“No, don’t be silly. I told you. She’s, like, mad with worry.” He sighed heavily. “It will be better when she gets out of town with you. I’ll find it easier to manage in the hospital without all her drama.”
“I hate drama, too. That’s why I’m dreading traveling with her.”
“I understand. But Shannon really respects her.” Mohan pulled on his lower lip. “How many days do you think you’ll be gone?”
“I’m not sure. I spoke to my editor on my way here this morning. He wants at least a couple of stories.” Smita exhaled. “I brought my laptop with me today. I will need to work from the hospital this afternoon. I still have to read Shannon’s previous stories, and I probably need to talk to Anjali some more.”
Mohan raised his eyebrows. “Nandini will have all that information, yaar. Don’t worry.” He rose from the bench. “Maybe we should head back. But first, we can stop by a few clothing stores.”
“Oh, no, that’s okay,” Smita said hastily. “I can do this later. I didn’t mean for you to help with that.”
“Oi, Smita,” Mohan said, “take pity on a poor fellow. Don’t make me go back to the hospital just yet. I’m telling you, this surgery is going to take hours.”
As they walked toward the exit to the park, Mohan phoned Nandini. “Sab theek hai?” he asked her in Hindi. “Fine, fine, good. We will be back in a couple of hours. But call if you need anything before then, accha?”
As it turned out, Smita was grateful for Mohan’s company. The salesman at the store sized her up immediately and began to show her the most expensive and garish outfits. Smita protested, but the man ignored her. “Oh, bhai,” Mohan intervened after a few minutes. “Memsahib is not going to a wedding. She is visiting some very poor people in a village. So show her the simplest cotton outfits you have.”
The salesman looked so put off that Smita fought to keep a straight face. “Maybe madam should go to Khadi Bhandar,” he muttered, loud enough for them to hear. But he signaled to Smita. “Please to come this way, madam.”
In the end, they left the store with four identical shalwar kameez outfits, each in a different color. “I wanted to shop at Colaba yesterday but ran into the same problem,” Smita said.
Mohan shook his head dismissively. “All these people are chors,” he said. “Colaba has so many foreigners that it’s the worst. They just fleece people.”
Smita smiled. “I grew up in Colaba,” she said. “It was this way even twenty years ago.”
“Oh really? Which street?”
She hated herself for her loose tongue. Across the street, she saw a woman standing behind a wooden cart. “Oh wow,” she said. “Fresh roasted corn on the cob with lime. I haven’t had that in years.” She looked at him. “Can we get some?”
She knew that Mohan had seen through her charade. But after a beat he shrugged and said, “Sure.”
The old woman grinned as Smita bit into the corn. Smita caught Mohan’s eye. “Sorry. There’s so little street food I can safely eat. And I’ve always loved the spices they rub on the corn.”
Mohan reached for his wallet and Smita stopped him. “I’ll pay,” she said. “I traded money at—”
“Smita,” Mohan said. “Please. You are my guest.”
“Yes, but—” Smita said. She jumped as the old woman vendor interrupted them. “The man must pay, baby. It is our custom.”
“See?” Mohan said, smiling. “Listen to your elders.”
As they walked past the information desk in the hospital lobby, Mohan gave the woman receptionist a curt nod and flashed a slip of paper. “Doctor’s pass,” he said.
“And for madam, sir?” the receptionist asked. It was the same woman who had made her wait in the lobby the day before.
The change in Mohan was imperceptible, a slight straightening of the shoulders. “It’s okay,” he said. “She’s with me.”
“Yes, but sir. Visiting hours . . .”
This time, he stopped and looked closely at the seated woman. “It’s okay,” he repeated, and the woman nodded. “Come,” he said as he took Smita by the elbow and steered her toward the elevators. She knew what she had just witnessed. She stole a glance at Mohan. His entire demeanor was different.
“You know,” Smita said as they waited for the elevator, “would you mind if I sat in the cafeteria and worked on my laptop for a couple of hours?”