29. Sujit
SUJIT
T he day had started out wrong and it continued to get worse with every passing minute.
That morning I arrived at the office to Devi’s troubled face.
I had barely settled in my chair when she rushed in with the news that I had made my way into a tabloid, a news that had gotten the office space animated.
Devi had managed to secure a copy for me.
On the front page was a picture of me escorting Aarti to the charity event.
The angle of the picture shielded her face but mine was visible, elated and enamored. Exactly how I felt around her.
I had hardly parsed through the filth written about us, when my cell lit up with a call from Amma.
It was an invitation to come over for lunch on Sunday.
Doubts niggled at my heart, but I dispelled them promptly.
It wasn’t an anomaly for my mother to invite me over, especially when it had been a while.
Yet, the timing seemed suspicious. It didn’t take long for rumors to spread like wildfire and my extended family spanned all over the region, with everyone’s noses in everyone else’s business.
Before I could call Aarti to alert her about the development, I got a text from her.
My heart thudded at the thought that she had seen the gossip piece and I wasn’t near her to console her.
Not that I imagined she’d be distraught.
She was stronger than that. Nonetheless, it would’ve been ideal if I’d been the one to break the news to her rather than her finding out about it through others.
When I found out that she’d merely texted to cancel our appointment because she was unwell, it gave me a ray of hope. I was both concerned for her and relieved that perhaps she hadn’t seen the untoward gossip.
I heaved a deep sigh as I settled on the couch, just as the intercom rang with the doorman asking if he could send up a visitor.
It was Padma and I was at the door when she came up.
“Are you out of your mind?” she said the moment she had her foot in the door.
I heard Aarti cough from the room and said, “Shh, keep your voice down. She’s asleep.”
“What in the world are you thinking, Annayya? Or maybe you’re not thinking at all!” Padma cried.
“Thank you for the rasam,” I said, attempting to rush her back out.
“Unh, unh, you’re not getting rid of me this easily,” she said and stepped over to the couch in the living area.
“Did Amma call you?” I asked.
“Yes, she called me and your aunt and coordinated this whole thing. Asked me to pick up the rasam from her and get it delivered to you.”
“It’s convenient that our extended family is spread in every corner of this state,” I deadpanned. “How did you know where I was?”
“I called Imran,” she said. “Is she the same woman from the magazine?” her voice inflected up an entire octave.
“Amma asked you to pry out a confirmation from me, didn’t she?”
“What do you think?”
“Who else has seen it?” I asked, then quickly added, “I don’t care. It’s a gossip rag anyway.”
“ Tech Billionaire, the New Playboy? That headline gets a lot of attention when it’s a brown man and an unknown, gorgeous brown woman on the cover. Especially when Peddamma is trying to sell you as the most eligible bachelor to our community.”
“Well, at least they put a question mark,” I said wryly. “Who has seen it?”
“Who hasn’t?” Padma said, then after a pause, added, “That family lunch on Sunday isn’t a coincidence, bro. You’re getting an earful, and I’m forewarning you because I like you.”
I nodded. What else was I going to say? I had predicted it the moment Devi showed me the tabloid that morning. I was wondering how to break it to Aarti, and now Padma and I were having this conversation right here in her living room.
“Is she the one on the cover with you, or are you truly juggling women like the tabloid suggested?”
“Seriously, Padma, do you think I’ve got that kind of game? Or time, for that matter.”
There was a soft chuckle from Padmaja.
“I don’t know about time, but you’ve definitely got game, big brother. Glad you don’t use it, but you’ve got it, trust me.”
“Did you just roll your eyes at that?”
“Yes, because all my friends keep swooning over you, and I have to work hard to keep them at bay.”
“Thank you, I guess,” I said with a grin.
She took my hand in hers. “I love you, Annayya. I love who you are. But this?”
“I really hadn’t foreseen it,” I said with all the guilt that wore me down.
“You might be powerful, but you certainly aren’t almighty. You can’t foresee everything.”
I raked my hand through my hair. “I should have planned better.”
Padma looked around. I nodded at the bedroom. “Aarti is resting.”
“Does she know?”
“I don’t know. Considering it came out this morning and that she’s been sick all day, it’s safe to assume she hasn’t.”
“Good thing Aarti’s face isn’t in any of the pictures, and they don’t know who she is yet, but it’s only a matter of time. The rats will dig out that information soon enough,” Padma observed.
“But it is curious that they got multiple pictures of us over the entirety of the evening, yet none of them show her face.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure yet,” I said. “But I’ll make sure her identity doesn’t get out, for her sake. She’s already in hot water with her family about this.”
“I don’t think you can do much in this situation, bro,” Padma advised sagely.
“What do you want me to do? Stop seeing her completely?”
“Are you really seeing her?” she screeched. “Like seeing seeing?”
“No,” I replied promptly and unhesitatingly. “I’m not seeing seeing her, but I like her, and I do go out with her. That charity ball was one such social occasion.”
“Stop it immediately, or she’s going to end up hurt,” Padma said pointedly. “And so are you.”
“Who told you about Aarti?” I asked. “About…who she is.”
“Word gets around, Annayya. It didn’t take me long to figure out you liked her that day at the exhibition, and I wasn’t even paying attention. Imagine what someone who’s interested will dig out.”
“Do you also think it’s wrong for me to…be interested in Sameer’s ex?”
“I’m not the person to answer that,” Padma said with a sigh. “I am living a happy, unattached, childfree life. But if you care, then it matters.”
“I don’t care,” I said softly. “But I care about her, deeply. I don’t want to put her in a situation where she ends up being hurt again.”
“Then stop whatever it is you think you’re doing and get on with your life. Because this is bound to end badly and you both will suffer. Social stigma for sure, but more, I suspect.”
“Thank you for the rasam, Padma. Imran will drop you wherever you need to go,” I said with gratitude.
“Yeah, I’ve already spoken to him.”
She got ready to leave. “Are you going to spend the night here?” she asked at the door.
“If she’s unwell and needs me, then, yes, I am going to spend the night on the couch in her apartment,” I replied with indignation.
“Ugh, bro, don’t be so theatrical. I’m sure an apartment this size has a guest room with a very comfortable bed.”
I tapped her head at the sass and gave her a hug. “Thank you, again, for the rasam. I owe you and you know how to collect,” I teased with a smile.
“That I do,” she said and turned to the door. “And be very sure about what you’re doing, Annayya. Chronic heartache is not a healthy condition to live with.”
My weary body was ready to collapse on the couch. I lay my head back and closed my eyes. It gave me no respite. I leaned forward, elbows on my thighs, two fingers gently resting on my forehead, my eyes closed. I needed to find a way out of this. And soon.
A soft hand landed on my shoulder. “Sujit,” Aarti said.
I jumped up instantly. “Hey! How are you feeling?” I checked her forehead with the back of my fingers. “Good, no fever.”
“I’m better,” she said and quickly added, “I heard some voices. Was someone here?”
“Yes, Padmaja was here to drop off some rasam.”
“Ah, looks like you got your rasam after all. Next stop, family reprimand?” she said with a grin.
“Something like that,” I said and asked her to take a seat beside me. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
I told her about the pictures in the tabloid and the trashy news item that accompanied it. “They haven’t figured out who you are, but we need to be prepared…”
“In case we break the internet?” she cried with a frown.
I sighed. “I have no idea how it happened, but I assure you I won’t let it get any bigger.”
“Can I see it?”
“You don’t want to. It’s a tawdry tabloid.”
“All the same, we must be prepared, like you said.”
I pulled up a digital copy on my phone.
“ Tech Billionaire, the New Playboy, ” she read.
“ The New Playboy? ” I corrected with a smile. “There’s a question mark there.”
She continued reading.
After a disastrous and humiliating breakup earlier this year, the South Asian golden boy of tech, Sujit Rao, is attempting to make waves.
She looked up at me. “That’s very bad writing.”
I shrugged. “Told you it was a cheap gossip magazine.”
“But they could employ some decent writers to get more copies sold.”
I returned a tight smile and walked to the kitchen to get us water, while she continued reading aloud,
He was spotted over the weekend at a charity gala with an unknown woman, possibly a model.
“A model?” She grimaced, then returned her eyes to the phone.
The couple seemed very intimate as they shared giggles and whispers, which convinces us that there is something spicy brewing here…
She shook her head. “This is just terrible writing.”
The mystery woman created quite the storm on the dance floor, fetching adoring looks and roaring applause. Could this be the start of something big for Rao, or is it just a passing fancy? Will it end in love or is there more heartache in his future?
Ugh, I’ve read enough,” she said, offering the phone back to me.
“Read the final lines,” I suggested.
She scrolled down the drivel.
The identity of his glamorous companion is unknown at the moment, but it is only a matter of time until we discover who she is and uncover her connection to Sujit Rao.
Her eyes bulged. “Uncover her connection? They used the word connection . This is a threat, Sujit!” she cried with anger.
“Yup. And a thinly veiled one, at that.”
“Whoever wrote this is privy to our history. This is a fucking threat!” Aarti bubbled with rage and jumped from her seat.
“What’s the endgame here, though? I haven’t been able to figure that out.”
I handed her a bottle of water and we both cracked the seals in tandem and sipped in silence.
“The curious thing is that if they had wanted, they could have gotten a clear picture of your face and outed you right here, but they didn’t. Someone who wanted to target me but not you…” my voice trailed off as I realized whose handiwork this was.
Aarti sat upright. “You know who it is, don’t you?” she said.
I glanced at her. She had enough to worry about. I wasn’t about to add to her troubles.
“It’s probably a prank. It will blow over soon enough.” I got up swiftly and grabbed a container from the coffee table. “Come on, let me give you this rasam. This is what will get you back to health.”