Arranged Divorce

Seeing off the Guptas

Arjun let out a deep sigh when they finally got out of the car. He couldn't believe that their lies were just about to catch up to them after all the planning and plotting they had done.

After two hours of enquiring about their lives which seemed to have convinced them, the Guptas had announced that they need to get going now. When Arjun smiled and waited for them to get up and leave, he saw Kavita motioning him to stand up.

Of course. He remembered that he was expected to see them out the door and this must be the cue, so he stood up.

Mr. Gupta sprang up beside him and told Mrs. Gupta to hurry up with the formalities. Looking at the smiling young man, he added that Arjun hasn't got all day, and his face turned in confusion upon hearing this.

On looking at Kavita for help, who was now engaged in what looked like a fight over dollar bills, he realized what just happened.

A monetary concession was being given to them for hosting them so beautifully, a custom that had happened every time someone came to their house in Delhi. It meant that he would have to drive them back, like all good hosts do. He saw all the dollars Mrs Gupta was forcing into the woman's hands, and did a quick calculation that told him that a cab would have cost them much more.

After a loud exchange of niceties mixed with disagreement about the money, in which Kavita said that it was their duty to look after them, and Mrs. Gupta held that she was the elder so she should be taking care of her, they finally left.

When they entered the car again, they instructed Arjun to drive them to a good hotel. He started driving towards the only one he knew.

On reaching the locality, he started pointing out at good looking establishments and took a wrong turn to not end up on the street of his hotel.

Mr. Gupta observed each of them and shot them down for reasons like having too much concrete on its façade or not having enough plants outside. After a while of circling around the same square, Mr. Gupta pointed out that they hadn't taken the right on the end of the street.

This was the lane his hotel was in. "Oh there aren't any good hotels..." Arjun had just begun to speak but was cut off by him.

"The fourth one with the tree out front seems nice, doesn't it?" He pointed to the hotel Arjun was staying in and looked at Mrs. Gupta for approval. She nodded.

Arjun cussed under his breath and steered in the direction of it. He was ready to blurt out something about this being a 'Love Hotel' when a family of 4 walked out, looking very happy with their stay.

When the men got out of the car, Arjun pulled out his phone and announced that he just had an urgent call to attend to and hastily excused himself. He walked over to the tree, pretending to be speaking on the phone. Once a few minutes had passed, he looked over and saw him walk out of the front door.

To his delight, the hotel was fully booked and they had to look elsewhere. So he drove away.

They spent 40 minutes before settling on an inn, and another 20 checking in. Having helped them with their luggage, names of good restaurants in the area, and the nearest route to the airport from there, he finally bid them goodbye.

Then he started driving back to the apartment to get the rest of his stuff. By the time he reached, it was nearly evening, and the door to the apartment was locked. When no one answered the doorbell, he knocked rather loudly.

A rather bulgy woman with curly brown hair, wearing a salwar suit, came out of the door from the end of the hall. He quickly took to his phone, dialed Kavita in hopes of not having to talk to the lady, and pretended once again to be speaking to someone on it.