Chapter 13: Dosti
Arnav picked up both his laptops and shoved them into the man-bag that NK had given him earlier in the morning. It was a strange experience for him, carrying a bag around. He had a sports bag in college and even a backpack, but ever since he had begun working, he carried his laptop in his hand and had three sets of chargers; one in office, one is his car and one at home. Only when he travelled did he carry an overnighter that had a compartment for his laptop. But now that he worked for both AR Enterprises and Raizada Designs, he had two laptops. Initially his mother had assured him that AR would not take up much of his time and at best he would need to spend ten hours a week on it. But she was also clear that a separate laptop was required because he was dealing with confidential material. Carrying two different laptops, both different brands and with different charging mechanics was as problematic as handling two businesses. It was NK who got him something called a man-bag, which had dual laptop compartments. At first he had been annoyed with his cousin and had put the bag away into the cupboard in his office. But on a whim he had picked it up a few days back and decided to use it. And surprisingly enough, it worked for him. Though he was baffled as to why a designer would come up with a bag that had two compartments for laptops, he was grateful for it. As he walked into Aakash's office he saw his cousin close his laptop and shove the laptop into a backpack. He considered telling his cousin to get a man-bag too. But though there relationship had thawed in the past few months, they were not that close. He knocked on the door, though it was open.
"Arnav! I was just leaving? Has something come up?"
"No, no. I just wanted to chat with you about something. I was going to call you, but I figured you would be at work, so decided to pop in here to check."
"Yeah Maami had given me a ton of.. homework.. business and stuff is so new to me. And it is all so crazy.. I didn't know AR had a paper and rubber unit. And that a calendar is actually a machine to press them."
"This one is spelt with an e, it is calender, as opposed to calendar."
"See, I didn't know that. You should be handling this business, I on the other hand am not made for this and should just go back. Why am I here?"
He smiled at his cousin and took the chair in front of him. Maybe, what the years of a shared familial connection couldn't do, this could. After all, didn't they say that sometimes the most rewarding relationships are the ones that are formed on a mutual dislike for similar things. For the first time, he considered things from Aakash's point of view. This thing of being pulled into the Raizada business was probably the worst on him. For one, he was technically not even a Raizada, not that in his opinion that mattered. This company would not have existed had it not been for Seema Bua, so as her heir, Aakash had as much right, if not more on this company than he and Anjali Di did. But Aakash had never been part of AR. After college, he left the country for his MS and then found a job there. He lived in California, which was his home, where he had a job, life, friends. And out there he was working on things that he was good at and also found enjoyable. Though sometimes Anjali Di and he joked about how Aakash might be the first Nobel Prize winner in the family, there was some truth in it. Aakash had patents and though he did not understand the details of what his cousin did, but he understood that he was pretty close to some breakthrough. And to leave all that and find himself read about paper roller machinery must be frustrating. He felt sorry for Aakash's predicament, but for now unfortunately he could do nothing much, finding that, he himself was spending over forty hours a week on AR related work.
Given how loaded he was at AR and also the sudden spurt of business at Raizada Designs, life was busy for him. Payal who did help him in Raizada Designs, was now completely off it. She was now completely busy with her party related work, though campaign season had concluded. Whatever little free time she had was understandably spent in her own fashion line, for which she had now traveled to Paris. To give himself some free time he had decided to hire an assistant for himself. He felt that an assistant at AR would be more beneficial because the work was still new to him and honestly another pair of hands would have been very useful. But when he had met the Human Resources Head of AR she told him that there was a recruitment freeze and there would be no new hires across any levels. Further investigation revealed that the diktat for this came from his mother, who had put hiring on hold, without giving any reasons. This had surprised him and added further to his suspicion that something was afoot. First he and Aakash get inducted, then he is given a power of attorney and his mother takes off on an overseas business trip where she had got so busy that evidently was almost unreachable. And then this hiring freeze. Something was wrong and after thinking and overthinking he figured that Aakash was the one person he could talk to about this. He had toyed between speaking with his father or Aakash. But he was always a little unsure about the equation between his parents and inadvertently did not want to set things off in an altogether different direction. Aakash was one of them and yet because there was no special kinship that he shared with him, a certain kind of distance existed. Which is why he was here, tentatively prodding, figuring out the best way to broach the subject.
"Raizada Designs is a fraction of the size of AR, so believe me, I am as lost as you are. But yeah, I did intern in our paper mill in Rewari when I was in college.. so I know a little bit about that. You should do factory visits, that will help you understand things better than reading up stuff."
"Yes. But Maami has chalked out a plan for me, I am sticking to that.. I think she understands the business better than anyone, so why mess with that, right?"
"Of course."
Poonam Raizada might be missing in action, but her spirit was everywhere. She was in Aakash's head now and as Arnav had learnt the hard way, once she was there, it was hard to dislodge her.
"So what did you want to discuss?"
"Uhh.. it is kind of getting late.. do you want to grab some dinner and we could chat over it."
It was true that he was hungry. He had skipped lunch again and it was almost eight now. But more importantly he didn't want to discuss anything in AR or home, but be in some neutral place. He could not put down his finger on the source of his paranoia, but it was there. And he had the constant feeling of being watched at AR.
"I.. actually I just need to meet someone now.. a friend.. I am meeting Khushi."
"Oh.. it is okay. Let us catch up tomorrow then," saying this, he picked up his man-bag, ready to leave.
"No, Arnav.. I mean.. I am not meeting her for dinner. I needed to hand over a packet to her. I have been busy, so I couldn't go to her house, so she is coming to pick it up. She was not.. she did not want to come here in AR.. you know because.. so anyway I am just meeting her at Cafe Turtle here in GK.. she also can't stay for long.. so you can come along and we will chat after she leaves?"
Arnav had to hide a smile seeing his red-faced cousin explain and over-explain an innocuous meeting. But he felt a bouquet of emotions at the thought of Khushi. After she had rather unceremoniously asked him to leave her house the morning after Holi he hadn't met her or spoken with her. Though he had been very busy with work, honestly it was still impossible for him not to think about her. The fact that she thought of him as someone who was incapable of doing the right thing, take a stand for what he believed in, which had some truth in it, did hurt him. The fact that she believed that he behaved differently with her when alone than in company of the others startled him. Honestly, it had been a blindspot for him. And now that she had articulated that, he began to see things her way and was more embarrassed with all that had transpired between them. Maybe NK had been right, he Arnav Singh Raizada was a classist snob. And now Aakash mentioning her casually brought back all those thoughts. If his mom had taken over Aakash's head, it was probably right to say that Khushi had taken over his. He also could not help but feel a tinge of envy about the easy camaraderie between his cousin and Khushi. And then he remembered the little detail that his cousin had mentioned about how Khushi did not want to come to AR for even a quick meeting, He did not blame her for that. Why would she come back to the place which had only bad memories for her. But this only served to turn his bleak mood even bleaker as he followed his cousin's car, driving towards Cafe Turtle.
N-Block market was dark and deserted, it was not even eight but as he pulled to park his car next to Aakash's, he noticed that there were hardly too many people around. Of course, he was grateful to get parking easily, but he wondered if it was too late for Khushi. How terrible was it that Khushi felt safer in a darkened market than at AR Enterprises office. He got out of the car and watched Aakash pull out a brown paper bag from the backseat of his car. They walked towards Cafe Turtle, he walked a few steps behind, deliberately. He didn't want Khushi to feel uncomfortable. It was better that she saw Aakash first and give him a chance to explain why he had tagged along.
Khushi was dressed completely in white, against the darkness of the night she was looking a bit like a ghost from the distance. As he walked closer he saw Aakash point his finger behind, perhaps indicating that he was there too. And sure enough Khushi craned her neck above Aakash's shoulder and caught his eye. If she was surprised, or angry, or happy to see him, it did not show on her face and she nodded in acknowledgement. The closer he got, he realised she didn't look like a ghost. The new hair was working for her, especially since she didn't tie it up. She looked younger and somewhat happier just because of the way the hair farmed her face. What did NK call her? Cutie Kumari Gupta. He could see why the name made sense. Now wait a second, where were his thoughts going? Along a dangerous path where no good could come of it.
"Hey, Khushi. I am sorry to crash your and Aakash's date, but he was the one who invited me, so blame him."
Seeing Khushi's flustered face, he realised that once again he had managed to say the exact wrong thing to her. She began fidgeting with her palms, which she always did when she was nervous or uncomfortable.
"That is okay.. I mean, we are not on a date, of course."
"Relax, Khushi. Aakash and I had some work and he said that you guys had a short meeting only."
That is when Aakash remembered that he had to handover Khushi the brown paper bag and gave it to Khushi.
"Let me know if this is fine," he said to her, and then turning to him he said, "I can't date Khushi even if I wanted to now. She is getting married soon."
Though it was none of his business, but Arnav was stunned by this. And upset. Both of these feelings didn't make any sense. What difference did it make to him if Khushi were to get married? In fact, if nothing else, it was probably for the best. At least this way she would have someone who cared for her and was there for her. And it was not so surprising to be honest. In fact, it was more surprising that she had stayed single for so long.
"Oh wow! Congratulations, Khushi, that is great news."
"I am not.. I mean, nothing is decided now," she said. Clearly she was unhappy with Aakash to spill the beans like this. It was not probably something that she wanted to share with him of all the people. Aakash held his earlobes with his fingers and offered her a silent apology.
"Looks like this place will shut now," Aakash said pointing at the board that the cafe was open only until eight.
"There is a pizza place right across, lets go there. Khushi, you will come too?" Aakash asked Khushi, who was reading something on her phone which for some reason seemed to upset her.
"No, it is too late. I will go now. Baba and Maa will be so angry with me," she said, as she began walking away.
"But Khushi, how will you go? Can we drop you.. somewhere," he volunteered.
"Not needed. I have my bike today," she said, pointing too her scooterette. She tied a scarf around her head and placed the helmet and got on the bike.She nodded at him and smiled at Aakash and rode away.
It took a while for them to get the pizza place because of the roads being dug up.
"So what is the thing you wanted to talk about.. frankly I am a little freaked out," Aakash said, once they had placed their order.
"I am not too sure what to say, it is a bit weird and perhaps I am being fanciful, but I can't discuss it with anyone else.. I feel something is up with mom."
"Maami? Why? I don't understand."
"Remember on Holi day, I had to go to meet her. And when I returned to Payal's house, she told me that mom had asked you to come as well.. she got Roy to initiate power of attorney privilege to me.. that is a a big deal and so unlike mom. Now she has gone to Japan and is kind of incommunicado. She does not respond to emails and her phone does not even work.. the only way to be in touch is when she calls. And honestly she sounds very vague about things.. you probably are wondering what I am going on about.."
"No, I have had a similar feeling about Maami too. She seems. so much..."
"Nicer?"
"Exactly.. I mean, she is not a bad person.."
"I get it Aakash.. Poonam Raizada is going soft, it is somewhat worrying. So why did she call you for a meeting on Holi."
"Oh to hand over all the AR Paper unit things and she also told me that I am acting CFO of the unit as she can't hire anyone now and that Mihir Gupta the CFO of AR won't be handling this unit.. seemed pretty standard stuff to be honest."
"Wait a second.. Mihir Gupta?"
"Yes, he is the CFO .."
"I know who he is. Aakash, I feel there is something going between this guy and mom's strange behaviour."
"As in?"
"I have seen their email exchanges.. it is very testy. And there is a hiring freeze and mom is slowly taking away Mihir Gupta's power. It can't be a coincidence."
"Wow, sounds like corporate espionage and conspiracy, doesn't it?"
"Don't get carried away, Aakash, but we must keep an eye on this guy.. just in case."
"I know a private investigator who can help us."
"Why do you know private investigators?"
"Nothing sinister there.. my company in Cali, we hire a lot of bright techies from india. But because we are a US government funded, highly confidential genetics project, we need to do a very thorough background check of the hires. By the way, I don't mean to.. I mean don't be alarmed.. but should we check if Maami is fine.. since you believe she sounds distracted and uninvolved."
"I have done that already. She has not been kidnapped or anything.. that was my first theory. Neither is she on any medication, I checked with her assistant."
"You mean that nervous girl? Boy, she must have freaked her out more.. but I am glad Maami is fine. Though I didn't for a moment think she was kidnapped."
They chatted for a while longer, about Mihir Gupta, paper rollers, his mother's scatty assistant Sheena. The conversation flowed easily and without any awkwardness. Finally unable to contain himself, he asked the one question that had been bothering him all evening.
"So who is Khushi marrying?" he asked, as they walked back to their cars.
"There is someone called Abhimanyu her parents have introduced her to, I don't think she has said yes.. there is pressure on her, so I don't think she will say no."
"Hmm.. so.. I mean, you are alright with this?"
"Yeah, I love Khushi, but you know she is a friend.. that is all."
After this they fell silent, as they dodged the construction work to get to their cars. He felt that too much had been said, especially since their relationship was still fledgeling, it was too early for this much candour.
"So lets keep an eye on this Gupta guy and we will chat in a couple of days, yes?" he said to Aakash on reaching his car. Aakash nodded and got into his car.
As Arnav drove home, he was stuck by an epiphany. If Khushi was not Aakash's one true love, it was probably Payal. Maybe that crush was not a thing of the past after all.
**
Khushi almost ran through the hospital corridor, even though a few nurses threw an angry look her way. One even yelled, no running. But she didn't care, until she climbed three floors of stairs and reached where Preeto was. Khushi had been at a match at Kirori Mal College when she got a teary call from Preeto, saying that Leher had been hospitalised and was in the paediatric ICU of FirstCare Hospital in Connaught Place. She was waiting for Abhay Sinha, her star ward, the only athlete from her team who had qualified for the finals to take part in his event. But she explained to him and excused herself. Maybe it was for the good. Baig Sir had told her a couple of times that she was too involved with her students and sometimes you had to let them be on their own, especially once you had equipped them with skills and confidence.
"Preeto."
Preeto got up from the bench she was sitting on and hugged Khushi.
"I am sorry Khushi that I disturbed you in the middle of your work day. But Ginny is not in town and so I panicked and called you."
"Don't be silly, I am glad you called me. Kya hua Leher ko?"
Turned out that Leher had been running a temperature for a week and Preeto had shown her to a paediatrician close to home in Rohini. But last night, things had got worse and she was brought to the hospital in emergency. She had been diagnosed as having typhoid and was kept in the ICU to monitor her infection. There was nothing to worry as such, but it was going to be a long road for her to make a complete recovery.
"Chalo, at least she is going to be fine. But why has she been hospitalised here in CP? Why not somewhere closer to home?"
"Oh I called Leher's doctor at midnight. He visits here and recommended this place.. itna expensive bhi hai.. Ginny is going to be mad."
"I am sure he won't be. Leher is going to be fine, that is the only thing which is important. Can I see her?"
"Visiting hours is only in the evening. But the caretaker can see her every two hours. I just saw her, so if you wait for another two hours then you can see her."
"Of course, I will stay. Maa and Baba will come in a while too. Have you had any lunch? I will ask Maa to pack a dabba for you."
"Your parents are here? Bataya hi nahi. That is great news. Actually my brother-in-law has got me lunch. So not needed. And tomorrow morning Ginny will be back."
"Great. I will stay with you in the hospital tonight. Will ask Maa to bring my clothes."
"No, I will be fine on my own. I will ask my brother-in-law to come."
"Of course, let him also be there. But I will be here too. I insist."
"Thanks, Khushi."
"Thanks ki toh koyi baat nahi hai. Coffee piyegi?"
Preeto nodded. Khushi gave her friend's palm a reassuring squeeze and went in search of the cafe. Such a fancy hospital must have one. She finally found one and was impressed at the variety of food and beverage options available. It was like those food courts in malls. She settled for two coffees and a pack of cookies and headed back to her friend. Though Preeto had a room, she preferred waiting on the bench outside because there were a lot of people to watch and distract oneself. She handed over the coffee to her and they sat quietly for a while, watching the frenzy of a typical hospital.
"So how long are your parents here? And how come they are here suddenly?"
Khushi sighed. So much had happened since she last spoke with Preeto, it would take a while to bring her up to speed with it. Frankly, it had all been a bit overwhelming for her. First there was so much drama related to Tewari & Sons, which never seemed to end. Then Payal's invitation to her and the New-On-Ites all back in the middle of her life somehow. Then the sudden entry of Shekhawat into her life, which had now become a new problem that frankly she could not share with anyone. And the sudden return of her parents, which normally would have been something for her to be thrilled about, but this time she was unsure. Because they brought along with them Abhimanyu Tripathi, a potential matrimonial suitor. When Maa had announced this, her first reaction was to brush it aside. But over the next few days, it had become clear that her parents were serious about it. Abhimanyu whose rishta had been brought by bua was a distant relative from her phupha's side of the family. His family was in Lucknow, but he himself lived in Delhi and worked in an IT company in Noida. He was qualified, belonged to a middle class family, had checked out alright in her parent's investigation. Basically Khushi would be marrying into a family more affluent than hers and in the opinion of Maa and Baba had no reason to turn down such a good alliance.
"Itna sab ho gaya? Toh yeh ladke se milli?" Preeto asked her, once she told her about him.
"Nahin. But Maa is getting increasingly impatient.. she says that Baba se maafi mushkil se mili hai.. and if I don't agree to marry this guy, things will get worse between us."
"Hmm. I am sure that your parents want only the best for you and honestly it will be good to share your life with someone, but.. don't get forced into something that you don't want.. I don't really know why your Baba is so angry with you, but he can't blackmail you."
"He is not blackmailing me.. Baba is not like that."
"Sorry, those were wrong words.. but maafi itni conditional na hi ho toh acha hai, don't you think? And what about.. your own.. wishes? You also.. like someone.."
"Whom do I like?"
"I really don't know.. perhaps Arnav?"
"Preeto, kaisi baat kar rahi ho? Life koyi Hindi film hai kya? You know Baba is kind of worried that this Abhimanyu Tripathi is a bit out of my league, but because phupha knows the family, woh maan gaye hai.. kahaan woh Raizadas aur kahaan hum. It is funny as a joke, but that is all."
"You are right. But it is not that it can't happen at all. If you and Arnav want to.. acha, don't get mad now."
"Preeto sometimes you have crazy imagination.. I thought Aakash was your jeeju, ab achanak se Arnav kahaan se aa gaya?"
"True. But.. he is helping you these days, which is actually a big thing for someone like him. Sirf guilt ki wajah se itna koi nahi karta.. and he is not your friend, that we already know.. so he must feel something for you."
Khushi decided not to tell Preeto about her newest encounter with Arnav during Holi. It would feed into every filmi fantasy of her friend and she herself had been left confused with that encounter. She had been so affected and horrified that she had got drunk and stupid in front of him. That she had insisted that Arnav spend the night in her house because the roads were in a bad state and he was exhausted after having been in the road for hours. Does being high bring out your deepest desires or does it just make you incredibly stupid? She was favouring the latter. Which is why when she had run into him the other day at GK she was cold to him. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea about her. It was all just so confusing.
"You are right, he is not even my friend. Woh toh first step hota hai na. And you know what happened that day at the farmhouse and at Alchemy."
"So you do blame him? And have not forgiven him after all. Waise acha hi hai.. woh maafi ke layak nahi hai."
"Preeto, tu na bipolar hai.."
"Itna bada shabd seekha kahan se?"
"No really. First you were ready to make him your jeejaji, now you don't think I should forgive him. Decide."
"See.. I love you. If you love him, I will learn to love him too. If you hate him, I am with you too. If you love Suicide Boy, I will learn to love him too."
"Ab wapas Aman ke baare mein shuru mat ho jana. Now I know why Ginny is forever going away on work trips, you must be annoying him."
"Funny. Anyway, forget Aman and all, tell me about this Abhimanyu. Yeh saare ladke ke naam A se kyun shuru hote hai? Majra kya hai?"
"Preeto. Please, chup ho jao."
"Acha Abhi Jeeju ka photo toh dekha hoga tumne. Is he cute?"
"It has been two hours, I am going to see Lehar."
And she got up from the spot, grimacing at her friend as she left. Her phone beeped again, but she was not going to check.
"Khushi, why aren't you checking your phone. God knows how many messages have been coming. I think someone is missing you."
She slapped Preeto on her temple gently and walked towards the elevator to take her to the ICU which was on the topmost floor. She showed the pass to the nurse who allowed her to where little Lehar was. There were so many children there, all of them suffering from all kinds of ailments, her heart just felt heavy seeing that. Leher was lying, there was IV in her hand and she was all shrivelled up, so tiny and so vulnerable. In that moment, Khushi felt a sudden feeling of guilt about the moment when she had first seen Leher and had felt a pang of jealousy. She walked closer, placed her palm on Leher's forehead. There was no temperature, so that was good. The nurse outside said that Lehar was better and would be moved to the ward the next morning and discharged the day after. She thanked the nurse and walked out of the ICU. She decided to take the stairs down because the elevators took a lot of time. It was a busy day at the hospital. As she climbed down the stairs, the floor below was the outpatient surgical unit. That is when she saw Anand Raizada being wheeled into the surgical area. It was neither the time and place for her to go and talk to him. So she waited until he was out of view before climbing down further. Why was Anand Raizada here, she wondered? And what was wrong with him? Should she text Arnav? No, that would not be right. They were after all not even friends, were they?
**
Arnav picked up the copy of Hindustan Times, the business section had a quarter page, three-column report on Brewing Trouble in AR Enterprises'. There was predictably no byline, so it was in that way an anonymous report. The piece claimed that the newspaper had been tipped off anonymously that there was a possible division of AR Enterprises on the cards and this could be why Arnav Raizada and Aakash Mallik had been inducted into the board. The report claimed that there was troubled equation between the cousins and a split was on the cards. Roy had already spoken to him first thing in the morning to ask him what was happening. He also mentioned that there was some peculiar stock movement of AR Enterprises and somebody was liquidating their stocks. None of this made any sense.
He trusted Aakash, and was unsure if he should ask him what was going on. If he knew anything at all. He was saved from the awkwardness when he got a text from Aakash who had read the report and was surprised. Who was spreading these false rumours then? And what were they going to gain as a result of this? Someone from within was attempting to sabotage, that too when mom was away. He found an online copy of the report and mailed it to mom. Though he was sure that she already must have seen it.
He also called up Anjali Di to warn her to not speak to anyone in the media. Di was blissfully unaware of any of this and seemed particularly unperturbed. She was more excited about the fact that her final year students were taking her out for lunch that day. He sometimes envied Di, she did things that made her happy and was satisfied with her life. He immediately also felt guilty for envying his sister's happiness. He considered telling her about mom and dad's peculiar behaviour lately, but decided against it. Once he and Aakash figured something out, he would see what needed to be done. At this point everything was only in his head. He called NK and asked him to take a meeting for Raizada Designs alone as he had some mess to sort out at AR.
"Yeah, I was reading the paper just now.. all okay, dude?"
"I guess.."
"You know, my mom owns some AR shares too.. should I speak with her. Maybe she needed money suddenly."
"Why would Tayi do that? Why do you think like that?"
"Mom is terrible with finances. I keep telling her to move to Delhi, but she won't leave Bombay.. so it might be a honest mistake."
"No. If it was your mom, we would have know. This is someone spreading rumours with intent of mischief."
"I guess. I will speak to her anyway. If she has done something of that sort, Chachi will kill my mother."
"No, she won't. My mom is very fond of your mom. You know that."
"Yeah, what is up with that? I have always been suspicious about this."
"So thanks for taking this meeting.. I will speak to you in the evening."
"Arnav, I think you need to hire an assistant. You are spreading yourself too thin.. I do worry about you."
"I think so too. But it is not easy to find someone, whom I like, who I can trust.. with all this going on."
"Perhaps you could hire Cutie Kumari Gupta."
"Really? Why? I repeat this, I am not the one who is obsessed with her, but you are."
"For your sake. Did you know that workplace romance is the number two reason why people fall in love?"
"What is number one?"
"Going to the same school. You will be hitting it out of the park on both counts then."
"Shut up, NK. I will talk to you soon."
He hung up and closed his laptop. He realised that he no longer needed his man-bag because he was back to carrying just one laptop now, as he headed to AR. He hoped that Aakash's Private Investigator had some news for them.
**
"Champion, aur kab tak Joseph's jaogi. Aakhiri din kab hai?"
"Agle hafte ke baad ek mahine ki chuthi. Phir Physical Education exams honge. Last day kab hoga bataya nahin waise... adhoc hoon toh notice nahin denge."
Khushi had just returned home after a really long day at work. From college she didn't even come home but straight away went to the shop. They had a really big order from one of Anita Chawla's contacts. This had been the biggest order that they had got since she had taken over Tewari & Sons. In fact Faisal Bhai had even got an assistant for a couple of days to help them. Maa who knew about this, had told her that she did not want to upset Baba and so would not help her. She understood that. Baba had been in high spirits when he had come here on the day after Holi, but after she expressed reservations about the rishta he had gone back to being quiet and moody. There was no reason to further incense him. But today Baba seemed in a more cheerful mood. It was almost eleven in the night and he was waiting to have dinner with her. This was surprising and she wondered what Baba had in mind as they sat down on the floor to eat Lucknawai biryani, raita and kebab. Normally dinner was not an elaborate affair. Especially when it was just her, Renu Bhabhi and Aarav. They stuck to roti, subzi. But her mom was a fabulous cook and made elaborate dishes effortlessly. But still, there was no denying that her parents seemed happy today.
"Kya baat hai, Maa, Baba, aaj itna sab kuch? Kya hua? Kuch special hai kya?"
Maa looked at Baba and nodded, signalling him to speak.
"Champion, aaj Shekhawat Sir aaye the. Unko pata hai, dukaan ko lekar jo samasya ho rahi hain.. toh unhone kaha, yeh dukaan ko Anand Rams ko bech de, ache paise dila denge. Tumhaare account mein jama kar denge. Shekhawat Sir ka koyi transport ka business hai, wahan tumhe naukri bhi dila denge. Yeh Jospeh's se chuthi, Tewari se chuthi.. ab shaadi ke liye haan na karne ka karan bhi nahin bachega."
The mention of Shekhawat Sir made her sick. He was so.. what did Arnav call him Shady Shekhawat? That sounded accurate. But even shady seemed inadequate. He had been harassing Khushi with inappropriate text messages and she honestly did not how to put an end to it. She wanted to speak to her parents, but looks like Shekhawat had beat her to it. How could she explain to her parents, that this was not what she wanted.
"Lekin Baba.."
Baba pushed his almost full plate away and got up and left in a huff. It was hard to understand why her Baba, ever supportive of her the one who actually gave her the courage to harbour dreams, to have wings who now in one swoop wanted to take it all away. She trusted her parents, loved them more than anything or anyone else, but this time she could not agree with them. not without a conversation, without thinking it through.
"Phir naraaz ho gaye, Baba.. lekin tu fikar mat kar, main baat karoongi," Maa had gently assured her. But her appetite was gone and she begged her mother to not force her to eat. Of course, there is nothing that was more likely to fetch a mother's wrath than an unfinished meal by her children, no matter how old they be and Maa had in a huff cleared the area.
She sighed and sat on the living room divan, switching TV channels, watching them on mute. Everyone else had gone to sleep. She switched on her phone, even though it terrified her to see the messages. She felt disgusted and violated. But she called Faisal Bhai to check if he and the assistant had taken time off to eat dinner. She told him that she would come to the shop at five in the morning to help him with the halwa. She switched off her phone because she needed to have a pleasant night. Was Baba right in a way? Would selling the shop to Anand Rams and marrying this Abhimanyu be in her best interests? The other day, in her inebriated state she had wished for a simple life, with a husband and a family of her own. Now, she was getting a chance at that simple, happily-ever-after. Her career was all but dead. As Arjoon Bose had told her, she would get thrown out of Joseph's at the shortest of notice. She believed in women's rights and all, but the truth also was that an unattached woman was an even easier target for the likes of Shekhawat. If she was Khushi Abhimanyu Tripathi, the world would see her anew. But yet, her stupid, stupid heart would not let her do this. Perhaps tomorrow will bring some answers, she thought as she fell asleep on the divaan, the TV still on mute.
**
"Chotey!!!!!!" Anjali Di shouted into the phone. It was ten in the morning and she had been calling her brother for the last hour and he had finally picked it up.
"Hello Anjali," he said formally.
"Are you in some soul-crushing meeting and is that why you are sounding like a dick?"
"Yes, Anjali."
"Okay then. You need to step out of this meeting for a minute because there is something very important I need to tell you."
"Gentlemen, if you will just excuse me for a few minutes," she heard her brother use his dulcet businessman tone and giggled at it.
"Di, I am outside, what is going on? Is everything okay?"
"More than okay, Arnav! We are having a baby. Missionaries of Charity called two days ago, and we just finished all the paperwork to bring home a three-month-old baby girl. Arnav, you are going to be a Maama!"
"Oh wow! Best news in the longest time, Di! So happy for you and Jeeju. When does my niece come home?"
"We will bringing her home day after tomorrow, that is Saturday evening, after five because Jun's mother said something about auspicious time and stuff."
"That is fantastic. I will be there."
"Yes, please show up. I have asked NK, Aakash, Seema Bua, Shivam Uncle and of course Jun's family to be there. Too bad mom and dad are not around. When is dad back by the way? He can never be reached somehow."
"There is a problem with his phone. I have been trying to get him to buy a new handset, but he is being predictably stubborn as usual. But he is always on email. I will send him a mail right now."
"Dad is stubborn? Wonder where else have we seen that?!"
"Ha Ha.. very funny. Not. Anyway, I am in a meeting. This is great news Di. I have been feeling so low lately, this is wonderful."
"Kya hua, Chotey? All well."
"Oh yeah, just overworked, I suppose. Also, it is tough to run AR without mom."
"Aww.. baby is missing mommy, isn't he?"
"No seriously, it is strange that our parents need to be emailed about the fact that they are going to have a grandchild.. how messed up is that?"
"I know Arnav. Sometimes I worry about this child we are bringing home. What if I am as bad a parent as our parents?"
"Don't worry, Di, you will be a great mother. You were born to be a mom and do not subject me to a feminist rant, I meant that with no agenda. You are a nurturer.. not a comment on your gender."
"Ah ha! I love you, my lil idiot brother."
"I love you too, Di. May I go and do something productive now?"
"Go, go.. go be the capitalist rat."
"Gee, thanks."
Once she hung up, she opened her cupboard and flung out all the clothes on the bed.
"Jun, what should I wear when we meet our baby?"
Jun merely rolled his eyes in response. Oh she was so happy. She was so glad that college was shut for break. She would not have been able to survive the day if she had classes. God, she was so excited. She, a mother?!
**
Khushi had packed the last of the dabbas to be delivered and watched Faisal Bhai's assistant put them all into the van to deliver them.
"Dhyaan se de dena uss madam ko.. aur woh ek cheque dengi usko dhyaan se lekar aana," Khushi said to him as he left. She turned to look at Faisal Bhai who looked a little thoughtful.
"Kya hua, Faisal Bhai, aap theekh toh hai? Ab aap ghar jao.. turant.. itna thakh gaye honge."
"Main theek hoon, kaam karna acha lagta hai. Tum bhi jao.. chaar baje se lagi huyi ho. Aaj college nahin hain?"
"Shanivaar hai.. chuthi hain. Bas ek hafte aur phir college bhi bandh."
"Pata hai, tum bahut zyada mehnati ho.. agar woh Mahesh, tumhaare se ek chautha mehnat karta hai, toh aaj yeh halat nahi hoti dukaan ki."
Mahesh Tewari, with whom Faisal Bhai worked for many years had never been a subject of their conversations. It was some kind of tacit understanding between them. But today was the first time that Faisal Bhai had broken that truce between them, and somehow in that moment, she wanted to know more.
"Woh ache insaan the?"
"Acha toh pata nahin.. lekin bura nahin tha. Cricket ka bhooth buri tarah sawaar tha uske sar pe.. uske chalte kaafi kuch kiya usne. Tumhaare Amma ke baarein mein usne kabhi mujhe kaha nahin tha.. tum jab aayi dukaan mein, tabhi pata chala.. halwai acha tha, lekin business sense bilkul nahi tha.. tumhaare jaisa nahin tha.. bilkul perfect.. mithai bhi samajhti ho aur business bhi."
"Aap mazaak kar rahe, Faisal Bhai? Aapko sach mein lagta hain ki mujh mein business sense hai?"
"Aur nahin toh.. acha kaam karti ho. Main toh yahan aas paas sab se bolta hoon, yeh ladki kuch karegi ek din, lekin uske liye Chandni Chowk se nikalna padega tumhe."
This immediately got her suspicious. Had Baba put him on to this, to consider a life outside Chandni Chowk.
"Baba ne aapse kuch kaha? Shaadi ke baarein mein?"
"Kiski shaadi? Tum shaadi karne walli ho?"
"Pata nahin. Karni chahiye ki nahin?"
"Karna chahti ho toh shaukh se karo.. lekin sahi bandey se."
"Bandah sahi hai ki galat, kaise pata lagaoon?"
"Agar woh banda yeh jata paata hai ki tum koyi special ho, tab woh sahi hain tumhaare liye."
"Matlab jhooti tareef?"
"Nahin. Tareef nahin. Jhooth nahin. Woh yeh nahin kahege ki tum special ho, lekin uke saath rehte tumhe yeh mehsoos hoga ki tum kuch khaas ho."
"Lekin main toh bahut ordinary hoon.. mujhme kuch khaas hai bhi nahi."
"Ho sakta hain.. lekin woh phir bhi kuch special dhoondh lega."
"Faisal Bhai, mujhe lagta hai aap bahut filmein dekhte ho."
"Woh bhi sach hai. Ab dukaan bandh karo kuch der ke liye aur ghjar jaakar aaram karo. Iss hafte ki kamayi toh poori ho gayi."
He waved at her and left. Khushi smiled at him, still amused by Faisal Bhai's theory. Her phone beeped again and she picked it up nervously.
Khushiji, aap se milne ka mann kar raha hai. Uss din Holi ke din, itni pyaari lag rahi thi aap.. aapke khoobsurat baal, aapke mulayam honth..
She stopped scrolling and closed the messages app. She had sent him messages asking him to stop sending them, but that only served to encourage him more. She needed to formally lodge a complaint, perhaps. Was it true that middle aged and older men found her attractive? If Poonam Raizada heard about this, she would probably shake her head and say, this girl and her poor moral character.
Her depressing thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She saw the number wasn't one she recognised and tentatively she picked up the phone.
"Hello."
"Khushi Kumari Gupta?"
"Ji."
"I am Vini Mathur, calling from Alchemy College."
"Yes.. what.. is.. it?"
"We have a vacancy for a full-time sports coach at Alchemy and I heard that you are an ad-hoc coach at Joseph's. I was wondering if you are interested in applying for this position."
"Uh..mmm."
"If you are, there is a formal process, you will need to get the application from the University Office and send in your application by next Tuesday. Since you are an alumni, we would love to have you back. Think about it."
When Khushi hung up, she could not quite decide how to describe the feeling in her heart. Could she really be an alumni from a place that she quit in disgrace? And what message was the universe trying to send her, she was not sure.
**
It was early morning on Sunday and they were at Noor Madam's house, the widow of Baig sir had invited his former wards to give away some of his things as memory of their teacher to his favourite students. It was a thoughtful gesture and even Arnav who was not taken in by nostalgia very easily felt a certain heaviness in his heart as a sombre Noor Ma'm handed over Baig Sir's vintage pocket watch cum timer to him. It was beautiful and given the age of it and the quality of craftsmanship it would fetch Noor Ma'm a substantive amount of money were she to sell it. But this was not about the monetary value of it, there was something more than that which made it priceless. He watched Khushi hug Noor Ma'm and break into tears, who patted on her head consoling. Since Khushi was Baig Sir's favourite as per Noor ma'm and the only one who was somewhat carrying forward his legacy, she inherited his entire gym equipment and assorted paraphernalia. In that moment Arnav realised that if Baig Sir hadn't discovered Khushi's talent, they would never have met. He was sure that Khushi might have been leading a happier life today if she had not met them, but in that moment he had to also admit that him never meeting Khushi would have been very sad. He had led such an insulated and privileged life, it was her appearance in their lives, which had made every one uncomfortable and brought out the worst and the best in the lot. Mostly the worst.
"Bahut gehri soch mein lagte ho," Divyesh interrupted his thoughts.
"Kuch nahin yaar. How are things? Lavanya is not here?"
"She has gone to Wagah border with her army husband, to feel patriotic and all."
"Good for her."
"By the way, congratulations, dude! Heard the news about your niece."
"Thanks.. but how did you know?"
"Welcome to South Delhi, where everyone knows everyone's business."
"Strange. No mystery can be maintained in this city."
"Wrong. Here walks Ms Mystery Kumari Gupta herself," Divyesh said as Khushi headed in their direction.
"Hi, Divyesh, Arnav. What Mystery? What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing. Divyesh was blabbering some nonsense. How are you?"
"I was not. Arnav was saying that it is impossible to keep a secret among our circle.. but you are very mysterious."
"There is mystery in my life? Not at all. You have such strange ideas. Anyway, I need to leave now."
"We were leaving too.. we were just waiting to say hello to you. How did you come, one of us can drop you home."
"Not needed. Main chali jaoongi. Paas hi hain yahan se mera ghar."
"Wait, Khushi, let me give you a ride, up to the metro station, at least?" he offered and she nodded.
"Wah! Arnav got Khushi to say yes. Well done, dude."
Khushi slapped Divyesh on his arm as they walked out. Arnav was yet again surprised by the rather easy equation between Divyesh and Khushi, a comfort level that they had not been able to establish. He opened the car door for her and she got in.
"I am sorry about Divyesh," he said as he started the car, for some reason feeling compelled to apologise on behalf of their classmate. Though truth be told, he was not sure exactly what he was apologising for.
"Why are you sorry? There is no free left here, you will have to go all the way to New-Ons and take a U-turn. I will just get off at the end of the road actually."
"Don't be silly, it is not that big a deal, I can even drop you home actually."
"No. .. Maa and Baba will.. I don't know.. just drop me off at the Metro Station."
"Okay."
"I know what you are thinking," Khushi offered him after a while, her lips pursed, looking a bit like she was a child who was about to throw a hissy fit.
"You do? Please tell me more, Khushi. My thoughts are so garbled these days, I will be happy if someone made sense of it for me."
"You probably think that I too am like.. that I won't associate with you when I am with my family. And I know that it is a terrible thing to do to anyone.. but.."
"Oh come on, Khushi. Of course, I understand. If there was a movie made out of the story of your life, I would be the villain. Of course, you are not going to allow me to hang around with your parents. And I understand that perfectly fine. No hard feelings whatsoever."
"Hmm."
Khushi was right, it was a significant detour and finally they were in front of New Horizons Public School, he slowed his car and then stopped it completely.
"Khushi, do you want to go and see inside. Just for a bit."
"I.. okay, sure. But today is Sunday nobody will be around."
"Exactly why we should go in."
He walked ahead and she followed him.
"Arnav Raizada," the watchman exclaimed and hugged him. He was surprised by the fact that the watchman actually recognised him and by his display of affection. When he asked him if they could visit the school, he let them in. Khushi followed him. They walked around for a bit, the classrooms were locked though. Finally they went to the peepal tree, the one that they called the gyaan tree in school, sitting under which many a notes were exchanged and many friendships initiated. Khushi sat on the cement bench that had been made around it and he next to her.
"I hadn't thought about it until today, but New Ons has one of the nicest grounds, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. When Baba and I came here for the first time, for my admissions, I think that is the main reason I wanted to be here. And of course because of Baig Sir."
"Hmm. Are you in touch with your friends from your earlier school.. was it really that different?"
"Well, they were all from in and around Chandni Chowk, so a lot of them I know what they are doing in life..except for two of them, I won't call the rest my friends.."
Her phone beeped and he noticed her expression change as she read her message. She got up, looking a little flustered.
"I need to go now."
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything is fine."
Her phone beeped again and she looked more agitated now. She didn't even check her message, as she began walking away. He got up, caught up with her, grabbed her hand and made her stop. He then gently guided her back to the tree and made her sit down.
"Listen Khushi, I know something is bothering you. I have been feeling that since I saw you at Noor Ma'm house, you look rather lost and confused. Tell me, maybe I can help."
"Arnav, you can't help. And you don't have to either.. if you somehow feel that you have to."
"I know. Okay. You know how they say that if you tell your problems to someone who is not in the middle of it, by virtue of the distance they are in a better position to come up with something useful."
"I haven't heard that, but go on."
"You are a tough nut to crack, Khushi. What I am saying is, I will tell you what is bothering me and you tell me what is bothering you and maybe we can help each other."
"Okay, but you go first."
He smiled as he sat down on the ground, right next to her. Now what problems did he have that he could share with Khushi, he wondered.
"I don't know how to begin."
"That is because you don't have any problems, may be?"
"Mine is a business problem actually."
"Faisal Bhai, the halwai of my shop thinks I have good business sense. He told me that yesterday."
"I see. And how long has Faisal Bhai been in this line of work."
"Forever. About sixty years."
"Then he probably knows what he is saying."
"Or he is going senile. Since I took over Tewari & Sons, month after month we have only made losses. We had two good months actually, when Bhagwan Das, the owner of another mithai shop down the road which is much bigger than ours, he died. For two months we got a lot of his orders. Then his son reopened the shop and we were back to not making any money."
"Funny. In a sad way. Is that your problem, not enough business?"
"Yes. And no. That is only part of it. I will soon be unemployed, my stint in St Joseph's is going to end. And Baba wants me to marry Abhimanyu. And you remember that Shekhawat Sir?"
"The wise old man of Chandni Chowk? What about him? Is he harassing you about the shop. Should I speak with Roy?"
"Yes, the shop thing is there.. this time he is trying to get it via Baba, who respects him. But.. this is so embarrassing.. he is harassing me with messages."
"On your phone? What kind of messages."
"Gande walle."
"Do you still have these messages? Can I see them?"
"No.. no way.. I am so ashamed of them.. it is so embarrassing."
He got up now and sat next to her on the bench. Now he began to see why Khushi was all fidgety and nervous when her phone beeped. He had noticed that night in GK market too. Harassment was a serious problem and he knew how difficult it was to usually find someone to talk about it with. He had read that often when women were at the receiving end of unwelcome sexual overtures they might end up blaming themselves, partly because ninety percent of society would blame victims. There was not much one could do about other people, but at least one should not blame oneself. It also occurred to him then that given the history of what transpired between Khushi and his mother, this must be somewhat playing in her mind too. He placed his hand on her shoulder, as a friendly gesture and forced her to make eye-contact with him.
"Listen, Khushi, Shekhawat is the one who is at fault here. Not you. First you need to accept that before you can find a way to end it. Can I see your phone please?"
She seemed unsure, but after a while handed it to him and he saw that she had not deleted any of his messages. Smart girl. He scrolled through them and he had to cringe at what he read. What a sick bas***d, he thought, hitting on a woman so much younger than him and that too violating her.
"Khushi, you need to tell your family and lodge a compliant against him. This has been going on for weeks now. i don't believe you have been putting up with this shit. This needs to end right now."
"See.. I knew you would say that."
"What other response can there be? What is wrong with you, Khushi?"
"There has been so much drama in my life.. I can't do this. Maa and Baba will be heartbroken. It will be be terrible. And this man is so respected, everyone will blame me, I am sure. It will be the same thing..nothing good will come of it."
It will be like Khushi versus his mother all over again, he figured that is what she was going to say, but had been unable to complete her sentence. He realised that it was easy to give advice, but he did not lead her life or face her challenges and she probably had a point. Though, he still felt so much rage on her behalf.
"Okay fine, fry this phone then?"
"What?"
"Aman said that you dropped your phone in the oil.. do the same with this. Remove the simcard and lose or fry the phone. It will give you an excuse to get yourself a new number, that you only share with people you trust. Meanwhile give me this simcard and we will put this in another phone and keep it as evidence should you file a case later."
"Wow. Bilkul Hollywood movie jaise ho gaya yeh toh."
"Tumhaari life hai hi itni interesting."
"Hmm. Maybe I will do that."
"And about career, I am not the best person to give you advice. You know I run my own business, but now I spend all my time in the family business. My parents want to retire, understandably. Between Aakash and me, hum yeh company ko zaroor dubayenge."
"Yeah, Aakash was telling me. He is not particularly happy with his life at the moment."
"I don't think anyone I know is happy with their life at this moment. Except my sister that is."
"That is nice. I met your jeejaji at the Holi party. He is very nice."
"He is. Di and he have adopted a baby girl. So I now have a niece."
"Oh nice. What is her name?"
"The naming ceremony is tomorrow. Let me show you a picture, she is precious."
He had no idea why, but he showed her the photographs that he had clicked last evening. He who did not even know for sure how the camera on his phone worked had clicked a thousand pictures of his lil niece. Now he understood all those annoying new parents who constantly shared photographs of largely indistinguishable babies. He was becoming one of them. And he was not even a parent yet.
"You should not give up on your Design Company I think. I mean, it is something you built on your own, how can you give up that, right? You are throwing away the last five years of your life then. I gave up sports once I quit Alchemy, that is the only thing I was good at and I had trained for since I was a child.. don't do that. And don't say I am sorry."
"I wasn't going to."
"You were. I know you."
"Really? You think you do, but you actually don't."
"Thoda bahut toh jaan gayi hoon ab tak."
"You are right, I don't intend to give up Raizada Designs, but I just need to find a way to also enjoy being at AR. You love Tewari & Sons, right? Why do you like that? It is not even exactly your shop.. so how do you feel the attachment?"
"Because of Maa.. right or wrong, to me that shop is my mother's. And that is why I work hard on it. And fail."
"Things will get better, Khushi. And why don't you find another job. I am sure Joseph's experience can only be good for you."
"Actually something strange happened yesterday. I got a call from Alchemy, because they are hiring a new full-time coach. They told me if I wanted I could apply."
"Wow! You must. Coach Sir is retiring next year, you will be perfect for it."
"Yeah, but Alchemy.. how can I go back there when they ask me during the interview why I got thrown out of college. And don't say sorry."
"Ha ha. But seriously, they called you.. asking you to apply. You were not thrown out of college, tell them the truth. Maybe the universe is setting right the wrongs done to you."
"Did you have anything to do with this?"
"What? No. I promise, I had nothing to do with this. I think you should apply."
"I will think about it. We should leave now. It is so late. Thanks, Arnav.. this was.. nice."
On an impulse he reached out to her and hugged her. A friendly hug. Why he did that, he didn't know. He was not a hugger. But doing embarrassing and uncharacteristic things around Khushi had become his thing. But she did not push him away and put her arms around his neck too.
"I am sor.." when he saw Khushi nod her head from side to side he stopped mid sentence and grinned, "by the way, if this Alchemy thing does not work out for you, I mean I hope it does.. but if it does not, I am hiring an assistant."
"At AR? I don't think so."
"No, at Raizada Designs. My cousin NK, who is my partner in the company will be thrilled."
"Why? He doesn't even know me."
"But he is a fan."
"Well if he ever needs mithai, ask him to order from me."
He smiled at her and nodded.
They bid farewell to New-Ons. The watchman had fallen asleep and they decided not to wake him up as they walked out of the gate. So much had been spoken in the last few hours that the short journey to the Kashmere Gate metro station was spent in quiet. When they reached the station, she turned towards him and thanked him before reaching for the door.
"Khushi, I wanted to ask you something.."
"Yeah, sure."
"Why did you suddenly decide to cut your hair? I mean you look very nice with this new hair, but for fourteen to fifteen years that we have know each other, you have had long hair.."
"I know. My Bhabhi said that kabhi kabhi baal katana se luck change ho sakta hai."
"Really, Khushi?"
"I know it is silly and superstitious. And I am normally not this way. But what was the harm in this. Maan lo, agar Rapunzel khud hi apna baal kata leti, uski life kitni different hoti."
"I see. And is this.. helping you turn the tide?"
"I don't know. We got a big order at Tewaris after a long time. Maa and Baba are back. Payal Singh invited me to her house for a party. Noor Ma'm has given me so much. I have an interview with Alchemy. Abhimanyu Tripathi wants to marry me. Hum dono mein dosti jaise kuch ho gayi hain. So maybe it is working."
"Matlab iss Tripathi se shaadi karne walli ho?"
"Pata nahin. Haan karne ki koyi wajah toh nahi hai. Lekin na bolne ki bhi nahi hai."
She smiled at him, got down from the car and walked away. As he drove back home alone, he realised that Khushi had summed up his and Payal's relationship. There was no reason to have said yes, but there was no reason to say no either. But was that ever enough?
**
"Debanjana? Didn't you find a more Bengali name than this, Di?"
"Shut up, Arnav.Take your racism elsewhere."
"But Di, Arnav has a point. Debanjana? It is going to get shortened to Debu, or worse Debs."
"Don't worry Aakash, you can call her by her daaaknaam Tumpa."
"Seriously Di, what is the connection between Tumpa and Debanjana?"
"Di, I think Debanjana is a perfectly nice name. And Tumpa is adorable. There was one Debanjana who won Indian Idol. And one Anjana won it too. Di, perfect name."
"Thanks, NK. Arnav and Aakash, learn from him. NK, I appoint you as Maama No. 1."
**
Khushi stood outside the gates of Alchemy college, wondering if she should go in. Of course, she had left home with the intention of coming here, but now suddenly she had cold feet. Yes, this place was somehow responsible for her worst memory in her adult life, but how much longer could she just hold on to that. And all memories were not bad. Alchemy also gave her Preeto, her best friend, mother hen, for that she was grateful. She wondered if Harsh Narain the library assistant from Kakori who helped her get books was still in Alchemy. She didn't often encounter kindness, but when she did, she always remembered. She wondered if Alchemy college canteen still made better coffee than the Joseph's cafeteria. She wondered if the Alchemy gym had just one elliptical machine that all the athletes fought over.
I guess, there is only one way to find out, she thought as she pushed open the gates and walked in.
**
NEXT
Edited by YellowBoots - 10 years ago
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