Sparkle in a speck!
Waiting
Over at his high profile Accounting firm, Indraneel finishedup his morning meetings and focus work and grabbed a bite to eat in thebasement cafeteria of the high rise
He sat down alone at a table with his sandwich and soda andwent to his phone
The name was Nihaka…
He was mesmerized by the eyes, the high cheekbones and thefull lower lip. He sat up straight and chewed on his sandwich
He was curious, he looked at the profile
Sunrise>sunset
Hate broccoli
Love butterflies
Love to paint my toe nails all different colors
Promise to ban bras if I am Prime Minister
Want to jump off a plane sometime
Wash my white with colors…. Yeah… deal with that!!
Sing in my sleep… yeah ONLY in my sleep
“If I am your type… then you are O positive”
He stared at it dumbfounded
His heart was racing, he wanted to meet up
He spent the next week looking at her profile, over and overagain
Work was getting busy and fun, with two complicated audits,and tax problem
He sent a message about the picture and those stunning eyes
He found himself checking his in box for a response…. Multipletimes
His SIL texted him “Hey I have to go to a friend’s, will yoube home?”
“Umm.. sure”
“What time?”
“Umm.. How about 8?”
“How can I go and come back before 10?”
“I am sorry… did you want me to come sooner? Why don’t yousay so”
“I was not going to ask you Indra.. your Baba insisted”
“You did right?”
They both didn’t say anything afterwards
He drove a Honda Accord, his brother drove a Maruti
His Dad saw the social status difference
He didn’t say much
Losing his wife, canceled wedding had all taken a toll onhim as well
THEY had picked Vrushali Mhatre for Indraneel
She was perfect for him. Talkative, funny and eager to help.He was funny and talkative, and grew up mostly at neighbors’ homes, fixingtheir plumbing electrical problems and lifting heavy stuff
His mother was very proud of him
He was called Upyukta Maanus by his mother, translating to “HelpfulDude”
He loved titled and fame. But he was an Accountant
Vrushali Mhatre had crushed him
“I will see you at 5:45” she sent him a text at 5
“If traffic permits”
“I can drop them off at your office and go”
“No don’t do that”
The kids were a handful
9 and 7, they were out of control. His Dad blew hisretirement pension all on both.
Parents did the remaining damage. The kids did poorly inschool and got everything they didn’t ask for.
Dad’s apartment was big, he had bought it before Pune was athing
5 bedrooms and two living rooms, it was combined by pullingtwo flats together
With no marriage or wife in sight for Indraneel Dad waslooking forward to leaving everything to his grandkids
Suhasini Deshmukh knew it and was happy to pamper her FIL
Vinayak Deshmukh was a putty in her hands
Indraneel wanted to move out but knew it would turn into abig fight, he was waiting…. For the right moment.
His relationship with his father was paper thin right now.The moment he said he will not clinically jump from one bride to another andget married and “settle down” he had become a stranger to his Dad
His brother was the other extreme…. Over protective andcontrolling
Always afraid Indraneel was going to take his life or vanishwithout a trace.
He used friends’ apartments for Tinder dates
He went back to Nahika’s profile and looked and re-readeverything
“Thanks” “I am going to look at my eyes again tonight” shepromised
“Let me know what you discover” he said, his lips twitching
“About my eyes?”
“Yeah!”
She sent a laugh out loud emoji
“Waiting…” he said
37