Mumu Shelly: The party continues..

The thundering rains banged louder each time. The grey sky is on the verge of bursting with water laden clouds. It’s four in the afternoon although it feels like twilight. On a normal Mumbai afternoon of July, Charulata is roaming the streets of Bandra. She is wearing a magenta salwar kameez with a modest print spread across her kurti. She is wearing a floppy hat to cover her head and has a dark red lipstick on to match her clothing. She is wearing a big dark red bindi between her eyebrows and has dagged kajal around her eyes. She is walking briskly, glancing through stores. She stops as something catches her eye at the display window of one of the stores. There are a total of five mannequins on display, all dressed differently. One of the mannequins is dressed in a white long skirt with a cute grey top and a blazer on top of it accessorized with a brown cinch belt. The other is dressed in a skin hugging black dress with white lines smudged against it in a random pattern giving it a slutty yet classic look. One of the displays is of a long flowing dress with a light pink hue flowing from the shoulders covering the entire body. The others are wearing tank tops with faded and skinny jeans. She spends time gazing at the black dress and then shakes her head, with a smile curling on her lips but her eyes hold her emotions of hesitation and lack of self confidence. She keeps on walking, glancing through the stores blankly, imagining herself in that dress.

As Charulata is crossing the street to window shop at more stores, she sees Shelly standing a few metres away on the other side of the road, her head bent, working her phone furiously. Charulata doesn’t realise that she has stopped midway while crossing. She is staring towards Shelly, when she hears a screeching sound of the breaks being hit in urgency. She turns sideways and sees a black sedan stopped right in front of her and the driver shouting from his seat gesturing towards her. She looks around and all the eyes are on her. She rises from her stupor and rushes to cross the road raising her hands to the driver guiltily asking forgiveness. She lets out a loud gasp once she sets her foot on the opposite end of the road.

‘Mumu Didi. Mumu Didi.’ Charulata hears the shrieking voice from afar coming nearer. She starts to walk away from the voice. She hears the thump of footsteps hurrying towards her. She feels a hand grab her shoulder which forces her to halt. She turns around slowly with an expression that shouts that she is not looking forward to what comes next.

‘Are you all right? Are you hurt?’ Shelly asks, looking concerned.

Charulata looks at Shelly with a gentle smile, a smile that never reaches her eyes. Shelly is wearing a tank top which fails to meet the top of her baggy trousers. She looks different without her makeup and with her curly hair tied up in a french twist. In more ways though she looks exactly the same.

Charulata bobs her head a few times looking at Shelly.

‘It’s great to see you again. What are you doing here?’ Charulata asks, noticing the black Esbeda Shelly is carrying and her plain black flats.

‘Waiting for a cab as usual. I tell you these cab guys have worsened. How have you been? Long time na.’

‘Haan.. been long. I was just shopping around. I don’t come here too often but, you know, one needs to buy clothes.’ Charulata says, forcing a smile on her face. 

Shelly nods in acknowledgement looking a bit lost on what to say next.

‘So you know, I should get….’ as Charulata begins saying, she feels as if a pail of water is thrown on her. At the same moment she hears the thundering of the clouds and the next moment sees the rains lashing all around. She sees Shelly motioning her to under one of the shop fronts proving a respite from the wetness. Charulata follows her.

As they are standing below the cover, Charulata searches her massive handbag frantically.

“I am so stupid. I knew it would rain and still I forgot to carry an umbrella.’ Charulata says resigning her search.

Shelly gives her an understanding smile and then gets busy with her phone. Charulata removes her wet hat and pushes it in her bag.

‘I can’t believe this’, Shelly remarks angrily looking down at her phone.

‘My cab got cancelled. Now this useless app is trying to find me another cab.’ 

‘Don’t worry. You should get a cab in no time in Bandra.’

‘Haha…’ Shelly sounds hysterical a moment later. ‘It says no cabs available now. I knew it was a bad idea to come all the way to Bandra.’

‘These cab wala’s also na… they have become like local trains. A handful of rain and all of them will stop working.’ Charulata says coaxing Shelly, patting her back softly. 

‘Ahhhh..’ Shelly shouts in anger. ‘I feel like drinking. Care to join?’

‘It’s four-thirty in the afternoon. Who drinks at four-thirty?’

‘What does time matter? Should we drink when we want to or wait for the clock to say it’s okay?’

‘That’s all good, but where will we go? I don’t think any places will be open.’

Shelly lets out a loud crazy chuckle. She points at the signboard above them and takes Charulata’s hand in hers.

‘Come Mumu didi. I forgot how much fun you are.’

Shelly drags Charulata to a small shady entrance just a few yards away. They climb up a narrow flight of stairs and arrive at the entrance of Jalwa.

Charulata looks back at the stairs and then at the entrance. She looks awed.

They enter the lounge, Shelly providing her name at the entrance. They take a table near the window facing the street where they met. The rains are falling harder as ever. Charulata looks up at the sky and then sighs. Shelly asks for the menu.

‘Doesn’t look like it’s going to stop raining anytime soon’ Charulata exclaims.

‘It’s going to stop sometime. Don’t look so sad. Let’s look forward to drinking. I remember you told me that you love cocktails. Look Look, they have so many options.’ Shelly says handing over the menu to Charulata.

Charulata took the menu from Shelly. Her eyes widened as she kept scrolling down the menu. Meanwhile, Shelly had asked for another menu.

Motioning to the waiter, she asked, ‘What will you have?’

The waiter came over and Shelly immediately asked for a Mimosa. Both of them then looked at Charulata.

Charulata raised her head from the menu and then looked back again, her cheeks turning a little red.

‘ I… I will…. Bloody Mary’ she stuttered. The waiter nodded his head once smiling at her.

‘And you know what’ Shelly said, ‘ Bring us one portion of those Galouti kebabs with onion slices and green chutney.’

The waiter nodded again, took the menu off their hands and left.

‘I miss your kebabs Mumu didi. They were so very tasty. Do you remember I was trying to be vegan then but you know those kebabs made it difficult for me to completely convert.’

Charulata smiled appreciating the compliment.

‘You know, I have made them only once again since that day. The day Mishti had come to visit.’

As soon as she said that, Charulata kicked herself and looked at Shelly guiltily. Shelly’s smile had vanished and her face narrowed. She was no longer looking at Charulata but looking outside at the gloomy weather. 

They sat quietly. Charulata busied herself looking around. The lounge was huge. There were at least fifty tables spread out. Even with this place completely occupied, it would never seem congested. The floor was covered in greying brown tiles and the ceiling was laced with wooden bars giving it a rustic look. Large lights hung from the ceiling, similar to a bike’s headlight. They were switched off. The light from outside lit the place quite thoroughly. The bar was gigantic. The shelves were completely bursting with hundreds of bottles of alcohol and tiny lights embedded in the wall projected a golden sheen. The bar counter shone in white light and was at least fifty metres long. 

The waiter brought their drinks.

Charulata raised her glass and cleared her throat with a cough.

‘Cheers’, she said, holding her glass midair.

Shelly looked away from the window towards Charulata and shook her head as if pushing thoughts from her head. She raised her glass as well and greeted, ‘Cheers’.

Shelly took a long gulp from her glass and swallowed it down immediately. With her eyes closed, she let out a heavy gasp of satisfaction.

She puts her glass down and looks at Charulata.

‘How is she? Mishti?’ Shelly asks

Charulata takes a pause and then, as if deciding on how to answer, takes a long gulp herself.

‘She is doing good. She couldn’t settle here, you know. Not after you two, you know, stopped being friends. She found a job in America. She is just waiting on her H1B.’ Charu said hurriedly trying to get it over with as soon as possible.

There was an uncomfortable silence after.

‘You know, how are you doing? Are you also looking to go back to America?’ Charulata continued.

To that Shelly smiled and while sipping her Mimosa, replied, ‘And be known as America re-returned?’

She drank again. Charulata notices that Shelly’s drink is almost done. To keep up with her, she took a long gulp. She still had more than half of her glass full.

‘I am perfectly happy here. I know things didn’t turn out well with Mishti. I mean she was the reason I had come to Mumbai but still I found the perfect job. I recently moved into the perfect apartment. Things are going well. I don’t want to jinx it.’

Shelly upturned her glass in her mouth drinking the last remaining drop. She ordered the waiter for a repeat for herself and Charulata.

The waiter brought the drinks along with the kebabs. Shelly immediately took a sip off hers, meanwhile Charulata gobbled the rest of her first glass as the waiter kept the other on the table.

‘I thought she was the one. But after talking to you, I realised that I didn't want to be with a child. She never took responsibility for anything and kept procrastinating urgent tasks. It’s already difficult for me to be what I am in this city of people with obsolete thinking and I wished for some support from the other end. I mean it’s been six months and I still can’t stop thinking about her and what happened.’ While speaking, not once Shelly looked at Charulata, either looking outside the window or at her glass. Shelly sounded angry but Charulata gathered that she was feeling remorseful.

Charulata took a sip of her second glass for courage before speaking.

‘You don’t have to feel guilty. I think you did the right thing. I am the only one in the family that knows about Mishti and I can't even confront her. I am not too sure that her parents can accept. At least going back to America she can continue her life the way she wants. And I am happy for you. You seem to have made the right decision. Things will only become better.’

With tiny tears forming at the corner of her eyes, Shelly gave a small smile and raised her glass for another clink with Charulata. ‘Bottom’s up’, she said before drinking and gulped the entire drink in one go. Charulata followed suit and although she felt like she was drowning in alcohol, she kept at it.

Shelly immediately ordered another round and fell into her kebabs. She devoured her portion of the kebabs immediately and saw that Charulata had not even touched hers.

‘Why are you not eating?’ she said in a voice filled with intoxication. ‘The kebabs are really good. Not as tasty as the ones you make. Did I tell you I loved your kebabs?’

Charulata picked up the fork and started eating the kebab. 

‘How about my cocktails? Did you like them too?’ Charulata asked while chewing her kebabs.

Shelly looked aghast. She looked inside her glass for what seemed to be a long time.

Then with as much as a straight face, she replied, ‘They were great! Just great!’

Charulata fell into a fit of giggles. Shelly stared at her with a blank expression.

‘You should have seen your face. You looked like I asked you to sleep with a man.’ Charulata managed to utter between giggles.

Shelly joined in the laughter albeit nervously.

‘I know they sucked. That was the first time I had ever made them. Got the recipe from Youtube. I couldn’t believe that you drank so many of them. I had to throw mine in the sink.’

‘I never knew Mumu didi had this side to her. I was really nervous that day about Mishti and me coming out to you, so I guessed a bit of liquid courage would help. Anyways, they were not so bad.’

Charulata gave her a look saying she could be honest with her.

‘So anyways, tell me what all did you shop for today?’ Shelly asked, continuing with her drink, feeling relaxed.

‘Nothing yet. I was mostly window shopping you know.’ 

‘Why can’t you shop online like normal people? Or maybe go to a mall. Who comes to Linking road to shop?’

‘I need to touch and feel before shopping. Online shopping isn’t for me. And I thought a bit of fresh air would be nice. I was getting suffocated inside the house. Had to get out.’

‘Things still not better with Ranjan?’ Shelly asked in an anxious voice. ‘Sorry, Ranjan Da.’

Charulata chugged her drink completely before answering. 

‘We are not living together.’

Charulata continued quickly seeing Shelly had her eyebrows raised yearning to hear more.

‘It is only temporary. Our counsellor said that maybe we needed to take a break so that we can both introspect and understand our feelings for each other.’

Shelly ordered another pair of the drinks for both of them. Charulata told Shelly about the fight with Ranjan and how she had told him that he needed to spend more time with her and he had replied that he was working to build a future for them. The fight continued for months and was not subsiding so he involved his family and they suggested seeing a counsellor. They had been at it for the last two months and gradually making progress. 

‘So I thought that since we are back on talking to each other normally, I will surprise him tomorrow by wearing something provocative. It’s been sometime since you know..’ Charulata said as their drinks arrived. 

‘What are you waiting for then? Let’s go out and get you that dress.’ Shelly said, almost standing up.

‘No. I think it’s better if we give it time. What if he’s not ready?’

‘Do you know of any man who’s not ready to have sex? Believe me, it must have been tougher on him than you. And anyways you are not asking him to get back together. You are just concerned about his physical needs.’ Shelly said, winking.

Shelly asked for the check. 

‘Okay. One, two, three…GO!’ Shelly said, gulping her drink. Charulata did the same.

Shelly paid the amount ignoring the protests from Charulata and they started to make their way out.

‘Did you see anything you liked while window shopping?’ Shelly asked climbing down the stairs trying to clear her head off the intoxication.

‘You know, let’s check out a store. I hope it’s not closed.’ Charulata looked at her phone. It was almost seven.

The rains had stopped but they had left a mess behind with the roads covered with sludge and slime. Charulata retraced her steps to the shop, with Shelly walking alongside, both careful to not get dirt on their clothes.

A few minutes later, they were standing in front of the shop. It was called ‘New Look’. The mannequins were still there. Charulata pointed at the dress and Shelly whistled softly. They rushed inside.

Shelly immediately pointed to the dress on display and then to Charulata. The staff nodded and then went back inside.

‘He said he needs to check if they have it in your size.’ Shelly told Charulata. ‘Do you like anything else?’

Charulata looked around the collection. It was a massive collection with dresses on one side and the skirts and some more dresses on the other side. Towards the back of the shop was a collection of jeans, tops and jackets. There were mannequins inside the shop as well. 

The staff came back out with the dress and spread it out on one of the counters. Charulata touched the dress and immediately fell in love with the material. The dress looked even better than on the display. 

‘Why don’t you try it out?’ the staff said. 

‘Yeah Mumu, you should try it out’ Shelly said with excitement in her voice. 

Charulata asked for directions to the trial room and left carrying the dress. Shelly meanwhile busied herself looking at the collection.

Charulata came out of the trial room and called out softly to Shelly. Shelly looked in the direction of the sound and kept staring. Charulata looked fantastic. The dress amplified her body which was always hidden behind the loose suits that Charulata wore. Shelly inspected Charulata from head to toe and asked her to turn around. 

‘You look fantastic.’ Shelly commented as Charulata twirled.

‘Really?’ Charulata said, admiring herself in the mirror. ‘Do you think it's a bit much? I mean it’s quite short’ Charulata tried to pull the bottom of the dress down to her knees.

‘Are you mad? Tell me something. Be honest. Do you like the way you look? Coz to me you look like a babe.’

Charulata nodded hesitantly, a bit embarrassed by that comment.

‘You know what! We need some new shoes to make the dress work even better.’

‘Naa naa.. I think the dress itself is too much.’ Charulata said, shaking her head.

‘Let me do this Mumu. For you. You know you deserve this.’

Charulata looked at Shelly for a while trying to make up her mind. 

‘Okay. But you need to buy a dress for yourself and shoes as well.’

‘Ma’am, our shoes collection is down the stairs in the basement. Maybe you would like to have a look.’ one of the staff said.

‘Okay great! Mumu, why don’t you go ahead. I will choose a dress and then join you there.’ Shelly said getting back to checking out the options.

After spending more than an hour choosing shoes and then some more time haggling over the price, Charulata and Shelly walked out from the showroom looking ecstatic. Shelly had picked a bright pink dress for herself with a skirt at its bottom and matching shoes.

‘We need to do a trial run.’ Shelly said as they started walking on the still muddy footpath.

‘What trial run? I am out of energy. I am still drunk. I think it’s time we call it a night.’

‘No yaar Mumu. We need to see if your dress turns heads. We need to hit some pubs. Don’t you want to be sure of the dress before you seduce Ranjan Da?’

Charulata pondered for a bit and then shaking her head, as if not sure about her own choice, agreed.

‘Aweeeessome. Let’s go to the salon. We need to give you a minor makeover. I couldn’t help but notice the rowdy growth on your legs.’

Charulata shockingly turned towards Shelly. Shelly raised her hands in apology and maybe in defence.

‘You know you are drunk.’ Charulata said, hiding her irritation.

‘Come let’s hurry,’ Shelly said, sounding relieved.

This time Shelly led the way. They were back to the point where they had run into each other. Shelly led Charulata holding her hand further, crossing the lounge into the building at the back. They took the lift to the third floor. Charulata seemed fascinated by these secret places. They entered a parlour at one of the corners of the floor. The parlour was huge. On one side of it were the stylist chairs and on the other side, the recliners. There was a waiting area at the entrance and Charulata started making way for it. Shelly held her back. She was still holding her hand. 

‘Rita! Rita!’ Shelly called out loudly.

A woman came running from the back. She was wearing a black top which covered her arms and high waist denims.

‘Shelly?’ the woman said. ‘Did you forget something?’

‘No No. This is Mumu.’ she said, gesturing towards Charulata. ‘We need to go out and she is in need of your services.’

Rita gave a sheepish look towards Charulata. ‘But we are closing darling,’ Rita said. 

‘Please Please. It’s very important. I wouldn’t ask if it was not urgent’, Shelly said pleadingly.

‘Okay. But remember I am doing this only because I like you. So what all needs to be done?’

‘Oh..Everything. Hair, facial, makeup, waxing. The entire package you know.’ Shelly said excitedly.

‘Ufff!’ Rita exclaimed. ‘Come Mumu. Let’s get started’

Charulata silently moved to where Rita steered her. She was a silent spectator in all this and had a look of absolute amazement on her face. While Rita started working with Charulata’s hair, Shelly sat in the waiting lounge glazing through magazines.

What seemed to be a long time to Shelly and it was definitely long, Charulata finally came out of the dressing room wearing her new dress and shoes. She had her hair blow dried and also had some highlights done. Her face glowed in the bright light and the dress obviously looked amazing.

‘You look great’, Rita said, ‘Doesn’t she, Shelly?’

Shelly could only manage a stiff nod, still absorbed in looking at Charulata.

‘Well, now I know what shuts Shelly up’ Rita laughed.

‘Mumu. Do you mind waiting a few minutes while I dress up?’ Shelly asked politely. Charulata nodded,

As Shelly came out all dressed up with her hair let loose, Charulata asked, ‘Where are we going?’

‘I don’t know yet.’ Shelly answered. ‘Rita, any suggestions? We need a place where Mumu can show off herself but don’t want to be caught up amidst a hooligan crowd.’

‘You should try Hawaiian Shack. It’s not very far. Just take this street straight for about five minutes and you should reach it.’

‘Thanks Rita’ Shelly said, waving goodbye. Charulata mumbled a polite thank you.

They both walked the way Rita had suggested complimenting each other with Shelly forcing a bet on the number of guys who would hit on Charulata. Charulata laughed on the numer Shelly had suggested and walked on in a much more confident manner.

Not long after they saw the entry to the pub. The entrance was made up of bamboo sticks and Hawaiian Shack was embossed on a large wooden board. They entered through the wooden gate and were greeted with loud music and the smell of alcohol and food. The place was crowded enough and one could hear the chattering noise of the crowd over the music. The crowd was a mix of couples and groups. Surprisingly, Shelly noticed that there were more women than men. Charulata started making her way to one of the vacant tables but Shelly pulled her towards the bar. The walls were painted in beige and the seating was not fancy. There were columns which were designed to look like trees and the yellow lights were just dim enough to find your way through the place. The entire lounge was decked up in wooden structures - stairs and railings. Surprisingly, it all came together perfectly well.

Shelly found a couple of seats at the bar for Charulata and herself. She ordered a beer for herself and a sangria for Charulata. 

‘You like the place?’ Shelly shouted at Charulata, to be heard.

‘It’s nice. But too loud.’ Charulata shouted in reply.

Shelly nodded in agreement.

Sipping their drinks, they sat quietly for a while looking around and letting the music carry them away. The crowd was still coming in. Some men had looked in their direction, but no one had approached them yet.

‘You saw anyone you like?’ Shelly inquired.

Charulata just shook her head.

Midway through their drinks, a hand touched Charulata’s back. She turned immediately expecting danger. A middle aged man was standing behind her. He raised her hands in apology, sensing Charulata’s expressions.

Shelly saw them talking animatedly to each other, hardly able to hear them. The man motioned a smoke sign to Charulata and she nodded. She started to pull Shelly along but Shelly encouraged her on, by pushing her towards the man. Charulata gestured that she would be back as fast as she could. Shelly smiled at her waving at her. 

That didn’t take a lot of time, Shelly thought to herself. She turned back her attention to the crowd. The people had started dancing. There was a big group of girls who were dancing at their table and some of the boys on the adjacent one were braving each other to join them. That was when Shelly’s eyes caught the woman sitting on a nearby table facing her and smiling. She was beautiful. She was not dressed as fancifully as her but those jeans and top seemed to bring out her figure well enough. Shelly smiled back giving a small wave. They looked at each other a while and then Shelly broke off the stare turning her back to the girl. She waited anxiously. 

Shelly felt a movement beside her on the high chair where Charulata was sitting. She turned sideways to find the girl seated there looking at her.

‘Hey’, she said. ‘I am trying to come up with a line but I am just awkward at this.’

Shelly chuckled. ‘That’s not half bad’

‘May I buy you a drink?’ the girl asked timidly.

Shelly nodded and then gestured to the bartender.

‘Pink is really your colour’ the girl said after ordering their drinks.

‘Thank you. I am Shelly’

‘Hi Shelly. Really glad to meet you. I am Shona’

‘Bengali?’ Shelly inquired.

Shona nodded. ‘You too?’

Shelly nodded as well, smiling. 

‘I would have never figured Shelly a Bengali name’

‘It’s short for Sudeshna’

“How do you get Shelly from Sudeshna?’ Shona asked, with awe in her eyes.

‘America’ Shelly answered. ‘No one could pronounce my name there. Sooo…Shelly’

‘So are you visiting family here?’ 

‘Naa.. I am her for good. I work here. Came back about seven months back.’

‘Haven’t met a lot of American returns. Settling well in Bombay?’

‘So far so good. What about you?’

‘Oh! I work in advertising. Just back from a shoot in Coorg. Wanted to catch up with some friends, so came by here. You alone?’

‘With a friend. She’s out smoking.’ Shelly answered, gesturing towards the smoking corner outside the back entrance.

‘You want to go someplace quieter?’ 

‘I would love to but I can’t leave. My friend won’t survive on her own.’

‘So this friend, is she like a girlfriend?’ Shona asked pryingly.

‘Hahaha… She’s straight. I just brought her here to show her what she’s missing.’

‘In that case,’ Shona started moving closer to Shelly, ‘I would just like to say that you look absolutely stunning and I would like to take you out sometime, if that’s cool with you’ she finished whispering in her ear. 

Shelly asked for her phone and keyed her contact in it. ‘I would love to’, Shelly said, giving Shona a tiny peck on her cheek.

Shona said her goodbyes and moved back to her table. Shelly went back to her beer. She felt great.

Charulata came back a few minutes later. She seemed excited. 

‘Shelly, come let’s go.’ She shouted at Shelly. ‘We are going dancing.’

‘What? I thought you wanted to call it a night’

‘Don’t be an idiot. I am super drunk and Amit here,’ she gestured to the man standing a few tables away with his friends, ‘has invited us to a disc.’

‘Ohh.. So Amit has invited us, huh? Are you sure you want me to tag along’

‘Don’t be like that. I knew him in college. He is a good friend. Come now. I told him that I won’t go without my girlfriend. Don’t be a spoilsport. Anyways, it’s almost midnight. I want to get there before it closes.’

Shelly laughed hysterically. ‘Oh Mum! You should get out more.’ she said with pity in her eyes.

Shelly took their bags as Charulata hurried towards the exit.

They arrived at Royalty in Amit’s car. His friends followed in another car. There was a line of people outside the entrance. Fortunately, Amit knew some people and they were ushered in without the wait. The place was completely dark but the music had been audible to them even before entering. The overhead lights lit the disc a little bit, but not enough. There was a circular dance floor carved out in the centre. The place was full of people, most jumping around on the dance floor to the sounds of electro beats. The floor was vibrating with all the dancing which added to the euphoric ambience.

Amit guided them to a table in the centre of the disco. It was a semicircular couch with a round table at the centre. His friends arrived soon after. A couple of them left to get drinks. Charulata was already grooving to the music. Shelly was looking at her bamboozled. All she knew about Charulata had completely been toppled head over heels. Multiple trays of tequila shots were served at the table. Amit gestured three shots each for all of them. Charulata didn’t wait for the others to start and gulped her three shots one after the other with vanishing speed. The others followed suit, not keen to be considered light-weight.

Charulata left the table shaking and twisting her way to the dance floor. She looked back and indicated Shelly to follow. They started dancing on the fringe of the large group of people on the dance floor. Amit and his group joined them, jumping and showing off their naagin moves to everyone. Shelly felt a pull on her hand. It was Charulata pulling her deeper into the crowd. Shelly followed. She crawled her way through the rush of strangers smelling and tasting their sweat. Sandwiched between others, Charulata raised their hands in the air curling her body sensuously. And then with a change in music, she started jumping. 

‘This is the best night of my life’, Charulata shouted over the top of her lungs.

She held Shelly close and hugged her, dancing with her, moving her, pressing her own body to her’s.

Charulata moved her head back from Shelly’s shoulder and met her eyes. She was not smiling anymore.

Before Shelly could realise, Charulata leaned in to kiss Shelly. It was a lover’s kiss, deep and passionate. Shelly pulled out from the kiss. Charulata looked offended. Shelly studied her. And just as Charulata was leaning in for another kiss, she gasped loudly and all of the alcohol came scurrying out. Charulata puked all over Shelly’s dress and the floor around them was covered in vomit.

Shelly dragged Charulata out from the space before the other people started complaining. All her buzz left her. She followed the same way they had come. She found Amit. She whispered to him that they had to leave since Charulata was not feeling well. Amit understood and offered to drive them home. Shelly thanked but refused.

‘You enjoy. I will take care of her. Don’t worry. As soon as she is feeling better, I will ask her to call you’. Shelly said, waving.

Charulata was falling asleep. She needed to get her home. Shelly tried booking a cab but the app said that no cabs were available.

As she reached outside, she found that it was raining. ‘Just fantastic,’ she called out loudly.

At least the rain helped bring out a murmur from Charulata. Shelly asked one of the security guards to help her get an auto rickshaw.

The rickshaw jumped and jerked on the uneven roads not unlike the people on the dance floor. The wet and cold air hitting her face was helping Shelly maintain her senses. Charulata was tilting on her shoulder. She did wake up a couple of times to vomit out of the rickshaw but that was about it. 

They reached Shelly’s house. Shelly had to drag Charulata up to her house. The activity winded her. She took her straight to the washroom where she changed and washed Charulata as well as herself. She laid her on one side of the bed and finally allowed herself to take a long sigh. 

She looked at Charulata sleeping, standing over her. She was silent, breathing quietly, her chest bobbing up and down rhythmically. 

‘Did it mean anything?’ Shelly asked, whispering to Charulata not expecting an answer. She stayed there for some time and then headed to the other side of the bed to lie down. Sleep took her moments later.

Charulata woke up with a searing headache. She looked at the ceiling and then around the house sitting up in shock. She noticed Shelly sleeping next to her snoring mildly. The events of last night came to her. She remembered the kiss. She resigned her head in her palms. She searched for her phone to check the time. She saw her bag lying on the chair a few feet away. She got up and found it in her bag. She sat there shocked. There were nineteen missed calls from Ranjan. There was a message notification. She opened the message.

‘Mumu’

‘Please take me back. I love you and I miss you’

‘I am really sorry I never did show you any appreciation’

‘I am lucky to have you’

‘Please come back’

‘I am at our house waiting for you’

‘Please give me another chance’

She read and re-read the message a couple of times. She looked frantic. She looked at Shelly again and kept at it for a few more seconds. She had decided. Charulata picked up her bag, slipped into her shoes and left the house, ensuring not to make any noise.