Part 9: Monday not Maanday
<Maan's monologue>
It has been 14 hrs since I saw her…I was counting time literally…
It was 8.30 AM and I was already in office…impatiently waiting to have a look at her…it was funny how my days and nights started and ended with her…
I couldn't help going through the moments in central park in my mind…I remembered how scared she was when the pincher was running towards her…she closed her eyes tight and ran around to hide behind me…She had her forehead rested just below my shoulder and tugged me backwards…Her right arm came around my waist and hugged me tight…her left hand was clutching my left arm….
How was I going to get to proceed with the day…if it was not enough that I was facing Monday morning blues already…
I lived through each of those moments a hundred times….
I attended the usual status meetings…it was 11.00 AM already…It was time...she would be there for the 11.30 meeting…
She didn't show up...I quickly checked the calendar to see if she had declined the meeting…There was no email from her…I was not sure if I should call her…
I asked others to go ahead with their work and proposed to re-schedule the meeting.
I walked by the break room to check if she was there at her desk…I was able to see Meera and Yash discussing some numbers with another manager in the same aisle…
She still wasn't there…
I was getting restless as the clock ticked…I couldn't go ahead with my meetings…I cancelled a couple of them…I decided to take a walk and went to Peet's to get my usual coffee…I ordered "Half Caff black please …"
I broke into a smile as I remembered her words "Half Caff…aisa bhi kuch hota hai kya…"…"Aur aap mere liye complicated ho…"
She was everywhere…so close…yet so far…
<Geet's monologue>
I was almost set to get out of the apartment…I got a call from Dev…
Geet: " Hi Dev…."
The call continued…I listened silently…
Meera: " Chalen…"
Today we had decided to take the subway together…but I don't think I can join her…I asked her to go ahead…
I kept listening patiently…I didn't react…maybe because I wasn't sure how I should react…
I put the phone down….
I walked to the window seat and sat down…I was staring away into eternity…
I was still in a state of shock… I couldn't believe my ears or make any sense of what I had just heard..
How did I get to this state? How am I going to get out of this situation?
I wish I had some control over things…some power to change things…
It was not something that I could walk to a store and buy to make it mine…there are things in life you have to receive and cannot force out of others…
I was being denied of such a thing…
Was it me? Was babaji punishing me for the unknown desires that had risen in me? Did I do this to myself?
Back at office… 12.35 PM
Meera: "Yash…I need to talk to you…."
Yash: " Ab kya problem hai tumhe…"
Meera: " Its not about me…Its about geet…"
Yash: " Hmm…what happened?"
Meera: " I just got off a call with her…she is not coming in….I will inform Josh…."
Yash: " Is she ok? …"
Meera: " No…serious problem….hai…."
Meera explains the whole thing to yash….
Meera: " Do you think she should go to Toronto…I feel she should…maybe there is some mis-understanding…"
Yash: " I'm not sure…I don't know Dev to be able to suggest anything…I think you should go home…"
Meera:" I'm concerned…I don't know…I have never had such issues…what should I tell her?"
Yash: " Meera…I'm not good at this either…I think you should just let her pour her heart out…just listen to her…lets hear what she says and then suggest….Is she strong? Do you think she can handle it?"
Meera: " ok…let me go home…let me inform Josh…I'm telling him that she is ill…maintain that…."
Yash: " Ok… take care…call me after you talk to her…I will come home early too…"
<Maan's Monologue>
I was walking back from Peet's and that's when I sighted meera walking out of the office…she was in a hurry…I had no doubt clearly something was wrong…
What had happened? Was she in trouble? Was she ill? She seemed fine yesterday…I dropped her off at the garage at 7.00 PM …what changed in the last 17 hours…How can I get in touch with her?
Clearly there seems to be a problem…else Meera would not have rushed out at mid-day…but are we there yet for me to call her and find out what was wrong?
I walked towards Yash's desk to see if I could get a whiff of something…
Maan: " Hi yash…"
Yash: " Hi MK…"
He was puzzled to see me drop by his desk…I usually don't do such things…it was out of ordinary…
Maan: " I had emailed about some reports to Geet…do you know if I could get an ETA on it?"
Yash: " she didn't come in…she is out of office today…"
Can I ask if she is ill? Or will that sound too concerned…of course I hung out with them…almost all through the weekend but I didn't want to leave any crumbs….
Maan: " I had Meera in CC…so may be she can get me the reports?"
Yash: " Actually she is out too…I'm not sure if she can work from home…but I will call and check with her…"
I was not their department…I couldn't go around demanding answers for people's absence…IT division just provided me the answers I needed…I'm not their boss…
Maybe Josh will know something…
Maan: " No Yash…not a problem…it can wait until tomorrow.."
I wanted to find Josh immediately…I need to know if Geet was fine…if Josh didn't know…then I would just ask Yash out right…let me push it for now…I will keep that as the last resort…
Maan: " Hey Josh…"
Josh: " Hey MK…"
Maan: " Seems like you are running low on productive people…do you have any back up's to help me with a report…"
I was twisting words to get my answers…
Josh: " Aah…may be Yash…can get it for you…else you gotta wait until tomorrow bud…Meera will be in tomorrow…"
Meera? What about geet? Why was she not going to come in tomorrow? What does he know?
Maan: " Strange…geet doesn't even have a out of office message…I was hoping to get the numbers today"
Josh:"Ah!...let me send out a mail on her behalf…she is ill and not sure when she will be back…"
She is ill? What happened? At least I was relieved that Meera was back home to take care of her…
I felt a little better but something still didn't feel right…I didn't know when I would be able to meet her and I didn't like the uncertainty that lurked in the situation…
I struggled to wrap up the day….
I was back in the apartment and stood around the hallway before I could take the elevator to my apartment…hoping that I could catch a glimpse of her…it was all in vain..
I gathered my mail from the mail box and unlocked the door…I couldn't come up with a good reason to drop by her place…and there it was a ray of hope….
Part 10: Its Official…
Anupamaa
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