Part 3 : " Falling for her Boss "

Swara knew Sanskar tweet was just him having fun, yet it felt awkward as she stood beside Ragini. Swara nearly declined to come  earlier but Ragini had been adamant.

"You are my best friend , you need to be there for me and of course fight with my family and keep them from marrying me to someone I don't like, if I don't like him.  Dadi said he is perfect for me but how will I know if wasn't even allowed to talk to him " Ragini had demanded from Swara that she had agreed for her friend's sake.

Ragini didn't share much information before hand except that her father was close with the prospective groom's family. So she was surprised to see it was the Maheshwari clan. Swara never knew they were close to Ragini's family.

Swara stood nervously trying not to stare at Sanskar and yet her eyes kept drifting to him. He was always watching her too which only made her flustered, any other day she wouldn't have felt this way but after those two tweets, she felt out of sorts.

It was ridiculous, no one gets this confused over a simple tweet and yet Swara was confused as if the lines were already blurred between them.

Then she heard Sanskar's uncle and her boss speaking up, she was thankful for the diversion until she didn't,  When Durga Prasad Maheshwari announced that Ragini and Sanskar will get married in a month.

Swara had been a horrible friend because until that moment, she had been too focused on Sanskar to not really see Ragini reaction to him. Obviously Ragini won't find any fault with Sanskar and yet it was all too sudden.

And as she suspected, Ragini face had gone pale at the news as if she wasn't ready to be married to a complete stranger.

" No Uncle, There will be no marriage in a month " Sanskar spoke up, surprising her with his outspoken nature. Then he turned to Ragini's father and apologized for being outspoken but he didn't want to mislead anyone.

And at that statement he looked at her. As if, he wanted to ensure Swara knew he has no interest in marrying Ragini.

" I promised Shekhar, that my son will marry his daughter and I will never go back on my word " Durga Prasad Maheshwari spoke up, as if he expected Sanskar to fall back in line .

" You didn't ask me first Uncle and so I respectively decline to follow your orders this time. This is my life and I followed all of your commands but this is not something I can accept just because you asked me too " Sanskar answered back. Leaving Swara wondering how his life would have been if he always followed his uncle demands.

" Fine, You can leave then ." his uncle shouted back. Swara knew enough to realize Sanskar's uncle was furious with his nephew . And Swara was disappointed to see Sanskar leave the house after those words. 

" Now what will we do ?" Ragini's father asked his friend who had been quick to replace Sanskar with his son Laksh .

" Papa, " Ragini tried to speak up, when their family went on fixing the alliance.  Swara looked at Laksh now who seemed pale as Ragini but unlike Sanskar, he hadn't voiced out a protest realizing his father won't take no for an answer from him.

And once the Maheshwari family left, Swara tried to speak on her friend behalf, asked them to at least consider a longer engagement. So Ragini and Laksh get to know each other. And somehow Ragini tears made her father relent as he agreed to talk with Laksh's father and ask for some more time, so Ragini can get to know Laksh better.

By the time Swara left, Ragini had been hopeful about her future and Swara was relieved that her friend was able to have the time to get to know Laksh and a small part of her more relieved to know that Ragini wasn't engaged to Sanskar.

Swara didn't know why she felt that way, it was just how she felt today. Swara hoped all this new feeling will disappear with time. Just seeing him in a setting outside office confused her, then there was his way of looking at her or maybe as always she was reading too much into it. Just like she did for those tweets 

But since sleep eluded her, she gave into the impulse and watched the TV serial Ragini recommended and almost laughed at the romance between the two of them. Swara didn't know why Yashika  liked her boss, he was always rude to her and yet she kept falling for him.  The show may have had lacked logic for the most time. But it still held her interest that  Swara watched over three episodes, before drifting off to sleep. 

The next day when she went to work, the office was filled with whispers as if everyone got some interesting news to share. Swara wasn't surprised that the whispers reached her with in few minutes as well. Apparently Sanskar was transferred to another branch office which was located in another city, and Swara who had witnessed the reason for the transfer was furious on his behalf.

His Uncle had no right to punish Sanskar this way, just because he said no to marry a stranger. Yet that was how Sanskar officially became not her boss. Maybe it was the reason, she grew impulsive enough to send Sanskar a direct message in his twitter account. It wasn't proper and it wasn't for fun, she was really upset on his behalf.

"Are you Okay ? I know this is awkward but .." she was typing and realized it was too awkward indeed. But she accidentally hit sent and blinked rapidly as if hoping he hadn't see the message yet. Then there were three dots that made her close the phone in fear and valiantly ignore her phone in fear. Swara had decided she no longer as a twitter account, and that going forward she will uninstall the app and pretend like this never happened. 

Yet her curiosity won out over fear, as she opened to see the messages, he left during lunch break. 

"I am fine Swara, and in fact I am happy to be away from the main office for awhile given the recent tension between me and my uncle .  As I am no longer your boss, there is no need for it to be awkward. What happened last night was what I call awkward not your concern for me. Thank you."

It was a simple enough message, that Swara relaxed that she didn't cross a line with her Ex boss. She didn't know how to respond back,  so she used one smiley emoticon and ended the conversation. Hoping her twitter adventures are over until two days later, there had been a message from him again.

" Laksh seems quite happy with your friend. They have been on a date last night and he seems to really like her " Sanskar had sent the message and Swara who had already heard about it from Ragini, was happy to learn Laksh liked her friend as well. Over the next two month they had this random message between each other. It never went for more than few sentence at a time but it was like talking with a friend and Swara was looking forward to his messages.

Somewhere down the days, they exchanged Phone numbers and taken to talking with each other , a short phone call from him would light up her world just as his message. So Swara let out a happy squeal of joy when he texted her, he would be coming back home tomorrow for Laksh and Ragini engagement.

Laksh and Ragini, had both fallen in love and are extremely happy to be married. At first Swara asked her friend countless time if she was agreeing with regardless of how she feels because she didn't think she have a choice.

" I Love Him Swara, yes I met him only recently but we get along well. I should thank his cousin for saying No to me, because imagine having the one meant for you close by and marrying his cousin because your parents wanted it, I would have been miserable " Ragini had told her and that was it, Swara was happy for her friend.

And tomorrow she will get to meet Sanskar again after two months. Yes like Ragini said anything can change with time , for years she had known Sanskar as her boss , and now within two months she thinks of him as a good friend.

                *******************

" Sanskar , take it from someone who is going to get married soon. You are making a mistake , how long will you wait , ask her out . You being her friend now is all well and good. But if you don't make any move now then you got only yourself to blame.

There is just no more excuses, you are not her boss anymore , you know exactly where she is now unlike before and yet you keep hesitating " Laksh , his cousin advised Sanskar, Probably because he was in love as well that he finally understood Sanskar enough to worry over him as well.  But the truth of it was Sanskar had already decided to ask her out today. So he let Laksh have his speech first before letting him know he was going to do exactly that, just to rile him up. What are cousins are for if not to keep their cousins frustruated with them at times. 

And when she walked inside their house, he couldn't take his eyes off her. When they finally had a chance  to be alone, he probably should have started with a greeting instead all he said was " Wanna go on a date with me ? " .

If she looked surprised by his words , she didn't show. But he knew even with all the years between them . He still couldn't plan it right , he was prepared for her, No . So was thrilled when she said Yes instead.

And that was how he began dating Swara, the girl he had a crush on, the woman he loved over the years and on their fourth date, he told her about his college and how he always knew her . She had been surprised as he expected, but also understanding and he learnt from her they had to sell the shop as her Dida got sick and her mom moved  to Dida's home town to take care of her . 

Then she called her mom and gave the phone to him to talk, and Sharmistha Bose was as always kind and happy to hear from him and was delighted he finally gotten around to ask Swara out.

The next month went smoothly enough, Sanskar made it back to town every weekend, Since Laksh Marriage plans were on full force. No one thought it odd until his bade papa changed his mind yet again and transferred him back to his old post which made him, Swara's boss yet again.

Sanskar had worried on how Swara will take the news as their relationship while lasted lot longer in his mind, was still new to her. She had accepted him as he is and yet the new conflict was something he worried over as he didn't know how she would react.

And so he was both relieved and happy that she accepted the change of circumstances with little to no complaint, it had been different and little awkward the first two weeks where Sanskar felt everyone were looking at them all the time.

Swara had demanded that they won't keep it as secret and so she faced most of  the difficulties and comments much to his anger. He wanted to step in and solve it out but she asked him to stay out of it.

" We know what we were getting into Sanskar, and It my decision to tell them.  So you don't get to be upset over it " Swara told him and that was it , and he loved her all the more for it. 

Exactly an year later from their first tweet, Sanskar proposed to her. Swara had much to his happiness said yes . When Sanskar first met Swara in his office, A part of him was so happy to meet the girl he loved from far away, and then when he realized she would be his employee , he had believed all his hopes were lost. As he spend over four years hesitant and worried about making his intentions known without being regarded as an blackguard. 

And Swara used to often joke that all it took was a one tweet from him to change everything, but sometime love is like that as well. He had boxed his love as crush when he first met Swara, he had thought her being his employee was the universe way of saying there weren't meant to be with each other. Because why else would he meet her for the first time after two years in his office and not anywhere else. But over the four years of his silence, he knew his heart was not just merely holding on to his crush, but it had been falling in love with her. Every single glance it got, her love for her mother, her confidence when she answered his questions in the interview, her helpful nature when he noticed how she went out of her way to help her colleagues, her kindness when she was the first one who volunteered to give her blood for one of the employee's wife and everyday he noticed something in her that only made him, fall head over heels in love with her.

And so he didn't intend to wait for long before sharing his life with her with the vows and bond that could last a life time called marriage. Still he didn't mean to rush her either, so he waited patiently for over an year before asking her the question that would change his life for the better. 

Life was as always complex, the problem with his Uncle and Sanskar didn't disappear in a day. His uncle didn't accept Swara at first either. But losing Swara wasn't an option, So Sanskar stood his ground and for the first time his Bade maa sided with him too. "Durga Prasadji our Son is in love, Don't stand in his way and I don't want to lose him " had been the words that finally cracked his Uncle stubbornness but also something that showed Sanskar, that yes he always longed for his parents but in a way his uncle and his aunt were his parents too. 

They may not understand him as his mother used to do so, they may not support him as his father tended to do, but they both loved him in their own way and they stepped up to take care of Sanskar when it was asked without a complaint, and Sanskar loved them too which was why he learnt how to compromise between his uncle's rules and his life. 

And when working for his uncle meant he get to spend 24*7 hours with his wife, then it didn't feel like a compromise after all. Because they may have taken their time to find each other. But Sanskar was finally a happily married man who felt like he could conquer the world for his Swara.

 And Regarding Sanskar twitter account which is no longer used to stalk his wife, had one tweet pinned for everyone to see. Because that is the only reply back from Swara that mattered to him the most 

"@SanskarMaheshwari The answer is Yes. "

P.S :" I am really not sure how it turned out , actually I haven't planned it out well. so sorry if it was rushed or not up to your satisfaction. The End , Let me know your thoughts and feedbacks. Click the thumbs up icon if you liked it "

Juanita Reid

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