Bombay Heights- Sleepless in the City of Dreams

by Adite Banerjie

  “Interesting concept. Would you like a Lara Croft kind of adventure feel to it?”

  “Oh, can we do that?”

  “Trust me, I’m good at this.”

  His phone buzzed. Grabbing it, he excused himself. “Just give me a couple of minutes.”

  She nodded and patted Dumbass who had snuggled up next to her.

  She could hear Ash’s agitated voice through the door which he had left ajar. “He is back? What does he want now?” A long pause followed before he said, “If you need me to come over, just call, okay?”

  A few more minutes passed by and Sanjana wondered if the woman she had seen him lock lips with was calling him. Gosh, if she was honest with herself, for one heart stopping moment she had wanted him to kiss her. As soon as the thought entered her mind, she wanted to erase it. She needed to stop thinking about that and focus on the work at hand. But where the heck was Ash? She stepped out in the living room but there was no sign of him.

  And then she heard a loud epithet of ‘goddammit’ and something crash in the kitchen. She rushed out and there was Ash looking down at a shattered mug on the floor. The permanently amused expression on his face had been replaced by one of irritation.

  “It’s just a broken mug,” said Sanjana quietly. “Don’t tell me you’re upset about that?”

  For a split second, she saw a look of utter desolation in his eyes before it was gone. The mischievous gleam was back.

  “Nope. Just annoyed that I broke my favourite mug.”

  She rolled her eyes at that and asked, “Gifted by your girlfriend?”

  “Yeah, my very first.”

  “Okay.” She gave him a quick smile and said, “So, let’s get this cleaned up and get back to work?”

  “Let it be. I’ll clean it up later. I have made enough coffee.”

  He grabbed another mug and started to pour. She looked around and spotted a broom and a dustpan behind the door. Snatching them, she swept away the broken pieces.

  “You don’t need to do that.”

  Ignoring him, she made sure she had gotten all the pieces before dumping them into the garbage bin. “There, it’s done.”

  His gaze on her made her awkward. “What?”

  “You’re a bag of surprises.”

  She looked away as her awkwardness increased. “So, I have done my good neighbourly deed for the day.”

  He laughed. “You’re the only girl I know who is uncomfortable when she’s being complimented.”

  “And I guess complimenting women is what you do for a living?”

  “Oooh… catty!” He laughed and the sound of his full throated laughter made her feel even more woozy.

  She turned around and left the kitchen muttering something incomprehensible about finishing the work.

  “Coffee coming up in two minutes,” she heard him announce—the hint of laughter in his voice unmistakable.

  For the next few minutes they worked without interruption. It took all of Sanjana’s concentration to keep her gaze fixed on the computer and not let it stray towards Ash. But she was aware of every tiny movement he made…the flick of his long, shapely fingers on the computer keyboard, the tone of his voice, the rustle of his sleeve as it brushed against his skin.

  Sanjana’s phone rang and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Steadying herself, she glanced at the screen.

  “Sorry but I need to take this,” she muttered.

  “Go ahead. I will pull up some more images in the meantime.”

  She walked across to the living room and took the call. “Meghna, I can’t talk right now.” And then after a short pause, “Is Pappaji okay?”

  “He is fine. Are you still in office?”

  “Um…no…I’m in a meeting.”

  “At 8.30 p.m.?”

  “Stop it, Meghna! It’s not the middle of the night.”

  “Okay, go finish your work and don’t forget to call me later.”

  Just as she disconnected, the doorbell rang.

  Ash emerged from the study and gave her a look. “Seems like we’re not destined to do any more work this evening.”

  He opened the door and Pinky stood there.

  “I don’t mean to disturb you guys but there’s someone who is here to meet Sanjana.”

  Sanjana stepped towards the door and nearly collided into Ash in shock. His arm came around her waist to support her.

  Standing right behind Pinky was Chetan in an orange shirt that was more horrifying than the plasticky smile he sported.

  Chapter Five

  It took all of Sanjana’s control not to slam the door shut on Chetan’s face. She probably would have done it had it not been for Pinky who was innocently looking at her as if she had sprung the biggest surprise on earth and expected to be rewarded for it.

  She snuck a look at Ash whose hooded eyes didn’t give anything away. His arm was still around her waist.

  Chetan couldn’t have missed that and she had no idea how to wriggle away from Ash without making it too obvious.

  She cleared her throat and said, “What a surprise, Chetan.”

  “I was in the neighbourhood and I thought I’d look you up.”

  She fumed at his familiar tone and his not too subtle attempt to worm his way back into her life.

  “Chetan, I’m busy right now.”

  “I can see that.” Chetan’s quiet voice held a hint of anger as his gaze took in Ash who was still holding her.

  Ash turned to Sanjana and said, “If you want to catch up with your friend, I’m cool with that. We can continue where we left off….”

  Sanjana’s ears burned as she realized that Ash had picked off Chetan’s jealous vibes. Knowing how he loved teasing her, he was hell bent on giving Chetan the wrong impression!

  She glared at Ash. “Just give me five minutes. I need to give Sir a presentation of how we are going to proceed tomorrow morning. So it’s best if we can finish our work today.”

  She stormed out of the flat and heard a stifled chuckle from Pinky who piped up. “I was going to order pizza. You want some, Ash?”

  “Sure. Pizza always works for me, especially when it’s going to be an all-nighter!”

  “Great,” Pinky said as she walked into Ash’s apartment.

  The door shut behind her and she turned to face Chetan.

  “What are you doing here and how the heck did you get my address?”

  Chetan’s smug smile was irritating the hell out of her.

  “It seems like you haven’t told your sisters that we have broken up.”

  “Not that it is any of your business, how is that even relevant?”

  “Well, Gauri bumped into my cousin and was very concerned that I hadn’t been in touch. So, I called her.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Come on, Sanju.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Okay. Relax. Can we just talk about it like adults? You have had enough time to let off steam.”

  “You think that’s what it was all about? Me, letting off steam?”

  “Uh…well, I know what I did was wrong. And I really want to make up for it. I’ve missed you so much, Sanju.”

  “Stop. Right. There.” She took a deep breath and continued, “You called Gauri and you wheedled my number out of her. I’m really impressed that you could bluff your way with Gauri.”

  “Look Sanjana. Can’t we just leave all that behind us and move on?”

  “I have moved on. Isn’t that clear to you yet?”

  The flash of anger in Chetan’s eyes was the only indication that her words had hit home. “Yes, I can see that you’re making a move on your neighbour.”

  She took a deep steadying breath and said, “At the risk of repeating myself…that is none of your business.”

  For a moment Chetan looked like he would have a fit, but he calmed down fast enough. “Sanju…Sanjana. Let’s make a fresh start.”

  “Just leave me alone.”

  “And what will you tell your siste
rs?”

  “I will tell them the truth about you…you, Slimeball.”

  She was this close to losing it.

  He smirked. “If you really felt that way about me, you would have told them by now.”

  That completely threw her—but she was saved from answering when Pinky opened the door and peeked out. “What’s wrong with you guys? Who stands in the corridor and discusses private matters?”

  Grabbing the opportunity, Sanjana turned away from Chetan. “We’re done.”

  Sanjana paced up and down in her bedroom while Pinky watched her with an exasperated expression.

  “Stop it, will you? You’re giving me a headache with your pacing.”

  “Go to sleep and let me be.”

  “You didn’t even have the pizza. Ash was…”

  “Don’t mention his name.”

  “I thought you were mad at Chetan. What the heck did Ash do?”

  “Well, first of all he gave the impression to Chetan that we are more than just neighbours.”

  “So? You did say Chetan was your ex.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that he goes around behaving as if I’m his girl friend.”

  Pinky shook her head and blew at the curls on her forehead.

  “What? Don’t give me those ones. My head is too messed up to decode your body language.”

  “Look, babes. If you want to get rid of that ex from your life, once and for all, it works in your favour to have him think that Ash and you are together. Right?”

  “There’s nothing right about this whole blasted business. I have such rotten luck.”

  Sanjana plonked down on the bed, her head in her hands.

  Pinky walked to her and knelt down on the floor next to her. “You know what they say about luck, don’t you?”

  “Please Pinky, spare me.”

  “Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

  “Whatever does that mean?”

  “See, this is your opportunity. Just tell your sisters that you broke up with Chetan three months ago. You were so devastated about it, you couldn’t bring yourself to tell them about it.”

  “They won’t believe me.”

  “There is your opportunity number two. Tell them what a creep Chetan is.”

  “They won’t believe me.”

  “Your name should be Ms. Parrot! But why won’t they believe you?”

  “Knowing Chetan, he’s convinced them that it was just a lovers’ tiff.”

  “I think you’re not being fair to your sisters.”

  “Forget it, Pinky. You don’t know Gauri. She thinks Chetan is the best thing to have happened to me. Even the fact that he called her up and told her about our ‘fight’ will be a point in his favour.”

  “So, then we cycle back to Plan A.”

  “What Plan A?”

  “Let them think that you and Ash are a couple. No matter how much they love Chetan, they can’t force you to go back to him if you have another man in your life.”

  “It won’t work.”

  “You don’t worry about whether or not it will work. We just need to make sure that Ash agrees to the plan.”

  “Why should he?”

  “Because….” She gave a dramatic pause. “He is a little in love with you?”

  “What utter rubbish! Pinky sometimes you really—”

  “Okay. Perhaps that’s going too far. But he definitely finds you attractive. I’ve seen how he gives you that hot look when he thinks no one is watching.”

  “He does not. You’re imagining things.”

  “And you, my dear, are blushing.”

  “Shut up and go to bed. Your plan will never work.”

  “It will if there is enough preparation.”

  “Go.To.Sleep.”

  Sanjana literally pushed a reluctant Pinky out of her room and shut the door.

  She fell into bed, dreaming about Ash wearing tight jeans and a half-open shirt giving her “the hot look”.

  The digital pattern of the screen-saver threw a blue green light on the bare wall across the room. In between the revolving patterns Ash could decipher Sanjana’s face—her sharp nose, the soft upward turn of her lips, the lift of an eyebrow when she was holding back her temper, the silky swathe of her raven hair.

  He couldn’t help smiling at how riled she got when he flirted with her and wondered why he liked to tease her so. Perhaps it was those beautiful brown eyes that reflected every swing of her mood. Be it the slight embarrassment when he was flirting with her or the shock when Orange Shirt showed up! What was his name…He did have the outraged boyfriend look about him but Sanjana seemed far from pleased to see him.

  Goddammit! He was behaving like a lout in lust! Swinging his legs off the couch, he decided there was no point in going to bed as his neighbour seemed to have done serious damage to his sleep pattern. Rather than obsess over her, he may as well get some work done.

  As soon as he dragged his chair out, he heard a soft bark.

  Not now, Dumbass! He dared not say the words out loud. The silly dog had an irritating habit of reading his mind. Before long, he would be dancing up and down wanting to be taken out.

  Trying best to ignore Dumbass, he hit the computer keys.

  Another soft bark followed by a paw being placed gingerly on his foot.

  “Dumbass, it’s 3.15 a.m. Do you get it? It’s the middle of the night and no sane human or dog goes out at this time unless they want to get mugged.”

  “Woof.” The reply was louder and more determined.

  “You heard me,” he said with finality.

  A groan, followed by a long sigh, that sounded more human than dog-like, was the response.

  It made Ash feel like crap when Dumbass put his head on his feet and went off to sleep. But he decided he needed to send a message: bullying tactics in the middle of the night wouldn’t work.

  Two hours went past in a flash as Ash got into the groove and started developing his ideas for the ‘Artefacts Adventure’ game. Nothing could drag him away from his work except… a dancing dog.

  Dumbass was prancing all around him. He glanced at the computer clock. 5 a.m. A grudging admiration filled him….the dog had more discipline than any human he knew. At least more than he did—he stared at the images he had developed for the heroine of the game. And she bore a striking resemblance to the girl next door. So much for keeping his mind off her!

  The morning alarm went off at 6 a.m. A groggy Sanjana hit her hand on it and rolled over.

  She felt drained rather than refreshed first thing in the morning. All night she had tossed and turned and when she had finally managed to go off to sleep she dreamt of Ash asking her if she was going to be his Lara Croft. Jeez! And then he grabbed her hand and they were running down a street, dodging traffic with Chetan in hot pursuit in a flaming orange shirt yelling her name. No wonder she felt like she had been running a marathon.

  Dragging herself off the bed, she opened the windows to let the sea breeze in. Seven floors below she saw the man of her dreams jog into the compound with Dumbass.

  ‘Man of her dreams’? Really! She needed to get a grip on herself! Between Chetan and Ash, she was stuck between a hard place and a rock.

  “Good morning!”

  Pinky’s cheery voice drifted in as she joined her at the window. “Ogling at the neighbour first thing in the morning?”

  “Of course not.” Her cheeks warmed up as her friend’s observation hit home.

  Pinky simply laughed. “Relax. So, did you think about what I said last night?”

  “Think about what?”

  “Denial is the first phase.”

  “Please, Pinky!”

  She shrugged, looking a bit hurt. “As you please. I was only trying to help.”

  That made Sanjana regret her words. She gave her a quick hug. “Sorry, I know you are. Hopefully I will figure out something.”

  “Sure, sweetie. I only hope that ex of yours doesn’t take to haunting our house. Okay
, so I’m going to use the bathroom first. I have to get out by 8 a.m. and I don’t want to be late.”

  “Sure. And the towel….”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll remember to put it out to dry. You’re such a nag!”

  Sanjana laughed and replied, “Want some breakfast?”

  “No thanks… I will grab a bite later.”

  The door slammed shut and Pinky’s bathroom singing took over.

  From the moment Sanjana had stepped into office, she knew it would be one of those gruesome days. Crisis had struck early when one of her colleagues, who was working on a project with a this-needed-to-happen-yesterday kind of deadline, had reported ill. As luck would have it, she was the softest target in office, thanks to the fact she was the first one Sunrita spotted as soon as she got off the phone.

  She was assigned to deal with a client who was hopping mad about a job she knew nothing about. It had taken some fast thinking and some very tall promises to placate the client. She realized she had signed up for even more work when her colleague’s mother called in to say that she wouldn’t be able to come into work indefinitely as she had been diagnosed with dengue .

  Ash breezed in, swagger firmly in place and a twinkle in his dark eyes that only made her suck in air like a rookie swimmer who had lost her pool-safety tyre.

  “Come on guys and gals, time for some fun and games,” he called out.

  Soon everyone had gathered in the conference room. Ash sent out the peon to get coffee for everyone and then opened up his computer which was hooked to the large screen TV.

  The first few slides were all about build-up. He talked them through the storyline which they had brainstormed last evening.

  “The story is about a girl who has inherited her grandfather’s run down mansion in the hills. Her story is not just about the treasures she finds in the mansion but about connecting with her legacy, the memories of her grandfather and feeling proud of her family. And it will be told like an adventure story, a la Lara Croft.”

  “Wow, Ash. Trust you to come up with something brilliant!” Sunrita chimed in, as the others too oohed and aahed about the concept.