Not Likely

Grocery Shopping with Tradition

"You had a nice trip, Ma?"

"Oh, yes. Wonderful time. The mountains were just lovely."

"Dad, you had fun?"

"Yes, it was very peaceful. No Mumbai traffic," he said, looking at the road in front of us with distaste.

I grinned. Ma and Dad's flight home was scheduled the day after the big Thing That Didn't Happen at the club. Battling a wicked hangover, I had chugged water, donned sunglasses, and driven to the airport to pick them up.

"How was your time here, Dhriti?" Dad asked idly. "Lot of work?"

"Yes. I am leaving for Switzerland in a week right- so lots of preparation was there."

"Campaign is going well?"

"Yes it is", I said happily. "There is a lot of buzz alre-"

"Dhriti I have been thinking about what happened at the restaurant", Ma said, cutting off my work monologue. She was frowning at me thoughtfully through the rearview mirror.

Oh no.

She has been thinking.

That's such a bad thing!

"Oh?" I asked nervously. The last thing I need on top of my hangover was a row in the car.

"I think I owe you an apology."

"What?" Dad and I chorused, both looking at each other in disbelief. There could only be one explanation for Ma's behavior.

This wasn't Ma. Dad had lost her in the hills.

"I said some things I regretted in front of her friend and her...boyfriend." at that word, both my parents joined me in my grimace. "For that I am sorry."

"Again, Ma, for the last time he is not my-"

"I thought about that rude boy and I have to say, despite the fact that he was impolite to me, he was standing up to you. That's a nice quality to have in a husband-"

"Wait, you're going somewhere else with thi-"

"And Geeta made me realize that I need to apologize to him as well."

Oh no.

Oh. No.

"I will tell him Ma", I said hastily before she can utter another sentence to ruin everything. "I will tell him how profusely apologetic you are and he will definitely understand everything at once."

"No, no, that is very impolite of me. I want to apologize face to face."

If there's a God somewhere above, he sure is having a fun time with my life, isn't he?

"But you don't need to", I said, horrified. "He will understand and Ma, most importantly, we are not da-"

"What do you say, Shekar?" Ma interrupted me yet again, turning to Dad with an excited glint in her eyes. "We will invite him, na. It's time we also accept this reality."

Dad looked almost as pained as me. "Do we have to?"

"We don't!" I agreed. "Ma, he is not my boyfriend!"

"Yes, yes, he is 'more than that'- that was made very clear to me, the way he was talking about you," she said airily, waving her hand at me like I was an adorable pest.

"He was not talking about me in any way!" I wailed, honking the horn with ferocity.

"Arey, don't drive so rash!" she admonished, tapping my shoulder. "I think Shekar, we should invite him for a nice dinner, you can also get to know him better."