Munni's LIA - A Serial Fiction - Episode 24

Note: All characters and venues are totally fictional; any semblance to real persons or places is merely coincidental. 
Synopsis: Reddy and Shanti go out to breakfast and come to an understanding. 

Munni's LIA - Episode 24

Coming to an Understanding

Shanti woke up a little before 7 AM. Hazy sunlight was already seeping through the window shade in her room. She turned towards Reddy to see how he was doing. He was sleeping on his stomach, head turned away from her. One of his legs was outside the cover sheet. She sat up, slid down the mattress' end and got on her knees on the carpet. She adjusted the covers over his leg. Then she went around his mattress and sat on the floor, and studied his sleeping face for a while. She wanted to touch him; but stopped short. "I love you…you…Reddy, Gandi, Junior, Munni, Boy, Munagala ", she said softly. Then, after a few more minutes of studying his face, she got up slowly and tip-toe'd out of the room.

  

Shanti went to the bathroom, washed her face, brushed her teeth and went to the kitchen to make coffee. She noticed Patty's shoes were right next to Reddy's at the door. She thought of what Patty would surely ask her later in the day, and giggled. Then she pondered if Patty would wake up before Reddy and insist on seeing his gashed corazón(heart); however, Patty always slept until noon on Sundays. Then she went to confessional once every three months and got reprieved for slothful behavior. Patty often said that catholic priests were such big sinners themselves, they could easily understand any indiscretions in their flock.

After mixing two mugs of coffee with milk (Reddy didn't use sugar at the restaurant, she remembered), Shanti went to her room to see if Reddy was still sleeping. She set the coffee mugs on her desk and sat next to him on the floor, looked at his face again and wondered whether she ought to wake him or not. Eventually she decided to wake him, thinking, he might have things to do on a Sunday afternoon at home. She placed her hand on his back, pressed and shook him gently and bent close to his face and called out his name. He woke up and turned over; her hand moved from his back to the front and remained on his chest. "Good morning", Reddy said, taking her hand in his. "Good morning…I made some coffee", said Shanti. However, Reddy tugged at her hand, and she let herself fall beside him. He hugged her and said,"..a better morning than yesterday's". Shanti blushed as his arm had brushed over her chest to give her a pleasant jolt. She asked,"……..do you have to get home and do something this morning ?". Reddy said,"…no..nothing in particular…I have to rake and bag leaves in the yard…and that is about it….oh…and then do laundry…".

After a while, they both got up. Reddy moved the mattress back on top of the other and Shanti made her bed. Reddy sat on the floor next to the bed and enjoyed his coffee. Then he said,"..why don't we go out and have breakfast ….may be at the same Seva…place". Shanti thought that would be a good idea, and besides, that would get Reddy off the premises, if Patty were to wake up early just that once, and got all excited by her venezuelan TV star look-alike in his red silks. Reddy went to the bathroom, got cleaned up and dressed. Shanti got got dressed in jeans and full sleeve kurthi. They walked to the car to put Reddy's bag back in the trunk and then walked to the restaurant. Shanti was happy and even somewhat thrilled at the speed of the developments: Seva restaurant seemed like the scene of a crime.......of heart gashing.

In just one week, Sunday-to-Sunday, they had met for the first time, went on a nature-walk, thought about each other a lot, she suffered a bout of cosmetology, he worked in cleaning and cooking at home, she tasted his biryani and swooned at his notice of even her nails, then they went to the movies, she saw him cry at the movies, they held hands in the dark and later when it was not so dark, then he introduced her to his basketball buddies and to tio/tia Pepe, she tasted wine for the first time, kissed him for the first time, then brought him home to sleep in her room and then there they were, walking hand-in-hand into the same restaurant they had first met, just a week ago. 

After they were seated, Shanti ordered for both of them: cheese & vegetable omlette, hash-browns, asparagus, pancakes, carrot juice and coffee. Shanti asked for dining plates to share the dishes. As Reddy watched her with wonder and enjoyed the proceedings, she divided, arranged the food on the plate and placed it in front of him and then served herself. It was as though she had already assumed the license to take care of him. As before, they were seated at an angle, rather than facing each other; now, her knee was touching his under the table and no excuses offered.

When Shanti was in the middle of her breakfast, she suddenly exclaimed,"oh my god, I totally forgot ". She was to have skype-called her brother at midnight. Reddy produced his cell phone and asked her to call them at home, since it was still sunday evening in Chennai. He dialled the prefix, 0119144, and asked her to dial the home number and talk to them. She called her home, and talked to her brother and apologised for forgetting to log into skype. Then, when they continued to chat, she laughed out at a few things he had said..with a few "really"s and a few "sooo sweet"s. Then she talked to her mother...in Telugu. Reddy continued eating, but heard snippets. Shanti held his left hand and smiled at Reddy, as she said to her mother,"...no..no he had not called..", and then," probably busy...amma.....ok..ok..I will be polite and respectful.....yes..amma....not flippant...I promise....that is...if he calls..". Soon after that, she finished her call and gave Reddy his phone back with," thank you...they were a little worried that I wasn't logged on at midnight".

She was still smiling about something and ate the rest of her food, chuckling to herself. When she was done eating, she sipped her coffee and asked,"you told me that you heard about my GRE score from your mom...so... when did you... last talk to her ?". Shanti's eyes were twinkling with mischief. Reddy surmised that Shanti too might have very likely heard from her mother "about his score". He decided it was time to own up to the Chennai plot. He said, "did you, just now, lie to your mother that I had not called you yet ?". Shanti laughed at that sly confession, and said,"well...mister...I couldn't tell her about you on my spare mattress last night, can I ?". Reddy saw her point, and laughed. Shanti continued,"...so...tell me..junior...what do we do now ?". Reddy joined the game and said,"..you know...if we were doing the girl-dekko in India, we will be asked to go and have a private chat on the terrace...we haven't done that yet...have we ?". Shanti said with all mock seriousness,"you are right..we haven't done that...so when do you think we could do that ?". Reddy responded,"let us not do it today... how about we have lunch on saturday and then we have that talk....I will tell you all about my life...and you can tell me whatever from your life you think I should know.... ". She thought about it and asked,"...whatever they are, we'd work it out, won't we ?". She sounded genuinely serious, like she had called off their game. Reddy dropped his playful tone as well, when he replied,"...of course we will...because, the truth is, I love you....very much..and I want to marry you...". Shanti was touched, her eyes turning soft, she said,"...but..but..aren't you supposed to ask me that on saturday...in that terrace talk ?". Reddy laughed and said,"...call this a preview, then.". "Do I get any say-so in the matter?", Shanti asked. Reddy replied,"on the marriage part...I truly hope not...but you can choose the date..". Shanti laughed, but she had also been pondering the things she had to say to Reddy, about her vitiligo condition and how it will worsen as years go by.

NOTE:Amitabh Bachchan is a vitiligo (leucoderma) sufferer. His goatee is a handy camouflage. Michael Jackson was the most well-known american celebrity who suffered from vitiligo. In India, in some ethnic groups as much as 8% of the population is said to suffer from this condition. For women in India, this condition imposes harsh costs in opportunities for employment, friendships and of course, marriage prospects.

Shanti had taken digital photos of herself, and photoshopped some of her white patches to larger and larger areas and made some images. Those would require a lot of love on Reddy's part even to look at on a computer screen, let alone on her body. She wanted him to see at least a couple of those pictures and know how she might change, and reconfirm his love for her. For now, their plan for saturday made, they completed their breakfast and returned home. When Reddy said good bye to her at her door, she said,"..Reddy...please dont worry too much, I love you and we can deal with whatever..". Reddy kissed her gently and said,"yes, I know.. I love you too", before he walked to his car to drive home. 

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