"Ma.. Do you remember my little restaurant episode – a couple of years ago? Just before college ended?" I asked.
"Of course, Beta – what has that got to do with Alana?" she asked. Of course, Ma never missed anything – not even when her only son was screaming his head off at a seemingly random girl.
"Well... actually you remember how the police who conducted the raid at the restaurant said that a food blogger's post had gone viral and they traced us through that?" I reminded. When Ma nodded, with a frown on her face, I continued, "Naturally, I wanted to find out who this blogger was – though the police had lodged the complaint based on the allegation made by the Food Authorities. And wouldn't share the details.. Remember? So I decided to do everything I could to find out who it was – and I found the photo and social media profile of Alana."
"Oh... I see", said Ma, before continuing after a pause, "But how is that connected with the scene today, beta?"
"As soon as I saw her, obviously, I remembered her. Of course, over time, I had gotten over my initial rage and let the incident go – but seeing her here was definitely a surprise and unreckoned – and immediately, I told Dee about is." I explained.
"Aaahh – hence all the hushed tones and conversations between the two of you. I did wonder" said Ma, and I continued with my explanation.
"Dee gave me an idea that I should talk to her about the incident – and honestly, I didn't know what to expect. So, I tried, but it didn't go well", I cribbed, now weary of recounting the story.
"You know you need to let it all out right?" asked Ma and I nodded. "Yes Ma.. Anyway. As I was saying:
I tried bringing up the top very lightly saying, 'Hey – Aren't you the owner of AlSpeaks, the food blog?' and she admitted that she was. Then I said to her, 'A lot of my friends in college were regular readers of your blog.. do you still write?' and she simply said 'No – when I got into journalism, I couldn't keep up. Even now, I write, but very rarely'. I laughed and kept up my cordial front and eventually asked her, 'The reason I heard about you was when one of my classmate's tuck shop, just outside our campus was shut down after a raid there. Apparently, some blogger had tipped off the authorities in secret. That's when I heard about 'Food Blogging' as a hobby and looked it up. You were among the first names to come up locally.' At this, she didn't stiffen or show any recognition of the story – she simply said, 'I suppose I should thank the incident then – but maybe that friend of yours deserved it' with a laugh! Can you imagine!!!"
Ma patiently waited while I took a pause though her face gave away nothing going on in her mind.
"After that, I decided that it isn't worth my time to confront her about this – at least not here and not now. I decided to let it go, though I was fuming on the inside. When I caught up with Dee, she asked me about my conversation with Alana – and I told her I didn't want to get into the details just then. She thought I was avoiding telling her and just to get me angry, she started flirting with Dev", I grumbled.
"I did notice that she seemed very chummy with him, but I had put it down to working together", added Ma quietly. I wasn't sure I was even supposed to hear it.
"Exactly! And just then, assuming that we were best friends after that insulting conversation, Alana came up to me and started acting like we have been friends for years, you know – asking why I look bothered and the like. And... I lost it."
"That, is an understatement" said Ma, looking away.
"I know I shouldn't have, Ma.. I can't tell you how sorry I am. But then, everything was against me. First seeing Alana here; then her nonchalance; then seeing DEV here Ma!! Him – Of all the people!! Then Dee using him to get to me... And then suddenly Alana pretends to be my best friend!" I rant and finish with a sigh more dramatic than I intended.
Ma stays quiet, as do I. After an intolerable minute of silence, I say, "Ma.. I am sorry.. Really."
She looks at me, almost surprised and says, "Oh – no. It is not like you to have snapped. But we all have our bad days", and she reaches out to ruffle my hair. "But... you know as well as I do, that apologies are in order – and no matter what you say or think and regardless of whether Alana apologizes to you, you WILL be the bigger man here and apologize for an unwarranted scene. Okay?"
Seeing no reason to argue, I nodded and said "Okay" trying to sound defeated where internally I was really glad Ma was not upset with me.
However, little did I expect Ma to follow that order with, "And... Now, more than Ever, Deeksha deserves to know the truth, Harsh. If you aren't going to tell her, I will."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is one of the longest chapters so far!!
What's the secret now? Will Harsh agree? Will the fight turn ugly? What is Dee up to?
(Harsh Bhalla at the lake, in the pic above :D )