Meet Cute

The name says it all

Meet Cute

So she didn’t know which way to turn. St Theresa’s was apparently in some corner of the world that was the most difficult place to find.  The rickshaw wala had instructed her to take the third left and then turn right at the signal, but the old crowded streets of Bombay didn’t know such simple instructions. Was it the third tarred road or was it the dirt road that branched out of it? Nathalie drove around in circles for almost an hour growing increasingly frustrated. She had come here a few times in the last month, but never by herself. Her mother was too sick to make it today. It was one of her off days. She had woken up numerous times the previous night in cold sweat and had to rush to the bathroom. The medications had little effect on the nausea caused by the chemotherapy. But she had insisted that Nathalie make it. “It’s your cousins’ wedding. You have to go. Otherwise, what will people think?” exclaimed her mother. It’s not like anyone would miss her anyway. Ever since her father and Danny had passed away no one really expected or included Nathalie or her mother in happy family occasions, not even weddings. And Nathalie had never really made an effort either. But now, ever since her mother’s cancer had taken a turn for the worse, her mother wanted to make sure that Nathalie wouldn’t be alone after she died. And she made sure she either took Nathalie herself to all family gatherings or if she was feeling particularly unwell, she would make sure Nathalie went herself.

Nathalie didn’t have to be coaxed too much for this one. She had always liked Jeanette. Both of them were almost the same age and had gotten along famously when they were teenagers. Now of course things were a lot different. They had pretty much diverged in opposite directions after college, Nathalie, a quiet school teacher, and Jeanette a marketing executive who couldn’t stop talking. But that wasn’t the reason Nathalie didn’t feel up to this particular wedding. It was the fact that, Jeanette future husband, Stephen, was Nathalie’s ex. They had been together for three years when Nathalie was in college and as soon as she graduated, Stephen has broken up with her without so much as an explanation. She had spent the coming months crying herself to sleep. About a year after that, she had run into him at a coffee shop. They started talking over coffee and it was only then she found out that he had found someone else. She was hurt of course, but not as much as she had expected. Then just six months ago, Jeanette had called her excitedly telling her that her long-time boyfriend had finally proposed and that she would be getting married soon. Nathalie remembered that day when Jeanette had invited her and mother for a dinner party to introduce her fiancé to the family. It had been pouring for two days and parking the car in the cramped parking lot had gotten on her nerves. She had also slipped twice while hurrying up the staircase. Nathalie knocked on the door and was greeted by Jeanette’s mother. “Come in quick”, she whispered, “She’s just about to introduce Stephen to the family.”

“Stephen?”, thought Nathalie nervously, and as she quickly took off her wet shoes and made her way into the sitting room. Her stomach somersaulted severely as she entered the room. Yes it was Stephen. The same Stephen, who had trampled on her heart was now, in a few months time, going to marry her cousin, Jeanette. Beautiful, Innocent, Stupid Jeanette.

An angry horn from the truck behind her brought Nathalie screeching back to the present. She was still lost and her phone was out of charge to activate the GPS. She decided to calm her frazzled nerves. She had passed a Java Joe’s about 7 minutes ago. She indicated that she would be taking a u turn, swung the steering around and headed to the coffee shop.

As she parked the car, she thought if she was right in not telling Jeanette about her past with Stephen. ‘Of course it is’, she thought bitterly. ‘It would break her delicate heart’. And it wasn’t like they were very close either. Although they had been close in the past they only saw each other once every few months, mostly on account of some family occasion.

But sitting here in a coffee shop in the middle of Old Bombay she felt lonely and sad. She wished her mom was well and here with her. She quietly summoned the waiter and ordered a cappuccino to go. She then connected her phone to the store’s charging point and waited to Google map the hell out of this place. She had to go. Her cousin was getting married and she as the only member of her family who would be well enough (or alive enough!) to attend. She couldn’t let her feelings get the better of her. She quickly found the address, which was right on the main road not too far ahead. As she opened her purse to pay for her coffee, she noticed a well-dressed man walk in. He was tall, well-built and looked like one of those male professors; the female students would attempt to flirt with. He was asking the barista for the location of an address. “Excuse me; I’ve been looking for this place forever, where can I find St. Theresa’s Church?”

Nathalie quickly turned towards him “Hey, I’m going there as well”, she couldn’t stop herself from saying. ‘Oh great! Then maybe you can direct me?’, he asked smilingly. ‘Actually, if you are okay with it, I can drive you. I am going there myself. It’s my cousin’s wedding.’

‘Oh well this is absurd, it’s my cousin’s wedding too!’, he exclaimed. 

Nathalie looked confused for a few seconds and then said, ‘Jeanette is my cousin.’ ‘Oh ok, that explains it, Stephen’s mine.’

They looked at each other for a few seconds and then burst out laughing together. Nathalie led the way through the door to her car as the stranger paid for his rickshaw.

“Sorry, my name’s Jacob. I thought its best we at least now each other’s names.’ Nathalie couldn’t help a smile. “Nathalie’, she said. “How come you don’t know where your cousin’s getting married?”, asked Nathalie. “And why haven’t I met you before? I met most of Stephen’s relatives at the engagement party.”

“Well, actually I just flew in from the States, just this morning. It’s my first visit back to India in a year.” Jacob said.

“Oh, no one offered to come pick you up?”, inquired Nathalie.

 “Well seeing as the flight was going to land just a few hours before the wedding ceremony, I thought I would find my way myself, me being all independent and all.”

Nathalie looked towards him as he said this and saw that he was smiling from ear to ear. Apparently, he loved making fun of himself. Nathalie couldn’t help but smile back at this funny, charming man.

He asked Nathalie about Jeanette and then quickly started asking questions about Nathalie’s own family. As reserved as she was, Nathalie couldn’t help but open up to Jacob about her family, her brother dying in an accident, her father depressed and eventually giving in to heart failure, and now her mother fighting a losing battle with stomach cancer. She couldn’t get into too many details of course, as they were nearing the church. But Jacob’s inviting face and genuine smile made her want to keep talking. As she turned into the church compound, Jacob briefly spoke about his family. His mother had left home when he was four and his father had worked several jobs at a time to make ends meet and bring Jacob up. But he never lost patience and never had an unkind word to say to Jacob. No matter how exhausted he was.

Nathalie parked and turned off the engine. As they got out, and made their way up the stairs to the church, Jacob had a mischievous grin on his face. “What is it? Why are you smiling?, asked Nathalie. “Well I forgot to mention, I also know Jeanette. She was my girlfriend in college.”

Nathalie stopped walking. She looked at Jacob. He was smiling back at her. He looked down, took her hand in his and started leading her into the church. “Well, well, well”, thought Nathalie. Maybe Jeanette wasn’t so innocent after all.