One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat

another slice for him, just in case.
I reached home. Debu was sitting on the sofa, hypnotized by ESPN.
‘What the.. .you are here?’ I said. He stood up and came forward to help take away the pizza
boxes and my handbag. I removed my winter coat and placed it on the hanger.
‘I just arrived. Ten minutes ago. Honest,’ he said.
‘You ate dinner?’ I said.
‘No, not really. Just some bar snacks.’
‘Come, let’s eat. I got pizza,’ I said.
‘Thanks, baby.’
‘Don’t “baby” me. Just eat.’
‘What? You upset? Everything okay?’
Is he a moron to ask?
I didn’t respond. We sat facing each other at our small white dining table in the living room. I
took out the pizza slices from the boxes and put them on plates. Strings of molten cheese hung from
slices.
‘Looks yummy,’ he said.
I looked at the cheesy pizza slice and thought of Amanda. I bet she doesn’t eat this stuff. No
wonder she looks like she does. My anger multiplied at the thought of eating this calorie-bomb
dinner. I pushed my plate away.
‘What, baby?’ Debu said, mouth stuffed with food.
‘I am not hungry.’
‘Why?’
‘I can’t eat this. Too fattening.’
‘You only bought it, baby.’
‘Yeah, because I am stupid. Okay? And stop calling me “baby”.’
Debu put his pizza slice down.
‘Listen, I know you are upset. I didn’t come to your party. But I had a really rough day.’
‘So it is about you now?’ I said.
‘They took me and two of my juniors off the Under Armor account.’
‘What? How?’ I said. ‘That was your account!’
‘I told you. Politics. They called it a reshuffle. However, they stole it from me.’
‘It all happened today?’
‘They announced it today. But they had plotted against me for months. All planned.’
‘Sorry to hear that. You still have other good accounts, right?’
‘I am fucked.’
I didn’t know what to say. He had told me about the politics in his group for months. The
initial excitement Debu had had about working in advertising had disappeared. Many in his team often
excluded him from client meetings, a worrying sign.
‘What were you doing outside the office then?’ I said.
‘I was with my people. Trying to figure out what happened.’
‘Did you?’
‘They fucked me. What is there to figure out?’
‘So you could have come for my office party instead of a drink with the boys after work.’
‘Radhika, is your office party all you care about?’
‘No. But I am wondering if you care about me at all.’