Agape & Eros

In Denial

That evening, Ram goes to Priya's varsity. But he gets to know she left early. So he texts her.

Ram- "Hi, Priya, I've to talk to you about something. When will you be free tomorrow?"

Back in Sood house, 

Priya goes to Meera. 

Priya- maa, what is she saying? 

Meera- Wo, Priya. 

Priya- Sandy is joking, right? 

Meera- [In a hesitant voice] No. Priya. Nandini Kapoor brought that proposal. 

 Priya- You declined it, right? 

Meera- I said, I would talk to you.

Priya- Ok, I am declining. Talk to her. Call her and decline the proposal. 

Meera- At least, think for a moment, Priya. Ram is a really good guy. 

Akki- Ha di, He's such a nice person! Shivi always talks about him. 

Sandy- Ha di, please say yes! He's so handsome. I mean. banalo na use hamari jiju!! Please, please, pleeeease....

Sara- Ha Priya, please consider this one. Don't decline it without thinking twice. 

Sandy- Ha di. Even Ram jiju said yes. 

At this statement, Meera and Sara look at Sandy with anger as they know Ram's acceptance, without even talking to Priya, will irritate her. \

Priya- What? Mr. Kapoor knows about this. And he said yes.

Everybody shuts up. 

Priya- Where is my phone? I need to talk to him. Where is my Phone?

Akki and Sandy try to hide her phone.

Akki- Di, no, please no, not now. You'll scold him for no good reason. 

Priya- So? He deserves this. 

Sandy- Di please no. We will not let you scold our jiju. 

Priya- Sandy, first of all, he is not your jiju. What have you started? Give me my phone. 

Akki and Sandy start passing the phone from one another. Priya scolds them both and takes the phone from them. She then sees Ram's text. She replies.

Priya- "Me too. Where are you? I need to talk to you right now."

Ram sees the text and wonders if she already knows about Shivi and is concerned about her. 

Ram- "Ok. I am at a coffee shop behind my office. I can come to your home after finishing my work. Will that be ok?"

Priya- "Stay there I am coming."

Ram starts getting anxious about what he should say, how he should handle this situation. He starts to get a mild panic attack and pops in some pills. 

Priya enters the coffee shop in rage. It is bustling with people. She notices Ram in a secluded corner and goes to him. 

She stands in front of him and starts to talk. 

Priya- What is your problem, Mr. Kapoor?

Ram- Oh, Priya. Come sit. 

He proceeds to pull a sit for her. 

Priya- I am not here to sit. I want to know what is your problem. What do you think of me? Some charity case? 

Ram- What? No, of course, not. Listen, Priya, you sit here first. It's not about you. You see, it's about Shivi, my sister, she...

Priya- [Refusing to sit] Am I some joke to you Mr. Kapoor? My marriage is not about me? What...how... I mean...

Ram- [shocked] How do you know about the marriage? 

Priya- How do I know? Wah! Mr. Kapoor. Applause to you. At first, my brother decides he will marry me off first. Then you a stranger start to find a match for me. When you can't find one, you decide to marry me and send your mother with a proposal to my house. Now you are asking how I know. What am I to you? Some doll? A useless 32 years old spinster. That you thought nobody will marry, so you decided to take me as a charity case. 

Ram- [Raising his voice] Ek second. What doll? And why do you bring up this "charity case" phrase in every conversation? I don't know what kind of men you met in your life but I am not like them. I know how to respect women. Never, not once did I treat you like a lifeless object. I've always cared about your opinion. 

Priya- You cared! This is your caring! Sending a proposal without taking my consent. Respect, caring for opinion- these heavy phrases don't suit you, Mr. Kapoor. 

Ram- What else could have I done? No, you tell me. What can I do to protect Shivi? Do you even have any idea about what your brother did to my Shivi? She's...... She's pregnant. 

Priya- What? 

Ram- Yes. 

Priya stops for a moment. Her rage gets assuaged by this sudden revelation. Finally, she sits on the chair Ram had pulled for her. Ram sits down too and pops in two more pills. 

Priya- Does everybody knows that? 

Ram- At least everybody in my house. Akki knows that too. But judging by your reaction I can assume nobody from Sood house knows this. Here my Shivi is pregnant, there Akki is still searching for a guy for you. What should I do, tell me. Should I prepare for the baby shower? 

Priya- Then you should have talked to Akki.

Ram- I wanted to... I mean I planned to. But then mom said if I marry you then the problems will get solved. So I wanted to talk to you first. By the way, I told her not to talk about this matter until I discuss it with you. I really did. But she... Actually, she's quite stressed. I hope you will understand the situation. 

Priya- I'll talk to Akki. Whatever he's doing isn't right. 

Ram- Thank you for understanding. 

Both of them keep quiet for a few moments. 

Ram- Coffee? 

Priya- An espresso shot will be good now. 

Ram- [whispers to himself] Even her taste is bitter...

Priya- Did you say something? 

Ram- No, I said I will order. 

Priya- Not from here! I won't drink anything here. 

Ram- Why not? Are you still mad at me? 

Priya- Have you seen the prices? Rs 120/= for a cup of espresso, Rs 135/= for americano. Which means Rs 15/= for a little bit of hot water. And look at the price of the tea. Rs 170/= for a cup of tea. And people like you are supporting this. This... this is consumerism, Mr. Kapoor. It creates class differences. It creates a society that worships money and values nothing else. I can't contribute to this. 

Ram- Ok, ok, you don't have to. The last thing I can offer is to drop you home, but you are going to say no to that too. So, goodbye then? 

Priya- Bye.