17-02-2019, 12:50 PM
The Sales Star Ch. 01
It was a Saturday morning in our apartment in the Bombay suburbs. I sat on the edge of the bathtub with the pregnancy test in my hand, wrestling between anticipation and a looming sense of disappointment. Finally the stick's display changed. I sighed and got up. As soon as I walked out of the bathroom, my husband Manish looked at me with raised eyebrows. I shook my head.
"Are you sure?" Manish got up and took the pregnancy test from my hand.
"I have done this over a dozen times now, Manish." I said, controlling my irritation.
"Well, we just have to keep trying and praying." Manish said, throwing the stick in the trashcan.
"We could also get tested and figure out if......"
"NO!" he snapped at me. I looked away. There was an awkward silence, something that had been happening al too frequently in recent days. Then Manish took my hand and said,
"Ketaki, we just have to be patient. We don't need to get paranoid and start letting doctors tell us nonsense."
"I guess....."
"Have faith in God. He will give us a baby when he thinks we are ready for it."
Not the religious bullshit again! I was about to say something nasty when the phone rang. Manish went to answer it. It was his sister calling from California. We spent the next hour or so talking with them. After that, I went to the kitchen to start lunch.
------
Monday afternoon. I sat at my usual corner table in the break room of our office with an lunch box. I was just picking at the food, in no mood to eat it. My close friend and colleague Bhakti joined me as always. We had been friends since business college and had been working in the same major enterprise solutions company in Bombay for almost 7 years. I was in sales and she was in HR so our cubicles were in different areas of the office. We only got time to talk at lunch and after work.
Bhakti reached for her lunch box and said to me,
"So Ketaki, judging by the mildly morose expression on your face all day......."
"Yes, still no baby."
"Did Manish agree to getting tested?"
"Nope, still the same old bullshit - leave it to God. It is now almost two years since we started trying. Any normal person would seek medical answers. But hubby dearest prefers to dabble in the divine. Did I tell you about how he wants us to go to Karnataka and visit the temple of some fertility goddess?"
"Yeah." Bhakti said shoveling a big morsel of rice in her mouth. "Why don't you just tell him about your test?"
About six months ago, when Manish had gone out of town for a week long conference, I had gone to a clinic to get myself tested. After a veritable battery of tests, the doctor's diagnosis was unambiguous. There was absolutely nothing wrong with me.
"Mrs. Joshi, there is no possible medical reason for you not getting pregnant after over a year of trying." the doctor had said. "Common sense points to only one possible reason - something to do with your husband. Why don't you set up an appointment for him to come in?"
I had nodded and promised the doctor I would do that. If only I could do that. But Manish wouldn't even entertain a conversation on the topic. On a couple of occasions, he had used it as an excuse to start a big fight.
"I don't know Bhakti." I said, finally willing myself to eat a few bites. "Every time I bring up the topic of us getting tested, he flies off the handle or starts spouting religious nonsense. I think he feels emasculated. Maybe he is scared of the truth being what it seems to be - there's something wrong with him. If I tell him my tests were normal, it will confirm his fears and lead to an almighty row."
"Surely he knows there are other ways. Artificial insemination, sperm donors, maybe even adoption...."
"Of course. But he is being really stupid by not even taking the first step. I will be 32 in a few months. Manish will be 35. The clock is ticking in more ways than one. But he is still in denial."
Bhakti nodded and kept eating. We were silent for a few moments. I was about to say something when the break room door opened.
"Hi Ketaki. Hi Bhakti. You're both looking exceptionally lovely today!"
The soothing baritone voice that greeted us belonged to Uday, the newest superstar in the sales team. He had joined our team from a competing firm six months ago. He was young...26 years old, and very dynamic and likable. Since joining, he had exceeded his sales quota by a huge margin every month, and brought in a dozen major accounts that we had been unable to crack for many years.
"Hi Uday." Bhakti and I said in unison.
"Just getting a diet coke." he went to the fridge and took a bottle out. He then walked over to our table. "That looks yummy!"
Uday was looking at the strips of spicy fried eggplant in my lunch box.
"My husband made it. it's his own recipe. Spicy eggplant fritters." I said.
"Looks and sounds delicious. I love eggplant!" Uday said.
"Would you like to taste some?" I politely asked.
"Sure!"
I pushed the box forward.
"Ketaki, would you mind feeding me a piece? I have to go send some faxes right away, and don't want to get my hands messy."
Bhakti suppressed a smile at my discomfort at Uday's unusual request.
"Please?" Uday said sweetly.
"Okay." I shrugged and picked up a fritter. Uday bent forward and opened his mouth. I put the fritter in it and he started chomping on it.
"Ummm...ohhh...wow! That is so amazing...mmmmm!" Uday closed his eyes and made weirdly appreciative noises that belonged more in a bedroom than a break room. "Thanks Ketaki. Gotta run. Bye. Bye Bhakti."
And Uday sprinted out of the room. After he closed the door behind him, Bhakti and I started laughing.
"He likes you. wants you." Bhakti said with a giggle.
"Oh shut up! He knows I am married."
"As if that's ever stopped him!"
Bhakti was right. Uday's reputation in the office went beyond him just being a star salesman. He was also known as a bit of a playboy. He was handsome, with chiseled features, tall, well-built, very intelligent, and very easy to talk to. He was also quite the charmer, and the gbangvine was rife with rumors of his dalliances. If the rumors were to be believe, he had slept with 4 different women in the office, of whom 2 were married.
It was a Saturday morning in our apartment in the Bombay suburbs. I sat on the edge of the bathtub with the pregnancy test in my hand, wrestling between anticipation and a looming sense of disappointment. Finally the stick's display changed. I sighed and got up. As soon as I walked out of the bathroom, my husband Manish looked at me with raised eyebrows. I shook my head.
"Are you sure?" Manish got up and took the pregnancy test from my hand.
"I have done this over a dozen times now, Manish." I said, controlling my irritation.
"Well, we just have to keep trying and praying." Manish said, throwing the stick in the trashcan.
"We could also get tested and figure out if......"
"NO!" he snapped at me. I looked away. There was an awkward silence, something that had been happening al too frequently in recent days. Then Manish took my hand and said,
"Ketaki, we just have to be patient. We don't need to get paranoid and start letting doctors tell us nonsense."
"I guess....."
"Have faith in God. He will give us a baby when he thinks we are ready for it."
Not the religious bullshit again! I was about to say something nasty when the phone rang. Manish went to answer it. It was his sister calling from California. We spent the next hour or so talking with them. After that, I went to the kitchen to start lunch.
------
Monday afternoon. I sat at my usual corner table in the break room of our office with an lunch box. I was just picking at the food, in no mood to eat it. My close friend and colleague Bhakti joined me as always. We had been friends since business college and had been working in the same major enterprise solutions company in Bombay for almost 7 years. I was in sales and she was in HR so our cubicles were in different areas of the office. We only got time to talk at lunch and after work.
Bhakti reached for her lunch box and said to me,
"So Ketaki, judging by the mildly morose expression on your face all day......."
"Yes, still no baby."
"Did Manish agree to getting tested?"
"Nope, still the same old bullshit - leave it to God. It is now almost two years since we started trying. Any normal person would seek medical answers. But hubby dearest prefers to dabble in the divine. Did I tell you about how he wants us to go to Karnataka and visit the temple of some fertility goddess?"
"Yeah." Bhakti said shoveling a big morsel of rice in her mouth. "Why don't you just tell him about your test?"
About six months ago, when Manish had gone out of town for a week long conference, I had gone to a clinic to get myself tested. After a veritable battery of tests, the doctor's diagnosis was unambiguous. There was absolutely nothing wrong with me.
"Mrs. Joshi, there is no possible medical reason for you not getting pregnant after over a year of trying." the doctor had said. "Common sense points to only one possible reason - something to do with your husband. Why don't you set up an appointment for him to come in?"
I had nodded and promised the doctor I would do that. If only I could do that. But Manish wouldn't even entertain a conversation on the topic. On a couple of occasions, he had used it as an excuse to start a big fight.
"I don't know Bhakti." I said, finally willing myself to eat a few bites. "Every time I bring up the topic of us getting tested, he flies off the handle or starts spouting religious nonsense. I think he feels emasculated. Maybe he is scared of the truth being what it seems to be - there's something wrong with him. If I tell him my tests were normal, it will confirm his fears and lead to an almighty row."
"Surely he knows there are other ways. Artificial insemination, sperm donors, maybe even adoption...."
"Of course. But he is being really stupid by not even taking the first step. I will be 32 in a few months. Manish will be 35. The clock is ticking in more ways than one. But he is still in denial."
Bhakti nodded and kept eating. We were silent for a few moments. I was about to say something when the break room door opened.
"Hi Ketaki. Hi Bhakti. You're both looking exceptionally lovely today!"
The soothing baritone voice that greeted us belonged to Uday, the newest superstar in the sales team. He had joined our team from a competing firm six months ago. He was young...26 years old, and very dynamic and likable. Since joining, he had exceeded his sales quota by a huge margin every month, and brought in a dozen major accounts that we had been unable to crack for many years.
"Hi Uday." Bhakti and I said in unison.
"Just getting a diet coke." he went to the fridge and took a bottle out. He then walked over to our table. "That looks yummy!"
Uday was looking at the strips of spicy fried eggplant in my lunch box.
"My husband made it. it's his own recipe. Spicy eggplant fritters." I said.
"Looks and sounds delicious. I love eggplant!" Uday said.
"Would you like to taste some?" I politely asked.
"Sure!"
I pushed the box forward.
"Ketaki, would you mind feeding me a piece? I have to go send some faxes right away, and don't want to get my hands messy."
Bhakti suppressed a smile at my discomfort at Uday's unusual request.
"Please?" Uday said sweetly.
"Okay." I shrugged and picked up a fritter. Uday bent forward and opened his mouth. I put the fritter in it and he started chomping on it.
"Ummm...ohhh...wow! That is so amazing...mmmmm!" Uday closed his eyes and made weirdly appreciative noises that belonged more in a bedroom than a break room. "Thanks Ketaki. Gotta run. Bye. Bye Bhakti."
And Uday sprinted out of the room. After he closed the door behind him, Bhakti and I started laughing.
"He likes you. wants you." Bhakti said with a giggle.
"Oh shut up! He knows I am married."
"As if that's ever stopped him!"
Bhakti was right. Uday's reputation in the office went beyond him just being a star salesman. He was also known as a bit of a playboy. He was handsome, with chiseled features, tall, well-built, very intelligent, and very easy to talk to. He was also quite the charmer, and the gbangvine was rife with rumors of his dalliances. If the rumors were to be believe, he had slept with 4 different women in the office, of whom 2 were married.
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