The Other Man by Farhad J. Dadyburjor

Author:Farhad J. Dadyburjor [Dadyburjor, Farhad J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2021-10-11T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 39

When Ved stepped into the pub with its thick smoky air and dim strobe lighting, “Another Brick in the Wall” was blasting from the stereo. The place hadn’t changed at all in the last sixteen years. He and his oldest friend, Anaita, along with their circle of college buddies, used to get drunk here every Saturday night, acting like idiots, standing on the tables singing along to music they didn’t know the lyrics to. Ved couldn’t even remember the last time he’d eaten greasy pub food or been in a place with such loud music. This beat the stuffy fine-dining restaurants he frequented with Disha and his clients any day.

Carlos hadn’t arrived yet, so Ved took a seat at the bar, waiting for a table to open up. There were some single men sitting next to Ved, wearing disheveled shirts, sleeves rolled up, nursing jugs of beer, looking lonely and tired. The tables were mainly filled with college students, laughing loudly, their arms around each other. In a corner, a screaming group of women surrounded a woman wearing a plastic tiara and a hot-pink sash reading “Bride to be.” Waiters were careful to balance the trays of beer and cocktail peanuts as they dodged drunk people trying to dance. Finally, a corner table with two barstools freed up. Ved quickly made his way over, noticing some of the women at the bachelorette party check him out. One of them, slim with frizzy hair and a zebra-print body-hugging dress, followed him to the table.

Her words were slurred when she said, “Is this seat taken?”

Ved backed into the corner wall. “Um . . . yes, it is.”

She deepened her voice, trying to sound sexy. “What’s a handsome man like you doing at a bar all alone?” She stumbled over to Ved and put a hand on his chest.

Ved pushed away, walking around her. “I’m not here alone. Just waiting for someone.”

She pouted. “Come on, baby, let’s get out of here.” Baby? What?

“I think you’re confused, er, ma’am.”

“Ma’am?” She started giggling and grabbed onto the table to keep herself from falling. “You don’t need to be so formal with me, hot stuff.”

“Hot stuff, huh?”

Ved turned, horrified, to see Carlos standing behind him. Worse still, Carlos was smiling. “Ved, care to introduce me to this lovely woman?”

She was staring moon eyed at Carlos. “Now, tell me, who the hell are you?” She reached out a hand and ran it along his bicep. “Ooh, yeah. Come on, baby, let’s get out of here.”

Carlos burst out laughing and nudged Ved. Well, at least someone was enjoying this. “Lighten up, Ved.”

Ved frowned and turned to the woman. “Please leave.”

“I . . . am not”—she paused to burp—“going to let some . . . some . . . man try to tell me what to do.”

Carlos took her hand. “Are you here with anyone?” She pointed to the table with her friends. “Okay,” Carlos said, and he led her over there, gently murmuring about how she should try to get a good night’s sleep.

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