Chapter 9

EPISODE – 21

 

Naina's meeting with Mr. Sharma had to be cancelled but she could not understand she should be happy about that or be hopping mad. Mr. Sharma had got some urgent piece of work, some new sponsors to be precise, for which he had to go out of town for a week to crack the deal and that was followed by some of his personal engagements and then some other outstation meetings. Overall she was left hanging up in the middle with the re-shuffling thing being postponed for a month or so. Alekh was to take over the entire charge of the Radio Station in his absence but even he didn't have the re-shuffling matter in his hands. Mr. Sharma was very well aware of his biases and being a good businessman with a rational approach for his work he chose to keep some things out of Alekh's protocol. 

 

But that was not all. Due to the sudden change in state of affairs, Alekh's workload had been doubled. He had to honour all of his father's commitments and attend those meetings which were already scheduled. Their plans of lunch and shopping, all went down the drain. Naina asked him if he could spare some time for dinner but he had a dinner appointment with one of the clients. His crosschecked his own and his father's appointment diary and figured out that the workload for the day will take up his entire day and it must keep him occupied easily by around midnight. This pattern was to follow for a few days to come. He had a lot many things to follow up which until now were none of his business.

 

Disappointed and a little bit frustrated with the sudden changes, she called up Rajveer.

"Hey Naina! Wats up?"

"Don't even ask!" She was sounding annoyed.

"Kis se ladai kar ke aa rahi ho?"

"Kisi se bhi nahin."

"Phir kya hua? Kisi ne kuch kaha? Naah...can't be. Kis mein itni himmat hai ki tumhein kuch kahe."

"Cut it out Raj. Mera mood waise hi bahut kharab hai."

"To yeh to batao ki hua kya hai."

"Kahan ho tum?"

"Ah... Lagta hai kuch zyada hi kharab hai tumhara mood."

"Kya matlab?"

"Naina... is waqt main kahan ho sakta hoon.... At work obviously."

"Yeah... Tum off le lo na."

"What?"

"Haan. Main...mera...woh... Bas tum off le lo."

"What's wrong with you Naina? Main aise off nahin le sakta. Do one thing. See me here at 1. Tum yahin aa jao."

"Lekin..."

"No lekins required. You come here. 1 baje lunch hoga we can talk then."

"Okay."

"Great. I am waiting for you. Bye."

"Bye."

********

 

"Bhaiyya kahan hain?"

"Dono love birds Navin ke cabin mein apna love nest bana ke baithe hain."

She smiled... may be for the first time after she got to know that meeting was cancelled.

 

Naina was at the cafeteria of the Army Head Quarters. She was still in a bad mood.

"Ab bataogi kya hua hai? Aaj show pe bhi tum low sound kar rahi thi."

"You noticed that?"

"Of course!"

 

She told him about the reshuffling plans of her boss and the meeting that was called off at the last moment. And to top it all Alekh's busy schedule.

"To is mein itna upset hone jaisa kya hai? As far as re-shuffling is concerned atleast next one month tak there is no such problem. You can breathe easy till then. Aur uske baad ki uske baad dekhenge."

"I guess you are right. But do you realise aaj subah se ek bhi cheez theek se nahin hui hai. What a waste!"

"But you can't even expect every day to be great. It's okay."

"No it's not!" She was badly irritated.

"Fine... But even in that case main hi leave le ke tumhare liye kya kar loonga?"

"Pata nahin. I just thought.... Forget it!"

 

They both sat there quietly looking at each other taking their lunch. After a long pause finally Rajveer broke the silence.

"Okay you wait here. I'll be back in 5 minutes."

"Ab tum kahan jaa rahe ho?"

"Jaa nahin raha hoon. Bas 5 minutes mein aa raha hoon."

"Okay!"

 

Rajveer came back... but in 10 minutes.

"Dekha maine kaha tha na mere saath kuch bhi subah se theek nahin ho raha hai. Tum bhi 5 minutes bol ke gaye the aur 10 minutes mein aaye. Ab bologe break is over mujhe bahut kaam hai."

"Main to kuch tab bolunga jab tum chup hogi."

"How much does that matter? Bologe to wohi jo maine abhi kaha."

"Well Naina... It does matter kyunki main kuch aur bolne waala tha but..."

"Kya?"

"Maine apne senior se baat kar li hai. I have got an off for the remaining half day. Lets go out aur tumhare is wasted day mein kuch, according to you, worthwhile karte hain."

"Really! Matlab no more work for you for the day!"

"Not at all. Ab chalein?"

"Yes!" She gave him a big grin and her mood looked much better than before.

 

In the first place Rajveer went to his home to change out of his uniform. Then they went off for shopping and shopped for the entire evening. Thereafter they went for dinner in Naina's favorite restaurant. Around 10:30 he dropped Naina at her place.

"Are you not coming inside?"

"Aaj nahin. Some other time."

"Okay. But Thanks."

"Kis liye?"

"For coming out with me. Aur woh bhi apna kaam chod ke."

"That's okay. Atleast you smiled."

 

She smiled again. She hugged him and planted a peck on his cheek.

"What would I do without you Raj?" Her voice was soft and she sounded too serious.

"Stop thinking so much. Aur waise bhi itna serious hona tumhein bilkul suit nahin karta hai and I want you to sound in your highest spirits in tomorrow's show."

"Done!"

"Goodnight then."

"Goodnight."

 

She got down from his car and he drove off.

She came inside and showed her parents and Navin her shopping. But there was one box that she thought she hadn't purchased. She opened it. She was right. She had not bought that dress. It was a beautiful black tube dress. She was just looking at it when Navin snatched it from her to have a look. A note was there under the dress.

 

This is for your wonderful performance in Mission Navin-Neetika. You deserve a small gift for that.

Raj.

 

She smiled. Rajveer was wrong. With a friend like him she knew she can expect every day to be great... Always!