Middle Class Love #Wattys2015

Intertextuality

(Maureen's POV)

Before Mama left our room last night, she pressed a small silver square into both our palms and said "In case you have a funny feeling in your stomach."

It was Imodium. 

To my great surprise, I woke up feeling fine but a little giddy from the oil used to cook the bajjis. I still wanted the Molaga Bajji. Finding Rochelle sleeping blissfully beside me, I kicked her upturned backside. "Esel!!" she screamed in Norwegian and went back to sleep. A few more kicks on her rump and we had a full fledged pillow fight! As both of us were screaming and landing punches on each others' shoulders, Da opened the door and asked us to stop fighting. "Du esler (You donkeys), come and eat breakfast." he said in a jolly good mood. "Sheri!!" Rochelle replied in her accented Malayalam "Only on condition that Molaga Bajji is on the table."

"Molaga Bajji, my ass." Da said with a wicked smile

"Yes to Bajji, no to your ass." I said and threw a pillow to his face. He dodged and threw it back at the bed. In no time, Da was officially part of the pillow fight and we virtually hammered him to the ground. He raised his hands to dodge the blows and laughed like a little boy. "Brush your teeth, please." he groaned. 

In ten minutes we were at the dining table. We had to lift two chairs from the porch to find a place at the table. Mama sat near Da albeit her usual expression of content. Da smiled at us and signaled to the plate with a glint in his eyes. Rochelle being her impulsive self yelled "Dosa, AH-GAINNNNNNNNNN!!!" Grandma looked dismayed and promised to take us out for lunch. "Fine" Rochelle said and frowned as Aunt Ashley placed the dosa on her plate. 

"Mone, (Son) when do you leave?" Grandpa asked Da

"Three days from now." came the reply. Ma looked up from her plate and stared at Da. When their eyes met, Da swallowed and Ma creased her eyebrows. Both of them looked away to avoid being singled out and teased by Grandpa and Grandma.  The pain they felt was evident in their eyes. I hated this awful silence. It hurt to see them feel this silent pain. This silence had to be broken. 

"Aunt Ashley, how far have you reached with that book?" I asked

"Which book?"she asked me very innocently. 

"Oh, the one with the seeeexy picture on the front cover!" I continued. She blushed and tried to speak but I didn't give her a chance to. "Oh, the one in which this girl with blonde hair is standing against the wall like someone nailed her to it. There's this guy with his shirt torn to reveal his abs....tee hee...oh, he's holding her face in his hand and she's licking the air!"

Mama's face turned white as she heard my description of the book. Uncle Vineeth looked startled and tapped his wife on the shoulder. "Which one is this?" he asked, aghast. She stuffed her mouth with dosa and refused to answer. 

"Oh, I remember the title!!" I said 

"What is it?" Grandpa asked with a wicked smile.

"Wait....was it 'The Torn Shirt' or 'I Love the Air' ?" Rochelle guessed. I could see Uncle and Aunty giggling. 

"Those are too shallow for M&B titles..." Mama stated "How about 'The Brigadier's Wife'?"

"No" Aunt Ashley said "Its 'The Disobedient Countess' and its absolute crap."

"Interesting title, huh!" Da said "Give me that book when you are done." 

"Nope, I am reading it next" Rochelle shouted. 

"Well, its amusing why you find it to be bad and still read it." I told Aunt Ashley.

"One needs to kill time, Maureen!" she explained.

"Well, why don't you read 'Thelma' then?" I suggested. 

"What's it about?" she asked.

"Well, its about this girl who is too pretty that her dad wants to protect her from men. He feels that she will be misused if any man marries her. " I began narrating.

"Ah, why didn't I read this earlier?" Grandpa joked. Da and Uncle Vineeth flinched on hearing the remark. 

"Well, Grandpa this is not it. Thelma does fall in love and marry a great guy. The dad is extremely happy about the marriage."

"Oh, nice." Grandma mused "What next."

"Well, a woman poisons the mind of both man and wife. The husband doubts the wife and the wife flees his house."

Mama looked terribly uncomfortable and said "Maureen, you are not cooking this up, are you?"

"Nope Mama, its by Marie Corelli. I picked it up just two months ago at the library." I said.

"Mol (daughter)" grandma spoke to Mama "Its only a story." She them turned to me and prodded me to narrate the rest. 

"Well, the husband and his buddy realize that the woman is at fault. If not for her, he and his wife would still be together."

"Sounds like a typical love story." Da remarked

"Oh, and the husband travels all the way from England to Norway on a sledge just to be united with his wife." I said "Story Over!"

Da politely excused himself from the table and walked to the terrace. 

(Monica's POV)

I understand that Maureen was just being her innocent self while narrating the story. There was absolutely no need to be harsh with her. It was absolutely unintended and we all knew that well. The poor girl apologized to all of us and went to the extent of weeping. I pulled her close to my body and consoled her. I hated to see her cry like this. 

The incident was forgotten by the evening. When I returned after work it was well past midnight. There was still some major scripting to be done for the TVCs we had planned for our client, a political leader. I locked myself in the room and worked away until 2:00 AM. There was a soft knock on the door as I folded the laptop after sending all the necessary emails. Anticipating my visitor to be one of the girls, I opened the door to find a very tired Roshan waiting outside. 

"I saw the lights on and thought I should check on you." He said

"I am fine, Roshan." I said not knowing whether to be touched or shocked that he came. 

"Um, hey." he said "I made this burger for you...." he said rather awkwardly " Its edible" he laughed softly. 

I smiled at the thoughtful gesture and thanked him very politely. 

"Nikki" he said "We leave in a few days' time. A fourth ticket has been taken in your name when we had started from Oslo. Just one word from you and I'll cancel it."

I could feel a gasp leave my mouth. His gaze never left me for a few minutes. 

"Nobody is mad at you, Nikki. You can be assured of that." he said rather thoughtfully. 

I nodded and took the burger from his hand. 

The silence between us lasted for a brief while until he meekly said "Nikki, don't stay up for too long." noticing that I hadn't changed my clothes. "Oh" he corrected himself automatically "I know that its none of my business..but just saying."

"I understand." I said.

"May I?" he asked and stepped closer to me. 

"Roshan, I am sorry for all the pain I have caused. You know, I just couldn't take it anymore." I confessed and broke down. 

His eyes revealed intense sadness as he took my face in his hands. His fingertips gently brushed  aside my tears. He wished me good night and stepped away. In the light or the room I could see those bags under his eyes. I was not the only one who had sleepless nights.