Chapter Fourteen

                                    

                                          
Riyaan's colleagues practically drag him to the trade fair after work. But for two reasons he is not enjoying the trip at all: Nikita's passive-aggressive comments on his late arrival, and Ivan's possibly-changed perception towards him.
'You've been quiet today. Don't take Nikita so seriously, one time she sent me a video about time management, telling me how I can get work done in less time. And I asked her if I should watch that during work times, she was mad.' Plassi walks with him through the aisle of shops.
'Did you ask her for it?'
'No. She randomly texted me.'
'I swear to God, if I ever get an offer, even if it's just another hellhole, I'll take it. She's eating my head.'
'I will too. But your rent problems are now gone, right?'
'For now. But I wouldn't be so relaxed.'
'But I thought it's going well with your boyfriend.'
'He's not my boyfriend.'
'But you live with him!' 
'For convenience! I'll never be able to repay his kindness.'
'Just marry him, bro.'
'What do you mean?'
'Marry him to repay his kindness. Here, come. This store looks like it sells gold rings.'
'Sure, why not? He is dying to get married to me.' They go into the store. Fixed Price, No Bargain. The large words are visible even from the outside of the store. 
'Hi, what do you guys want to see?'
'Can I get something to say thank you?' He might not be able to repay his kindness, but the least he can do is say 'thank you'.
'Like a card?'
'Not really. Something that is more lasting.' He knows a thank you card wouldn't make it to the room where Ivan keeps all his collections and different stuff from other people. 
'Here, you can go for a silver or gold locket like this, can do some engraving too.'
But he ends up getting a circular piece of copper, it's not the design that necessarily caught his attention, but it's the price. 
'What do you want written?'
'Say "Thanks for letting me stay"'
Another guy in the shop buys a ring, for his girlfriend. He buys a rather affordable ring too, apparently, he buys a ring for his girlfriend every year until the real one comes along. It's their thing. 
'We are all fools in love,' the guy says, laughing like a fool in love.
He wonders how Ivan acts when he is in love. Is he the kind that sprawls on the beach with his lover, playing with dirt and sand like kids would? Does he do silly, embarrassing stuff to get the attention of his lover, and make him laugh? Or would he actually respect and be sincere about something as silly as buying rings every year? He knows that Ivan has been in love, except not with him. 
He types a message to him, better than wondering is asking: what do you think of couples who buy each other rings every year until the real one comes along..?
The dance of the cursor continues as the sound of engraving gets more aggressive on the metal. He backspaces. Instead, he sends:
Riyaan: came out shopping with friends. might be late for home.
The engraving came out wrong. It now says Thanks for letting my stay.
He is a little late when he arrives home, but Ivan's response still doesn't arrive, let alone the man himself. It's been 5 hours since he sent him the message and it's usual time for him to come home from work. He waits for him trying to focus on Hollywood classiscs, but on second thought, he also puts on his earphones - letting the beats of Kalax's Calling calm his nerves. He also brings out a book from the shelf so that it doesn't look like he has been waiting for Ivan for two hours.