‘I am a Bihari. This is Patna. My hometown is not far away. I
should ask you what you are doing here.’
‘Work. My company sent me.’
‘Work?’
‘Yeah, you didn’t think I could work?’ Riya said.
‘No, nothing like that. What kind of work? You moved to London,
right?’
Riya looked around the hotel lobby.
‘Let’s talk properly,’ she said. ‘You had dinner?’
‘No.’
‘Hungry?’
I could have eaten the flowers in the lobby at this point.
‘A little bit,’ I said.
‘Let’s go to the coffee shop.’
‘Okay, but can I use the toilet first?’ I said.
- We entered the coffee shop. The waiter from the morning was still
on duty. He gave me an all-knowing srnile. I smiled back.
‘You found madam,’ he said. Ass, I thought.
‘What?’ Raya said.
‘Nothing. Yes, for me and madam. Table for two, please. ’