Part 7
Gauri unconsciously sought the warmth of her coat as she stepped outside the office. The end of October brought with itself the end of the warm fuzziness of summer and brought closer still the winter chills. It marked the air she inhaled in. Though here in midst of London's busy financial district, Canary Wharf, machinery ruled over nature, she could already see the bright colors giving way to the dull hues of winter. She clutched her coat tighter and began to head towards Mackenzie Walk for her lunch date. A lunch date, for which she had taken special care of her appearance, and one which she looking forward too. Her usually tied in a messy knot hairstyle had been discarded as she had opted to keep open her hair. Then there was the light fuchsia colored scarf, which according to him was her color, adorning her cream colored business suit. And finally a touch of mascara and blusher which had made her look fresher than she was used to when her Work-hours verged on 14 hours a day. But then that was the whole point, wasn't it, to not let him guess how badly she had waited all week for this lunch meeting.
It had become their ritual. That first awkward day at office, when Gauri was scared of Pratham Mittal undermining her had soon given way to an easygoing relationship where their professional association bordered on a personal friendship. And in course of which, once every two weeks or so one of the two would initiate a lunch date. It would start very casually. Maybe as they met in the lobby at the beginning of the day, or at the end of one of their meetings, or during one of the several phone calls when they were discussing the latest account transactions, one of them would slip in a note about the restaurant which served the excellent tiramisu and happened to be just around the corner. Nonchalantly put, the invitation would be thrown back and forth between them as they discussed the time where it would not hamper the important work which they were involved in. And of course emphasis was put that the personal time of the other person was not being encroached upon. And each time, she smiled thinking about it; the answer would be in the affirmative. The lunch date would be fixed. She did not know about him, but those few moments of companionship would always cost her few extra hours later on. But that did not matter to her, not even a bit.
And even today, when her workload was literally killing her, she had agreed to his invitation. There was an incentive behind it, of course. For the past few weeks Pratham had been away to Brussels working on an important deal, which meant that the lunch dates she looked forward to were out of question. It wasn't all that bad as she was herself immersed with work and there was always Karan to give her company. But the close camaraderie she shared with him was slowly vanishing. She did not know if it was that they were simply not the people who they used to be or that their friendship had ceased to be as important as it used to be.
Reluctantly a memory surfaced in front of her. Pratham and she had been out on one of their lunch dates. Their seating had Gauri and Pratham on opposite sides of the table, with Gauri facing the entrance. Hearing the chimes announcing yet another arrival, Gauri had unconsciously looked up and had come face to face with Karan's twinkling eyes and infectious grin. Soon he was making his way towards their table when his eyes fell on her companion. She remembered very well the second his smile faltered and his steps came to an unceremonious halt. What had been baffling was that Pratham was equally contained in his reaction when he turned back and realized who had interrupted their idyllic afternoon. In mere seconds Karan had overcome his initial reaction and had come forward, but the conversation she had been hoping never took place. Instead after a cold greeting he excused himself off to be seated at another end of the room, and Pratham had not looked too unhappy with the situation, forgoing the polite invitation of offering a seat at their table which he should have offered as a matter of courtesy. She had not cared at that exact moment, too lost in forging new friendships but ever since that day their relationship had lost some of its warmth.
Both Pratham and Karan had denied that there was any bad blood between them, but she was wise enough to read between the lines. Often after that incident, when she found herself in Karan's company she felt him staring at her and contemplating about something. It was as if there was something to be said, but the words never came. Instead she found herself withdrawing from his company, which at one time she used to look forward to.
Today they had chosen Cafe Rouge which was situated near the waterfront. They were lucky that they still had a few hours of sun, which livened up the weather. As she entered the restaurant her eyes singled out the bent dark head engaged in reading a file. She hated this habit of his. He could never let a moment be wasted, especially if something related to business was nearby to get involved in. And today too, she could see him mentally calculating what to do next while going through the file. Time to interrupt, she thought to herself and took steps towards the seat opposite him.
"Hi, there" She greeted him warmly, drinking in his features as he lifted his eyes away from the file.
"Hi, yourself" He greeted back at once, flashing his megawatt smile.
A smile which made her undergo that fuzzy feeling once again, making sure she was hooked to him, line and sinker. It wasn't a flirty smile that he bestowed on her. She wouldn't have minded it; if she was being honest with herself. It would have thrilled her but instead she found herself subjected to the umpteenth time a kind, friendly smile. It warmed her but she could not stop the sigh that escaped her. She wanted to be more than a friend to him. Especially after the six months that she had spent working alongside him. Her initial infatuation with him had been based on the sizzling chemistry which she had found herself sharing with him, the type of chemistry which she had never experienced in the two short term relationships she had been previously to coming to London. But that initial attraction to his looks and charm had given way to a deeper liking of him as she came to know him better.
He had two personas that she encountered. One was the businessman in him, who was a perfectionist and hard worker. Alright, she admitted to herself he verged on being a tyrant sometimes but could she blame him for it. His own dedication and hard work exceeded that of any other member in his team and he wasn't wrong if he demanded maybe a tenth of it from others. Maybe he could soften it a bit by being more approachable to others, but she had soon realized that he enjoyed being the dragon in other's lives. When she had once questioned him regarding it he had simply shrugged, answering that it added to the efficiency. She had been momentarily put off with his answer but his open appreciation of his team and their efforts on completion of a project had soon turned the tide. That open appreciation also carried to his other personal side. He had been a great help in establishing her in the firm. Though she had graduated with good grades, she from time to time found herself being overwhelmed at the beginning. In those moments, it was his encouragement and help that got her through it all. And behind that unapproachable persona, there was a caring side to him, she realized as she noted his interaction with his personal secretary. His PA's illness was a huge inconvenience to him, but his patience towards the whole scenario and insistence that she be given more paid leave had earned her respect.
As they waited for their orders indulging in insignificant conversation, Pratham handed to her a small wrapped parcel. She was overjoyed to receive it but hardly surprised. Every time he went away on a long trip, he returned with a souvenir for her. Nothing too ostentatious, but thoughtful enough to make her feel special and make her day. All his gifts to her reflected a personal touch, showing his involvement in picking them up. And usually his choices were aligned very closely to her taste, gaining him a lot of brownie points as a friend.
These gifts tempted her time and again to gather courage and take the prerogative of asking him on a date. After all any man so attuned to a woman's tastes had to have more than a passing interest in her, an interest to want more than just a friendship. And this baffled her a lot. Why didn't he ask her out on dinner or any events then? He was hardly the shy type. And neither was he not interested in woman. He hardly lacked attention from the opposite sex. And his casual flirtation with woman hinted at a certain mastery at the art of wooing woman. Every time a girl threw him a come hither look, Gauri could feel the ugly side of jealousy rearing its head inside her. Though he extricated himself from such situations delicately, what still left her disappointed was that he never flirted with her.
She wondered if it was due to their parents that he maintained his distance. Though personally their fathers were great friends, professionally they ended up on different extremes of opinions sometimes. Though quickly they both reached a compromise not letting undue tension creep in their friendship, the undercurrents lingered for a while longer. And Pratham as she had noted that first day, as a businessman put his business next to nothing, even if it meant unpleasantness. In the past few months she had realized that though there was a respect from him towards the older generation, at times his apathy towards their ideas surfaced. Though in the end he did not show open displeasure, he did not let go of it easily either. But that shouldn't be that big a deal. She understood his point of view, as she too belonged to this generation and wasn't too excited about some of the ideas. And at the same time, Pratham's strong personality had him at odds with most people, even his own father. And most of the time, the things he objected to were backed with excellent logic and evidence. He himself used to joke that it would be distressing to many if he changed his mode of operandi from being ruthless to accommodating.
And as she had found herself in the same scenario, she knew that it was hardly personal. As one time after a heated argument she had been in a mood to cancel their date, he had surprised her with her favorite Mocha and truffles and had her let the lunch date be on. And the lunch date that day had been no different other than that they had after returning to the office had an argument soon afterwards on the same issue. It had left her bewildered for some time before she appreciated how easily he managed to separate business from personal issues. And more than that how easily he had her succumb to his charms.
And today too as they sat with their coffee, their lunch date nearing the end, she could not help but be readily drawn in the web of charm he was so effortlessly weaving around her.
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I know it has been a long time since I posted so here's a long post and I'll post the next part soon. Waiting for your comments.
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Anupamaa
Current Affairs
8