Half Girlfriend

‘Thank you, Madhav. I look forward to reading your work,’ he
said.
‘Thanks, Olara.You’ve been a great guide these past few month...’
‘Well, you are a bright man. Did you finally apply for a permanent
position?’
‘I leave for India next Sunday.’
Olara smiled and patted my back.
I returned to my desk. My phone had a missed call from a contact I
had saved as ‘Erica,Tribeca Nation singer’.
I called her back.
‘Hi,’ I said as she picked up the call.
‘Hi. Mad-dav, right?’ she said.
‘Yes, the Indian guy you met at Tribeca Nation.’
‘How are you? You were looking for someone, right?’
Warmth tingled through me. I told myself to calm down. I had
promised Shailesh I’d quit.
‘Yes. I was.’
‘Any luck?’
‘Nope,’ I said.
‘Okay, so I don’t have much. This will confuse you even more.
But there could be a new tall Indian girl who sings.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I overheard.’
‘Who from?’
‘Customers at the bar.They spoke about this good-looking singer
and were trying to guess her nationality. Indian features, but quite fair-
complexioned, that’s what they said. So it reminded me of you.’
‘And? What else did they say?’
‘They said she sang quite well. Jazz, a bit of rock...’
‘What? No, I mean where? Where did they hear her? Did you ask
them?’
‘Well, yes. They said at the Union Square Farmer’s Market on 14th
Street.’