by Nikita Singh
‘I guess …’ Laila said, thinking. ‘No, not really. I don’t see it.’
‘What’s this orange thing though?’
‘He said “I like you. Take my orange” and so I took it.’
‘So you like him back?’ Maahi asked excitedly. ‘You guys should date. You’d be so cute toge—’
‘Okay, stop,’ Laila said. The sudden seriousness in her voice made Maahi pause and stare at her nervously. ‘Never again. We decided you won’t bring up dating again. I don’t do that. I … can’t. I’m only telling you this to make you stop with this nonsense. You have to promise to keep it a secret—never bring it up with anyone including me.’
‘What … ?’ Maahi asked slowly.
Laila took a breath and prepared herself. She’d say it once and she’d say it quickly and clearly. And when she was done, they would bury the topic forever and never talk about it again. ‘I used to be married,’ she began, and spoke in bullet points for Maahi’s benefit. ‘His name was Abhishek—he was my best friend in college—we fell in love—got married right after college—he died in an accident eight months and three days after our wedding—he was hit by a Mercedes driven by a seventeen-year-old kid under the Moolchand flyover—I was twenty-two—it’s been six years—I’m over it—but I don’t play the dating game—I don’t like oranges anymore—so stop.’
There was a deep, confounded silence.
Maahi’s mouth was half-open, her eyes fixed on Laila’s. She breathed, ‘You’re joking.’
Laila didn’t say a word, but just held Maahi’s eyes.
‘Oh God …’ Maahi said, her eyes suddenly filling up with tears. ‘Oh my God … I’m so sorry … Oh God…’
‘Maahi—stop. Please. Just … can we not?’
‘Okay … okay.’ Laila could see Maahi physically control herself.
‘Anyway, listen,’ Laila said. She spoke quickly, her voice breaking. ‘Roast House is very into keeping Indian culture front and centre. We’re setting up a counter at this fancy party this weekend, and it’s a formal event. People will be wearing suits and gowns. I was thinking we could wear Indian formal wear. I have a trunk full of fancy saris, lehengas, suits—you know, from when I was married. Let’s have a look.’ Laila closed her notebook and got up. ‘Come on,’ she said to Maahi, who was still frozen on the spot.
Maahi hadn’t moved since Laila had told her about Abhishek, her eyes wide, tears flowing uninhibited down her cheeks. ‘Let’s go,’ Laila repeated and made her way to her mother’s room, aware of Maahi’s stunned gaze at her back. The faster Maahi got over it, the sooner they could move on and get back to business.
8
THE BRINK
Laila’s back hurt worse than her neck, and her neck hurt a lot. She had been on her feet for eight hours straight, and yet they were nowhere close to being done. She had four trays full of cookie batter waiting to be baked, but no free ovens. She was baking at Two with Javed to help her, while Maahi was at One, working with Ram. Even though they worked quickly and efficiently, they simply weren’t equipped enough to produce such a large amount of goods in such a short amount of time. They had two industrial-sized ovens, one in each shop, but according to the guest list JD had sent over, there were going to be roughly five hundred people at the party. Laila was interested in seeing how big this bungalow and its lawn were to contain these many people.
Since there were twenty-seven bakeries offering their products, in all certainty, not all five hundred guests would come to their counter, or if they did, they couldn’t possibly eat from every single counter. However, they had to make sure that if every single person showed up to their counter, they had enough for everyone. Selling out was a good thing, but not if potential voters wouldn’t get samples. Laila wanted to do 500 of cookies and cupcakes each. Maahi thought it made more sense to do 250 cookies and 250 cupcakes. After many arguments, they finally reached a compromise they could both live with—350. It was already Thursday evening, and the only way they’d be able to reach their target was if they pulled an all-nighter.
After loading all the remaining trays they had with cookie dough, Laila took a step back and re-evaluated the situation. The kitchen at Two was filled with all sorts of cookies. There were no empty surfaces. It looked as if the cookies were building an army to overthrow the government and take the iron throne.
‘Thoda zyada nahin ho gaya?’ Javed commented, following her gaze.
‘Kya karein?’ Laila said. ‘It’s the demand. This kitchen definitely wasn’t built do handle this scale of production.’
‘How many more do we have to make?’
‘About a hundred. The main issue at hand is storage though. Let me call up Maahi and see how it’s going at One.’ She sat down on a stool by the kitchen counter and dialled Maahi.
‘Don’t even ask!’ Maahi cried as soon as she answered.
‘That bad?’
‘It’s impossible. I still have, like, 200 more cupcakes to do and we don’t have enough trays and oh God, there’s. NO. Space. I can bake more, but I’ll have to put them on my head!’
‘Well, that’s one way to accessorize!’ Laila laughed.
‘Not funny, Laila! I’m dying here—for real.’
‘I know. It’s getting pretty bad here too. Want to go out for a couple of hours—take a break? We could check out the venue, figure out storage and transportation? Javed, can you stay here a couple of extra hours and finish baking these?’ Laila asked. When he gave her a thumbs up, she said into the phone, ‘It’s cool with Javed. Ask Ram if he can handle One.’
‘Yeah, I have enough batter in moulds to keep him occupied for a while. Ram, will you be …’ Maahi’s voice faded away for a second, before she returned and spoke more loudly, ‘Yeah, cool with Ram too.’
Ten minutes later, Laila honked in front of One, and Maahi came rushing out, looking like an escaped prisoner.
‘It’s intense in there,’ Maahi exhaled loudly, getting into the car. ‘Where are we going?’
‘To the fancy CEO’s fancy bungalow in Golf Links.’
‘Right. We should’ve done this yesterday—or the day before. Setting up is going to take all day tomorrow. What time is the party? 6 p.m., right? We’ll have to set up the table, bring everything over without breaking or crushing or squashing, and we have to find a way to decorate to make sure it looks pretty—presentation is key—and stash the rest of the goods somewhere they won’t go bad. It’s still really hot, especially for August, and this thing is outdoors.’
‘Whoa. It’s a good thing that you’re not freaking out or anything.’ Laila chuckled.
‘How is this funny?’ Maahi almost looked hurt at Laila’s behaviour.
‘Dude, we can do our best and that’s all we have. The primary concern is the product and, well, it isn’t exactly under control at the moment—but it will be. For everything else, we have the whole day to figure it out. The two people from RH are going to help us with transportation and storage at the venue. We only have to worry about storing everything at C+C.’
‘Yeah, everywhere I look, I see cupcakes. I mean, of course, we’re a bakery, but I’ve never seen so many cupcakes at the same time in real life.’
‘Oh, let’s buy that camera!’
‘What? Now?’ Maahi asked, looking at Laila as if she’d gone mad.
‘Why not? We’re going to pay the exact same amount whether we buy it today or next week, so why wait? We can do behind-the-scenes pictures at both shops before we pack everything away.’
‘We are doing all of this for the first time … Okay, yes. I think it’s a good idea. I could post hourly updates on Instagram.’
‘Then you’ll be posting a lot because we’ll be baking all night long, girl.’ Laila grinned. Even with all the pressure and last-minute panic, this was exciting. To think that a year ago, they had barely been able to pool everything they had and start the first shop. This felt surreal. Even if they didn’t end up collaborating with Roast House, just doing the party
was a big deal. If they ended up signing … Laila couldn’t even begin to imagine how quickly the scope of their business would change. It felt as if they were right on the brink of something big, and it very well could be this.
‘Do they know we’re coming?’ Maahi asked.
‘Yes, I called the RH guys. They’ll show us our spot and go over the transportation and all that. JD’s email said they’ve apparently set up a walk-in freezer in the fancy CEO’s fancy backyard.’
‘I’ll be a fancy CEO one day.’
‘Be a fancy social media manager right now! Have you decided which camera we should get? We could look up some stores on the way.’
They ended up making a short detour to buy the camera Maahi had chosen online. Pleased with how productive they were being, Laila drove straight towards Golf Links. As she reached the address Google Maps brought her too, Laila’s mouth gaped. She had expected it to be fancy, considering it was the fancy CEO’s fancy bungalow, but this was another level of wealth.
‘How is this a real thing?’ Maahi muttered next to her.
‘This is no bungalow. This is a fucking palace.’
‘Un. Real.’
Laila shook her head in disbelief. ‘How does one person afford this kind of real estate right in the middle of the national capital?’
They were right in front of a gigantic black metal gate, where they waited for someone to let them in. Laila pulled closer to the gate and heard a voice over the intercom ask who she was.
‘We’re from Cookies + Cupcakes. We’re here to check out the venue for tomorrow’s fan—’ Laila stopped herself just in time. ‘Party. Tomorrow’s party.’
‘One minute.’
Laila looked at Maahi, who giggled.
‘Welcome,’ said the voice a moment later, and the gate opened in the middle, slowly parting to let them in. Laila drove on the gravel path, which was surrounded on both sides by vast lawns. The bungalow had its own driveway, leading up to the five storied building, which looked nothing less than a mansion. The walls were made of red brick and smooth clear glass and were surrounded by beautiful, exotic-looking shrubbery. Laila could see an infinity pool on the right, with tall Ashok trees on one side and lounge chairs on the other. When she’d reached the front of the bungalow, she slowed down, and a valet rushed forward to greet her.
‘Welcome, ma’am!’ He looked not a day older than twenty-one. ‘I’ll take your car from here. Just call for Jasmeet when you’re ready to go.’
‘O … kay.’ Laila got out of the car and exchanged a look with Maahi over the hood. Maahi had also got out and was looking around. Jasmeet drove away swiftly, leaving Laila and Maahi with their mouths hanging open. ‘Talk about fancy!’
‘You’ve got to stop saying fancy,’ Maahi said. ‘You almost said it to the intercom lady or robot or whoever.’
‘This is beyond fancy. This guy must be so insanely loaded.’
‘Clearly.’
They looked at the lawns, divided right in the middle by a gravel path leading up to the bungalow. There were many people on the right side of the lawn, motioning with their arms as if drawing a sketch in the air. There were no tents, canopies, tables or anything in sight, just a bunch of people looking around, measuring lengths. Laila guessed the CEO was the kind of person who could pay to ensure the event planners were quick and efficient. Not knowing where to go, Laila called one of the RH guys to let them know they were there.
A middle-aged man wearing a magenta shirt and square glasses left the group on the lawn and walked swiftly towards them.
‘Hi, you’re Laila?’ he asked.
‘Yes. Hi Praveen, this is my partner Maahi.’
‘Nice to meet you both,’ he said, sounding preoccupied and rushed. ‘Come with me. Your table will be six feet by four, covered in a white tablecloth with a silver pattern on it, in case you wish to coordinate your food stuff accordingly to go with the colours. We also have large bowls, platters, trays and all that at the back, which you can pick and reserve now.’
‘Sounds good,’ Laila said crisply, walking next to him on the soft lawn.
‘You also mentioned something about a freezer?’ Maahi asked.
‘Yes—that’s also at the back. I’ll show you. Okay, here. This is your spot.’
Laila and Maahi looked around. It was the corner-most space, facing the bungalow. Laila nodded. ‘Great.’
‘Good. Let me show you the freezer now.’
It took them ten minutes to do a full circle of the bungalow, stopping by the freezer, the door to the restrooms, an actual locker room for their personal belongings while they worked out front, and a kitchen where refreshments for the staff would be available. Once they were done, they thanked Praveen for his time, which was clearly very valuable, and asked if he could have Jasmeet bring their car around.
‘I feel like a servant,’ Maahi said, once Praveen had left.
‘We practically are servants. Staff,’ Laila said.
‘We’re CEOs too though. Not too far from having all of this.’
They were very extremely far from it, but Laila didn’t have the heart to point it out to Maahi. Let the kid dream. ‘I think tomorrow we should get here noon-ish, store the food in the freezer and start setting up the table. I’m re-thinking the pig cupcake-cake now,’ Laila said, waving her arms around to point at their surroundings, just in case Maahi missed where they were standing.
‘No, come on. I’m sure everyone else is doing classy and sophisticated. We’ll do the bright and quirky. Trust me, the kids loved that cake.’
‘Not many kids on the guest list to this fancy party.’
‘Just trust me,’ Maahi said, just as Jasmeet pulled up next to them with the car. ‘Do we tip him?’ she muttered softly.
Laila shrugged. They looked at each other for a second before giving up and getting into the car. ‘Thank you, Jasmeet,’ Laila said to him as he closed the door for her. She said to Maahi as she drove away, ‘I’ve never thought about that before—do you tip a valet at a house you’re visiting? It’s not a hotel, so I’m guessing not. But then what do I know? Never known anyone who hired full-time valets for their house.’ Laila made a mental note to ask JD if he ever tipped the valet.
‘Also, technically, we’re staff too. And staff don’t tip other staff.’
‘Especially unpaid staff don’t tip the paid staff.’
‘I know, right?’ Maahi’s face twisted with worry. ‘How broke are we now? Buying all of these ingredients and everything…’
‘Quite broke, but if they like us, it’ll all be worth it … and more. And they’re going to pay us for this afterwards regardless of the outcome, so we’ll be all right.’
‘It’s insane, isn’t it? I didn’t know what JD wanted to talk about when he asked for that meeting, but I definitely didn’t imagine this. This could be so huge.’
Laila was quiet for a moment, remembering her instinct from before. She spoke evenly, looking straight ahead, ‘You know, I’ve had this feeling for some time now, that we’re on the brink of something big. Something that’s right in front of us but we’re missing. We can’t see it yet, but years from now, we’ll look back and realize it was right there all along.’
‘And this could be it?’
Laila nodded slowly. ‘Who knows? I thought really hard about the idea of making Cookies + Cupcakes a nationwide chain, but it just didn’t seem right. It would become too commercial, and not be personal at all. Also, how are we going to manage multiple stores in multiple cities just yet? We’d become businesswomen exclusively, the actual baking will go right out of the window. And then there’s your custom cakes idea, which is too small. But this? This could be it. We’ll be producing everything in one place, it’ll all originate from here, right from us, so we’ll control everything from one central location as we do right now. Except, it’ll be distributed much more widely, validated under the influential and trusted name of Roast House.’
Maahi looked at her, eyes wide in exciteme
nt. ‘Do you think we’ll get in?’
‘We’re at the brink of … something.’
‘This is something!’
Laila shrugged. ‘Maybe,’ she said, trying hard not to count C + C’s chickens before they hatched, but at the same time, she felt hopeful.
9
FANCY
Laila woke up to find her right cheek covered in frosting, the cupcake underneath the frosting was completely crushed, which suggested that she’d been using a cupcake as a pillow. When she attempted to sit up, her bones and muscles screamed with stiffness. She also realized that she was freezing, having slept on the bakery floor, with the AC on and without a blanket. She sniffed and reached for the remote, which turned out to be a remote for the TV screen. Unable and unwilling to stand or even sit up fully, she dragged her half-asleep body to the air conditioner like a snail. As she got closer to the AC, a cool burst of air made her sneeze twice in quick succession, shaking her entire body.
‘Maahi,’ she groaned, pressing the power button to stop the chilly torture. She saw a colourful lump that could only be Maahi’s clothes on the floor next to the counter. The last thing she remembered before they both passed out from exhaustion was sitting down on the floor at around six in the morning, after having put the second last batch of cupcakes in the oven. Laila had finished with her cookies at Two around midnight and had come to One to help Maahi out with her cupcakes, which required more time because of the additional step after baking: icing. They’d baked all night, up until dawn, but a moment of weakness, sitting down for a few minutes, just to close their eyes had ended up in this. Laila let out another exaggerated moan, louder this time, ‘Maahiiiii!’
‘What? What? Oh shit!’ Maahi suddenly sat up, her eyes wide open. ‘Time kya hain?’
‘Phone,’ Laila said, speaking through gritted teeth, pointing at her phone lying on the floor next to Maahi.
‘10.47 a.m.’
‘Fuck, fuck, fuck!’ Laila looked around, slightly panicky, assessing the situation.