Chapter 16

Fairy dust

Luvkush Apartments, Parijat West, Chembur East, Chembur West, Sindhi Society, Kukreja Saideep,  Shubh Sadan, AltaVista she looked at over 25 flats all in one afternoon

Debashish was not at all happy with her unexpectedly taking time off on a Tuesday, after taking time off on the previous Friday

They were neck deep in the customer billing litigation issue

She was expected to work long hours for the next couple months to deal with the flurry of customer disputes

“I am trying to move so I have to look for a new place”

“U were living in your Dad’s house no?”

“Umm.. I am”

“Is he kicking you out?” Deb was quite amused by his pot shot

“Umm.. no”

“then?”

“I think I have to be closer”

“Chembur to Juhu is closer than Bandra West to Juhu? I did not know that, thank you, I have only been born and raised here” he shrugged

“I meant closer to Jaidrith’s counselor”

Phew… she had come up on the fly with that

She congratulated herself on that one

“Does he not go to school?”

“Oh he does” “he does” “I am…” (she began to talk about Canyon Oaks and then shut up quickly)

“Then why do u need to be near a counselor, wouldn’t you be taking him over the weekends for appointments right?”

“Unless there is a law that I have to live in bandra only I would like to move” she finished it with a nervous cackle

He was pissed

He didn’t expect a snarky response

“So will you be applying for  time off?”

“Yes…” she nodded trying to get up

She had more than enough time off saved up, between sick leave and vacation days she had over 52…

She didn’t go anywhere a far cry from her wild partying days 9 10 years ago

She hung with the kid on Sundays and every school/work holiday

“U have to take a whole day off” he sneered

“I can even do two… Deb” she nodded

“Take it all” she muttered leaving his room and politely shutting the glass door, and waving a polite goodbye

He stared at her face wondering how he could run over her again

She couldn’t drag Jaidrith to 25 houses, he would hate it, he would complain, he would want snacks, he would panic upon finding she was bringing him to a much smaller house

Most apartments were between 575-900 sq feet, that was ½ or more than her current place

No balcony either, just large wall to wall window with grill and rods and cloetheslines sticking out

The bathroom was tiny

Some apartments were beautifully renovated

They ran between 60 lakhs to 2 crores

She had nowhere near 60 lakhs

She had saved around 18 in the last 9 years because she didn’t have to pay any rent to Sagar

The biggest chunk from her pay was saved up and put away

She still needed a loan

The five star hotel did not pay her Rs.30 lakhs a year or anything

She picked  one in Abhay Society in Chembur East, it was owned by a Catholic teacher, she wanted to sell and move to Panaji

Mrunal wanted to rent first, but the flat was bright and airy and the bedroom did seem bigger than most

Mrs Gomes was over 70 with twinkling eyes and a sharp sense of humor

She pulled the property dealer’s leg multiple times

“Do u have children?” Mrs Gomes quizzed

Mrunal nodded nervously

She didn’t know if it was going to be a deal breaker

“I love kids…. After I retired I have been watching two girls, very very dear to me…” Mrs Gomes reminisced

“Oh really?” “My son is a handful”

“Oh u don’t know these girls… their Pappa is very useless, he spoils them”

Mrunal smiled fondly

“Men think little girls are fairies… uski wife ka dimaag out kar deta hai wo”

“Oh really?”

No parent ever thought of HER as a fairy

“Yeah I watched the oldest when she went to have her second… they are like my grand babies… I call her my niece” Mrs Gomes waddled with tea and neatly cut cucumber butter sandwiches and cookies

This was a first, no other home owner was home or so hospitable

The property dealer’s agent Mr Parekh was impatient

Mrunal felt a pang

She wanted to be entertained

“Ek min huh?” she begged the agent

“To main aapko, Shiv Sadan mein milta hai? Haan?” he took off, just grabbing FOUR sandwiches in his had

“Aap log sandwich bahut sai banata hai”

“Chai ganda banata hai kya hum?” mrs Gomes screeched

Mrunal leaned and began to munch

She wondered how it would be to have Mrs Gomes continue to live here and come home to sandwiches and tea every evening, she mentally waved a magic wand

It was cloudy outside, the first drops were super sized

Mrs Gomes showed her school photo albums on her ipad

And pictures of the two girls she watched, and two boys, from different homes at another time

“They are my favorite” she rubbed the girls faces on the pictures

“What are their names”

“Ira and Iris” mrs Gomes said smugly “they are just stone’s throw from here love”.

“the mother is a fire cracker” M,rs Gomes gushed, pointing behind Mrunal at the window… “Just 2 blocks from here, u can see their window”