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was merely doing her job and getting paid
handsomely for it.
    It was eight
a.m. Even if she came in at six p.m., he needed to kill ten hours in between.
He recalled their conversation from the previous evening. She had been
articulate while he had faltered. How could he level the playing field?
    He swore
loudly to himself. Why the hell was he thinking about her first thing in the
morning? It was the first time in many months that he had woken up preoccupied
by thoughts not pertaining to his work. He couldn’t let that happen. He tried
to get up but was too sore and shouted out for Gopal.
    “Coming,
Gautam Baba.” Gopal rushed into his room flustered and out of breath. “ Kya
hua ? Are you okay? Should I call Dr. Sameera?”
    “Just shut
up and calm down, Gopal. You’ll do nothing of the sort.” Gautam’s curtness took
Gopal by surprise. “Why are you obsessed with Sameera? Is she some magician who
can cure all ills? Don’t try to call anyone without my permission. Is that
clear?”
    Gopal was
dumbfounded. Gautam had never screamed at him. He lowered his gaze and mumbled,
“ Theek hai , Gautam Baba. I will not call anyone. When you yelled I
thought you may have hurt yourself, so I was very scared.”
    Gopal’s eyes
brimmed with love and concern but his voice was heavy with hurt and pain.
Gautam was overcome with embarrassment.
    “Sorry for
yelling, Gopal. I seem to be losing my mind after the accident. Don’t worry so
much about me, I’m getting better. I don’t want you to fall sick with anxiety.
Now help me get up and get dressed. I’m starving. What’s for breakfast?”
    The mere mention
of food cheered up Gopal; he liked nothing more than cooking and feeding
Gautam. “Garma garam aaloo ke parathe .”
    “ Aaloo
parathe ? No way,” Gautam retorted. “Just give me some milk and muesli
first; I’ll have some fruit later.”
    “You kids
know nothing about nutrition. Pure desi ghee does no harm. It is good
for broken bones.” He shook his head. “Your bones need lubrication. Ghee will fix your strength and reduce the pain.”
    Gautam
couldn’t help laughing. “Let’s replace all the medicines with a tin of your
miracle ghee .”
    “You can
make as much fun of me as you want, but I know I am right.”
    The day
moved ahead at snail’s pace. Sameera had still not called to confirm and Gautam
wouldn’t enquire. He called Jai at work to check on the team’s progress.
    As soon as
the call ended, he called Gopal to his room. “Gopal when did you change the
sheets on my bed?”
    “Just two
days ago, Gautam Baba.”
    “They look
shabby. Change the sheets again and please use something decent. Do you have
new white linen sheets?”
    “If you have
not bought new linen sheets, how will I have them? You’ve never been fussy
about these things. What’s happened suddenly?”
    “Nothing,
just do as I say.”
    While
surfing channels, he chanced upon Katy Perry’s ‘Fireworks’ video. He missed
dancing as he used to in the old days, but the thought of dancing reminded him
of Sameera in her silver lehenga . It’s just an association, nothing
more.
    Despite his rationalizations,
Gautam felt restless.
    He called
out to Gopal again, “Gopal, come here. Can you use my electric razor and give
me a shave?” Gopal nodded and got the razor.
    When he was
finished, Gautam asked him to get a mirror. “No, the shave is not a close one.
I still don’t look clean enough. Do it once more. And I hate my hair. Get some
water to wet my hair and then get me my gel from the bathroom.”
    “Are we
going somewhere, Gautam Baba?”
    “Can’t I
look good at home?”
    Gautam
brushed his curly hair vigorously. “Get me my bottle of cologne. No not that
one, the other one. I have changed my mind, get the first one.”
    Gopal
nervously pottered around, trying his best to keep peace with a visibly irate
Gautam. Post lunch, much to Gopal’s relief, Gautam settled for a nap but the
moment he woke up, his incessant demands