Posted:
Hopefully...
for an introduction AT LEAST on this thread😆
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bhalla Men...
Monday was a fabulous day for her, Ritu came to her desk at Noonish
"Do u have a minute?" she smiled
"I do"
"U come in real early dont u?" Ritu smiled
"There is no traffic and the weather is better"II said softly
"I dont like the monsoons" Ritu made a face
"Oh! I LOVE it" II nodded smugly "It rains everyday"
"I just want to stay home with a book and a cup of coffee" Ritu whined
THEN TAKE TIME OFF NO?
WE KNOW U ARE HERE NOW
WE'VE ALL SEEN YOU AND HEARD YOU
NOW RUN ALONG!!
"Oh!... ummm" she said instead
"How can u get urself out of bed when the day is rainy and drizzly and there is no sun out?" Ritu smiled
"IKR, looks beautiful outside" II sighed, staring at the slate grey morning/monsoon skies and the rains lashing on the windows in a far corner
(no II doesnt have a office with windows!! Arghhh!!)
"I hate driving in rains too" Ritu informed
U SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN AMHERST THEN
I WOULD HAVE FOREVER CIRCLED BALLY'S JOB UNABLE TO MUSTER UP THE COURAGE TO APPLY
U COULD HAVE STAYED IN AMHERST...
BY APPLYING FOR A JOB 10K MILES AWAY AND ACCEPTING IT
U GET TO DRIVE IN THE RAIN AND HAVE RAIN WATER LEAK INTO THE CAR
I WANTED BALLY TO NUDGE ME TO APPLY FOR IT
I WOULD HAVE...
"I hate rain getting into the car, but it beats standing in the bus stop so wont complain" II smiled
"Did u take public transport for a while?" Ritu asked curiously
"In school, college and Grad School" Ii smiled
"Do u drive a Accord too?" she asked
"Umm.. no the Silver Grey Toyota Corolla, thats parked at 223 in the parking lot" II chuckled
"U dont drive a Maruti?" Ritu teased
"Umm.. nooo?" II was confused
Ritu paused letting her comment sink in
"OH!!!! OH!!!! I get it... sorry I am slow this morning, have only downed two cups of coffee... umm no... nobody drives a Maruti at home" II mumbled surprised suddenly
"WHATTT? The family doesnt trust the car they sell?" Ritu looked mock startled
"Looks like it" she smiled playing along
"I see Mr Ranjan get off his Merc" Ritu said
II didnt say what R&B drove... the Ferrari stood in the drive way... she walked by it... not looking
"I see u accepted all my meeting invites" II turned the convo abt work
Ritu smiled "Oh hey yes... I wanted to thank u for the code fix u did on the Dilshad Garden showroom machines"
II's face beamed with pride... she was overjoyed
"I wasnt even sure I remembered coding enough" II chuckled
"Did u do ur MBA first or your MS?" Ritu asked confused
"Bachelors and CPA concurrent, MBA and then MS 3.5 years later" II said with a weighty faraway look
"Well u remembered and u did great" Ritu smiled
"The Ghaziabad workshop was opened before the Dilshad Garden
showroom and when Dilshad Garden opened they moved some PCs over from the workshop to the new showroom,
in a cost cutting move, so even though the showroom is new the systems are older, so Transpro failed in those 7 machines. We are all good now" Ii explained
"Will u give me an update on Gurgaon workshop later when we meet?"
II looked at her keyboard thoughtfully
"Ya ya I will.. that and the whole Punjab installation idea"
"Will u be able to go to Chandigarh for two weeks?" Ritu asked politely?
I WILL GO ANYWHERE
ITS NOT LIKE I HAVE A HUSBAND AND KIDS AT HOME
I WOULD RATHER DO THIS THAN LOOK FOR A NEW JOB
I SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB
I WILL NEVER BE A Program Manager (Ritu) in this role
THATS JUST IMPOSSIBLE NOW SINCE U ARE HERE
"Absolutely!!" Ii said firmly, though a tad unemptionally
"TTYL" Ritu smiled.. "thanks for the fix and great job again"
She walked out giving II a thoughtful look
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She texted Ranjan at 2 ish
"Aapke office mein chocolate hai?" she asked
Ranjan called her
FATHER SON WERE ALIKE
THEY CALLED HER WHEN THEY HEARD FROM HER
"Aaaja puttar, huney mangwa dena hai" he said
She knew what a busy man he was, how the 1000s that worked for him feared him, reverentially
He stopped in the hallway to answer a phone call on his cell, the employees passing by would pause wondering if he wanted something
Here he was calling HER based on a silly text
"Aapko disturb kiya?"
"Na puttar... Vandita ka phone aaya raat ko tu tey chali gayi..." he reminded
"I had meetings from 7-Noon Dad" she lied
"Huh" he grunted
"Aaja oopar, Mrs Sagar ne mangwaya hai" he said
"Imad kidhar gaye?" she asked
"Imad vi haiga, sorry aapko permission nahi maangi aapke miya ke admin ko use kar liya" he spoke warmly
"She is not my admin" II was grumpy
"Aapke shohar ki to hai na woh admin" Ranjan laughed
II didnt respond... Ranjan found that odd
She was not her chirpy talkative, motor mouth self
"dad" she began and stopped
"Kahiye?" he coaxed
"Umm.. nahi.. I am on my way" she mumbled
She went up
Mrs Sagar was stepping out of Ranjan's plush office
"Hey love" she called out caringly
II smiled joyously
"Dont see u or hear from u?" Mrs Sagar accused
"They say right u must be seen and not heard" II chuckled
"Are u OK?" she asked softly
"Perfect" II lied "thank u"
Mrs Sagar walked away unconvinced
Ranjan was on a call
"sorry" she cringed
He invited her
Got off his chair and walked around and hugged her holding her for a minute longer
He looked piercingly
BHALLA MEN ARE ALIKE
THEY LOOK AT U AND THEY READ YOUR SOUL SHE THOUGHT, MIFFED
LIKE I AM SUPPOSED TO TELL THEM EVERYTHING
EDO PERIYA SHRINK MADIRI (Like they are my shrink)
ARGHHH!!!!
"Daily Perk mein gas leak tha karke band hai aaj aap kahan se laaye?" she questioned scanning the delish mounds of truffle
Ranjan cut his call off, chuckling
If she wanted to talk, SHE TALKED... no matter if anyone was listening
"U are a detective?"
"I know of three chocolate places, around here..." she listed
"YEH kidhar se laaye, aur woh bhi ITNI jaldi" she interrogated
He tapped her head fondly
He favored his left hand too, like his son
AYYYO, II
R&B IS LIKE HIS DAD
DAD IS NOT LIKE HIS SON
GENIUS!!!!
"They all have unique IDs on them" he teased her
"DADDD" she squealed ashamed
"KHAO" he ordered
She sat down and ate 3 in a row...
"Dad I am going to Chandigarh mostly in a day or two" she mumbled
"Showroom?" he asked startled
"Haan my boss thinks Punjab installations can all be done in one go, Ashwini is out so me and a couple installers will go for 3 weeks" "I think"
"achhha?" he asked sitting across from her
Father and son had the same sitting style... lanky, tall, left leg over the right
But Ranjan did not twirl his locks when he read or thought
"Main jaaoon?"
"nahi" he said
YES LIKE FATHER LIKE SON... the nahi came in half a second
She squirmed blushing as she shoved Rakshasan's thoughts out of the 20th floor windows
"Umm... apna laptop lekar aati hoon aur isi floor mein kaam karti hoon" she smiled warmly
"Tu Chandigarh ki baat kar rahi thi?" he asked
"Haan, jaaoon na Chandigarh"
"Nahi" he said bluntly
"Haha hahahah" she laughed
He didnt want her to go anywhere...
They were quiet for the longest time. Bhalla men loved wordless times
"If I stay there for 3 weeks the installation will go faster" she pleaded
"Subah jao shaam ko ghar lauto" he ordered
A bubbling joy gushed within at the intense care and affection she received
She nodded feebly.. not willing to argue, she knew she had to go to Chnadigarh
"Thanks for the chocolate" she said politely
"Appa ko thanks kehti hai?" he asked
She shook her head nervously
"Tey phir bas" he warned
She got up to leave, turned and stole one when he was at the window staring out
"I wil send the rest to ur desk" he said firmly, catching her stealing
She turned and smiled
Bhalla men, enabled her chocolate fetish
they encouraged her to be a chocolate felon
Yes... Bhalla men were alike
"Baat hui?" he asked
He watched her reaction carefully, she didnt waste a second to think... a manufactured smile appeared
"Yes Dad AAJ subah before I left for work" she lied glibly "AT SEVEN THIRTY AM" she said shrilly.. acting coy
He nodded... watching her leave
He knew she lied
He had sent his son an email, well.. they were exchanging email over the Jharkhand showroom plan,
the company attorney and the State Govt Commerce Ministry reps were on it, about the whole rent vs buy issue
R&B had responded to it at 4 AM "I have a flight back to Zurich at 4 AM (his DIL's claim of 7:30 AM IST call)
I can join the call after I land" he had offered politely
Bhalla men were alike.. they knew when II lied
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