Friday on the Western Express Highway

How can two living entities possessing intelligence and judgement ever be tied together for a lifetime?

- R K Narayan, 'Malgudi Days'

Let nobody fool you, most couples are conjoined on earth. The mismatches....now, they are a different story. They are made in heaven.

Kiran Nagarkar,' Cuckold'

Our back tell stories no books have the spine to carry.

- Rupi Kaur, 'Women of Colour'

The traffic on the Western Express Highway was moving at such a pace that would make a snail proud. With intermittent rain that July night, it was the last place one would have wanted to be. 

“Oh, this traffic is so mind numbing and I wonder why need to go home just to change and return in this traffic back again. Aren’t we being plain stupid?” said Ayesha.

“Maybe you are right, do we have a choice?” said Abdul.

“Don’t we?”

“Yes, maybe junk this job and see another near the place where we dwell? That sounds like cutting your nose to spite your face”

“What did you say?”

“I said what I said. Did you not hear?”

“And what qualifies you to say that to me?”

“Ah! From when did qualifications become a pre requisite for having a casual conversation?”

“Never mind. Whatever”

“I plan to go out over the weekend. A drive to the hills. Care to join?”

I don't think would not want to go any place with you. You get on my nerves. Any time we speak, it ends in a headache for me,” she went on like a double barrelled gun.

“Do you have to be so rude always? Or is being obnoxious your calling card?”

“It just complements your behaviour, Sir”

“I think you just hate me”

“Hate, dislike whatever, I think you know why!”

The rain was not making matters better. The vehicles were stationary longer than they were moving.“Can we stop at a coffee shop and have something while this traffic clears?”

“With you? Never! Coffee would never taste so bad!”

"You seem to be very angry at something and I guess I am your punching bag...."

“A lot of dunces seem to be around in office doing PhD s on lack of common sense. And everyone seems to outdo the other!”

“Oh.”

“And every such chap seems to be around me!”

“I guess you ought to be a bit tolerant of people who have lower IQs....”

“Well I tolerated you for many years, didn't I?

“Hey that’s getting personal!”

“What better example can I give? And see, the vagaries of time conspire that I am with you even now!”

”Who says exes cannot be friends?”

“We 'were' friends..”

“What?”

“No. I am not getting back with you again!’

“Yes. I guess I too find the friendship better than the marriage!”

"As it suits you..Not for me…"

The coffee shop was just around 200 hundred metres away and Abdul was steering the car to the left of the highway. Ayesha bent forward, rummaging through her handbag.

“Can you go a little back? You are getting in the way of the mirror”

“Where are you going?”

“The coffee shop, I said.”

“Not with you..a headache and coffee together? No way.”

“Instead of wasting fuel in this bumper to bumper traffic, a stopover at a coffee shop would ...”

Ayesha did not answer.

“What are you doing?

“It’s a Friday and I am with a very beautiful woman. Yes, I was married to her once. Now I am taking her to a coffee shop – all the ingredients of a date but it is just that it is not one! Just plain coffee to ward of the traffic.”

Ayesha was taken aback but did not protest. Guess she was also too tired of looking at myriad red tail lights.

Abdul looked at her and smiled.

“Hey mister, what are you smiling at?”

“You,” he said gently towing the car to a parking lot.

The Starbucks coffee shop at Goregaon was teeming with the Friday crowd but they managed to negotiate and got lucky. As soon as they entered, they got the farthest corner of the coffee shop. It was Ayesha who spotted it.

“Wow, cozy.”

“You got it because of me.”

“As always. You look very beautiful. And in blue, gorgeous.”

“Hey where are you going? I said it is not a date! And we are exes!”

“Is just saying that you look beautiful an ingredient of a date?”

Ayesha smirked. In a blue salwar with gold embroidered brocade, she indeed looked gorgeous. Regal, in fact. And those diamond ear drops just embellished her.

“A plain cappuccino for me,” she said.

“And would you like to eat something with that?”

"Are you an Indigo air hostess? ‘Would you like to eat something with that?’” She imitated him.

“You are still the same, Ayesha. The anger hasn’t subsided one bit,” Abdul said, putting on a smile.

“I have had a bad day. I am angry at bosses, subordinates, people, situations...everything...”

“Don’t you think you should order a cold coffee then? It should cool....”

“Can you keep your smart suggestions to yourself, Sir?”

Abdul went, ordered and in five minutes he was back with a cappuccino, a cold coffee and cookies.

Ayesha took the cold coffee from the tray.

“I thought you wanted a cappuccino, Madam”

“I changed my mind.”

“And what do I do with the cappuccino?”

“You have the option of drinking it or throwing it and getting a cold coffee for yourself,” she said, matter-of-factly.

“Throwing it? It is 365 rupees plus some bloody taxes.”

“Like I said, throwing is only an option. You still have the other option. Pretend that you are at The Amethyst at Chennai and gulp”

Abdul smiled. A big grin, in fact. “You haven’t changed one bit, Ayesha!”

“You have changed, for the better, I say!”

“Oh, so you observed?”

No response from her.

After a couple of minutes, she said, “The cold coffee was a good choice.”

Before Abdul could even throw a ‘I-told-you-so’ look, she added, “For once. For once, I say!”

“What can I say?”

“Nothing. Pay the bill and let’s get out of here.”

“I would be happy to pay if it is a date, but ....”

“Date or no date, you are paying." They were in the car and reached Borivli in an hour.

“Bye, Ayesha.”

“Bye. Thanks for the coffee. And, that’s smart dressing.”

“Oh. Thanks. I thought I always...”

“Oh. As I said before, you have changed"

“You haven’t changed... oops! I am sorry!”

“Ah...You will never change!”

After an hour, Ayesha messaged Abdul.

“When are you leaving for the hills on Saturday, you said?”