the sand out of places where sand shouldn’t be. She hadn’t pursued that conversation!

‘Stop it,’ she said now, lazily swatting at his hand.

‘Nope,’ he said, tugging at it, through the material. She sat up suddenly remembering something.

‘Oh. I forgot to tell you what happened this morning,’ she said.

‘What?’

******

Mitul opened the door to Noel’s room quietly, checking the corridor to see if anyone was around. To her relief, the corridor was quiet and still. She turned around and placed a quick kiss on Noel’s lips before letting herself out of the door. She was halfway down the corridor when she heard a click behind her. She froze and then spun around.

Pakhi was quietly shutting the door to Naval’s room, her back to Mitul. She turned around, saw Mitul and froze as well.

The two girls looked at each other, first in shock, and then in dawning realization. They grinned conspiratorially at each other, as Pakhi walked over to her. Their rooms were next to each other.

‘Good night, Mitul,’ Pakhi said.

‘Good night, Pakhi,’ Mitul said, as she entered her room. She closed the door, stripped and crawled into bed. With a yawn she glanced at the clock. Five-thirty a.m.

******

Noel laughed at her narration. ‘I don’t even know why Mum and Dad give them separate rooms. They live together in Delhi, anyway. They’ve been living together for ages. They even bought that house together,’ he told her.

‘So, excuse my prying. But why aren’t they married yet?’ Mitul asked.

‘It’s a long story. Mostly Pakhi’s, actually. Someday I’ll tell you,’ he promised.

Just then, his phone rang. He looked at the caller id. Piya.

‘It’s Piya,’ he said, puzzled.

‘Piya? Why’s she calling you?’ Mitul asked.

He shrugged and turned the speakerphone on, so they both could hear her.

‘Piya?’ he said.

‘Hey, Noel,’ she sounded cheerful. ‘Are you guys down on the beach?’ she asked.

‘Yes, and you’re on speakerphone, so Mitul can hear you too,’ he answered.

‘You lucky bastards,’ she complained, much to their amusement.

‘So, what’s going on, Piya?’ Noel asked, knowing she wouldn’t have called him out of the blue unless something was going on.

‘Noel, can you please tell Dev that he’s invited to the weddings, too?’ she asked.

The two of them looked at each other in puzzlement. Piya-Jiya had met Dev only once to their knowledge. What brought this on?

‘Piya, why? That too, all of a sudden?’ asked Mitul.

Piya sighed. ‘Maasi wants to meet him.’

‘Huh?’

‘Look. Your Chachu-Chachi arrived yesterday. Evidently, your Chachi is determined to get Myna married to this Kapoor guy. And evidently, Myna likes Dev so she’s not willing to go through with it. None of us know what Dev wants.’ At this, they raised their eyebrows. ‘They haven’t met in a while, so this will be the perfect opportunity for them, even with your Chachu-Chachi around. Besides, Maasi also wants to meet Dev and see what he is like!’ she finished breathlessly.

‘Okay, Piya,’ Noel said. ‘I’ll tell Dev he’s invited.’

‘Thank you, darling Noel. And are you taking care of my sister?’ she asked teasingly.

‘Yes, he is,’ Mitul replied.

‘I want all the details, and I mean ALL the details when you get back,’ Piya said.

‘Okay, bye now,’ Mitul hit the disconnect button, before Piya could embarrass her further.

They sat looking at each other.

‘Call Dev,’ she said.

Noel sighed and called Dev. Who happened to be in a foul mood, and got into an even fouler mood as he could hear the surf roaring in the background.

‘You called me to rub my nose in it?’ he asked grouchily, dragging on a cigarette.

‘Nope, I got news for you,’ said Noel. ‘You’re invited to the weddings,’ he said succinctly.

‘What weddings?’ Dev had obviously forgotten all about something that was happening in his best friend’s girlfriend’s cousins’ lives. The only thing he did remember about the same girlfriend was that she had another cousin and it was eating him up because he couldn’t contact this other cousin.

‘Piya-Jiya’s weddings. You know, Mitul’s cousins that you met one night quite some time back?’ Noel reminded him.

‘So why are they inviting me?’ he asked irritably.

‘Because, you ass, you’re my friend. And if you take your head out of your rear, you’ll realize that Mitul’s other cousins will also be there,’ he emphasized ‘OTHER’.

Dev sat up straight, cigarette forgotten. ‘Oh!’ was all he said.

‘Yes, Oh! So you’re going with me,’ Noel told him.

‘Okay,’ Dev quietly acquiesced.

Noel called Piya back. ‘Okay. It’s done,’ he informed her. ‘Mission accomplished.’

‘Thank you, Noel, you’re a doll,’ she blew him a kiss down the line and hung up.

He blushed slightly at that, much to Mitul’s amusement. ‘She’s still your fan, you know,’ she reminded him.

‘I know,’ he said uncomfortably.

‘But I’m not,’ her voice dropped low, seductively. ‘I’m not a fan.’

‘No, I’m yours.’ His eyes searched her face and then added, ‘forever.’

*****