Perfect Pairing
How did he even get to Tapan Acharya?
She never told him his last name
Hovering over a person's image on FB?
Those questions indeed ran through her mind when Pawan had sprung the question on her
"How do you know Tapan?" she had asked startled
"Oh I don't" he smiled smugly
"Oh"
"Tumhari photo dekhi maine at some Holi deal"
"WHERE? I am not on Facebook"
"You ask so many questions I like that" he grinned
"I am surprised thats all" she had shrugged
"He looks like is some finance guy"
Then he proceeded to read out from Tapan's Linked In profile, Shubhra had ventured to it when she was trying to zero in on him two years ago when she was susicious of him
"Performed financial analysis to enable value-driven decision making for existing operations, capital investment projects and potential acquisition and divestment opportunities/scenarios to ensure investment decisions maximized shareholder value"
She blushed when she internalized that para he read
Tapan was smart...
"Goldman mein kaam kiya hai bande ne"
"Hmm"
"did u know?"
"No he never told me He is my friend's brother" she said casually
"Par phir bhi" Pawan nudged her with his shoulder "Koi baat thi kya?" the look in Pawan's eyes indicated he wanted to know if there was an affair.
"Did you talk to him?" she asked shocked
"umm.. no" Pawan huffed
"Pawannn" her expression paled immediately
"Chill"
"I am going to go through your FB" she was not joking
"You wont find anything" he said proudly
She looked up at him from her salad (they had met for lunch)
Was he her male twin?
Alone, unattached, rejected by all?
So unreal
How could it be?
He was so good looking
"why would anyone dump him or berate him?"
"Why does he care who I knew before I met him?", "How does it even matter?" "Did he actually call Tapan? "what did he say?"
"What am I doing with my life?" "this guy is sooo umm.. odd"
"Did he really call Tapan?"
Questions flashed through her head in lightning speed
Jesus!!
"Does Mom know about him?" "really know about him?"
"Kya soch rahi ho?"
"Oh nothing" she mumbled bending down to pin a grape tomato with her fork, puncturing it
"C'mon Shubhra" he coaxed
"I am just shocked you went off and found people I know"
"I am interested in YOU" his intense stare did nothingt o her
No butterflies, no nascar speedway, nothing
"Oh? thanks"
"I want us to have a good marriage, no secrets, nothing"
"sounds good" she nodded
"You can ask me anything Shubhra"
He squeezed her hand
She had asked him what wine he liked paired with a monsoon lunch only to be told he didnt drink wine and she shouldnt
"meri koi GF nahi rahi, no affairs no nothing"
"really?" she dropped her fork with the mushroom back on to her bowl
"Oh yeah, main in maamlo mein bahut disciplined hoon"
"Just like in making me order this cold chewy salad perhaps?" her internal declaration causing her to almost spit her food out
"You mean har baat mein?"
"tumhari Hindi ajeeb hai yaar" he reminded
"I try to speak but I am afraid" she said honestly
"grammar sahi nahi hai tumhara" he explained
"Thats not the point, I meant to say youve lived a very perfect life"
"Biwi bhi perfect chahta hoon" he grinned
"I am not perfect"
"KYON?" he looked worried
"Umm.. you know...... who is?"
"Your friends adore you" he reminded
"did you talk to Parul?" she asked in shock
Her friends from before didnt come to mind suddenly
"Parul kaun?"
"Oh, Arya's Mom"
"Oh?" he looked at her piercingly
"She always gushes
"she likes you?" he asked surprised as if it was impossible
"Hmm"
"Nice" he tried to be cool
It bothered her but she didnt speak up
She told him after much asking what she was going through at work, and why she was in Delhi today
She had to go beg Mrs Kataria and convince her not to sue
She was also going to pay her compensation for renting it potentially
Mr Nautiyal was going to meet her at 4 PM
she didnt know how to approach Punita, she was completely off the grid
Vinod had taken "leave" fearing he was going to go to jail
She really liked the guy his legal skills were exceptional
She was sure there was something going on between Punita and Ashutosh
Ashutosh was being very defiant with Shubhra the last few months
May be this is his way of causing her damage?
"My Dad doesnt know" she squirmed, when Pawan asked her if he did
"OH WOW... Oh wow.... wow" he was being over dramatic
"my Dad will try to solve it for me"
"Your mother?"
shubhra looked up at him wondering if she should tell him the kind of relationship she shared with Tara
Pawan seemed smitten by her
He would not believe it
"Your mother... she is SO SMART"
Shubhra realized they had a mutual admiration society going
"Yeah she is"
"I mean I am blown away" he insisted
"Of course you are, you are grog so is she" Shubhra thought to herself
"She is so, I mean, so... elegant" Pawan had a wistful look on his face
"So yeah, anyway... I will take care of both"
"You should let me" he insisted
"No I cant" "thanks though" she got up nervously promising to meet him soon and fled
Mrs Kataria drove a tough bargain, she had to give in more than she had anticipated
That night she would fight with Tapan over what he said to Pawan
without realizing Pawan was gaslighting her
She returned to her office in NOIDA the next day only to receive a message from Punita VIA ASHUTOSH
"How does she know you again? Besides you both worked for this company"
"I know her brother" Ashutosh claimed squeamishly trying to be unaffected
"I am sorry I cannot force Vinod to give a statement when there is no wrong doing on his part"
"Ma'am woh lawyer ke paas chali jaayegi bata rahi hai" Ashutosh tried to make it like he was Shubhra's ally
"I have one too so its OK" shubhra shrugged confidently, outwardly she was OK she was quite anxious what this was going to mean for her company
She spent hours talking to Mr Nautiyal
There was no respite...
She walked home exhausted
Gagan was walking home from the neighborhood store
she almost walked into him
Refused the dinner invite though she was starving, just did her best to "laugh off" how she should have gotten a degree in employee relations or labor law.
He would go home and relay the interaction to Parul, she would tell Tapan when she spoke next.........
Tapan scrolled through his phone...
Paused on the three names below
Mahipal, Haryana broker
Amar- India IT guy
Vineet Property dealer, commercial land broker
Anupamaa
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