He studiously avoided bumping into his old man... at home, outside, and at work... jeering at himself "Good Luck avoiding the dude at work" he mocked himself
It was a 15000 sq ft sprawling Bungalow on Malcha Marg...there were more trees around the compound than many parks in smog smothered Delhi had... spread over three floors, his was the top... over 5k sq feet
HE WOULD NEVER SEE HIS OLD MAN... HE DIDNT WANT TO SEE HIM... DIDNT WANT TO BE IN THE HOUSE...
DIDNT WANT HIS MONEY... DIDNT GIVE A DAMN to anything Bhalla in general... his phone beeped, he sulked... and cursed...
yep, it was yet another Bhalla ... Vaibhav Bhalla... Chacha's youngest... all Chacha did in his "younger" days was produce boys... each one a bigger piece of shit than the other... now all grown... all worthless
He heard help mumble at a distance... "Haan?" he asked politely
"Aapka room clean kar de?"
"Room ya floor?" he asked flatly
"Dono Bhay..." began the help.. "SIR" he finsihed as he watched the younger Bhalla scion's expression change
He walked over to the balcony, the black S class Merc was gone, the driveway showed an emoty spot... the other 5 cars stood gleaming... the first one...
a white Land Rover his Mom's... looked as good as new... his stomach churned, his throat constricted, he walked back in furiously, and texted his friend
"Want to grab a drink?" "I have the 3 PM for 18 holes at the Golf Club" he textred
The "friend" his best friend... Mihir Arora, called "DRINK AT 2?"
"Straight..." he said mercilessly
"How was your flight?" Mihir asked worried
"Terrible"he said miffed...
"Did u seee...errmm... ermmm"
"No I did not what is this a spanish inquisition? Can u go grab a drink or not?" he bit
"Its 9 AM R&B..." mihir dragged his feet
"OK I returned at 2 AM and have been up since 4 AM, and will be until I either get drunk or get out of this hell hole" he billowed
A help dropped a vase in shock inside in the lounge, turned and didnt bother to worry...
it was all his mother's choice... this whole place could go up in fire and incinerate... he wouldnt give a goddamn thought
"Hey I can stop by dude" Mihir offered...
"And do what? sit in the balcony and stare down at the embassy traffic and have Ma send us" he stopped freezing mid way
They both heard the other breathe... audibly
"R&B" Mihir said...
"I will see you in Rick's Bar at Taj Man Singh at 2?
Mihir squirmed, "done dude" he agreed...
"R&B" Mihir interrupted
"If its about the old man... SAVE IT Mihir Arora" Raman ordered and hung up
Tanmay & Sam lived in Shanti Niketan,, Sam was due in 3 weeks... he didnt want to know if she got a baby shower or not if Chachi threw one for her... Chachi didnt care to throw anything for anyone...
Chachi was not like his Mom Savita Bhalla... NOBODY WAS LIKE HER...
He made his way in... his Alexander Wang sweatpants in moss green was old and frayed at the ends... he wore them anyway... his Mom had bought those for him from her last trip to London
He didnt need the old man's money... he didnt need a thing from the old man... he was a successful entreprenuer...
venture capitalist more like funded many business across the country and overseas, mainly in South East Asia...
He shaved furiously... nicking himslef in the process near the cleft on his jaw... he showered and wore blue jeans and a navy Hollister tee... "Too old for Hollister DIMPAL"
Manny's voice mocked him as he slid his tee down his chest...
He didnt run a brush through his hair, just generously sprayed himself with a random male scent
Bha... Sir breakfast" a help asked
"Haan Yaha" he nodded
He liked the help... he reminded himself to be POLITE To all... his Mom would have hated him be mean
"Kya lenge"
"Eggs & taost" he said carelessly
The help left... on last count there were 6, ... besides the the 4 guarding the gate round the clock...
He went out to the balcony andstared down, his silver Porsche was parked face front... he wondered who took it out
A twerp of a cousin maybe... asking would mean having to talk to them... he didnt care...
His phone buzzed... "Home? Son?" it said
He powered it off and went downstairs to eat...
~~~~~~~~~
She finished up at work for her 2 O clock meeting across town, she took two of her direct reports with her Amit Sanyal and Bhavna Singh... strangely her four direct reports were A B C and D
She had a terrible memory this helped a lot...
The Accounting firm was a big name US based one, with over 1000 employees, she worked in public accounting the first 4 or so years, she got herself a distance education Accounting/IS/Degree from the US
It took her to the US 4 times... she hated Swiis Air... for that reason alone... Swiss Air was the preferred airline for her company
She worked in Transactions & Restrucuturing Services, her team her division helped companies buy install deploy Accounting and transaction processing services
She headed a team of 4, there were many such teams across the division across the country... she loved Accounting, NOW she loved IS more...
"I can drive" offered Amit... extremely handsome, single, and on many occasions showed MORE THAN necessary interest in his Iyer supervisor
The Iyer supervisor was a firebrand...acted like she didnt see it or didnt care for it...
"Nahi I can drive, I drag you out of work, I drive" Ishita laughed
"I LOVE your new car" Bhavna gushed
"Well I cant afford it, but bought it anyway" Ishita lamented
"Kyon?"
"Kyon ki mujhe Maruti ke jaise simple car khareedni chahiye thi, I THOUGHT creatively and now this car is making me think creatively to pay it off" Ishita confessed
They navigated the IIT, AIIMS traffic at 1 and weaved to Taj Man Singh...
"Who are we meeting?" Amit made small talk
Ishita lowered the volume on Radio Mirchi...
"sorry"
"Kis se mil rahe hain?"
"A electrical parts manufacturer of some sort from Rajouri Garden" she said
"I read up Ishita, turnover hai 300 crores"
Ishita smiled... she liked her teamn to be on top of everything...
"Great... they even have offices in Lucknow" Ishita said
"Can we get someone that has offices in London please?' Amit complained
She turned and stared at him... blankly "Ambition" she muttered
The parking attendant smiled as she pulled up near the door man...
"I would not have picked a BAR at 2 PM to meet but its not my choice" Ishita said firmly
She tucked her shirt in, her braid had loose hair escaping off it... she wore sparkling GRT solitaires in her ears...
They walked in with laptops all three checking for texts...
Amit: Did he say 2 or 3 Ishita?
I: 2
Amit:he says 3 PM now!
I:We have two hours so we are good
Amit:Nahi abhi ek ghanta milega...
They argued over how much time they had... wastefully..
Ishita fumed... silently.. checking her text mnessages
Ishita walked into a tall... REALLY TALL... she was 5'9" but she seemed to have walked into someone OVER 6 feet tall...
in blue jeans and a navy Hollister V neck tee...
The careening swung her braid to the front...she looked up starled
"Pardon me" she muttered... and at the same time...Amit was on the phone, LOUD , "exhibitionist" muttered Ishita...
"The KPGM team is here Mr Gupta"
Like the entire lobby had to know that...Bhavna and Amit continued to argue...
"10 out of 9 accountants cant count" said the tall guy derisively as Ishita's eyes flew up to meet his
Edited by Nisha0604 - 9 years ago
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