Shouldn’t we at least get a dining table?

Your boss will be here in a few hours for dinner. First of all, you couldn’t say no and now we realize that we don’t even have a dining table. But of course, why do you care because you never wanted that raise.

THE DINING TABLE BY RANJAN ADIGA 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 16

Earlier that day, Rajesh’s boss had said he would drop by for dinner. “Just like that?”

“I couldn’t even come up with an excuse.”

They spent a few minutes discussing what the visit could mean. A promotion perhaps—Kabita felt her husband had been owed one for many years.

“Knowing him, this is probably his way of firing me,” Rajesh said.

This boss had a reputation for randomness—if he met Rajesh at the coffee pantry, he’d strike up strange conversations about science fiction, but the very next day he’d treat Rajesh as if they’d never met before. Rajesh’s colleagues in the ad agency gossiped about the boss’s wild ways, the unreasonable working hours, the fact that some days he walked into office tipsy with wine and order…