My So-Called Bollywood Life(30)

    “I never got the chance.”

The carriage jerked, and Dev gripped the front of the car. “What’s happening?”

They had reached the top again, but since they stopped this time, Winnie was able to admire the view. She could see for miles in either direction. The full moon brightened the sky, and she could see twinkling lights from downtown Princeton in the distance.

Dev, on the other hand, looked like he was going to throw himself off the top. Before she could stop him, he peeked over the edge, and swore expressively.

“Hey!” She grabbed his face. He jerked before their eyes met. The tension holding his body rigid began to loosen.

Click.

Maybe it was Dev, or maybe it was the feeling of weightlessness as they rocked in the air, the cool breeze gently circling them, and the sounds of the carnival below. Her thoughts scrambled as his gaze dropped to her mouth.

Her eyes drifted shut, and she bridged the distance between them, touching her lips to his.

In that brilliant and sparkling moment, Winnie realized that no Bollywood romance could have ever prepared her for Dev Khanna.





10





CHENNAI EXPRESS





Conflict resolution comes from two sources in mainstream Bollywood: deus ex machine, i.e., the gods, and when a friend makes an offhand comment. I mean, it’s cool and all when a god intervenes, but no one knows more than me the importance of friends in times of crisis.





RAJ: Is it true?

WINNIE: Is what true?

RAJ: You and Dev Khanna. Are you guys hooking up?

WINNIE: WHAT? Where did you hear that?

RAJ: Some of my friends saw you making out at the carnival.

WINNIE: …

WINNIE: It wasn’t making out. We kissed. And why do you care? You have a new girlfriend, Raj.

RAJ: Do you like him?

WINNIE: Not even gonna answer that one.

RAJ: Jenny and I broke up for good.

WINNIE: PLEASE don’t tell me it’s because of me.

RAJ: It’s FOR you. Dev tried to hit on you when we were fresh. Not gonna let him win this time either.

WINNIE: I have no idea what you’re talking about.



How could Winnie’s perspective have changed with one stupid kiss? One stupid, brain-melting, mouth-numbing kiss? She left her phone on top of her bag and lay flat on her back in the empty studio she’d taken over after school. Bridget sat at her hip. They were surrounded by the color-coded index cards that Winnie used to brainstorm for her blog reviews. For some reason, that didn’t matter now. None of it did.

“Bridget, what do I do? Seriously, this wasn’t supposed to happen. When we got off the ride, we didn’t talk at all. It was so awkward. We found you guys, and then we left. He didn’t even say goodbye to me. Why would he kiss me and then not say goodbye?”

“Technically, you kissed him first.”

“He hasn’t texted me, either. Why won’t he text?”

“And say what? ‘Thanks for sucking face while I was losing it on a Ferris wheel. Super sexy of you.’ The guy has some pride. Ooh, what if the bracelet is keeping him away? Like a bad-luck charm. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that you still had it.”

“I wasn’t ready to get rid of it when I was burying Raj’s movies. Now Raj doesn’t want it back. Bracelet aside, Dev could’ve texted something. My phone isn’t even on silent anymore, in case he does send me a message.”

    “That’s a big risk for you. Especially with Raj blowing up your cell.”

Winnie groaned and covered her face with her hands. “You know that old movie I once told you about, the one from the eighties where the hero and heroine were like forbidden lovers? One of Salman Khan’s earliest films.”

Bridget rolled onto her stomach. She pulled a lock of hair over her shoulder and started braiding it. “I think you told me about it, but oh, wait, every Bollywood movie that you love and share with me has a forbidden love story.”

“Completely untrue. But this one does. Anyway, the heroine tries to communicate with the hero, Salman Khan, by tying her letter to the neck of a pigeon.”

“Oh, I do remember!” Bridget said. “The subtitles were so hysterical. The chorus was literally translated as ‘pigeon, go, go, go, pigeon, go, go, go’!”

“My point isn’t about the pigeon. It’s that the hero and heroine had so much faith in this stupid bird to get their message to each other. Meanwhile I can’t trust the world’s most reliable and fastest wireless network with one stupid text.”

Her phone beeped again, and she snatched it up. When she saw Raj’s name, she sighed.

“Raj again,” she said. “I can’t believe he and Jenny are over.”

“Focus on the thousand other things you have to worry about. Forget about Dev’s kiss and Raj’s breakup.”

    “How would you do it?”

Bridget shrugged. “I wouldn’t. It’s an impossible idea. I just figured saying it would make you feel better.”

Winnie smiled and gave up trying to pry advice out of her best friend. Instead she asked, “How’s Henry?”

“You know that eighties movie where they fell in love after knowing each other forever?”