Half Girlfriend

‘What’s with Mr London? What was he lifting you for?’
Riya laughed. ‘Oh, Ro. Ro is an old buddy. He’s mad.’
She even had a nickname for him, Ro. It means ‘cry’ in Hindi. I
wanted Ro to ro.
‘Are you jealous?’
‘Not at all.’
‘Yes, you are.’
‘Whatever, let’s go back in.’
She stood up.‘You liked my parents?’
I nodded.You can’t say you didn’t like someone’s parents.
‘Good. Come, let’s go in before they start getting ideas.’
Ideas? What ideas? I wanted to ask her.
We walked into the garden.The music drowned out my thoughts.
The younger crowd danced around the pool. Rohan danced with
Riya’s friends. He called out to us. I wondered if I could pretend to
dance and kick Ro into the water.
Of course, I didn’t do that. I refused to dance. I couldn’t embarrass
myself in front of this crowd. In Dumraon, we danced like mad
people. We played loud music and moved our bodies frantically. Also,
men and women never danced together. Here, Rohan danced with each
girl for a few seconds. Sometimes, he would hold their hand while
dancing, and the girl would be all giggles. What is so funny about a
rich guy holding your hand? He even held Riya’s hand once. She
twirled around him. My internal organs twirled inside me. I couldn’t
do anything but look away.
A waiter came up to me.
‘Are you Madhav jha, sir?’ he said.
‘Yes,’ I said, surprised he knew my name.
‘I am from Dumraon, too.’
‘Oh, how do you know I am from there?’
'The guard outside told me. Nice to meet you, sir. Feels like I’ve
met someone from home.’
The waiter spoke to me for few minutes, shook my hand and left.