MehRya FF: Discovering the Magic Chapter28 pg148 (10/12) - Page 57

Chapter#15

"Actually, there has been an issue with the jackfruit custard. In all likelihood, we will have to review the offering as it is presently on the dessert menu."

"Oh, I see."

Mehek smiled ruefully. They had all been certain that the special introduction of the custard, as an addition to Saana's signature dessert trio would go over well. A bonus treat offered to the guests during the festival, it would allow the necessary feedback before the decision to add the custard permanently to the menu was made. After all the positive feedback on how everything else had been progressing in her absence, this news was a bit disheartening to hear. Obviously, these sort of setbacks came with the territory, but Mehek couldn't help but feel some disappointment at this announcement. It felt akin to a personal failure that, perhaps she hadn't been able to interpret the treasured recipe as well as she could have. She was certain that she had imparted adequate instructions in the preparation of the dessert, so barring some execution issues, it was most likely that the dish just hadn't been received as well as had been expected. Immediately her mind drifted to what changes she could adapt to make the dessert more palatable.

"The thing is," Malik continued, as he shuffled a bunch of papers he had in his hand. "The feedback..."

Mehek started when her bedroom door opened abruptly and Kanta Chachi surged in. The older woman was terribly agitated to have her suspicion confirmed that Mehek was conversing so late at night. Her true dread, however lay in the identity of the male behind the muffled voice she had overheard.

"Chachi?"

"Beta, you have a busy day ahead; there's no need for you to be on your computer so late," she stated sternly.

Mehek nodded, "Haan, Chachi. Chef Malik and I were just going over some work matters. We were almost finished..."

"Chef Malik," Kanta repeated, more than a drop of relief in her voice.

Mehek turned her laptop to face her aunt, allowing the older woman to view her colleague on the other end of the skype call.

"Namaste Aunty."

Her look totally transformed when the American chef greeted her. "Oh, Namaste, Malik Saab, how are you?"

The chef shook his head at her greeting. "Nahi, Aunty, please no formalities. My mother would be extremely put out to know that I allowed my elder to address me as such; especially, Mehek Sharma's mother," he added with a smile. "She is a complete fan of your niece."

Kanta beamed. "Aacha, thik hai, Beta. How are you?"

"Very well Chachi. I was actually just about to explain to Mehek an issue we are having with her jackfruit custard. In fact," the American chef continued, "it is fitting that you are here as well to hear the news. You see, the thing is, that based on the feedback we have collected here, it's been decided that the sampling portion that we have offered has been insufficient for our clientele. They have been thoroughly frustrated, it appears."

He then went on to read through the numerous feedback sheets they had amassed, venting their guests' dissatisfactions, not in the dessert itself, but ranging from the portion size being lacking, to the fact that the sweet dish wasn't available as a stand-alone item on the dessert menu. The long and short of it was that they wanted more of it, and now. "Frankly we have no choice Mehek; customer satisfaction is our first priority. We will be adding the custard permanently to the menu early, so congratulations go to you my friend. Our only concession will be to delay the roll-out until your return so that you can finalize the plating of your exquisite dessert."

Concluding his spiel, Malik waited for Mehek's reaction. He was aware that his initial statement had bothered his fellow chef, and he was more than happy to have allayed her worry in the best of fashions.

"Meera Bhabhi's: your mother's recipe, Mehek?"

Mehek nodded, still in shock at the unexpected turn from what she had originally thought. "With a little added twist of my own, Chachi, but haan, it's basically Mama's pudding."

Kanta dabbed her eyes before beaming first at her niece and then back at the purveyor of such good news.

"Chachi," Malik declared, "Mehek is totally deserving of this honor, and I wanted to let you know that we already consider her an indispensable member of our team." He looked fondly on his friend who sat beside her relative. "She is very, very special. But you are correct, it is late over there, and I should let her take rest. I just wanted to pass on this good news, anything else can wait."

In a complete about face, Kanta shook her head. "Nahi, beta. Continue as you need too. I will leave the two of you to carry on with your work."

Malik glanced at his watch. "Thank you Chachi, and I promise I won't keep her much longer. As it is, I need to get ready for my next stint: our dinner shift fast approaches."

"Such long hours: so industrious," Kanta murmured. "It must be a challenge for your family to have you gone for such a length of time - for your wife and children, Malik: they must anxiously await your return at the end of the day, I suspect?"

As mortified as Mehek was by Kanta Chachi's flagrant prying, Malik seemed visibly dazed by this out of the blue, line of inquiry.

"Ah well, actually nahi. It's just me for now, Chachi: no attachments yet." He gathered himself quickly, as he continued speaking. "It will take someone very special to understand my level of dedication to my work."

"Aacha, beta, it will. Perhaps even someone who shares the same passions," she cajoled. "But enough of my interrupting the two of you. I will bid you good-night now beta."

Remaining silent until the door closed behind her aunt's retreating figure, Mehek fumbled over her words. "I am, so, so sorry, Malik. I don't know what has got into Chachi, well maybe... Kanta Chachi, well she has been a bit apprehensive of late, something I can only attribute to my involvement in ISC, but still: that was completely uncalled for."

Keeping his own counsel of her aunt wishing to confirm his marital status, Malik instead spoke on the topic Mehek had brought up. "I've seen the commercial; its playing regularly over here now, which makes sense since the show will begin airing in another week in the US. As you can imagine, it's getting a lot of attention over here. And the live show tonight, I'm sure was probably even more dramatic." He continued as he knew that Mehek would not be able to comment on this. "Your aunt probably has every right to be concerned about you. Are you certain you are okay, nothing problematic has arisen?"

"Nahi, not at all. If not a truce, I would say that Shaurya Khanna and I have reached an unspoken understanding now during the filming." She smirked. "And I guess we both see the merit in keeping each other at arms- length once the cameras shut off. Believe me, I am okay."

For now, she added in her head.

*********

Arriving at the station the next morning, Mehek thought back on that portion of last night's conversation. She hadn't lied when she had informed Malik that she was okay, but now, in the light of the new day, it was evident that Shaurya Khanna was not.

Malik's call the night before had been a welcome one, despite being completely unexpected. However, the contact she had actually logged on in anticipation of receiving, had never materialized. As far as she could tell he hadn't signed on at all. Of course, he may have had some work that he needed to care off post filming, but even after remaining online well past midnight, there had been no sign of Shaurya Khanna at all. In her mind, it all pointed to him having some issue that had deluged his thoughts to the point that for the first time in weeks, he had not reached out to MS, not even a message. Unable to even begin to contemplate what this could mean, Mehek had decided that she would have to interact him a bit more today; just to see if she could see where his head was. Conversely, she had also taken the steps, that should he wish to avoid her in front of everyone, that he would have an open invitation to contact his online friend at least. Just knowing that she technically had a week remaining here, meant that should couldn't pussyfoot around in getting the answers she needed to decide whether to take the next step.

She looked more like the Mehek Sharma he knew, by virtue of her dress today, and yet, despite the almost frumpiness of her simple salwar suit in comparison to her previous outfits, he was still finding it difficult, if not near impossible not to be drawn into watching her from afar. Their mutual intent of not approaching each other this morning seemed to be affecting him more than it her, as when, he raised his head, yet again, to check her progress, he noted that she had moved on to another person, yet was no closer to his direction. He could detail everyone she had met thus far, to this point, when she was happily conversing with Rajiv. From where he stood across the room Shaurya easily discerned the authenticity of her conversation with Bhai, and unwittingly he experienced a pang of what he could only describe as a fierce longing to be embodied in the amity the two shared. It seemed special and excepting his recent friendship ...

"Oh shit," he muttered.

The man he was conversing with paused mid-sentence. "Is there a problem, Shaurya," the director queried.

"Nahi, but can you excuse me for a minute. I will be right back."

...I hope everything went well for you Shaurya. Goodnight.

It looked as if MS had not only been online last night, but had waited for him as long as she had been able to, if the time her message had been sent was any indication. Despite the fact that she was still showing online, it was doubtful that she would still be up now, Shaurya thought. He still couldn't believe his oversight.

... MS: Dost, forgive me

...I'm an idiot who doesn't deserve you as a friend.

...Contact me when you read this.

"Did you need to answer that, Mehek?"

"Nahi, Rajiv Sir, it's fine."

When she saw, the man looking at her questioningly, she realized her error. Having witnessed Shaurya, pulling out his mobile, and excusing himself from his conversation with the show's director minutes before, she was positive who the sender of the three consecutive messages she had just received was.

"I mean to say, our conversation is more important, but you are right. The very least I should do is to check." She looked at the device in question and a small smile came to her face. She couldn't help it, and before she had realized what she is doing has responded.

...It's okay Shaurya, we will talk later.

She watched his reaction; the way his brows furrowed, and the fact that he looked ready to respond, when she decided that it would be better to just sign off.

...That glass of water I woke up wanting was perfectly timed I guess. Good Night, Dost.

Reverting to Rajiv Sir once more, she met his perceptive expression, and then handed him her mobile, hoping to dissuade wherever his mind had taken him.

"Chef Malik was kind enough to send me a couple of shots of the comments left by the guests. Some of them are extremely witty. Everything that has happened, has just been amazing, Sir. I would never have believed that one day..."

"Mehek dear, far be it from me to play devil's advocate, but are you certain that these changes are not a result of your growing personal relationship... Of course, I do not doubt your ability, but some men have been known..."

"Nahi Sir," Mehek jumped in, interrupting him, "Chef Malik is truly just a friend, and that...ah well that just now was a separate matter; entirely. They...those messages were from...someone else completely: Trust me."

She had turned quite rosy, under her companion's scrutiny, as she waited for his next comment.

"In that case, I apologize and wish you well with your completely separate matter. So, these comments stem from your jackfruit custard you say?"

"Well after her heavenly offerings of yesterday, I am not surprised. Perhaps Ms. Sharma can be convinced to share this recipe with us as well? Shall we discuss it over a cup of chai in the canteen, Mehek?"

The pair turned to see that they had been joined by Uday. "Rajiv Saab, I understand one of the finance folks were looking for you to discuss some expenses that you had undertaken that needed to be submitted. Since I was heading in this direction, I let them know that I would inform you."

There must have been some truth to his words, as Rajiv excused himself, but not before mentioning that Shaurya had wanted to meet with her, as soon as possible. She nodded, and Rajiv in turn smiled. "You remember his impatience, so don't keep him waiting, Mehek."

"Ji, Sir," she replied. Considering that this was the first she had heard of this meeting she instantly recognized the comment for what it was: an excuse to remove herself from the producer's presence. As such, she looked on regretfully to the man who had made clear his wish to speak to her.

"It doesn't seem that Shaurya is quite ready, Mehek," he said bringing her attention to the man still in deep conversation. "Which is quite fortuitous for me since it gives me the opportunity to meet you. Allow me to add to what everyone surely has been telling you today, and just say how very amazing you are Mehek Sharma."

She held her own for a while, but Shaurya immediately pinpointed the moment when the tone of their discourse must have turned south, when Mehek had lost her smile, right before his eyes. Thankfully he was already heading in her direction, so he hadn't had to make too much of a fuss in approaching the pair. She noticed him drawing near, and immediately executed what could only be her plan to get away from Uday. "Shaurya, I was just telling Uday that you would be looking for me before long. Am I that late for our meeting?"

"I would expect nothing less from you Ms. Sharma, than to be difficult, but, for once not overly much, just a couple of minutes tardy. Chalo we will have our discussion over a cup of coffee."

"Chai..."

Shaurya smirked at her contrariness. "Excuse us Uday."

"On the contrary, I think it would probably be better if I accompany the two of you. Perhaps between the two of us, we can convince Mehek of the wisdom of my ideas."

"Perhaps next time," Shaurya uttered, and ushered her away.

He waited until they had been served in the canteen: he his coffee and her, the chai she insisted upon, before he broached the topic. "I know that you are here for only a short time, but it will be best to try to keep away from Uday, Mehek. I know you probably think I am one to talk, but I don't trust him in the slightest, and neither should you."

Mehek drank deeply of her tea before answering. "And the other women, your contestants; have you relayed this message to them as well, Shaurya?"

He hadn't, because he knew it would be unnecessary, that if anything, Uday would want to create trouble with Mehek specifically. Because of him, and how he had acted during the first season of ISC. He looked down at the table and then met the steadiness of Mehek's stare. "Nahi, because I don't expect that they will have any issue with the man; only you. He told me as much."

She scoffed. "And here I was thinking it was my sparkling personality." She said, effectively shrugging off the warning.

"It's not a joke Ms. Sharma, and I know he said something that made you uncomfortable. Heed my words at least."

"Thik hai, Shaurya, and thank you." Taking another sip of her chai, she let the aromatic brew sooth her, before she spoke again. Admittedly Uday's line of questioning into her personal life had thrown her. It would be foolhardy not to consider Shaurya's advice.

"You've changed Ms.Sharma," Shaurya spouted suddenly.

"How coincidental, I was just about to say the same about you," Mehek countered with a smile.

"But I asked first. So, what is it? What has happened in such a short time that you have become a force to be reckoned with Mehek Sharma?"

"Be careful Shaurya, that question has all the probabilities of turning into an actual compliment. I will really worry should you stoop so low, as to start praising me. But yes, a lot has happened. Far too much to cover over a cup of coffee though."

Shaurya had no idea if she was hinting at something similar, but he spoke before he could think better of it.

"Dinner then. Tomorrow night, after the shoot. You can come to my new restaurant, and let me know what you think of it."

Chapter16