26 • Carpe Noctem

《Short Recap》

Neel had asked us to meet him at McDonald's in the food court on the top floor of the mall. I scanned the crowd for him and when I did spot him I almost had mild myocardial infarction.

Sitting next to him, dressed like a pretty little doll was...

I gulped.

It was Lara?!

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I stopped walking, as my jaw dropped to the floor.

"Tell me this is a joke, Rosh!" I frowned.

She regarded me with a sheepish grin before she said, "See this was exactly why Neel didn't want to tell you about Lara. He knew you'd judge him for it."

"I'm not judging him!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air and received a pointed look from Roshni, "Fine, I am. But how can you expect me to just believe that Neel likes Lara? She's the whiny girl who flirts with every male specimen remember. The only quality she has is that she's an amazing dancer but Neel hates dancing so there's no subject for them to connect over. And..."

"Stop ranting, Akira!" Roshni cut me off, "She's a very sweet and genuine person once you get to know her."

"Come on, not you too!" I whined, almost stomping my foot on the floor like a little kid.

"Give me one good reason why you dislike that poor girl." Roshni asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

"She's uh...I don't know, ok. I can't explain it," I tried to recall what I had against Lara, but my memory seemed to have gone to the other side of world for a bloody vacation.

"Which is why you're going to wear your brightest and sweetest smile and be nice to Lara during this dinner." Roshni deadpanned, placing her hands on her hips.

Rolling my eyes, I started walking towards the table at which Neel and Lara sat laughing over some silly internet joke.

Let's get this over with! I exhaled deeply.

"Hello Neel! And oh my God, Lara! You're the lucky girl that Neel has been texting secretly since last week!" I gushed, plastering a wide grin on my face that probably looked faker than those fake Gucci handbags aka Guxi handbags you got on the roadside.

But no one seemed to notice. Lara and Neel were busy having a contest of Blush-me-to-the-moon-and-back, and Roshni was texting someone on her phone.

"Yes," Lara beamed at me angelically, "I'm so glad you finally know. Neel was afraid to introduce me to you girls."

Obviously?!

"Are you two going to have your usual? I'll go place the orders." Neel asked Roshni and me as he rose from his seat.

"Yeah." I answered quickly.

"No, I'd like to try that new burger they've just introduced and french fries." Roshni replied looking up from her phone.

"Ok girls, let's take some selfies before my man comes back." Lara said enthusiastically, when Neel left, causing me to choke on my own saliva.

I glanced at Roshni to see her response and she too cringed visibly but masked behind a toothy smile before Lara could notice.

"Uh...Lara why don't you two go ahead. I'll just use the restroom and come. My bladder's bursting." I said with an apologetic look.

Roshni's eyes widened with alarm when she realized that she'd be alone with Lara.

Don't leave me alone with her! She pleaded with her eyes.

Ha! Serves you right for dragging me along. I smirked, picking up my tote and making my way to the ladies restroom on the far side of the food court.

I whipped out my phone and was surprised to see my notifications spammed with Vinay's calls and messages. Shit! I really needed to keep my phone on vibrate instead of silent.

What if I'd missed a call from Ma?!

I scrolled down just in case but there was nothing. Pulling my lips into my mouth, I sighed before tapping on Vinay's number.

The moment I placed it against ear I was bombarded with Vinay's raspy almost-over-the-voice.

"Where the fuck are you Akira?" he cried out in a hoarse tone, and I imagined he was threading his messy hair with his long fingers as he spoke.

"I'm at the mall," I answered simply, "Why? Did you need anything?"

"Did I fucking need anything?" he shouted, "I was worried about you. You didn't even leave a note or a text. I thought you were going to spend the entire day at home. I've been calling ever since I got home from Millie's dance recital and you didn't even text back! Also it's eight twenty, isn't that post your fucking bedtime?"

"Jeez, calm down Vinay! I just had a little shopping to do, I'm not kidnapped!" I said.

"Whatever." He replied forlornly, "You could have at least informed me and saved me all the calories I lost worrying over you."

"Fine, Daddy!" I answered, rolling my eyes, the words leaping off my tongue before I realized what I had said.

Vinay burst out into a fit of laughter, "Did you just call me your Daddy?!"

"Okay, that came out wrong!" I let out a flighty chuckle, "You know that's not what I meant!"

"Maybe not right now but you've obviously imagined calling me that, right?" he replied cockily.

"Wipe that stupid smirk off your face, you bozo!" I whisper-yelled.

"Who said I'm smirking?" Vinay asked feigning surprise.

"I just know, okay." I replied. I found my lips perking up in a smile that reached my eyes.

Who knew this incorrigible ass could brighten up my terrible day by just being himself?

"Umm, Vinay? Can you pick me up please?" I started, "I don't think I can stand being around Neel's girlfriend anymore."

"Who, Lara?" he chuckled softly.

"Yeah," I answered, "Wait how does everyone know that they're together except me?"

"Not everyone. It's just that whatever is said in the basketball locker rooms, stays there. We treat the bro code with utmost respect."

"Bro code? Are you kidding me?!" I raised my brow, "You guys are almost men now, not fourteen year olds discussing first crushes!"

"Chuck it," Vinay replied, "You won't understand. So when do you want me to come and pick you up?"

"As soon as possible." Wasn't that obvious? Duh?!

"Fine I'll be there in ten minutes." Vinay said before cutting the call.

With a satisfied grin I put phone back into my tote and entered an empty stall in the restroom.

After I was done, I headed back to our table and was shocked to see Neel making goofy face at the front camera as Lara clicked a million selfies to post on her Instagram stories.

Roshni sighed in relief when she saw me making my way through the crowd, her face lighting up like a child on their birthday.

"Thank God you're back!" she breathed.

I raised my brow questioningly, "Weren't you the one telling me to give Lara a chance and blah blah?!"

"Yeah, you can't expect me to suffer alone, now can you?" she retorted.

"I hate you!" I turned to burger, unwrapping the paper packaging.

"And I love you three thousand!" she replied cheekily.

"Well, keep that love to yourself because I'm bailing," I grinned deviously, "Vinay's coming to pick me up."

Roshni's eyes widened with alarm. "You can't possibly be doing this to me, Akira!"

"Who's leaving so early?" Lara quipped in, finally choosing to put away her phone.

She unwrapped her burger and lifted the top half of the bun before wiping away all the mayo from the patty with her finger. For a moment I thought she was going to lick it and I cringed inwardly, but she wiped it off on a tissue which was decidedly worse.

"Processed foods make me fat." She smiled sweetly, when she looked up.

Roshni nodded, a weird look on her face.

"Yeah, so you guys were saying something. Who's leaving?" Lara asked.

"Me," I replied with a tight smile, "My Dad just called when I was waiting to use the restroom and he asked me to forward some old pickle recipes that his sister emailed for my mother."

"Pickle recipes?!" Roshni choked on her coke.

"Yes." I cast her an apologetic look before picking up my shopping bags and tote.

"See you guys in college. Bye," I said, " And Neel, great choice by the way."

I saw realization flash in his eyes but I didn't wait for his angered response. I made a dash for the elevator and headed out of the mall.

My phone buzzed, and I swiped to receive the call.

"Akira, I'm here. Are you done?" Vinay asked.

"Right on time. I just walked out. Where are you?" I asked scanning the area, "Wait I found you. I'm coming."

Cutting the line, I strode over to Vinay's thundering bike and he handed me a helmet.

"Back home?" he asked, as I climbed onto the bike behind him.

"Not yet."

"Jeez, what happened to the girl who thought eight was late?" Vinay turned, his torso shaking as he chuckled lightly.

I swatted his back.

"Not funny."

"Okay!" he lifted his forearms as he surrendered.

"Can we please go to my old house?" I asked quietly, "Actually just chuck it. Let's go home."

I shook my head.

"No it's fine we can go. Just tell me the address." Vinay said.

"Well, if you insist," I dragged in a long breath, "22, Lavelle Road."

"Whoah, you stayed the heart of Bangalore." Vinay said, sounding impressed.

"Yeah my granddad bought the plot a long time ago so..." I trailed off as we drove into the driveway of my house.

Wordlessly, I jumped off and made my way to back side and started climbing the ladder placed against the wall until I reached the roof of the two story house. The shuffling below indicated that Vinay had followed me.

If he found me sudden quietness and wall climbing weird, he didn't say anything until he too reached the top.

We sat there in silence, a stray bat flying past us in a hurried flurry and the surrounding trees swaying gently with the evening breeze.

"Bad day?" Vinay asked finally.

"Hmm..."

He took out a small flask from his jacket pocket and offered it to me.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously in response.

"It's whiskey," he answered my questioning look, biting his lip hesitantly, "It helps me forget."

"No thank you," I shook my head, "I'd rather not."

Vinay shrugged his shoulders impassively and took a small swig before putting it back into his pocket.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" he asked quietly.

I sighed, "Ma found out that I'm living with you."

"Right. Didn't she know about this though?" he frowned.

"Apparently she didn't. She was red with rage today when she heard you say goodbye." I replied, swallowing slowly.

Vinay looked at his fingers guiltily, playing with his keyring.

Exhaling breathily, I craned my neck upward trying to get a glimpse of the top of a skyscraper in the distance.

"It's not your fault, Vinay," I said, "It was bound to happen some day. Better late than never."

"Yeah, but..." he started.

"It doesn't matter. Ma will get over it. Dad told me he'll take care of it." I cut him off midsentence.

"If you're okay with it. I'm sorry." He answered.

"Can we please not talk about that. I've been overthinking already and I don't need to sulk any more than I already have. Can we at least end this day on a happy note?" I asked, turning to him.

He turned too, we were facing each other now.

"Okay, let's see," Vinay rubbed his growing stubble, "Let me tell you about how fantastic Millie's dance recital was today. So basically she was wearing an extraordinarily pink outfit. Is that even fucking possible? That's beside the point. So yeah..."

Before long I found myself clutching my stomach as I rolled with laughter. When he told me that one child peed onstage, I completely lost it.

It was funny how Vinay had slowly inched his way into my life and carved a place for himself in my book of memories.

He was going to be very hard to forget.

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