Free Nights Like This by Divya Sood Page A

smiled at her.
    â€œPapi always says ‘Make sure your guests are hydrated.’ Don’t know why he says that though.”
    â€œI would like a Diet Coke if you have one,” I asked.
    â€œYou’re in luck,” she said, “I have one and exactly one Diet Coke.”
    She went to the fridge and brought me one of those glass bottles you see at Christmas time. In her other hand she had a dark brown bottle, the cap a striking blue.
    â€œWhat’re you drinking?” I asked.
    â€œYou ever have Malta?”
    â€œNo. Is it beer or something?”
    â€œNo it’s soda. You’re going to try it.”
    She sat on the bed and I followed her lead. She opened her bottle of Malta and held it out to me. I put it to my lips and titled my head back. It was sweet, very sweet and almost syrupy.
    â€œI don’t like it,” I said.
    She laughed and ran her hand through my hair.
    â€œIt’s an acquired taste I guess. Or if you drink enough of it as a kid, you end up liking it regardless.”
    â€œIt’s like Thums Up,” I said. “I’ll bring you one sometime.”
    She turned so I could see her, her face aglow in the faint light cast by the bulb overhead. We sat against the wall, our feet dangling from the edge of the bed. I took a sip of my Diet Coke. We sat for a long time without words. When our drinks were finished, Vanessa took the bottles and placed them by the sink. She walked back to me and looked into my eyes.
    â€œYou’re so tired,” she said.
    â€œJust think a lot.”
    â€œDon’t. Let’s watch a movie or something.”
    She put on the TV and lay down. I looked to the screen where Kung Fu Panda was beginning.
    â€œI love this movie,” I said.
    â€œSo do I.”
    While I loved an oversized cartoon Panda any day of the week, Vanessa was right, I was tired. I tried to fight off sleep but couldn’t.
    â€œSleep, baby,” Vanessa said as she stroked my back. As her fingertips slowly grazed my shirt, I remembered Aisha, a friendly maid we had in Kolkata who would perform this art for me, stroking my back slowly until I fell asleep night after night. At times I missed her stories, taken from her village, involving uncanny happenings and phantom presences. I started to think back to her scent, a hint of coconut from the oil she used to slick her hair. As I thought of Aisha, I finally I started to drift to sleep when I heard a phone chime. Vanessa rose from the bed and the bed was warm where she had been lying next to me. She followed the ring to the kitchenette counter by the fridge. She picked up.
    â€œHey baby,” she said. “No, I was just going to sleep. Can I call you tomorrow?”
    Silence.
    Then she said, “Okay, baby, I’ll call you. Love you too.”
    She closed the phone casually, threw it on the bed and then lay back next to me.
    â€œWho was that?” I asked.
    â€œThat was my situational partner,” she said.
    I exhaled a laugh.
    I wondered if I should care that she had a situational partner. But then I reminded myself that I was not here to be involved with her. I had a perfectly dysfunctional situation waiting for me when I returned to Anjali. I was here because of her body, her movements, the length and darkness of her hair. But despite my lies, somewhere within me, I knew this was not just another night with a woman. This was the prologue to a story that had yet to come.
    â€œHey, Jess?”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œYou okay? That didn’t faze you, did it?”
    â€œNo, I’m fine,” I said.
    She looked into my eyes and her lips kissed my face gently, every kiss making me desire her once again.
    â€œYou’re fucked,” she whispered to me.
    â€œWhy’s that?”
    â€œBecause there’s no turning back. You’re going to fall in love with me.”
    I didn’t answer her. I didn’t know if it was the silence around us, or the slight glow