Namaste New York: A Novel

by Vijay Kumar & Victoria Kapoor

  ***

  A week went by, and Carrie could not stop thinking about Raj. She'd felt so safe with him, and his shyness and obvious lack of experience with women had endeared him to her. She had yet to return his coat, so in the middle of her workday, she decided to head over to the university. She had worn his coat every day, and she grabbed it off the door hook before heading out.

  Carrie was a very attractive girl, and she had a killer instinct for fashion. The combination served her well, and she turned more than a few heads while she walked around campus. She didn't have a plan, because she was sure that she couldn't just march into the Registrar's office and ask if they had a student by the name of Raj Somebody. Schools usually didn't volunteer that kind of information, and she wasn't even sure that Raj was his full first name. So she just kept walking, hoping she would spot him, but the university was larger than she had anticipated. Finally she decided to take a break, and she bought a cup of coffee and sat down on a bench outside the school's library. It was a brisk day, and the warmth of the coffee in her hands felt good. She brought the Styrofoam cup to her lips and glanced up as she was taking a sip. There he is again, she thought. For the past two hours, Carrie kept seeing a young, dark-skinned man following her. She couldn't help but notice that he was terribly inept at stalking, as she'd always catch him standing out in the open and staring directly at her. As soon as she'd spot him, he'd make some horribly awkward attempt to pretend he was interested in something else - another girl, a water fountain, and this latest time, a garbage can. Carrie laughed. She was sure that he was completely harmless, and there was something oddly charming about his oafishness. He did seem to be Indian, though. Carrie shook her head. Just like Grannie, she thought. Carrie's sweet grandmother had never met a stranger in her life, but she had the odd quirk of thinking that the world was a much smaller place than it really was. She'd meet a lovely Irish man in line at the grocery store and she'd say, "Oh, you're Irish? My lovely granddaughter dated an Irishman. Perhaps you know him, his name is Sean McCarthy?" Or she'd meet the nice Chinese couple new at church, and without hesitation, she'd say, "Oh, you're Chinese! That's wonderful! Perhaps you know my friend, Mr. Chen? He's from Shanghai, too." It had always made Carrie laugh, but now she'd just caught herself doing the same thing. He's Indian, so he must know Raj. Well, whatever. She wasn't getting anywhere with her plan, which was essentially wandering aimlessly around campus, so maybe her grandmother was onto something.

  Carrie put her coffee down and ran towards the boy studying the recycling bin. "Excuse me!"

  The boy turned towards her in surprise, a deer-in-headlights look on his face. He quickly took off running.

  "Excuse me, wait! I was wondering if you know anybody named Raj," she shouted at the boy. At the sound of the name, the boy stopped in his tracks. He turned back and blinked quickly a few times as Carrie approached him.

  "Hi, thank you for not running," Carrie said sarcastically, gasping for air. "I'm looking for a man named Raj. He's an arts major, I believe," she said.

  Lucky suddenly recognized the coat she was wearing, and his heart broke when he realized that this beautiful girl was, in fact, looking for Raj. He sighed deeply. Apparently Goddess Lakshmi didn't approve of this one, either.

  "Raj?Indian?from Kashmir?" Lucky asked. Carrie's face lit up and she nodded enthusiastically.

  "He is my roommate," Lucky replied, kicking at a stone on the ground like a petulant child.

  "Really? Where is he? Can you take me to him?"

  "He has class now," Lucky answered.

  "Can you take me there? I'll wait outside until he's done," Carrie promised.

  Lucky thought about it for a few seconds, and though he was disappointed that she wasn't interested in him, he figured he could still use the situation to his advantage. Lucky was a businessman, and his mind always thought in terms of risk and reward. Walking around campus and being seen with a girl like her couldn't do any harm. In fact, it would be downright irresponsible of him to pass up such a valuable opportunity. Zero risk, all reward.

  Lucky agreed, and introduced himself as they walked. He purposefully passed right by the building where he knew Raj was attending class just so that he could spend time with Carrie and ensure that he was seen with her by as many students as possible. Carrie related the story about how she'd met Raj and how he'd saved her from a couple of thugs, and she pelted Lucky with questions in an attempt to glean as much information about Raj as she could. Lucky listened intently and made small talk, doling out a few tidbits about Raj without sharing any real information. He could tell that she was crazy about Raj, and when he got over himself and his selfishness for a minute, he was actually happy for his friend. A beautiful girl like Carrie just might be the medicine Raj needed.

  Just before Raj's class ended, Lucky showed Carrie to his classroom and left. She waited outside until the mass exodus began, and then suddenly there was Raj, right in front of her. He stood motionless, and the flow of students was forced to divert around him while he stared at Carrie in disbelief. Several of the boys slowed down to take a closer look at Carrie.

  Raj finally found his voice. "Hi! How are you?"

  "I'm fine!" Carrie smiled broadly. He was better looking than she remembered. "I, um, just wanted to return your jacket."

  Raj nodded and Carrie stared at him.

  Raj looked at her strangely. "Well?" he finally said when the silence grew too big between them.

  "Well?" Carrie murmured, still staring at Raj as though she were in a trance.

  "Well, can I have it then?"

  "Oh!" Carrie blushed. "Sorry!" She quickly removed the coat and handed it to Raj.

  "Thanks. How did you find me?"

  "I'm a journalist. I know how to find people," Carrie replied. Smooth, Carrie, real smooth. Dork!

  "Okay. Well, thank you," Raj replied awkwardly, then glanced around the hallway.

  Carrie sensed his discomfort and tried to recover. "Hey," she said with a smile. "Do you want to grab some coffee or show me around the place?" she asked, hoping that he wouldn't come up with another excuse to disappear.

  "I don't know. I have some things?" Raj stumbled.

  "Oh, come on! I cleaned your coat and came all this way to return it and to say thank you, and you can't even buy a lady a cup of coffee?"

  Raj didn't want to appear impolite or ungrateful. "Okay, I guess I have some time."

  "Great!" Carrie exhaled, relieved that Raj was willing to give her a second chance. Carrie didn't know what was wrong with her. Raj was hot, but she'd dated plenty of hot guys and never found herself speechless before. There was just something about Raj that rendered her uncharacteristically tongue-tied, and she was intrigued.

  Carrie again locked her arm through Raj's as they walked towards the building's exit. When they stepped outside, Raj saw that Vijay and Lucky were waiting for them, and he pulled away from Carrie's grip, widening the distance between them as he approached his friends.

  "Hi guys," Raj said nonchalantly. "This is Carrie."

  "Oh, we have met!" Lucky grinned. Raj raised his eyebrow in surprise and looked at Carrie, but she kept her eyes on Lucky.

  "Yes," she said with a smile. "Lucky was quite the gentleman today, and gave me a tour of the campus while we were waiting for your class to let out," Carrie replied.

  "Oh he did, did he? How thoughtful of him," Raj said, giving Lucky a look and fidgeting anxiously. Lucky just grinned.

  "What are you cooking tonight?" Vijay asked. He was also amused by Raj's behavior, but he tried to give his friend something else to focus on besides his awkwardness around the girl.

  "You cook?" Carrie was surprised by this information.

  "He is very good cook. He is chef of the house," Lucky said, hoping that Carrie would be impressed.

  "So when are you cooking for me?" Carrie asked, turning to face Raj.

  "I cook Indian food.
It's spicy. You may not like it," Raj replied.

  "Says who? Believe me?I love spicy stuff," Carrie said. Raj visibly flinched. Oh, real nice, Carrie. She wasn't sure if he understood double-entendres or whether he'd interpreted what she'd just said as one, but Vijay and Lucky must have, because they tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle their laughter. Raj didn't laugh, but he did seem to be somewhat embarrassed.

  "Why don't you come with us and have dinner?" Vijay asked.

  Raj looked at Vijay sharply. "No!"

  Vijay, Lucky, and Carrie all looked at Raj strangely, and he took a deep breath before continuing. "I mean, no?I'll take you out for an Indian dinner," he suggested to Carrie in a softer voice.

  "Are you asking me out on a date?" Carrie asked. Vijay and Lucky gave Raj a questioning look, four eyebrows raised in amusement.

  "No, I just?I need to know how much spice you can handle before I invite you to my apartment," Raj tried to explain. This time Vijay and Lucky couldn't control themselves, and even Carrie joined in their giggling outburst, which only made Raj turn a brighter shade of red.

  "Before I cook for you, I mean," Raj said in an exasperated tone, desperately trying to dig himself out of the hole he'd dug.

  "Okay, no problem," Carrie said, wiping the tears from her eyes. Apparently he did understand double-entendres. "Let's meet this Saturday, is that okay?" Raj nodded.

  "Great," Lucky said. "You guys planned your dinner for Saturday, but I am hungry now. What about us? I am starving."

  Raj asked Lucky and Vijay to head home and start preparing the ingredients for dinner while he accompanied Carrie to her car, which she had parked near the university. After bungling the hug she offered while standing beside her car door, Raj said goodbye and went home.