Sunayana knew she was late for the luncheon but she didn’t hurry. It was after all just the usual crowd and no one special was expected. And after what had happened to the magazine just after the first two issues had come out, there had been no contact among the small editorial group. The content plan for the forthcoming numbers lay frozen on the working editor’s PC, the chief editor and the publisher had had bitter fights over issues and non-issues. And as the writer handling several crucial pages, Sunayana had felt cheated. She had submitted matter for several issues in advance, working very hard to fine tune her writing. This was a new magazine, but she had been given quite a lot of leeway in suggesting topics and inclusions, and it had felt nice to be listened to with respect. The Chief Editor had been a bit stuffy, and didn’t quite like her enthusiasm; but the publisher looked like he wanted to absorb her in the editorial team. So she did give her very best. After all this could be her first regular job! The first two issues did feature her contributions but after that the magazine had been frozen! And no payments had materialized to date, in spite of several reminders. Now with several pages of hard work in the cold storage, Sunayana had felt hope drain. And then arrived Ramesh’s call! ‘Can you make it to lunch tomorrow at the Swagat?’ Ramesh had asked, and Sunayana had felt a glimmer of hope. Ramesh was the publisher and perhaps, he was about to pay all of them! She had asked who all would be there, and was told no one special was coming. ‘Just us’, Sunayana had felt that her hope had just been confirmed. Just the group? Good! She hadn’t meant to dress up for the occasion; it was just her ‘officially formal’ red and cream printed silk and she wore it with the pearls. The lunch was after all not a formal one. And climbing up the stair case to the first floor, she glanced casually at the mirror on the door, was her hair all right? ‘Hmmm, I do look rather good!’ she preened herself at the image for a few seconds and blushed when a young man walking down the steps passed her with a smile at her obvious pleasure. Sunayana had not dined at Swagat before! It was one of the premium restaurants in the city and the middle class crowd that she mingled with could never afford the plush surroundings, not even when one of them was splurging. The white and gold turban of the doorman bobbed and she noticed his quick eyes take in her appearance and wave her to the small tables next to the counter. But almost immediately a smile appeared and he waved her again in the opposite direction with “In there Mam”. Beyond the turban she saw Ramesh signaling a greeting from the half-closed door of the dimly lit “Cubicles”. It was almost chilly in there after the afternoon sun and once she adjusted to the difference in lighting, she noticed that the cubicle had just another empty table, set to perfection. There was no one else but Ramesh seated at the table. Whatever happened to the rest of them? The waiter hovered near the table and Sunayana saw that there was already one menu card before Ramesh. He was obviously stalling the orders till the others came in. “Would you like a juice or something, Sunayana?” Sunayana looked up, surprised, it was nearly two’ o’clock, and she was already quite hungry; a juice now? That meant that the meal was yet far away! Well, if so, she would need that sustenance. “Yes please, a pineapple for me!” Ramesh nodded at the waiter and they were alone again. Ramesh’s cell pealed out in church bell tones and he excused himself and talked in low tones, and as Sunayana was left idle, she took up the menu card. Wow, this place was certainly expensive, that pineapple juice would be billed at 75 rupees…I suppose one should think in dollars, just about $2. Not bad, she grinned to herself, now that she was doing outsourced work; she had started converting and comparing the money in her life to dollars. The menu card was interesting at least, the starters were all at fancy prices, and had fancy names, ‘drop downs’, ‘sweet peace’; the main dishes had mouth watering descriptions attached and mind boggling rates against them. She turned to the desserts page and almost drooled at the pictures, ice creams were her weakness and the list was heavenly and well, exorbitant! Sunayana wondered why Ramesh had chosen to lunch them at Swagat if he was in financial trouble. From what she had heard the Coffee house was more the suited scene. “Well! How goes things?” Ramesh drew a long breath and leaned back on the leather draped chair, clicking his cell. “Nothing special, just my research and stuff, how goes it with you?” Sunayana was faintly conscious of Ramesh switching off his mobile now and he looked up to answer her, “Huh! Oh, yeah, Ok I guess… I mean, it’s tough….I have been going through a lot of problems these days…you know some of it…” Ramesh flashed his teeth, and Sunayana felt uncomfortable for no reason she could think of…and the question came to her mind again, where were the others? The waiter arrived with a tall slim glass of frothing yellow pineapple juice, decorated by thin chunks of pineapple fixed on the edge. ‘Quite impressive service’, she thought. She looked at the watch, it was fifteen minutes past two, and suddenly remembered the mobile that Ramesh had switched off, how would the others communicate now? “Ramesh, aren’t the others a bit late? You know, I can’t stay for long, I have to be at the library by 3.30 or latest by 4!” Ramesh looked up with a half-smile and spoke rather lazily in low tones, “Which others do you mean?” “The others of the team of course, Jayant, Brijesh and Anupama” “I invited only you, Sunu…oh, may I call you that? Sunayana is a sweet name but quite a mouth ful! In any case did I tell you that I had invited the whole lot of them?” “Yes, I mean, No! Well, No to my short name, I hate that particular abbreviation and Yes to the invite question. You did tell me that no one special was invited!” “Yeah, I said there would only be ‘us’, that is you and me, didn’t I?” “Yes, I mean NO; you didn’t tell me that only we would be here, you didn’t!” “You are rather confused today, my girl!” Sunayana seethed inwardly at the endearment but kept her cool. What exactly did this guy mean by inviting her here and calling her his girl? She knew how to deal with that alright, she didn’t spend five years at a co-ed without learning to deal with the other gender! And she did exactly that the next moment. “Well, I forgot to ask you Ramesh, how’s the new baby? Your second child is a girl, and what have you named her?” The comment made its mark and she watched the smirk disappear from Ramesh’s face as the question jolted him into the realty of the family waiting at home. “She’s fine, and we haven’t named her yet, my wife is keen on burdening her with a traditional goddess type name, but I want a new name, a sweet one like Sunayana, you know”, the smirk was back on his face. Sunayana racked her brains for the next comment, should she make an excuse and leave? Or ask for the money next? No, this could lead to other pastures, she needed to tread cautiously! “Ok, so why did you call me here? Are you reviving the magazine?” “Well, of course I am thinking of that everyday! If only that trickster Jayant wasn’t shouting from the roof top, I would have made you the editor and done with it! By the way, you look very nice today, Sunu!” “Sunayana please, Ramesh, I hate that name! My old tuition master used to call me that, and he was not exactly every one’s favorite! Have you solved your financial problems then? I heard the magazine was shelved because of some cash shortage?” “Well, initially that was one of the reasons, but now I have located a source to keep the mag going for the next one year’s issues. Now, the problem is that Jayant! He is making demands of increased payment, which is not exactly fair. He has done no work on the magazine as you know, just kept on taking money from me for six months, and finally left me high and dry when I stopped paying him.” “Well, you still haven’t paid us all, Ramesh!” Sunayana added softly. “Of course, I mean to, I mean I have asked my wife to lend me her jewels. I can pawn them and make the required amount in a day. But, you know Sunu…err… Sunayana, she and I aren’t getting along very well these days, so you may yet have to wait a few more days till I persuade her.” The last words in a low and intimate tone. The waiter came back and ominously placed the menu in front of her. Sunayana took one quick decision. “Ramesh, shall we order now? I feel quite hungry!” “Oh! Yes! How rude of me, please do, or do you want me to order? Have you come here before?” “I haven’t, but that doesn’t make me scared, you know! Well….” She turned the pages and scanned the sheets with her pink finger nails locating the prices beside each item on the menu and gave out the order. Sunayana could watch the respect grow on the otherwise impeccable expression on the waiter’s face. She also watched Ramesh out of the corner of her eyes and saw him swallow once and then several times, but trying to remain calm. She watched him check his purse for the credit card and breathe out a little. The meal was superb and Sunayana felt a slight belch rising up her throat and politely smothered it behind a cupped hand. Ramesh had eaten very poorly and Sunayana chided him playfully for that. The waiter now appeared with the menu card again. “Dessert, Mam?” “Sunayana, you don’t take dessert I remember”, Ramesh turned to the waiter and said, “That will be all, she is on a diet”. The waiter’s eyes popped out but his training held him cool, he turned to go back. Sunayana merely smiled. The finger bowl and the saunf arrived soon along with the bill and she peered over the edges and read the amount, looking up to watch Ramesh’s skin turning red round the cheeks. He fumbled in his pocket yet once again and was delicately trying to count the notes inside while holding the credit card in tact with the forefinger. Both the waiter and Sunayana hid smiles and exchanged a fleeting conspirational glance, then looked away gravely. “Hey, I think I will take a bit of dessert after all, Ramesh, I have a sweet craving today! Could you bring me the menu once more please?” the last to the waiter. The golden trio ice cream and fruit kulfi looked every bit as grand as the bill it brought soon after and just when the totaled stapled bills were kept before Ramesh, Sunayana’s cell rang out. “Hallo, Deepthi? Oh, yes, I am coming alright, be there in five minutes, please wait, eh? Don’t go without me!” “Ramesh, I really have to leave now, Thanks for that lovely lunch, and do give my respects to your wife, will you? Bye, now I really have to rush!” The door swung close behind her but gave her just a glimpse of Ramesh’s face; that was enough for her. Sunayana’s daily diary recorded two words that night, “Payment Received!”                                     *** The End ***