"Hey! Reeja here. Remember me?"
Raghu read the new text from an unknown number, unsure who this Reeja was.
"Who's this?" he replied.
"Your cousin. Reeja Balakrishnan."
Ah yes, Raghu remembered. His second uncle's daughter. He hadn't heard from her in years.
"Oh hi Reeja, what's up?"
"I'm in town for a coupla days. Wanna meet?"
Raghu was in bed, groggy from the night before. Way too many drinks. He contemplated whether it was worth getting up and going out, to meet up with a family member he wasn't particularly close to.
"Sure," he replied, eventually relenting.
"Great! I'm currently in Koramangala. Maybe we can grab dinner this evening?"
"Sounds like a plan", Raghu texted, and half-regretted saying so. The last thing he wanted was to deal with someone from the family, and hear more crap from them about how he wasn't being responsible, he wasn't taking care of the family, how he wasn't getting married et cetera.
He had no love lost for his family. Especially Uncle Balakrishnan who was, to put it mildly, a huge piece of shit. He had had so many arguments with the uncle, and there were times when Raghu wished he could retort with his fists.
The last thing he wanted was this little snitch of a cousin to snoop in, and report back to the family, about Raghu's wastrel life. And a snitch she was, he remembered. A gangly bespectacled kid who was way too snooty for her good, she was the family tattle tale. She busted him for smoking when he was 12, and ratted on him when he was drinking with his buddies outside the school, when he was 16.
Bitch, he muttered. He went back to sleeping off his hangover.
***
Pizza Nation was, as usual, packed to the rafters. A popular pizza joint in the city, Pizza Nation was where throngs of university kids wolfed down cheap pizza before heading to the bars on the next street. The atmosphere was loud and raucous, and Raghu wondered why his cousin chose this place. So unlike her, the nerdy little shit.
He scanned the area to spot someone who'd look like Reeja, likely some stuck up stern-faced girl in classes. Most tables were groups of loud teenagers, bragging about skills in cricket, how much money their parents had, and how they totally went "all the way" with their girlfriends...
"Raghu!", piped a voice from behind him.
He turned, and his jaw nearly dropped. A girl was sitting by herself, and waving at him. And what a girl she was! Wavy hair bouncing around her shoulders, she was wearing a simple red dress that was modest, but showed off her beautifully curvaceous figure.
"R-Reeja?"
"Raghu! So nice to see you again!" She grinned, and got up to hug him.
"S-same."
She hugged him affectionately, and Raghu couldn't help but feel her ample bosom pressed against his chest.
"Wow Reeja, I wouldn't have recognized you! You look great!" Raghu said, now settled down with some coke and pizza.
"Haha, thank you. Everybody's been saying that," Reeja said, flashing a smile that nearly blinded him.
"I mean, no shit! When was the last time I saw you? Four-five years ago?"
"Four. A lot changes," she winked. Her perfectly made-up eyelashes fluttered, making her eyes look even more gorgeous.
"I was half-expecting that four-eyed snitch I used to hate!" Raghu quipped.
"Well," she said, "I was that girl, until last year." She bit into her pizza, and Raghu wondered how she made something as messy as eating pizza look elegant.
"What changed?".
"I discovered boys, haha. Or rather, I wanted boys to discover me."
Reeja was in town, scouting for potential universities to join. She had just completed her secondary school, and now 18, she wanted to pursue her studies in a big city, and more importantly, in a city far from home. She wanted to taste the freedom of independent living, far from prying family eyes.
"I feel you, Reeja. That's the reason I left."
"I know. The family talks about you a lot."
"Nothing bad, I hope?"
"Who are you kidding, Raghu? You're the bad boy everybody warns their kids about."
"Not surprised in the least. How's that piece of shi- I mean, how's your dad?"
"Don't be mean, Raghu. You know he means well," Reeja quipped, playfully slapping his arm. Raghu slyly observed how her boobs jiggled as she moved. Good god, she was a knockout.
"Dad said I shouldn't meet you, or talk to you. He said you were a bad influence, and that I should have nothing to do with you," Reeja said, circling a finger along the rim of her coke.
"You should've listened, y'know. I'm the Big Bad Wolf. Rawr."
"Oh stop it," she giggled, "I just wanted to see how you were doing. I've been stalking you on your insta, and you live such an amazing life!"
That, he did. His instagram feed was peppered with trips to the mountains, to music festivals, and cool things he pretended he did. He got the Living His Best Life vibe pat down.
"Well, now that you're in Bangalore, you can too!" Raghu raised his hand for a high-five, and Reeja enthusiastically high-fived back. "Yes!" she trilled, "I want to do ALL the things! I want to do what bad boys do!"
"You've come to the right guy, then," Raghu grinned, his roving eye taking in her beauty and her bombass figure.
***
"Wow, that was so gross!" Reeja exclaimed, making a face, as she put down her shot glass.
The Mezcal bar was the go-to place to start the night. To load up on cheap drinks before hitting the club next door.
"Heh heh, yeah that's the whole point. It's supposed to kill brain cells, not taste good," Raghu said, wincing as he felt the strong tequila burn his insides all the way.
"Who knew that I'd be downing shots with my snooty four-eyed cousin! What a strange world!"
"Stop it, you!" Reeja playfully pushed against him. "I've always wanted to hang out with our resident Bad Boy."
"Careful now. Hang out with him too much, and I'll be making you do some bad, bad things," Raghu replied, ordering some more shots.
"I'm counting on it," Reeja winked.
Was she hinting at something, Raghu wondered. They cheered, and downed another shot.
They had a ball of time. Four shots down, they laughed at old memories and family drama. And relationships.
"Shalini is pregnant now, you know," Reeja, leering goofily.
"Good for her! Just so you know, I'm definitely not the dad!" Raghu retorted. Shalini was Reeja's best friend's sister, who ran the tuition center. One time, Raghu dropped Reeja off at the tuition center, and had a chat with Shalini. One thing led to another, and they started fucking.
It was a bit of a scandal in their small town. Raghu recalled that Reeja was super mad about it, because she couldn't hang out with her best friend anymore.
"I have to say Raghu, I think that's what accelerated my sex education. I looked up so many words that day," she laughed.
"Glad to know I helped."
"So... are you seeing anyone?" Reeja asked, waving at the bar tender for another round of shots. Damn, she could pound down drinks like a champ, Raghu mused. She'd been doing this for a while, clearly.
"Not right now, no."
"What about that French girl I saw on your insta?"