Free When Only Love Remains by Durjoy Datta Page B

yes. Karthika is a little annoying but she has this quality about her, which makes him want to stick on, or maybe it’s just the fact that she’s an attractive singer. And you don’t meet a lot of people who are into this full time.
    Karthika drives away from Devrat’s apartment onto the main road and within fifteen minutes they are sitting in an ‘okay-ish’ pub in Salt Lake. It’s just starting to fill up. They order pints and discuss the posters of the music bands that line the walls around them.
    ‘You have a girlfriend?’ asks Karthika.
    Devrat shakes his head. The question has always made Devrat nervous and hopeful. Why do people ask this question? Does she fancy herself with him, which doesn’t seem like a possibility since she’s kind of old, but she’s also asked him out, so that’s in no-man’s land. Or it could be that she wants in on some gossip about him.
    ‘So you’re a player, aren’t you?’ probes Karthika.
    ‘Not really,’ says Devrat, and just to deflect the questions off him, he asks Karthika the same question.
    ‘I’m divorced,’ she says. ‘Got married at twenty-three, divorced at twenty-five and swore that I will never get married again, and I’m sticking to it for now.’
    Devrat drinks from his bottle. He has no intention to dig into something that he has no experience or interest in but she continues, ‘He cheated on me. And well, I cheated on him as well. But then it wasn’t why we broke up. We just didn’t love each other enough to stay together. Oh, and he was an asshole as well.’
    Devrat nods.
    ‘Also, he liked the wrong music.’ Karthika laughs throatily again.
    Devrat is still confused whether he’s attracted to her, because quite clearly, she’s not just an arrogant, perfectionist singer, but also someone who probably thought that love is the centre of the universe, and now doesn’t. She’s also damaged, cheated on, and dumped.
    ‘It happens,’ says Devrat. ‘I just got dumped recently. She’s engaged now. Imagine.’
    ‘Marriage is a sham.’
    ‘I’m too young to know about that,’ says Devrat.
    ‘It’s just a lot of lacklustre sex, responsibilities, fixed deposits, and house loans and questions about when’s the child coming.’
    ‘Maybe.’
    And just like that Devrat drifts off thinking about Arundhati and the boy she’s engaged to. He finds himself wondering if the two of them have slept together, and whether the sex is good, and mostly because he hasn’t slept with anyone since Arundhati walked out and is thinking whether sleeping with Karthika, if the chance arises, would make it any better.
    They both finish their beers and order for another one, and finish that as well, and order for another one as Devrat and Karthika make their trips to the washroom. They are too drunk to stop now. Then Devrat finds his phone ringing. It’s Mom. He’s sane enough to walk out of the pub and talk to his mom. His mother asks him if everything is alright, if he’s eating on time, and if they can come and visit. Devrat tells her that things are swell (and they are this time), and that she shouldn’t worry and maybe they can come next year when he shifts to a bigger, better flat. Her mother tells him that she misses him, and Devrat says the same. His finds his parents to be mighty cute and he hopes he can tell them that some day rather than just being a cause of worry for them.
    He staggers inside and finds the pub a lot darker than before. In the corner, where Karthika and he were sitting, is Karthika, now dancing to the slow beat of the song, her waist moving in perfect harmony, her lips mouthing the song, and he notices that she’s a lot more desirable than he earlier thought of her to be. Or maybe he’s just drunk.
    ‘You took long,’ says Karthika and puts her hands around Devrat’s neck, who’s almost immediately comfortable. He orders another pint of beer while he’s slow dancing with her. He would be lying if he says he hasn’t, in the past