Chapter 54
54
I ran all over the lobby like a loon and finally out of the building, scanning the taxi queue, hoping in vain to catch Suresh somehow, but he was nowhere to be found. Dammit. I decided to take a taxi to his place right away; I couldn’t let off now or I’d chicken out as usual. I needed to find him.
It was time to let him know that things between Eric and me were over and that he was the reason why, to apologize for always assuming the worst of him and clear the air, to kiss the heck out of him if he’d allow it, basically. In the cab, I read his note once more:
Andrea, I’m not sure how to tell you this, since we’re both with other people, but I’ve fallen for you and if you’ll give me a chance I would like to show you what you mean to me. I have to leave for New York on Monday 14 November for the next six months and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I think we have what it takes to make it work, no matter what.
You’re my North Star, Andrea.
When I got to Suresh’s, I was so eager to see him again that I didn’t even care that I was raising a ruckus; I just started banging on the door.
The door flew open and a bleary-eyed, unshaven, and wild-haired face that belonged to neither Suresh nor Anousha peered at me. “Who the fuck?” the man said. “What do you want? Whatever it is you’re selling, Auntie, I’m not buying!”
I squinted at the degenerate still in bed so late on a Monday
afternoon. He looked vaguely familiar. It took me a few moments to realize where I’d seen him before. “Chandran? It’s me, Andrea. From Catan with Suresh a few months ago.”
“Oh.” Chandran squinted at me. “Sorry. I thought I’d seen you before, somewhere. Wait, let me put in my contact lenses. Come in.”
I waited in the living room, wondering what was going on. What was Chandran doing at home? And where was Suresh? I’d assume he’d come straight home with his stuff from work. But the house was strangely still, and when I peeked into Suresh’s study, his personal laptop and all his inks were gone.
When Chandran came back I begged him to tell me where Suresh was.
“I don’t know, man,” Chandran said. “He didn’t say. I just got here two nights ago and the place was already like this, all packed up. I have the
worst
headache. It must be the jet lag. Y’know, I was in San Francisco for a Catan championship and . . .”
I tuned out as he droned on and on about a new point system or something, and tried calling Suresh; no luck, it kept going to voicemail. I texted him, the same “We need to talk” pleas, the same “It’s important” platitudes, to WhatsApp and all the other platforms we used. None of the messages were read. I checked the Read receipts and realized he hadn’t actually looked at his phone in over an hour.
Shit . . . could he have left for New York already?
“. . . And my sponsors are saying I’ll need to stay in the global leagues if I wa—”
I blew up. “Enough with the Catan already, Chandran! The world doesn’t revolve around your dumb board game! This is important.” I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Tell me the truth, you human wombat! Where is Suresh?!” I released him, panting.
Chandran sulked. “I told you,
I don’t know.
I have a spare key. I always crash here when I’m in town.” He brightened. “Didn’t you
know I moved to Estonia two months ago? It’s great, it’s like, there’s a whole community of Catan and Dominion and Minecraft players there, including a Church of Catan, haha . . .”
I left this font of information.
I asked the others to call him: Linda, Valerie, his friends from work (Mong, Kai), Ray, Chandran, Faisal. Nothing. It was as though Suresh had dropped off the face of the earth. I checked his personal Facebook, his personal Instagram, Twitter, even his Linked-In, for traces of his hide. Nothing. Not that I had expected much, as he didn’t really have an active presence . . . except . . .
“Ping!” I looked at my phone. A notification from Instagram—and a post from
The Last True Self!
Suresh had uploaded a photo of himself (his face obscured by a smiley-face emoji) on a plane:
On my way to the Big Apple. One step closer to TLTS graphic novel! See you in New York. #midcareergapyear #crushingit
Suresh was already gone. Can’t believe he was already on his way to America. I imagined him at Comic Con being surrounded by adoring comic book groupies, some of whom had to be hot Brahmin women from the right families. And maybe they played Catan.
I dashed away the tears falling down my face. I had lost: it was too late.