HI GUYS IM SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE
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23 - Infidel
Luke Waters
Mrs. Sumedh was proud of the dinner she made that night.
She had a south Indian cookbook which she’d followed to the T. Sam and I, tired, and having nothing better do, sat around in the kitchen listening to her rambling and the radio (Bollywood station). To be honest, I rather liked Mrs. Sumedh. She was everything I thought a mother should be. I watched Sam poke fun at her and her retaliation, which usually consisted of her flicking flour at him or smacking him if she was close enough.
We helped out as much as we could without getting in the way. I found myself glancing at the clock an embarrassing number of times, having gotten a text from Maya an hour ago announcing that she’d be home around eight o clock. At seven fifty, Sam made an exasperated noise and grabbed the bottle of water I was holding in my hand when I looked up at the clock again.
“If you’re that eager to greet her,” he muttered in my ear, “just go stand by the door or something.”
I rolled my eyes, grabbing the bottle from him again.
“Shut up.”
He chuckled, following me to the dining room, where I placed the bottle on the table.
“You’re so whipped for my sister, man.”
I made a face. Was there any real point in denying it?
Well....
Just as I opened my mouth to deny it, the doorbell rang and I resisted the urge to go answer it immediately. Sam raised an eyebrow at me.
“I’ll see it,” I offered nonchalantly.
He grinned, walking back to the kitchen.
“Sure, sure. It’s not like you know who’s at the door anyway.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I walked as slowly as I could to the door, and then pulled it open. Maya stood there, examining her fingernails with a frown on her face, holding a bunch of packets in her other hand. She looked up as the door opened, a smile spreading on her face.
“Oh, hey.”
I grinned at her, opening the door wide.
“Hey.”
She walked past me into the house, brushing my shoulder carelessly, hair piled in a messy bun atop her head. I shut the door and turned to the inside of the house, where she was kicking off her bright blue high-tops with a surprisingly pensive expression.
I reached out to take her packets from her but she shook her head at me.
“I can carry them myself, Luke.”
I pressed my lips together. “I thought women liked chivalry.”
She shrugged.
“Meh.”
She put her shoes into the cupboard, still frowning.
“What’s up?” I asked, leaning back against the door. She raised her eyebrow at me, straightening up.
“What?”
I frowned a little.
“You look...off.”
Maya bit her lip, looking down.
“Eh...I’ll tell you later.”
“But –”
She cut me off with her hand, abruptly looking round the corner of the entrance lobby into the living room.
“Sam might hear,” she said in a low voice, after turning back. “I’ll tell you during dinner or something, kay?”
I nodded, pushing myself off the door. I ambled along slightly behind her as we made our way to the kitchen, watching the way she brushed the hair out of her eyes, the way her hips swayed when she walked. She went up to her room for a few minutes, presumably to put away her stuff, and change, as was clear when she came back downstairs dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.
“Hey Sam,” she called, strolling into the kitchen. Mrs. Sumedh was nowhere to be seen. Sam was lifting the lid off the gravy we were having, seemingly inhaling its scent deeply. He set the lid down as we entered the kitchen, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes, perching on my earlier stool. Maya didn’t miss the look and turned to look at me, raising her eyebrow. I waved her off.
She shrugged and turned back to Sam.
“Where’s Ma?”
“Bathroom,” Sam answered, turning back to the pot of gravy.
“And Dad?”
“In his study.”
Just then Mrs. Sumedh reappeared, putting her glasses back on.
“Maya, darling, can you help Sam and Luke finish setting the table?”
“Mrs. Sumedh, we’re done,” I told her quickly. She turned to me and beamed.
“Why thank you, Luke darling. You’re such a help.”
Both siblings rolled their eyes identically behind their mother’s back and then exchanged a grin. But then I saw the same look that was in Maya’s eyes before return again, and I had to force a smile on my face for Mrs. Sumedh.
“It’s no problem, Mrs. Sumedh.”
We settled at the dinner table fifteen minutes later, a steaming pot of fish gravy set right in the middle by a proud Mrs. Sumedh, a casserole of rotis, and some other stuff I still didn’t know the names of, I just called it ‘the other stuff’ and the family understood. Maya sat next to me, bare leg pressed against mine firmly under the table, both of us studiously looking away from each other. I really didn’t know if Mr. and Mrs. Sumedh had noticed anything – if they had, they were doing a good job of hiding it.
I didn’t really keep track of the conversation – it was a half-Hindi half-English thing so I couldn’t anyway. Maya seemed pretty zoned out too, the two of us were mostly just eating our fish and rice in silence (and the fish was spicy as hell, but I think my taste buds were getting accustomed to it). I let my thoughts wander – and they didn’t go in any specific direction. Mostly they lingered on the brief conversation Maya and I had on the subway a few hours ago, and it put a smile on my face that I made her happy – it made me happy to know that I made her happy, and that sounded weird and repetitive but that’s what it was, and I knew she’d understand if I told her. Because that’s what she did, really, she understood me.
So I thought about the subway, and other things, and the vague feeling of Maya’s breathing next to me as we ate, her skin against mine under the table.
After a while, when the conversation, whatever it was about, got more heated, Maya grabbed a napkin and produced a pen from her pocket, quickly scrawling something on it. Then she chucked it in my lap.
I frowned and picked the napkin up, unfurling it.
i think meera’s cheating on sam
I read the sentence again, and then felt my eyebrows shoot up. Maya glanced at me, eyes wide.
“Are you serious?” I hissed, chucking the paper back to her. She nodded, biting on her bottom lip.
“Positive.”
“What are you guys whispering over there?” Sam’s voice interrupted. Both of us jerked his way. The table was silent, and Mrs. Sumedh was giggling into her food, Mr. Sumedh grinning next to her.
“Nothing,” Maya said coolly, frowning at the three of them. “What’s wrong with you guys?”
“Nothing at all,” Mrs. Sumedh trilled, looking up at us. “Nothing, nothing. Please, continue.”
Maya frowned at her and I suppressed a smile at her face when she was pissed off.
“There’s nothing to continue.”
Sam was grinning too. Even I started to get a bit suspicious.
“Erm...are we missing out on a joke?” I mumbled, looking around. Mr. Sumedh just grinned at me.
“No, no, sweetie, it’s nothing,” Mrs. Sumedh said, beaming at me.
Maya glanced at me, eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed. I shrugged.
We kept eating. After a while, Mrs. Sumedh spoke up.
“Oh, Maya, I forgot to tell you.”
Maya looked up at her mother warily.
“What is it this time, Ma?”
“Oh, it’s nothing bad,” Mrs. Sumedh said, laughing. “Don’t look so shocked. It’s just, you know Arjun’s engagement party is this Thursday, right?”
I glanced at Maya out of the corner of my eye – she nodded slowly. “Yeah...”
Mrs. Sumedh grinned at her. “Well, he wants you to perform!”
At first I thought I misheard the sentence – but she’d definitely said perform, because Maya replied indignantly, “But Ma, I haven’t performed in like two years.”
I blinked at the two of them. Sam and Mr. Sumedh were still dutifully shoving spoonfuls of rice into their mouthfuls.
“I’m sorry,” I interrupted, my curiosity getting the better of me. “But perform what?”
Sam looked up abruptly, mouth full of rice, a grin slowly appearing on his face. Maya slumped slightly in her chair. Mrs. Sumedh blinked at me for a moment and I noticed a similar expression on Mr. Sumedh’s face.
“Dance, of course,” Mrs. Sumedh said, frowning. Then her gaze slid to Maya. “Sweetie, you haven’t told Luke about your dancing?”
I turned to face Maya, incredulity welling up in me. She was going red.
“I was going to,” she muttered.
I gaped at her.
“You dance?”
Just when I thought she did it all.
“Erm...yeah,” she said, glancing at me, a sheepish smile on her face.
“She’s being doing it for eight years,” Mrs. Sumedh interjected, smiling fondly at her daughter, who returned it forcedly.
“You’ll see it on Thursday,” Mr. Sumedh said.
“I am not performing!” Maya interrupted. I poked her.
“Course you are. I want to watch.”
She rolled her eyes. “How about no.”
“Maybe you could give him a....er, private demonstration,” Sam said, innocently helping himself to more rice. Maya and I both gasped simultaneously. There was a violent noise as I kicked him under the table and he guffawed.
“Both of you kicking me at the same time, how sweet.”
I glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Sumedh – they both had on politely bemused expressions as they watched us. Maya just sat back in her seat, red in the face. Mentally I was facepalming – if that wasn’t making it obvious, I don’t know what was.
“But still,” I insisted, turning to Maya. “You should dance, I’d like to see that.”
I tried to say it in the most innocent, friendly way possible, still Sam coughed violently into his water. I gritted my teeth, ignoring it.
Maya chewed on her mouthful, deliberating.
“I’m not really giving you a choice, you know,” Mrs. Sumedh suddenly said, twinkling at her daughter. Maya made a noise of outrage and I grinned because I actually had not seen the Sumedhs deprive Sam or Maya of anything.
“Ma!”
Mrs. Sumedh beamed at her.
“So it’s decided then!”
Maya groaned and slid lower in her seat.
“Will you please tell Arjun I’m doing it only for him?”
“Yes, yes, of course I will! You should tell him yourself actually, you kids haven’t spoken in so long –”
“Ma, I talk to him like every week on Facebook,” Maya replied in a bored tone.
I grinned at Mrs. Sumedh’s confused expression. “Oh...right, I keep forgetting you kids have that.”
Maya answered something in Hindi and Mrs. Sumedh made a face.
I smiled to myself and went back to my food. I was still wondering about Maya’s dance – what kind of dance was it anyway?
And Thursday – nobody in the family knew it was my birthday. I wasn’t intending on telling them either.
Dinner passed uneventfully after that. After we were done clearing up, Maya grabbed the back of my shirt when we were alone in the kitchen, pulling me to her. I turned around in surprise as she pulled me around the corner. Mr. and Mrs. Sumedh had retreated upstairs – I didn’t know where Sam was.
“Should we tell Sam?” she whispered, letting go of me.
I frowned, considering it.
“How do you know anyway?” I asked her.
She bit her lip, her gaze flickering to the dining room and back to me.
“I saw Meera with this other guy. They looked really couply, I’m a hundred percent sure she’s cheating.”
“That sucks,” I muttered. “I thought they were pretty serious about each other.”
Maya shrugged.
“I’m not surprised. I never liked her.”
I grinned at her.
“Typical.”
She poked me, grinning back.
“But I think you should tell him,” I went on.
“Yeah?”
“Mm-hm.”
She nodded, pushing herself off the wall she was leaning against, putting her hands against my chest and walking forward. I smirked, grabbing her hands.
“Maya. I’m not quite done yet.”
She raised her eyebrow at me, a blush spreading across her face as I drew her hands away, pressing her into the wall again.
“What?” she whispered.
“Why did you not tell me you dance?” I questioned, bracing my arms by her either side.
She bit her lip – I resisted the urge to do it myself.
“Ugh...I don’t know. I just didn’t, I guess.”
“I want to see,” I said, grinning at her.
She rolled her eyes, pushing my chest again.
“Yes, yes, whatever. Now can we go upstairs please?”
A smirk slipped onto my face.
“Yeah? To do what?”
She pressed her lips together as they curved up in a smile.
“Oh, I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
“Hm, maybe we can study,” I said thoughtfully, and she cackled and hit me on the arm. I chuckled at her expression. I still didn’t move from the way I was standing.
“Maybe,” she said in a low voice, placing her hands on my chest again, playing with the neck of my t-shirt, “maybe we can...”
I moved closer to her – I couldn’t help it, the feel of her was addictive. (And I was well aware we were still in the kitchen and anyone could walk in on us but that part of my brain was considerably overshadowed by everything else)
“Can...?” I prompted, my voice coming out husky as her scent enveloped me. Something about the way she was there in front of me – hair wild and flowing about her shoulders, eyes bright and teeth pulling at her full lip, narrow shoulders pressed back against the wall, filled me with a sort of fierce affection and I couldn’t hold myself back much longer.
She looked up at me, grinning.
“Study, Luke, of course.”
I puffed out a huge breath I didn’t know I’d been holding in, feeling laughter bubble up from inside me and she started giggling too. Abruptly, she grabbed a fistful of my t-shirt and pulled me down to her, giving me a short kiss – too short. I moved in closer when she pulled away but she grinned and moved back.
“Come on, we have studying to do. Upstairs.”
I caught on. Chuckling, I placed my hands on her shoulders, turning her around and steering her out of the kitchen.
“Better hurry then.”
Maya Sumedh
About an hour later, Luke and I were lounging lazily on my bed, my iPod's battery getting steadily drained by my docking station. I was sitting with my legs draped over his lap, head against his chest, his arms holding me securely.
“Maya.”
“Hmm?”
“When are you going to tell Sam?”
I groaned and buried my face in his chest.
“Ugh, I don’t know. How do I even say it? Like, hey Sam, I think your girlfriend of two years is cheating on you, okay bye.”
Luke stroked long, slow lines up and down my back as he thought.
“Well, no. But I dunno, don’t you think you owe it to him? I’d want someone to tell me.”
“I’m not gonna cheat on you.”
He laughed, the sound rumbling in his chest.
“Whatever. But...yeah. You should tell him.”
“I know.”
“Soon,” he prompted.
“I’ll do it tomorrow,” I grumbled, closing my eyes. But this didn’t get me any respite, because then something clicked in my head – tomorrow.
“Where’s my phone?” I mumbled, opening my eyes again and looking around us. Luke dug around in the covers and produced it. Taking it quickly, I opened up my inbox and scrolled through the texts – the next day was Wednesday.
Zayn.
I glanced up at Luke, he was staring out of the window at something, mouthing the words to the song playing softly. Feeling immensely guilty, I texted Zayn.
can we meet tomorrow?
He answered quickly.
Sure. Name the time and place.
Remember, it’s not a date, it’s not a date, it’s not a date, I chanted in my head as I replied. I chucked my phone away as quickly as I could after firing off the message. Luke looked down at me, raising an eyebrow.
“Everything okay?”
I nodded.
“Yeah. Yeah, everything’s fine.”
*
“Sam. I need to go to CP tomorrow.”
Sam looked up from his desk – he’d been poring intently over his calculus homework. His eyes were glazed. I saw his black Gibson propped up against the wall by his desk, the pick lying on the table, and I knew he must’ve been focussing pretty hard if he wasn’t just grabbing the damn thing.
(And as I looked at him I really want to tell him about Meera but I didn’t know how to.)
“Go away, I need to finish this sum.”
I looked over his shoulder.
“The answer’s pi by two, now will you listen to me?”
He glared at me and then at the book.
“It is not pi by two –”
I snatched the pencil from him impatiently and wrote down the last few of the sum he’d been doing (tan inverse of one, it was as simple as that) and then put my hands on my hips. He scowled at me.
“Why do you need to go to CP?”
I shrugged. “I just need a few things. Can I borrow your car then?”
“No. Take the metro.”
“But Sam...” I whined, pouting at him. “Please?”
He rolled his eyes.
“Fine. I need some stuff too, and if you’re going I might as well come with you.”
I grinned at him. “Great! Can I drive?”
“No.”
He turned back to his books with an air of finality as I opened my mouth to protest. “Now shoo.”
I frowned at the back of his head. “Why are you studying anyway? It’s like, almost midnight.”
“Shut up and go away, Soapmouth,” he muttered, ticking off a sum.
I rolled my eyes, flicking his head as I walked off.
“Whatever. We’ll leave after lunch tomorrow, okay?”
He mumbled assent as I left the room and went back to mine. Luke was lounging on my bed still, doing something on his laptop. The music was now playing softly in the background. I sat in my desk chair and swivelled around a few times, watching him and thinking about meeting Zayn the next day.
I really wasn’t doing anything wrong.
*
The next day I was at the coffee shop in CP where Zayn had agreed to meet me, standing outside and looking inside dully. I had left Sam and Luke ten minutes ago at a music shop, Sam’s eyes become starry at the sight of the guitars in the window cases (and I have to admit even I was a bit tempted to stay) and the two of them disappeared inside almost immediately. I could see Luke’s eyes questioning me as I walked off.
I sighed, pulling at the tassels on my bag as I looked into the shop.
Well, might as well get this over with, I reasoned with myself.
As soon as I pushed the door open and the smell of freshly ground coffee hit my nose hard, I saw someone look up at the sound of tinkling bells, none other than Zayn. He was sitting at a table by one of the large windows. Upon seeing me he smiled at me widely, and despite the situation I found myself smiling back as I walked up to him.
“Hey,” I said, as I drew up to him.
“Hey,” he replied, grinning. “Wow, it feels like ages.”
“I know,” I agreed and before I knew it he leaned and placed a swift kiss on my cheek.
Fuck.
We sat down, and I think there was a certain element of awkwardness from my side. I tried to dispel it.
“So, uh, how were your exams?” I asked, remembering that he’d had midterms.
He shrugged, getting comfortable on the couch opposite me. “Tough. But I think I’ll pass.”
I chuckled. “Come on, I’m pretty sure you’ll do well.”
“We’ll see,” he said nervously. “Anyway, let’s not talk about my exams. Shall we order?”
I nodded, fidgeting with the edge of my shirt. “Um, yeah, sure. I think I’ll just have a small coffee because I can’t really stay for too long.”
As I was saying that he was beckoning for the waiter, so his response was interrupted by said waiter’s arrival. We placed our orders, I ordered a boring cappucino and he ordered some fancy Ethiopian coffee or something which was, in my opinion, ridiculously overpriced like everything else in Delhi. The waiter left, informing us that the coffee should be here in five to seven minutes (which was bullshit, everyone knows they fuck up all the time and it takes like fifteen bloody minutes).
Zayn turned back to me and blinked. “Wait, why can’t you stay too long?”
“I...uh, I have to go home with my brother and he’s leaving in like half an hour, so...yeah.”
“Oh, that’s okay. Half an hour’s a lot of time.”
I nodded vaguely. “Mm.”
He succeeded in steering the conversation back into non-awkward waters, I don’t remember how. I could see that we were both tip toeing around the subject of our ‘date’ the previous week, I wasn’t mentioning it and neither was he.
Couldn’t he sense the lack of interest from my part though? I mean, don’t guys have radars for that or something? I mean, I hadn’t even dressed up for our meeting, I was wearing a shirt, shorts, sandals and I was carrying a slouchy leather excuse for a bag.
Did he not see?
I don’t even know what the fuck we were talking about when the coffee came (and the fuckers took fifteen minutes to bring them) but it sort of died as we mixed in our respective amounts of sugar and stirred. I seized the opportunity.
“Zayn, can I be honest with you?”
He looked up, halfway through tearing his second packet of sugar open.
“Um...yes?”
I put my stirrer down and chewed on my bottom lip, staring at him.
“I actually met you here today because I wanted to talk to you about...you know. About us. And stuff.”
He stirred in his sugar and then leaned back in his couch, watching me warily.
“I think I can tell where this is going.”
I sighed, a strand of loose hair fluttering off my face.
“Look, I really do like you, but not like that, to be honest.”
His gaze was impassive.
“Oh.”
I felt horrible, looking at his expression.
“Not even enough to...try?” he asked, his voice low.
I bit my lip and averted my gaze as I picked up my coffee, cradling it in my hands.
“Actually, uh...I have a boyfriend, Zayn.”
He raised his eyebrows, and from his expression I could tell he really, really wasn’t happy.
“Wait, all this time?”
I spluttered, putting my cup back down.
“What? No! Oh god, I’m not that much of a bitch.”
He didn’t laugh.
“So he’s a...recent acquisition,” he said dryly, his tone sarcastic.
I felt a frown on my face.
“Zayn, it’s not a joke. We’re serious.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Right, okay, in a week’s time.”
His tone was starting to piss me off.
“We’ve known each other a long time,” I informed him, taking a stiff sip of my coffee. “Can you not judge things you don’t know?”
He exhaled, running a hand through his hair.
“I know. Fuck, I’m sorry.”
I shook my head.
“It’s okay. Just...you get me, right?”
He took some time, but he nodded finally, looking at me straight in the eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”
“You don’t know me very well anyway,” I went on, trying to lighten the situation. “I mean, for all you know I could be a big time bitch with a creepy fetish for taxidermy, so um....look on the bright side?”
He looked at me for a moment and then he snorted, bursting into laughter. I smiled, taking a satisfied sip of my coffee.
His laughter faded though.
“I’ll try,” he said.
“I really am sorry.”
Zayn merely sipped on his coffee, looking out the window.
“I mean, you’re a great guy,” I rambled. “Seriously, I –”
He put his hand up, setting his cup down. “Save it, Maya. Seriously.”
I frowned at him. “I mean it.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I really did – in fact, it was a wonder he hadn’t been snapped up before.
I took another sip of my coffee, not knowing what to do. Should I leave? Should I pay?
“Can we finish this coffee as friends then?” he said abruptly, looking back at me from the window. I nodded vigorously.
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
He gave me a small smile. I had only a little coffee left so I swigged it quickly in the next minute or so, not wanting to give the situation an opportunity to get awkward. When I was done I set the cup down.
“I think I should leave,” I told Zayn.
He exhaled.
“Yeah. Okay.”
I gathered up my bag and stood up, he followed suit.
We leaned in for the parting hug at the same time. I tried to keep it as brief as possible. Thankfully he pulled away after a few seconds.
“I’ll see you around,” I said, taking a step back.
He nodded, a hint of a smile on his face as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.
“Bye, Maya.”
Luke Waters
Sam took ages in the guitar store but finally, after much moping over the price tags we exited empty handed. He fired off a text to Maya but she didn’t reply. We stood outside the store under the sweltering noontime sun.
“D’you have any idea where she went?” Sam mumbled, looking up and down the avenue full of trekking shoppers.
“No clue,” I replied. I was just focussing on trying to squint through the light. Sam took out his phone to text her again and I wandered around the corner. The corner shop was a large coffee shop that seemed to be pretty crowded. My eyes wandered inside casually and then I froze.
Right by one of the large windows was a couple in an embrace.
Only I recognized one of them too well – the mass of curls, the shirt she was wearing.
My heart was thumping in my chest, I didn’t know what to do. It was him again. I didn’t know what to think.
Maybe it’s not what you think, I tried telling myself. Maybe she’s meeting him as a friend.
They pulled away from the hug, and the look on his face when he looked at her made me want to hit him.
or maybe it is what you think
They exchanged a few words; I realized she was leaving.
And I also realized I couldn’t face her immediately so I spun on my heel, feeling oddly stiff, and tried to walk as fast as I could back to Sam. He was stuffing his phone in his pocket just as I drew up to him. He glanced at me and frowned.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
Barely few seconds later, she rounded the corner.
Upon seeing us she grinned widely, her strides becoming longer. My thoughts were a jumbled mess. I really, really didn’t know what to do.
I mean, if she was just meeting him as a friend, she didn’t have to keep it a secret.
But then again, she didn’t have to tell me.
she’ll chew you up and spit you out like she does to everyone
I blinked at the memory of those words and then mentally shook myself. What was wrong with me? Maybe if I just asked her where she’d been she’d tell me the truth.
Sam beat me to it.
“Where have you been?” he asked, as she stopped in front of us.
She shrugged.
“I just needed some stuff for school.”
My chest tightened and I found that I was just plain angry.
I didn’t understand – didn’t I make her happy? Isn’t that what she had said?
We started walking back to the car. I could feel her gaze on me. After a while she slipped her hand into mine. I didn’t hold on tight enough.
So much for a pleasant birthday.
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a/n: im sleepy, pls vote and comment <3