P

2

alm trees along the Marriott pool swayed green in the breeze. The 5 p.m. December sun lit up
the hotel’s cottages, casting gentle shadows everywhere. We went down the walking path, with
the hotel to our left and the Arabian Sea to our right. I felt overdressed in my sunflower outfit as other
hotel guests roamed around in shorts and vests.
‘So you just arrived yesterday from San Francisco?’ I said.
‘Yeah, landed last night,’ he said. ‘I wanted to maximize my leave. One week for the wedding.
A couple of days after that at home in Mumbai. Then Bali for our honeymoon. Used it all up, actually.’
The word honeymoon caused a jolt in me. Mini-me woke up again.
Honeymoon! After a dozen-odd Skype calls and meeting once over a day trip? A week in
Bali with this man I am walking next to. Will we be naked? Stop it, Radhika. Focus on the moment.
‘Must be tiring, flying so much,’ I said.
‘I saw you. Not tired anymore.’
I smiled. The man is trying. Maybe I should too.
Brijesh smiled back. He had innocent teacher’s-pet eyes. ‘How’s Facebook?’ I said.
‘I had a busy month. Just finished an enterprise project. So much work, front-end interfaces,
back-end systems, underlying APIs.’
‘APIs?’
‘Application programme interface. Set of routines, protocols and tools for building software
applications. How software components interact, basically.’
I nodded, having understood not a word.
‘You have no idea what I am talking about, right?’
I laughed.
‘I know. Not the most exciting job in the world,’ he said, his voice flat.
‘Come on, you work at Facebook. It’s quite cool.’
‘People think it is Facebook so there’s nothing to do. We post pictures all day or something.’
‘I am sure it is pretty high-tech behind the scenes.’
Should I talk about more personal stuff? He will happily discuss computer code for two
hours if I let him. Radhika, take control.
‘You like your job?’ I said.
Brijesh shrugged. ‘It’s nice. A lot of smart people. Always stuff happening. Pays well. Stock
options. Flexi time.. .’
‘What about that start-up idea?’ I said. He had mentioned setting up his own software company
when we’d met earlier.