Chapter 8
Mantra woke up to the nonstop ringing of her phone.
“Hello,” she spoke into the phone.
“Mantra, are you still asleep?” her sister asked.
“Hi, Sloka… I am about to wake up. What time is it?”
“It’s too early to be calling you, but I needed to talk to you,” her sister sobbed.
“Sloka, is everything okay?”
“I can’t take it anymore, Mantra. I’m just sick of being in this relationship,” Sloka declared.
Mantra sat up in bed running her fingers through her hair. “Sloka, you’ve been suffering for way too long, and if you want to walk away from it, you should.”
“He is a good man, Mantra. I love him, but I need more…”
It wasn’t the first time Mantra was having this conversation with her sister. “Sex is not the only thing that keeps a couple together, but it is very important.”
“I talked to him on Wednesday, and I told him we needed to be intimate, and he didn’t object. I took the day off on Friday to go to the spa and get ready for our date night, and guess what he does? He invited another couple to join us at home for dinner. I’m just sick of it.” Her sister cried.
“Sloka, listen to me. Talk him into seeking help. It doesn’t have to be where I work, but you two need some guidance.”
“I know that, but he won’t entertain it. He thinks I need to be the one to be checked,” Sloka growled.
“Sloka… you guys are talking about having a baby. Shouldn’t you be…”
“I hate that!” her sister interrupted her.
“You don’t want to have a baby?”
“No… I don’t want to get in bed with him because we want to make a baby. I’m not some breeding ground… I want my husband to fuck a baby into me.” Sloka was agitated.
“Sloka… you are my older sister, and you can’t talk to me like this.”
“I have no choice… make me part of your thesis… forget I am your sister for now. I need help,” her sister pleaded.
“Sloka… you need to see a real therapist. I alone can’t help you. I work with clients assigned to me by the therapist I work for… I’m not certified to help you myself.”
“I know you can help me, you know me best,” her sister blurted out.
“It’s not good, Sloka. I will tend to be biased if it’s you I’m working with.”
“It’s better than having no help… what do I need to do?” Her sister was insistent.
“Give me today to think through this and see if I can help. I will call you later tonight.” She tried to comfort her sister who was almost nine years older than her. Her sister and brother-in-law were set up to meet, and they decided to get married after dating for less than a year. She had never expected the fairy tale to take an ugly turn.
“Love you, Mantra.”
“You, too, sis.” Mantra hung up the phone and looked at the ceiling unable to believe how her day started. It was her day for getting some sleep, and there was no way she was going back to sleep after her sister dropped this bombshell on her.
Just when she thought her day could not get any worse, her phone started to ring again. This time it was Yash. She had not saved his phone number, but she had to look at the number to recognize it.
“Hello.” She faked a sleepy voice so she could make him feel bad.
Why? What did she get out of messing with him?
“You have fifteen minutes to get your ass out of bed, or I’m knocking your door down.”
“Easy, what is going on?”
“You messed up big time last night. I’m going to make you pay for this so dearly,” he growled.
“What are you talking about?”
“I will show you if you get out of bed. I will call you when I am pulling into the parking lot,” he declared and ended the call.
“Great!” She rolled out of bed and ran into the bathroom.
“I’m here,” Yash called her shortly after.
“Heading down.” She ended the call and headed downstairs in yoga pants and a sweatshirt. It was a few minutes before six thirty when she stepped out of her apartment.
It was like she lived in a ghost town as she made it downstairs to the parking lot. Most apartments were rented out by students, and it was an ungodly hour for any student to be awake.
She looked around for Yash’s fancy blue car but didn’t see it anywhere. A moment later, she saw a large SUV turn and approach her. It had dark tinted windows, and she could not see the driver.
She took a step back almost to move out of the way, but the window rolled down, and she saw Yash, his face a mask.
“Hey…” She didn’t say more, couldn’t say more when she saw the way he was fuming. She opened the door and got into the large SUV.
He picked up his phone and tapped a few times and threw it in her lap before he started driving. “Read what’s on the screen.”
A shiver passed through her expecting the worse. The screen displayed a blog site, and she recognized the name of the blogger. The food blogger was one of the most critical ones in the country, and based on the date on the website, the food blogger was in the restaurant the night before when she was running her getting cozy experiment.
Mantra read the post and reread it. The article talked about the food that was served at the restaurant and critiqued a few of the dishes, but the criticism was constructive.
Toward the end of the article, the blogger mentioned the ambience saying it was a unique technique for the couples at the restaurant to enjoy each other’s warmth. It was, however, awkward for her and her friend who had volunteered to go to the restaurant with her to gather information for her blog.
She didn’t understand what Yash was upset about because the blogger had not only praised his restaurant but also attributed her experiment/technical issue as a unique feature for ambience.
“Yash, how is this a bad thing? This is the nicest review this person has written in months,” she said looking through the blogger’s ratings for other restaurants.
“Are you kidding me?” he growled.
She took a deep breath and looked at his profile as he continued to drive. “What is wrong with this review?”
“I didn’t start The Red Room to get a four-star rating. It is a symbol of perfection and deserves five stars… not mishaps that are covered up. Your negligence ruined the reputation of the place.”
She sat in the passenger seat not knowing how to respond to his statement. She took her time to phrase her next question. “How is this going to tarnish the reputation? It’s the best rating this blogger has given any restaurant, ever.”
“It’s a matter of time before people figure out about what happened,” he barked.
“Is that a bad thing?” There was always good and bad publicity in any business.
“Yes, a royal screw-up,” he declared.
“What the heck? How is this a screw-up when I’m making the restaurant unique and famous.”
“Notorious… not famous.”
“Whatever. If you are finished chastising me for nothing, take me back home.”
“No, you still owe me coffee,” he said, a slight smile twisting the ends of his mouth.
Mantra could not believe her ears. She couldn’t figure out how he went from being pissed to so cool making her wonder if he was just putting on a show.
A show for what?
Ten minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot in front of an almost demolished building with barely any people around.
“What is this place?”
“Do you need to know? You just need to pay for coffee.” He walked over where she stood debating if she should follow him wherever he was taking her. A small voice in her asked if she wanted to take the hand that was stretched out.
She smiled at him and took his hand letting him lead her to the back of the demolished storefront. She looked at the ceiling of the walkway and noticed streaks of black.
“What happened here?”
“One of my favorite coffee shops burned down.”
“Oh no, and they are still in…” Her words were lost in a gasp when she saw the neatly set up coffee shop under a tent in the back.
“Good morning, Yash,” the elderly man behind the counter said cheerfully.
“Good morning.” Yash smiled at the older man and nodded at the young woman who sheepishly smiled back.
“Are you a regular?” she asked.
“Partner,” he smirked.
“What? Seriously?”
“Why are you so surprised?” He sat down and leaned back in the chair, his eyes lazily scanning her face.
“I don’t know… maybe because of The Red Room I never expected you to own a coffee shop.” She looked around at the burned building as she sat down.
“I own your favorite bar.” He smirked.
“Not my favorite but most convenient. What happened here?” She looked at the building in the background.
“Mr. Singh’s son, he was drunk… set the place on fire.”
“Oh no…” she gasped.
“Idiot. Insurance refused to pay for the damage because he started the fire,” he growled.
“Now what?”
“Mr. Singh doesn’t need the insurance… he has a partner now,” he said casually.
“You became a partner after this place was burned down?”
“I like the place, and I couldn’t let it go.” He shrugged.
She smiled at him. “It’s very nice of you.”
“I’m not a nice person, sweetheart… I’m just an opportunist.” He winked making her catch her breath.
“You are sweet,” she murmured.
“Don’t call me names.” He chuckled.
“What do you suggest I buy you at your coffee shop?”
“Buy me my regular cup of coffee,” he said turning to look at the man behind the counter.
The older man smiled and nodded at Yash.
“How did you find this coffee shop?”
“I was on my way back… holy crap…” Yash was looking over her head at something, his face a mask.
“What?” She turned around to look at a couple walk toward them. The woman was beaming.
“Yash.” The woman laughed putting her arms around him.
“Isn’t it a bit too early for you?” Yash sounded annoyed.
“How could I not try a coffee place when my little brother endorsed it.” She smiled and turned to look at Mantra.
“Mantra, this is my sister, Sona, and her husband, Gaurav.”
“Hi, Sona and Gaurav. It is very nice to meet you.” Mantra shook hands with both of them.
“Will we be crashing your date if we joined you?” Sona winked.
“Not at all. We are here because I owed your brother a coffee.” Mantra smiled but did not fail to catch the glare he cast to his sister.
“How do you two know each other?” Sona seemed extremely curious.
“I work at The Red Room.”
“So… you guys are not a thing?” his sister blurted out.
“Sona, cut it out.” He scowled at his sister who would not stop laughing enjoying her brother’s annoyance.