RaBir FF -A Cast of Characters chapter 97/98 & Epilogue pg121/2 (4 - Page 64

Chapter 50

Here we go another chapter. I'm approaching a busy period at work, and then will be travelling for a bit, so thought it best to get things moving before I get too busy. Hope you enjoy the update!

Evidently their discussion was not going as well as he thought, if the request for him not to contact Naomi could be expressed within an hour of meeting her mother. It stopped Rajeev in his tracks. They had discussed a multitude of topics it seemed, and the only one that could be a cause of concern was his family status. He fully understood her concern over his familial situation and how the estrangement between him and his father and step-mother had the potential to affect her daughter, but surely this wasn't enough to justify her request for him to stay away from Naomi.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible; I will not abandon her."

"Rajeev, I have not asked you to stay away from her forever, but I would like to know when I converse with my daughter, that it is her words Naomi speaks to me, and that she is not communicating her feelings through some haze of infatuation."

"Forgive me Aunty, but you do Naomi a disservice by even suggesting that she would be so susceptible to mine or anyone's influence. Nor should you trivialize her emotions as it appears that you are."

"Be that as it may, I must insist on it." She sighed. "Naomi has always been such a fanciful child; as her parents, her father and I must do our best to look out for her."

The tone of the conversation was not heading in the right direction, but neither was what was being relayed to him. "Your daughter is not an infant. She is a beautiful, sensitive, intelligent woman, who knows her own mind. Yes, she will always be your child, but she is also the woman I love, and I will not give her even the perception of abandoning her while she seeks to defend her feelings, especially as you seem so intent on belittling them even before you hear her out." Rajeev closed his eyes and breathed deeply before opening his eyes again, even to his own ears he knew he was border lining disrespect. "Forgive me, I realize I may be overstepping my limits, but..." His eyes narrowed in confusion at the woman smiling at him.

"Hmm, I wondered what would it would take to disturb that unflappable demeanor of yours, and now I see. So Hockey it is, Rajeev? Too bad you didn't coach cricket, you see Naomi's dad is a great cricket fan. That would have definitely smoothed the waters for you if you had something like that in common."

His head spun at the change of subject. "Aacha Aunty it probably would have, but in lieu of that, I guess we will just have to depend on the commonality of the two of us both loving Naomi to bridge the gap."

"Touche, my dear; well said." She took a look at her watch. "Now I imagine that you have to get your day started, and I have to call my daughter who is probably frantic over the fact that we haven't contacted her yet."

"I will message her that I will call her later, which will free up more time for the two of you to talk."

"Thank you Rajeev, and thank you for your time."

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"Check the studio first, Arpita. I'm certain that I've seen this lace there, but remember time is of an essence." Rachna checked the time. "If by 10:15 you haven't located I know we had definitely sent some of it to the tailor. The important thing is to have it here before the client arrives later this afternoon."

"Okay Rachna, did you need anything else while I'm out?"

Following her assistant out the workshop, Rachna contemplated before answering. "No I'm fine thanks, but keep your mobile on just in case."

After a short while she returned to the workroom and placed her snack on the table next to the computer. She had made a point to note the companies Mr. Patel had mentioned, and thought that while she had the time, she could do a little research on them. Slightly taken aback when she noticed that Naomi was still logged on to Skype, considering that how late it was on the east coast of the United States, her fingers flew over the keyboard. Rachna hoped everything was alright with her friend. If she was lucky Naomi had just left her laptop on and was actually asleep.

Are you okay; do you need me?

Can't sleep, guess too much on my mind.

I've got some free time if you want to talk.

"I didn't realize that you were waiting to hear from her specifically."

"Well my parents did acknowledge my arrival, but I had sent mummy an email. I just wanted to get things out in the open, you know." She laughed. "I think I must have been a bit too vague though, because the first thing she asked me was if I had undergone some sort of conversion while in India. Apparently to her, my email had a definite metaphysical slant to it."

"Oh Naomi, what could you have possibly have written," Rachna laughed; seemingly it was not only Rajeev who was to be subjected to Aunty's unorthodox methods of discovery.

I thought she would have appreciated it, but I think I would have been better off sending a tweet, you know 140 characters: straight to the point. Something like, I've met the one; you will love him too. I can't live without him, so can you meet him, bless us and let start planning a wedding already."

"Hmm maybe that might have been a little too blunt, so tell me what did you settle on?"

"Slightly longer than a tweet, but it seems we're at an impasse now. I was moving my laptop around, and mum caught sight of my luggage." She slammed her hand on the bed. "I'm such an idiot Rachna, I should have left the cases where they were in the closet, or at the very least kept the computer still. Regardless, Mum noticed them and mentioned that for someone with no intention of coming home, that I hadn't exactly packed light." Naomi rested her palm on her forehead momentarily, before gazing at her friend. "I froze Ra; when mum asked me to explain why I had so much luggage, I just couldn't."

"And now Aunty wants an answer as to why you're saying one thing, but showing another?" Rachna sighed. Silently she agreed that Naomi inability to respond probably had created an issue, but one a lot smaller than if she had disclosed what had precipitated her packing everything. Surely whatever favorable impression Rajeev may have made today would have been immediately nullified if her mother had learned of Naomi's and Rajeev's intimacy, so soon after she had learnt about his existence. It didn't even bear thinking what would happen should her father become aware of this right now.

Naomi, you do realize that you are going to have a really serious conversation with your mother some point, don't you?"

Naomi nodded.

"Well I'm certain everything will work out; mothers have the tendency to want the best for their daughters, and you've found him. I'm sure aunty will come to the same conclusion."

"Thanks Rachna, but enough about my issues, how are the children; is Sanjay doing better? And Sonal, what is going on with her?"

Naomi sat her mouth ajar, at the absolutely fabulous news Rachna had shared. "Rachna, that is so fantastic, are you aware the exposure you stand to gain through this. I'm so, so proud of you, but..."

"But what, Naomi"

"I'm still not understanding the situation with the UK firms, how is that even possible?"

"Exactly, you get it right?"

"Especially if she was here. I mean, yes, one does make contacts through modeling , but not to that extent, nor would you normally be dealing with people on that level. And no offence, personally I don't think Sonal has the acumen to do this, not solely through her modeling at least, and certainly not based in the States. Something's not right there. I'm so surprised that KT didn't pick up on that."

"And that's not all, Naomi, but I'm afraid I can't get into that, as I have to prepare for a client coming in later today. "

"Why don't you send me an email with the information you have; I can start some research. At least I will have something to do in the evenings when I'm not trying to get my parents to see reason so I can avoid taking that flight home . It will be a distraction at least."

"So you mean you and my husband won't be out partying and painting the town red?"

"Please, KT is probably in his pjs before I am. Besides the one I'd rather be partying with is home with you. Oh, that probably sounds a little seedy doesn't it?"

Rachna giggled. "Just a little, but I'll be sure to let him know you wish he was there."

"Please do that, maybe he will remember who I am, as it seems he only has the time to message me now-days. Forget absences making the heart grow fonder, this is a case of out of sight; out of mind."

"Oh God you are truly a drama queen, Naomi!"

"Hey, at least that still makes me royalty, Ra." She laughed.

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Abhi leaned back in his office chair, contemplating this new email. It seemed that Sonal was approaching her task from several angles, but whatever she was doing, had no bearing on his goal. The only bit that interested him was the question whether Naomi would be back. He would give it a couple more days before he decided if a trip would be necessary.

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Far too early in the morning for her liking, the hotel telephone rang. It rang three times before Naomi reached out from under the covers to answer it groggily. "Hi who's this?"

"Good Morning Naomi, not quite awake are we?"

"Are you this insufferably chipper every morning KT? You really need to stop; it's not attractive at all."

"I just wanted to let you know that we will be going in a little later today, so I'm going to order breakfast for us to be delivered in about an hour. Did you want me to have it delivered here and you come over and join me?"

"So you woke me up to let me know that I could sleep in; wow that's a good one KT. If it's not too much trouble can they bring breakfast to me over here; I'll just sleep until it arrives."

"Aacha, but instead of sleeping, I thought you would want to use the extra time to call someone. This may be your best chance for the day, given our schedule."

She sat up in bed yawning. "Oh I never thought of that. Thanks KT."

Rachna had just closed the workshop when she noticed Rajeev walking in. "You couldn't have come at a better time Rajeev. I've just received a message from KT that he and Naomi will be getting a later start, so we have a window of opportunity to speak. He just gave Naomi a wake-up call, so you two wouldn't miss out either." The look of relief that came over his face was hard to overlook. "I spoke to her earlier and I know that she was missing you terribly today, so..."

As if they were synchronized, both of their mobiles began ringing. They each looked at their devices, and then at each other and smiled, before walking in opposite directions.

"Good Morning Kabir, did you rest well?"

"I dreamt of you Beautiful, so how could I not?"

"Oh that sounds exciting; do tell."

"Are you sure, I don't want you have to explain your blushes this evening, Rachna?" came the teasing reply.

~

"Hello Sweetheart, you cannot imagine how much you've been on my mind today."

"Apparently not enough for you to give me call me earlier."

"I was busy with something important earlier, but never fear you were constantly in my thoughts. I love you."

She sighed contently. "Okay you're forgiven. I love you too Rajeev. Did you have a good day?

About to set their evening meal on the dining room, Daadi paused and took the dishes back to the kitchen where she could keep the meal warm. She would wait for Rachna and Rajeev to complete their respective phone calls, keeping in mind that her grandchildren would still need to be fed on time if they took too long. Returning from the kitchen she observed their smiling faces; Rachna on the sofa, and Rajeev stationary on the staircase. Undoubtedly, they too would be needing their dinner, but as the saying went "love is food for the soul" and right now this was exactly the nourishment that her betas desired. The meal could definitely wait, daadi thought smiling.

"Room Service"

Naomi stepped away from her mirror and headed for the door. She checked the peephole and unlatched the door with a smile. She let her breakfast be placed on the nearby table and then surprised her visitor with a hug and kiss on the cheek.

He laughed. "If you are that grateful for food, Rajeev will have to thank me for making this delivery personally, so you aren't throwing yourself at the hotel staff."

She hugged him again. "No that's solely for waking me up this morning. It was so good to have the time to talk to him. I can't think of a better way to start the day can you?"

Kabir smiled seeing how happy Naomi was . There was a definite sparkle in her eye this morning; one he could totally understand. He watched as she delved into the fruit plate she had ordered.

"Mmm this is so good," Naomi sighed . "Have you had any of these strawberries KT; you really should try them." She grabbed one of the berries by the stem, and held it to his lips giving him no choice but to accept it. It really was good.

"Delicious indeed. So you finish up your meal and ring me when you are done so we can get going, thik hai?"

Her mouth full, she nodded and watched as he turned to leave. She swallowed. "Oh dear, KT wait." She jumped up with her serviette, approached him and began wiping his cheek. "Sorry, this seems to be a bad habit I'm developing in leaving evidences of my kisses."

"Aacha, I'll be sure to check the room-service staff in the future."

"Ha ha, too funny. No I'm definitely a one man type of girl, and no one else will do."

"So she says as she rids me of the evidence of her affections," he teased. Her look of distaste had him laughing.

"Ew much, KT? Sorry you just aren't my type."

"Well that's a good thing isn't it?" He pointed to his bare cheek "That may have been a little hard to explain otherwise, wouldn't it?"

She saw him to the door. "Whatever are you talking about KT; what evidence is there to back up whatever it is you are alleging?"

"Just don't let that napkin fall into the wrong hands Naomi," KT laughed as the friends parted.

The man smiled as he listened in on the friends' teasing banter. "Here we go," he thought, thinking that today's taping would definitely be of use.