Written in the Stars
Page 25
‘You made me look like a fool,’ he replied, matter of factly. He still looked a little miffed, but he was finally talking to me. A little fizz of hope burst into butterflies in my stomach.
‘No, I was the fool! I never should’ve done what I did . . . ’
‘Sorry isn’t enough,’ he said. ‘How do I know you really want to be with me?’
‘How did I know you really wanted to be with me?’ I shot back. ‘I trusted you when you said you loved me. Now it’s time for you to trust me!’
‘I don’t know . . . ’ he said, still staying a safe distance away from me.
‘Abhimanyu, I love everything about you,’ I said, echoing his outburst from outside my balcony. ‘I know you rake your fingers through your hair when you’re stressed. I know you love apple slices and pesto pasta, and hate pineapple on your pizza. I know that you listen to Carly Rae Jepsen to destress and that you’ve translated the Backstreet Boys in Hindi. I know you’d do anything to help a friend . . . ’
He grinned and finally stood up. He came towards me and I stood up too.
‘I did something incredibly stupid because I was angry and competitive. Those aren’t my favourite things about myself, but I’m asking you to forgive me. To trust me.’ I took a deep breath, ready to plead my case further.
I was one step away from breaking into dialogues from every romcom I’d ever watched in a hope to convince him.
‘You should’ve told me about following my horoscope as soon as we confessed our feelings,’ he said, as he looked into my eyes. ‘It was the fact that you kept it a secret that killed me, not what you did.’
‘I swear I didn’t look at it after I realized I had feelings for you. The promotion didn’t matter to me, only you did.’
‘Forgive her,’ someone shouted from the audience.
‘Yes, forgive her,’ the crowd echoed.
‘She dedicated an entire trivia round to you. She deserves a chance,’ someone else shouted. Slowly, sounds of cheers and claps began emanating from various corners of the pub. There were a lot of glasses clinking, and I wondered if someone had spun up a drinking game out of this very public confession.
He took a deep breath. Suddenly, I spotted something on his face. He was desperately trying to stifle a smile.
‘I suppose . . . ’ he began, as he ran his fingers through his hair.
‘Go on, say it,’ The Sherlock Homies heckled in unison.
‘You’re not angry,’ I said, with a wide grin.
‘I was,’ he shrugged. ‘But then, you burned every bridge with Harsh by standing up for me. I didn’t expect you to give up on winning just for me,’ he took a step forward. People in the pub were now whistling.
‘If I could go back and change how I approached everything, I would. I would never download that app. I would do anything to take it all back. I can’t begin to imagine my life without you!’
I told myself to stop speaking. He was now standing really close to me. As he faced me, I looked deep into his eyes. They were so big, bright and honest that I could barely breathe. I had spent hours looking at him over the past few months but in that moment it was like I was seeing him for the first time.
This was Abhimanyu, a horoscope obsessed, 1990s Bollywood aficionado, listener of Carly Rae Jepsen, translator of music and a part-time cycling enthusiast. He was so many things, and there was still so much more for me to discover.
He leaned towards me, and I tingled with anticipation. He reached out to hold my hands. And then it happened.
I forgot that we were in a crowded room with a hundred people staring as he bent down and kissed me. The kind of kiss that makes your leg spring up, where fireworks go off in the background, where the world stops spinning, where the censor board inserts two flowers in front of your face and where a group of back-up dancers magically appear behind you to synchronize their steps to yours. I did not want the moment to end. As we broke apart, the entire pub cheered.
‘And that, ladies and gentlemen, is probably the most entertaining trivia night I’ve ever hosted,’ George boomed. ‘If anyone else fancies a trivia proposal, you know where to find me!’
We smiled at each other. We both wanted to go straight home and continue where we’d left off, without an audience.
A month and a half ago, at this very pub, I had met him for the very first time. A month and a half ago, I didn’t even know someone called Abhimanyu existed and now I couldn’t imagine a version of my life that didn’t have him in it.
‘I’m all in,’ I said.
‘I’m all in too,’ he replied. ‘This feels so right, as right as breathing. Besides, my horoscope said that today is the perfect day for a romantic fairy tale ending.’
* Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot
* Amma is mother in Tamil.
* Tamil word for aunties
* Mother in Tamil
** Father in Tamil
* Aunt, mother’s younger sister in Tamil
* Is the baby still asleep?
** Grandmother in Tamil
* ‘You are’ in Tamil
* Grandfather in Tamil
* Horoscope in Tamil
* A term of endearment in Tamil
** Tamil for bindi, a small coloured mark worn on the forehead between the eyebrows
* Something new comes up every day!
* What’s your full name in Hindi
Acknowledgements
Amma, Appa and Adi for being my most ardent cheerleaders. Appa, I promise that someday soon I will take your suggestions for what I should write next.
Surabhi A.R. and Varsha V. Rajan for volunteering to read my early drafts and giving me such insightful feedback. I couldn’t have done this without you.
Gurveen Chadha, my editor, who pushed me to get this book to where it needed to be, without ever making me feel like I was being pushed. I’m glad I got to work with you again. Thanks also to the team at Penguin Random House India—Devangana Dash, Saloni Mital, Sumangla Sharma and Vaishnavi Singh—for all your hard work and support.
Archana Iyer and Chandhrika Venkataraman for being the inspiration behind Kavya. You’ll always be my 3 a.m. friends. After all, you know too much!
Navia Shetty, my favourite trivia partner, for being a part of my most fun (and embarrassing) trivia memories. Someday, there will be a question where the right answer will be ‘The Statue of Liberty’s husband’.
The Singhs, the ‘Soul Sante Sisters’, Soumya Sampath, Gayathri Arumugam and my US family for keeping me sane and always giving me something to laugh about.
Friends who made dreary days at work fun: Prerna Kapoor Sonkar, Abhineet Sonkar and Kaushik Mitra. Adithi Murthy and Tushna Mistry for the giggles, the stress snacking and inspiring some of my best comics. Credits also to Tushna for the mint-chocolate-macchiato recommendation at Starbucks.
Zarreen Khan, whom I first met in the corporate world but is now the author friend I’ll always lean on for advice, laughs and encouragement while I plod through a manuscript.
My amazing husband, Vivek, for all his enthusiasm, encouragement and the much needed critical feedback—you make my writing what it is. Of all the friends I’ve made at my various workplaces, you’ll always be my forever friend.
THE BEGINNING
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This collection published 2021
Copyright
© Divya Anand 2021
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Jacket images © Devangana Dash
This digital edition published in 2021.
e-ISBN: 978-9-35492-020-2
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.