Raghvi Drabble Series: Journey-[Final drabble updated 15/06 on page 9] - Page 4

Dream

“Raghav!” Pallavi picked up the phone annoyed, “Why are you calling me on a random Sunday morning?”

“I’m bored.”

“So.. you want me to entertain you?”, Pallavi questioned.

“Precisely.”

“I think there is difference between friendship and slavery Mr. Rao.”

“Of course there is. But friends do help each other. Besides, I've entertained you so many times.”

“Do something with Farhad.”

“I would but I think he deserves a break from me.”

“And I don’t?”

“ Let’s be real Pallavi, neither do I get a break from you and nor do you from me.”

“Hmph I’ll come to your house in an hour.”

“Don’t be late Saree ka Dukaan. I’m waiting.”

The bell of Rao mansion rang exactly 59 minutes after that conversation.

“Hello. You’re on time.”, Raghav smiled as he opened the door.

“You need to pay a price for calling me here.”

“Thought of it. You’re going to be drinking the world famous Raghav Rao Coffee.”

“Famous. For what? Causing the most cases of food poisoning?”

“Hey! I’m sensitive about my coffee.” , he whined.

“Sorry. But do lead me to this great coffee.” she chuckled.

“Follow me”

They both settled on the couch with their coffees in hand. For a couple of seconds there was silence as Pallavi drank the coffee and Raghav looked at her expectantly.

Pallavi took her sweet time, tasting the coffee and thinking about it.

“Hmm,” she began, “ This is actually good.”

He grinned, “ I told you, if there’s something that I can do as well as business, it would be making coffee. In fact if I hadn’t begun a jewellery store, I would definitely make a business out of it.”

“Not a bad idea. Was that your childhood dream?”

“No, not really. I wanted to be a dancer. Anyways what was your childhood dream?”

“That’s one thing we share in common then. I wanted to be a Kathak dancer. I would spend most of my free time dancing. Dada would get so irritated by the constant sound of ghungroos but I’d never stop. Poor dada, but he understood. I loved giving performances on stage. After every performance, he would take me out for ice cream.”

“Then why don’t you do something about it now?”

“Because, now I’m in love with my Deshmukh Saree Emporium. We’ve made so much progress, especially since your challenge.”

“Who said you can only be in love with one thing? Don’t you love Kathak any more?”

“I do. It’s just the store…”

“Let the store go for a minute. Nikhil is there to handle it, and your Sanki, I mean father can handle it.”

Pallavi narrowed her eyes, “Sanki! Seriously! The next time you say that there will be consequences.”

“Is that all you heard! The point is, you love the shop. I agree, but you also love Kathak. It’s evident from the ways your eyes shone when you spoke about it. Tell me Pallavi, if I gave you the opportunity to become a Kathak dancer. Would you take it?”

“Yes, but my responsibilities..”

“ A)There are other people who can do it. B)It’s okay to want something to yourself. And C) You can always do it on the side. Let Nikhil handle the shop for a while and then dance.”

“You make a very good argument.”

“I always do.”

“I’ll start something after making a plan. Now what about your Bharatnatyam?”

“Bharatnatyam! I have no interest in making a career out of it anymore. It’s just my form of prayer and meditation now. One second.., I mentioned Dancer. I didn’t specify Bharatnatyam.”

Pallavi looked guilty,”Uhmm lucky guess.” She made a weak attempt at laughter.

“Saree ka Dukaan, you may have many talents but lying is not one of them.”

“Fine.. I walked in on you dancing and watched for a while.”

“Stalker.”

“It happened once!”

“I’m going to hold it against you.”

“If I start counting things to hold against you. I’m pretty sure it would take all day.”

“Ah! That hit the right spot.”

“Learnt from the very best.”, Pallavi winked.

And just like that they spent the rest of the day chit-chatting on the sofa.

A/N: Changed the name to drabble series, because it felt more appropriate to my writing.