Divya Anand - Written in the Stars

There are days when the stars align so that everything that can go right in your life, does. Today was most definitely not one of those days.

Shit, shit, shit, I cursed as I stumbled into Last Call, a brewpub in Koramangala, Bangalore. I was dripping wet, holding one broken slipper in my hand while struggling to pull the other one off without falling flat on my face. After getting the slippers off, I blinked away the water and looked around as my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting inside. I started to shake my head to get some of the water out of my thick, curly hair in a manner not unlike that of a shaggy dog. Drops of water went flying around.

Hey, watch it! snarled the guy I had accidentally splashed. He was sitting at a table by the door and peering into his phone as though whatever was on it was the real world, and the world around was merely an annoyance.

I... I began, ready to apologize.

Sorry, sir, a server cut me off, as he quickly handed the man a bunch of napkins and began wiping the table.

You dont have to be sorry, you didnt cause this deluge, he said pointedly, still staring at his phone. With that passive aggressive comment, my apologies evaporated almost instantly.

What an ill-mannered grouch, I thought.

It was quite unfortunate that he was such a grouch, because he had the kind of good looks that wouldve otherwise taken my breath away. I decided that he was one of those handsome men who have a terrible personality. I started to scan the pub for my friends.

It was Last Calls weekly trivia night, and our team, Whiskeypedia, was a regular contender. I had attracted some top quality trivia nerds in my life, and wed put together a team that could beat Bangalores best trivia enthusiasts hands down. We took great pride in the width of our knowledge of random trivia. I was the literature expert, thanks to my ability to read while I walked, even if it meant that I regularly tripped and sometimes broke my slippers. My best friend Kavya was a paparazzi-level expert of pop culture, with an extensive knowledge of both Bollywood gossip and Meghan Markle factoids. Shirin, my colleague, had the uncanny ability to remember almost every obscure historical fact shed gathered from the works of Manu Pillai, William Dalrymple, Ira Mukhoty, Alison Weir and the like. My other colleague, Upasana, was our current affairs expert and her brother Krish was our science guy. Krish was also supposedly our sports specialist, since he claimed he had followed cricket all his life. Over time, we realized he spent all his time drooling over cricketers and not paying attention to the actual matches, thus making sports our Achilles heel as the rest of us were equally clueless. We were all good at current affairs, and bonded over 1990s Bollywood music, which should be an official category but generally isnt.

Sitara! Over here, I heard Kavya call out.

For once, I was glad they werent sitting at one of the tables in the centre, but were squished into a booth tucked away into a nondescript corner. I wanted to get to our table without drawing too much attention to the fact that I was creating mini puddles on the clean wooden floor.

Now thats what they call commitment, folks! She doesnt let rain, shine or broken footwear stop her from getting her trivia fix, said George Cherian, the quizmaster, with a wide grin.

With that, my hopes of sliding into the booth unnoticed went crashing as every head in the place swivelled in my direction. I tried to appear inconspicuous, cursing my decision to wear jhumkas with tiny bells on them that morning. Thanks to my fashion choices, I was jingling with every step. I felt like a cow with a bell around my neck announcing my arrival. I shuffled over to the booth and settled in with a sheepish smile while a staff member came by to mop up the mess Id left behind.

What happened? said Kavya, as she took in my bedraggled state. As always, she was perfectly put together in her fitted shirt and black cigarette pants. She looked the spitting image of the high-flying, corporate executive she wasa senior manager of procurementat a leading consumer goods firm.

Upasana was already digging around in her bag, presumably for some kind of fashion appliance or accessory that could help tame the frizz bubble that was slowly growing around my head, giving me the appearance of someone who had accidentally electrocuted herself.

Worst day ever, I said breathlessly. I got into this endless meeting with Harsh, and it took forever to get him to stop talking so I could leave. I was already late, and then five Ubers cancelled on me back-to-back. I waited for an hour, and even then, I had to beg the last one to accept...

Thats a day in the life of Sitara. Whyre you barefoot? asked Shirin, cutting to the chase, as she was wont to do.

Havent you seen the jam outside? I got down two signals ago and began walking. And then, some moron stepped on my foot, so I tripped and my slipper broke just as it started to rain. Im telling you guys, Im Murphys favourite child. I had to run just to get here on time, I said as I reached out and took a swig of beer from Kavyas glass. I needed a drink and while there was a pitcher on the table, there were no spare glasses. I gestured at a server for another glass.

I remember telling you to leave work with us, said Upasana in an accusatory tone as she finally emerged from the depths of her ginormous bag, holding out a large clutch that actually looked like it could hold up my voluminous mane. I wondered why someone with a silky straight pixie cut would even own this clutch, but Upasanas bag was like a mini beauty store. I was yet to face a situation where she didnt have a ready solution to a beauty emergency. I took the clutch and began putting up my hair into a bun, thanking my lucky stars that I was saved the fate of looking like the guy from the erstwhile Center Fresh ad.

Harsh is claiming credit for all your work for his own promotion, Shirin said. And you cant even muster up the courage to ask him for yours!

Yeah, Ash has started off with his doomsday speech about how were low on cash so that our expectations are super low. After all the gloom and doom, you end up feeling like you should be grateful for even having a job, Upasana sighed.