FIFTY TWO
The next morning found Maya in bright spirits.
“Everyone has expectations of others, none of their own,” she thought, out of the blue. She chuckled to herself. Watch out or you'll soon be a philosopher, she thought.
She went to work in a regular fashion. She heard men and women gossiping. Some were cribbing and some were working so that they can be back home in time. Not that they wanted to be home, but because they wanted to be out of work place. Once home they wanted to get out of there too. It was getting increasingly difficult for people to stay stress free. She often saw men and women counselling each other. It's so easy to counsel others. Maybe because the intensity of the situation does not affect us so it is easy to give an unbiased view. Yet the one who is set on fire can't even manage a simple act of fetching water.
“Did you know I got selected for the conference in Italy,” Esha said, cutting through her thoughts.
“That's cool. So you would be travelling abroad, finally. I don't know when my chance will come,” Maya said.
“You know how I got it, right? By ass licking the old bastard,” Esha explained.
“You mean Sunil?” Maya chuckled.
Sunil was their branch head. Esha reported to him. Many people in the office believed he was extra attentive to Esha and that lead to malicious gossip, too.
“I was selected because the son of a bitch wanted to sleep with me,” Esha said. She would be brutally honest, even at her own expense.
“So you're going to sleep with him?” Maya asked, troubled.
“Does it make any difference to our friendship?”
“No.”
Esha was relieved. Sleeping with someone was no big deal, she told herself cynically. Some people use their talents or their education or their hard work or even their ability at bootlicking to get ahead. What's the big deal if you use your body? She asked herself. What's the difference?
“Hey, I forgot to ask you about last night's dinner. I hope you had a good time,” Esha said.
“Yes, we had a good dinner. Can't you make out bylooking at me, you silly girl,” Maya asked in reply. They both laughed.
“I'm worried that Raghu will come to know about this,” Maya said.
“Fuck him. What are you scared of?” Esha was suddenly angry.
“By the way, it's been some time since he came or called,” Maya said, worrying when it would happen next.
“Good for you,” Esha said perceptively.
Do you know Atul, she asked, lapsing into small talk.
“The tall guy who wears lovely suits?”
“Yes. He's getting divorced!”
“How do you know,”Maya asked.
“Sunil told me. Atul's wife is seeing Sunil!”
“God! What's happening?”
“Yeah. She told Sunil that she would be filing a legal suit against her husband. In fact, Sunil offered to sack him, but she did not want it. She wanted to screw his happiness and if he would be out of job there would be hassles in alumni demands,” Esha winked.
“She herself was also sleeping around, right?”
“So?” Esha asked with raised eyebrows. “Who said life is fair?” she continued. “There are women who keep living with men even when they cheat on them, because they want to be financially secure. They are also scared to leave as they don't know where to go. There are men who continue with their marriages for the sake of their children or perhaps they want to be socially acceptable,” she said.
“This thing you call love is all bullshit. It's all about power, money, sex and getting what you want. If love was everything, why would sex be the most popular word searched on the internet? If someone falls in love, they do so for their own sake. It is so common that we even have a genre of fiction called love stories. Yes, that's what love is! Fiction! How much more deluded can the world get?” Esha continued contemptuously. Maya was flabbergasted by the outpouring.
“I won't be having dinner with you and Reva tonight,” Esha said. 'I've a dinner meeting with Sunil?” she winked.
“Meeting?” Maya's eyes went a size bigger.
“It's about the trip to Italy,” she winked, “And Maya, stop rolling your eyes whenever I speak to you about him! He isn't worse than the others,” she declared.