Ice cream 'Monday'
7. ‘Leap’ of faith!
Kirtana was mortified. She could not even bring herself to look up, she was too embarrassed to make eye contact, besides something had ripped, so now not only was she dealing with a big fall, she was also dealing with some sort of wardrobe malfunction. What else was this day going to throw at her? She had no idea.
She felt someone reach out for her arm and looked over her shoulder to see Anish was coming to her rescue. She knew this was more about him trying to look good in front of the clients and not so much about actually helping her, but she did not care. Kirtana was at least getting his attention this way!
The thought of playing unconscious came to her in a flash, in that way she could make it look as though she fell because she had fainted, but she had already moved slightly while Anish was moving towards her and faking it now, would make a bad situation worse.
“Are you okay?” asked Anish, showing more concern than Kit was expecting, as he helped her up... She straightened up and dusted her skirt and looked behind, to assess the damage very quickly..”Um well.. I can’t really say. would you all please excuse me, I am going to need a few moments to fix myself up!” she hurried up the stairs to the washroom on the second floor that had been completed and left open to visitors. She locked the door behind her, and kept her back to the door, and sunk to the floor, such that she looked like she was squatting… she would not be able to face Anish again. What he must think of her, she thought. Suddenly a voice in Kit’s head told her to get up and get herself back in her senses, after all this could have happened to anyone and it was not the end of the world. Her being a good sport about this would do her some good. She washed herself up, retouched her makeup, fixed her hair and fastened the rip in the slit of her skirt with a pair of safety pins she carried in her purse, and walked out of the washroom with more confidence in her stride that she was actually feeling!
By this time Anish and the clients had moved to a conference room available on the first floor to discuss some issues with the fixtures in the office. Kirtana had come to the site that day to inspect the fountain that had been set up in the main lobby of the office. With a large chrome and marble centre piece the fountain had been a recent find for this space and Kirtana had wanted to see if it tied in with the existing décor of the office. She had also to go over some agreements with the client, and they had decided that meeting in this office would be the best idea. So she went about the work she had come here for and before she knew it, it was almost 3 in the afternoon. The clients wrapped up and took one more look at the floor before leaving for a lunch meeting, and Kirtana was left there with Anish and a major awkwardness in the room.
“So you sure are imbalanced”, Anish said with a laugh. Kirtana’s face turned a hot red with embarrassment and irritation. Forget that he was someone she had started to like so much, at this point he was being an insensitive jerk. “ yeah.. well.. it happens to the best of us!”. “So how about some lunch? I am starving!” she continued. “No thanks. Why don’t you carry on? My friend lives in the area, I think I might go surprise her and join her for a quick bite. And I was just kidding about the fall, I’m sorry. So catch you back at the office then?”
CRACK...Thud..smash… that was Kit’s heart making sounds as she felt herself being let down... She had just casually asked how about lunch but did not expect to be turned down, especially for a ‘girl’ friend in the area. So much for taking a little chance. Well as far as he knew, she was just checking with him as a colleague, but for her this was like a slap on the face.. “oh...oh.. yes sure.. I’ll see you back in the trenches then.”… trenches?? What was she thinking? She never referred to her office as that! She took whatever little shred of dignity she had left and left the building. The car was her only refuge at this point from a horribly silly day at the site, and she had never been so happy to be locked inside, a slightly stuffy car, hot from the sun shining through the clouds that seemed to be clearing. But underneath the windshield wiper, was a ticket, just fluttering away innocently under the light breeze, at which Kit let herself curse loudly and hit her head on the wheel. She had not seen the NO parking sign about 10 feet from where she parked!! Bad day so far... would it get any better??
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Mali was singing to herself… she was happy with her chance meeting with a new person in the city and also that she could now start her new piece of art. It was nearing 6 in the evening and the sun was setting orange hues in the sky. Mali heard the keys turn at the front door, and knew that Kit was home!
“Kittttty”…she yelled playfully. No response! She darted out of her room to see a very defeated looking Kirtana slouched on her couch, just staring at the ceiling. “Hey I can keep calling you Kit, I just tried on something new for fun. Don’t let that upset you..” she smiled again playfully. “ Oh Mali, it’s not that, I had a really annoying day and I just need to get the edge off.. I am sorry to be such a downer, you seem so happy! I am deciding whether to drown my miserable day in a tub of ice cream or something a bit stronger… I have some vodka in the cabinet near the fridge.”
“I’ll get the ice cream!” said Mali. They sat down with two spoons and one tub and Mali listened as Kit went on to describe the various events of the day including getting stuck in the elevator at work, having to wait 45 minutes versus the usual two minutes at a fast food place, to get one sandwich, getting called to her boss’s office to explain why Anish was out of the office and few other mundane yet irritating happenings! And on her way back from work it had started to rain again, and Kit had worn white. Enough said…
Mali laughed. She laughed at each and every ‘bad’ luck event of Kit’s day, luckily Kit let Mali get away with this. Plus the ice cream was good. The surge of sugary goodness and creamy texture was helping her realize that it was just one of those days. And it would pass. She decided to take a nice long hot bath and later Mali and her were in the kitchen making some dinner. Kirtana loved jazz, she was playing her favourite tracks in the kitchen and the two were swinging slightly to an up tempo number that was playing.
“So Kit, I noticed the way you mentioned this guy Anish’s name. This guy means something to you?” she asked straight out. “Mali! Why would you think that… I said his name, like I said any of the others..” her voice trailed, guilty as charged..”Come on Kit, I think you can tell me..” “Yes I think I am attracted to him, but he’s not my type and besides I would never dream of going after a guy I worked with..”
“Who said you are getting married to him?? One date, a little dinner and entertainment won’t kill you? Besides what’s the worst that can happen, you’ve already fallen for him haven’t you?” she winked and laughed! “If it doesn’t work out at least you will know!”
“Mali, he will never ask me out. And he’s probably seeing someone.”
“So you ask him them…give it a try! This could be fun and it’s better to have tried and lost than to have never tried at all right?”
Kit considered this. She was letting herself get talked into this. Maliha was amazing but also dangerous. She was forcing Kit out of her comfort zone. Kit was considering all this as she heard her phone ring…
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