Chapter 16 #2
The chef turns to me and bows. ‘I will get the rajkumari a fresh plate,’ he offers with a broad smile.
‘Thank you,’ I come back quickly, ‘but I’m good with what I’ve ordered.’
‘Come now, you’ve disappointed the chef,’ Gauri Elena teases.
As the staff step back, disappearing into the corners to let us eat, a random thought comes to me.
It would be impossible to binge in this kind of a set-up.
How could you shovel food into your mouth with three grown men in the room, or if you had decided on a bag of chips when you retired for the day but had to contend with chambermaids running loops around you?
There is always someone tailing you, asking if you want anything.
‘Vedveer tells me you are in Jaipur for the opening of your café,’ she says. ‘I want to congratulate you. That’s why I asked to have breakfast with you. It’s an excellent business decision, a store in your sasural.’
Gauri Elena’s accent is adorable.
‘Where is the location of your store? I would love to visit once the inauguration is done, of course. Maybe we can have a coffee together there.’
What? She doesn’t know?
Is that why they haven’t bullied us to shut shop yet?
I pick up my coffee and feel my cheeks warm. ‘Just here,’ I say, looking in the direction of the window, ‘just outside.’
‘Is your store located in the palace?’ Her voice is suddenly itchy. I like the sound of it.
‘No, no, Ranisa,’ I reply quickly. ‘Just outside the palace gates, on the other side of the road, to be precise.’
‘What? Right outside here?’ she asks, looking around her and calling for a pot of sugar at the same time.
‘That will not be a nice look for you. You should rethink this. The palace will dwarf your brand. Does Vedveer know? He should’ve advised you. He has a very good business brain; he thinks things through thoroughly.’
‘I had decided…’ I start talking when the butler reaches for the organic brown sugar and drops the ceramic pot.
I watch it crash to the floor; little brown crystals spread over white marble.
The palace will dwarf your brand.
I’m determined, more than ever, to keep the property opposite the gates of their precious palace. I’m going to stand my ground. The Rathores will push. The impasse could cause the break.
My head is a riptide of emotions. I swallow something that is not anger. It feels raw; it feels real. I don’t want to contend with any of that at this point.
To add to the clutter, the door swings open and Vedveer walks into the room, his eyes on the floor, on which brown sugar crystals lie alongside broken glass.
‘Yuvrajji,’ the butlers mutter.
Help to clean the floor is on its way.
Vedveer turns to me and apologizes. ‘I got dragged into a couple of meetings. It took me this long to get out.’ His eyes are bright, and his smile is light.
He is in navy sweatpants and a matching hoody.
‘Mother,’ he says, turning to Gauri Elena, who looks a lot less enthusiastic about her breakfast now.
Vedveer orders his breakfast, which is all of what his mother is having, save for the coffee, which is replaced by tea.
I fish out my iPad and open it to the TittleTattle page. I push the tablet before Vedveer. His eyes wander over the story, which he has doubtlessly already read, before they meet mine. ‘Has Mohan arrived?’ he asks of Mohit.
‘Mohit, my magician,’ I say, looking at my watch. ‘He should be landing any time now.’
‘Aaditha is just telling me that her store is located here, outside the palace gates,’ the ranisa says, leaning back in her seat. ‘Don’t you think it’ll be a poor look? People will think Ranibagh has funded the place.’
Oh! I blink.
Either Gauri Elena has a great read on the play, or she has read TittleTattle.
‘The poor girl has done such a great job of driving her brand. She should get all the credit; she deserves it.’
The poor girl. I lean back in my seat and exhale.
‘This property deal was done well before the engagement,’ I say, looking at my ring. ‘I thought it would be great for business, given the number of tourists Ranibagh attracts.’
Vedveer, who is seated on the same side of the table as me, turns in my direction. ‘I don’t think we should bother about someone else’s opinion, especially a gossip column.’
Gauri Elena is right that, in a sense, this is how the patriarchy sways. TittleTattle had spelt it out. They will always see it as me fumbling and Vedveer rescuing me.
‘That’s all very well, Vedveer,’ she says, looking at her son. ‘You should’ve warned her as soon as you knew. You have a great business brain. People are going to talk, and it is unfair to Ahdheeeta.’
Vedveer’s breakfast arrives, and he takes a sip of his orange juice. ‘Aaditha’s store has a great location,’ he says, his voice firm. ‘If people think we are funding it, people are dumb. She has opened stores across the country. This is not her first rodeo.’
Gauri Elena smiles and nods. ‘You are right about that!’
I take a sip of my coffee.
‘No one can control how people think, Mom,’ he adds. His tone is resigned.
Vedveer also calls his mother ‘mom’.
He is looking at me now and, after a whole minute, pushes the iPad back at me.
‘Besides, if anything, Aaditha’s association with Ranibagh will power the COFFEE Before Books & Bras brand,’ he says. ‘It’s a good thing that the store is located so close to the palace. It can feed off Ranibagh.’