A very big thank you to all those who took the time to read, like and/or comment on the previous chapter! You guys are the best!!
I was immensely happy that after the chapter you all understood the need for distance and even sympathized with Sumo! Of course Shravan's pain was depicted beautifully in the show but it kind of invalidated Sumo's pain. I just hope to show some of her pain in this story. The fact that you all agreed with it, makes me immensely happy! Thank you for that.
CHAPTER FIVE
Sleepless nights were nothing new to Shravan. Whether it was for studying for classes or cases, he was used to night owling. But these past few days, they weren't exactly sleepless nights. No, because he would doze off after tossing about in bed for hours on end, so it was not sleepless night rather they were restless nights. He was restless about the next day, questioning whether he could gather enough courage in one night so that he could text her the following day with a coffee cup emoji and a question mark. And every morning he would wake up with the same fervor as the previous night. But as soon as he would unlock his mobile, her smiling picture in the background would undo all his valor.
Damn it Sumo! Stop smiling. This is serious!
He isn't sure how a week passes by and then another and then another but then one day he overhears Pushkar consoling a sniffling Preeti. "Arey, acha ab bas. Aisa karo tum ye teen din Tiwari Killa mein raho. Okay?"
"Par Pushkar! Uske baad ka kya?! I will miss them na?"
Pushkar really had no answer to that. Ofcourse she would miss them, and no reassurance would suffice to contradict that fact. He tries anyway. "Haan, toh hum aisa karte hai, ki har 6 mahine ke baad hum dono America chalege sab ko milne."
"Pakka promise?" she sniffles cutely.
"Haan baba, pakka wala promise."
It didn't take Shravan long to figure out their conversation. Three days?! Three days and Sumo would be gone. His mind was at war and so was his heart. He humorlessly chuckled to himself. It was ironic how a few weeks ago, all he wanted to do was to get rid of her. Heck! He had even done so! And now? Now he wanted nothing more than to whisk her away with him somewhere far and away from all this.
He shook his head to rid it of such thoughts. No use of thinking of the could haves and would haves now. Those were of no significance. "We need space!" He reminds himself again. "We need space!" and again. He heavily plops down on his chair, roughly reminding Rakesh to cancel all his meetings for the day and to forbid anyone from disturbing him. But for the past couple of days that went without saying. Everyone in Malhotra and Associates knew to steer clear of their boss when he was in one of his mood, especially, when we forwent his tie and there were apparent dark circles under his eyes. Not to mention the frown on his lips. Shravan grabbed the nearest file to him and began studying it. Or tried studying it. He groaned angrily, she was everywhere! Even when she was nowhere near him, she was everywhere!
God, damn it Sumo! WE. NEED. SPACE! Leave me alone! Her smoky figure, smiles teasingly before vanishing.
The next day in a similar fashion and so it the day after that.
But the worst was yet to come.
It was the day that the Tiwari Killa were set to depart to the States, or Amreeka as Mami-ji proudly pronounced it. Shravan was having a bad day. His staff were having a worse day. He was furious! The peon was running in to his office with the fifth cup of coffee in the past hour. The first cup was angrily pushed away, Yeh coffee hai ki sugar syrup!' Shravan Sahib yelled. The second cup was too strong. The third cup was cold and the fourth cup was Theek' but sadly Shravan had spilled it all over his desk. The peon only prayed the this was satisfactory. He was tired of making coffee!
Shravan took a sip from the cup and dismissed the poor man. The peon immediately slumped in relief, an involuntary Haash!' leaving his lips. It wasn't much appreciated by his employer but he didn't make a move to yell at him yet. Instead Sahib had his eyes trained on the window of his office. Chote Sahib was putting on his coat and making his way towards the exit.
Sahib immediately oushed his chair back and rushed towards the door. "Chote!" He called out.
Pushkar was on his way to Tiwari Killa. He had to drop them off at the airport. Preeti had asked him to arrive by 6pm and it was already 5.15. He just hopes that the traffic was having a day off. "Chote!" Came a voice behind him.
He turns around. "Haan, Bhiaya?"
"Kaha jaa raha?" he asked although Pushkar was pretty sure he already knew.
"Bhaiya, woh aaj, Dada-ji aur baaki sab America ke liye nikal rahe hai na, toh main unhe airport tak drop karne jaa raha hoon." He explained.
Shravan pursed his lips and nodded.
"Aap chalege, saath?" Pushkar asks hesitantly and hopefully, thinking that if they meet each other once, just once, then they could talk out all the problems and misunderstandings between them. All they needed was one meeting...
Instead, his dearest Bhaiya nods his head in the negative "Mujhe bahut kaam hai."
There was no room for further arguments. Pushkar was getting late. "Theek hai Bhiya. I'll convey your regards to them."
~~~
There was this nervous energy sparking under Sumo's veins. It was part nervousness and part anticipation. It was the idea of a clean slate future but a blotted past. Looking out, the foggy window of the car, she contemplated just for a fraction of second to stay behind. But she banished the idea before it was wholly developed. The car ride to the airport was silent, majorly owing to the passengers in the car. Nanu, Preeti, Pushkar and herself. She enjoyed the quiet.
Unfortunately, the quiet didn't last very long and now she stood along her family in the bustling airport. Thankfully, she was in one of her selective hearing moods, and regarded everything around he as white noise. Then came a hand on her shoulder. It was Pushkar. "Are you sure?" He asked.
Sumo was sure she was going to cry, it was the first time someone had asked her about this decision without any threat or emotional blackmail. Hell! It was the first time anyone asked! Period. So, she couldn't really stop herself from wrapping he arms around him in a tight hug. "I'll miss you." She says instead of a I am not sure, really.' "Shravan nahi aaya?" she asks hopefully. Pushkar's solemn look says it all. "Nanu ke liye bhi nahi?" He nods in the negative. She sniffles a little. Not because she was crying, no! It was just a little cold in the airport. That's it. Nothing more. "Acha hua, Nanu bhi usse thoda gussa hai."
Puskar pulls her into another hug.
"Suman, chalo, flight ka time ho raha hai." Mama-ji calls.
"Chal." She smiles at him. "Apna khayal rakhna aur meri behan ka bhi!"
~~~
It was really impossible that Shravan could idly sit in his office or at home that evening. He was not being productive anyway. A small drive would do him good, wouldn't it? And maybe a stroll in the park to clear his mind.
Apparently, a stroll in the park meant him hiding behind concrete pillars at the airport. His eyes desperately searched for something. Or rather someone. And there, he caught her, looking more beautiful than ever in yellow tunic and jeans. Her nose was slightly red, and he hopes it was because of the cold, he didn't want it to be read because of the other alternative. It was chilly in the airport, he convinces himself. And look, Nana-ji even had a sweater on.
He sees her suddenly hugging Pushkar, hanging on to him as if her life depended on it. He wishes it was him there instead of Pushkar. He wishes it was him in whom she found momentary comfort.
He then sees her turn to Mama-ji and then back at Pushkar. Her face was contorted in a disappointed frown. And then she and the rest of the Tiwari clan solely disappeared behind the immigration wall.
Shravan felt the heavy pit in his stomach increase.
Ping. His phone buzzed.
Message From: Sumo
~You look great in Purple.
A small smile tugged on the corner of his lips. She had caught sight of him even in the crowded airport.
~~~
America, Sumo always thought would be a well-developed country. All tall skyscrapers, and grey concrete. Fast trains and quite streets. Well, that's what she thought it would look like due to the limited information feed to her by her family and also because of those overly romantic adventure novels.
Turns out America wasn't unlike India, after all. It was Delhi ki traffic and smoky streets. Of course it boasted the tall towers and slightly cleaner streets but apart from that, it was very much like her own Delhi. "Traffic kabhi mera picha nahi chodegi!" She mutters to herself.
"Arey abhi tak tunhe traffic dekha hi kaha hai, Suman! Yeh toh rush hour wali traffic bhi nahi hai." Anuj chuckles.
Anuj bhaiya was always her favorite cousin ever since she was a child. Lord knows she cried more bitterly when he announced that he accepted a job opportunity in the U.S. And as the years passed, she thought that maybe her favoritism towards him would decline. But it hadn't been more than four hours since they touched U.S soil and already she was warming up to his presence. And that is exactly why she volunteered to cook him all his favorite dishes for dinner, jet lag be damned.
The apartment Anuj bhaiya accommodated suited their need perfectly. It was a three-bedroom set up, thankfully. So, Mama and Mami-ji would make abode in one, Mausa and Mausi in another and Nanu and Anuj Bhaiya in the last. She herself would occupy the living room couch as Mami-ji announced. Sumo smiled in agreement.
Night quickly feel upon them and soon the family retired to sleep, tired. Jet lag apparently only struck the younger ones, Sumo understood, staring up at the dark popcorned ceiling from her place on the couch. She laid there for one hour, then two willing sleep to consume her, but it didn't.
And that is why she was scrolling through the day's newspaper. Her eyes scanning through the Classified' section. She needed to find a job.
~~~
Time passed. Neither Sumo nor Shravan could say whether it was fast or agonizingly slow. It just passed.
Suman had found a job quicker than expected. And Shravan was now running his own independent law firm.
Funny, how life goes on, Suman thought to herself. She always thought that being away from him would lead to burning devastation. She thought it would lead her to be depressed, sulking in a corner, crying. Of course, she did go through that phase. But that was about it. She hadn't given up on life and hope and with news from Preeti, he hadn't either. The feeling was bitter-sweet. She didn't want him to suffer unnecessarily.
Kuch rishto ka namak hi doori hota hai'
But then 4 months later she was couldn't help but type in an email, with him as the recipient.
She started it with a Dear Dost,' because that's what she hopes they are. Not Husband-wife, not soulmates, not relatives, just dost' on the least. The letter was as follows.
I got promoted!
Okay, I got semi promoted. Now I am Suman, the kitchen help.
I was a waiter before this, don't laugh! And before you start imagining me in the stereotyped Black and White French waitress attire, I want to clear that misconception and tell you, I was uniformed in a Saree. I luckily got a position in an Indian restaurant, small mercies!
How are you doing? I hope all is well.
America isn't as bad as I imagined it to be. Rather it is quite similar to Delhi. Traffic is a killer and the trains and buses are forever crowded. It even the it's beautiful.
Anuj Bhaiya, humme Yosemite National Park le gaye the aur SHRAVAN!!!!! It was sooo beautiful! It was - mujhe toh waha se wapas hi nahi aana tha! It was that beautiful. Thandi, thandi hawaye, ghanne jungle, neela aaasman, uff!
Oh, and it started to snow a couple of days back. Pehle-pehle laga haan toh, iss mein kaunsi badi baat hai. Par no! I was wrong! Raat hi raat mein, puri city jaise ek winter wonderland hi ban gayi ho! I love it!
London main bhi kya aise hi snow hota tha?
~Sincerely Suman.
At this point, there were two things Sumo wanted to do. One, write more and Two, sign her name as Sumo. But the first one seemed like stepping over boundaries, as ridiculous as that may sound and the second felt... Well it didn't feel right. She didn't want to be Sumo, if he himself doesn't wasn't Sumo. It was going to be Suman until he himself calls her Sumo.
Until?
Until meant next time and there wasn't going to be a next time. This email was going to be her first and last to him.
She quickly hits the send button, before doubt settles in and slams her laptop shut. Almost as if shutting down her laptop would shut up her thoughts.
First and last time! She reminds herself. First and last time.
And that is exactly why she found herself typing a second letter in the dead of the night a month later. Because herself control was that splendid!
~~~
It was another day at the office, a slow one at that. And Shravan found time to surf the web. But then being the man of professional integrity, he berated himself for wasting away work time like such.
But he had already studied all the files for the day! So, he sighs and resigns to clear his email.
He truly believed himself to be dreaming when her name was there in his email. A letter from her!
He had never read any mail, any case file any textbook as much he read her letter that day. He read it 34 times to be exact. Her words felt like a hug, and it felt like home.
Soon, he was typing away one too.
Dear Dost,
Work is killing!
I started my own firm in London and that now seems like a piece of cake. Delhi mein itni population nahi hogi, jitni roz cases file hot rahe hai. Hadd hai, yaar. Send help.
Kal hi ek client yaha tha. Buddhu khud ek company ko sue karna chahta tha jo khud ussne shuru kiya. Really?! I mean, log itne stupid kaise ho sakte hai?? Agar roz aise cases aayege toh sach mein, main pagal ho jaunga!
Pichle hafte hi maine do din ki chutti kit hi. Couldn't handle any more stupidity! Aur pura din bait kar bas James Bond aur Harry Potter movies dekha. It was a good break.
Maa ne dinner pe Papa aur mujhe invite kiya tha. Initially Papa thode hesitant the, par it all turned out okay. Unhone Dal banayi thi...
Sorry to say, par unki dal tumhari daal se achi thi... :P
~Sincerely Shravan.
Of course Shravan felt foolish after sending the letter. Who writes about work so much? Why did he complain about work so much? And why did he have to tell her that his mom's dal was much better than hers?? God, that was so insulting!
You better write a better letter next time!' He tells himself.
Next time?
There wasn't going to be a next time! He harshly reminds himself. This is the first and last time.
But then why was he typing away another letter to her not even a month later?
To be continued...
So, what do you all think? I am not very sure about this chapter. Drop in your comments so I know where to improve and what you all would want to see further...
As always, Thank you for your constant encouragements and lovely reviews!
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