Too busy to greet
He wasnt at work on Friday either, he worked from home and met with new "Accounts" over the phone and and conducted web meetings
She didnt pursue him, she let go after Thursday evening
When her daughter got better on Friday, (she took Friday off too)
She looked at tickets to Nasik to go stay in Aai Baba's house for a couple weeks
It was still locked up, Varsha wanted to come by to "take what she wants" and she hadnt been in 3 years
Suvi had moved to Delhi almost 18 months ago, her parents had passed one year after another after she had had Aadhya
They owned the house, and it had everything in it
Suvi went from Mumbai occasionally for 4 or 5 days to clean up
A trusted neighbor had the keys she got it cleaned every few weeks and opened the windows, stayed a night, sent pictures of the birds in the back yard or the mango tree Varsha and Suvi had planted
She had asked the neighbor to take all the mangoes, the best mangoes money could buy
The neighbor was not wealthy by any means so they couldnt send her more than one box every year
She went to her computer and looked up pictures of the house and the trees and flowers
It had a jasmine hedge upfront
The kitchen pictures were her favorite
Aai would turn and give her a sweaty smile as she sauteed fish
Suvechha had 100s of pictures of Aai in the kitchen
She was gorgeous to look at short like Suvechha but curly hair and clear skin
A lil plump with age she was buttery soft
Suvechha felt the cheek on the picture
"I can smell the fish Aai" she spoke in Marathi
And email popped in her in box, she checked the school had a "summer fair" at the school on Sat & Sunday
She had been getting notification for a while she was contemplating since it was too hot to do anything
They had attached pictures of last year's fair it was all in shade with misters and food and chilled drinks
She reluctantly took Aadhya on Sunday evening as the fair was from 5-10 PM both evenings
They wandered and did all the "fair" things
Aadhya sepnd Rs. 214 worth of tickets and won a yoyo and a pair of blingy Disney sunglasses
She wanted a fluffy teddy bear that was frankly too gaudy
But Aadhya was so weak and vulnerable after being sick she caved in and bought it for her
Nihar came running slamming into her
"Hi!" he waved
"HI! Nihar" she hugged him back warmly, she didnt recognize the scent on him
"My Nani Ma and bauji are here" he said pointing to a crowd
"Aai can we go to his house?" Aadhya whined
"U have school tomm, three more weeks..." Suvi counted
"Aunty... please stay here" Nihar begged
But she didnt... she didnt have anything to say to Neel's in laws
She didnt know why she had to meet them
She turned in the opp direction and walked away with her daughter
Around 45 mjinutes later around 9 PM ish Nihar accosted her
"YOU never waited" he said shocked
"I am sorry, we thought u were going to be long" Suvi explained
"BAUJEEE" he shouted
Bhuvan turned and Ragini did too and they approached
"This is my friend"
Ragini chuckled
"Aapki friend to bahut pyaari hai" she kneeled
"I winned a pink teddy bear" Aadhya explained
"I can see that" Ragini smiled
"Suvechha" she said
"Hum inke Nana beta" Bhuvan smiled
"Hello" Suvi nodded
"I am her daughter" Aadhya explained
Ragini burst out laughing
"Aapke baalon se to aap koi aur ho nahi saktey" she said
"She speaks Marathi and a bit of English" Suvi said sheepishly
Ragini looked like she was connecting dots
"We have lots of Marathi friends" Bhuvan said
Suvi nodded
"U have prety hai like your Mom" Ragini said
"I AM PRETTY" Aadhya declared
Nihar shut his mouth and laughed
"Kaise jaante ho aap inko?" Ragini asked Nihar
"Same school" Suvi said smiling
"Ofcourse" Ragini chuckled
"We live in Sector 40, you must come" Ragini invited
Nihar chased Aadhya around Suvi, so he didnt hear the invite
"Barobar" Suvi said
Catching her daughter before she fell down
Neel walked over with cotton candy, he looked like one in a green cotton shirt and casual khakis,
before he could take in her appearance in a embroidered skirt and a sleeveless blouse
Suvi waved good bye and walked away...
At 11:28 PM on Sunday night
"To busy to greet?" he asked over text
"I live in society" Suvi said quietly
"I KNOW where you live Suvechha" he said
That full name irked her
"Hum late ho gaye" she said
"Seriously?" he asked
"Aap busy hoyenge" she said
"Is that why I am asking you why you couldnt greet?" he asked sarcastically
"Are they enjoying their trip?" she asked politely
"I think so, they love Nihar" he said
"He looked very happy" she said
There was a pause...
"Good night... back to work tomorrow" she said
"Sorry mere ko bola maine" she clarified
He called her
"Hello" she said without looking
"I am going to be at work too" he said gruffly
"Oh?" she said
"I am not sure... but something is off" he said
She got of the bed and opened the bedroom door and went to the balcony
"Nai to" she said
"You have relatives... aapka family aaya hai.. so I dont want to sound like I will see you at office" she said
"I SAW you TWO feet away and you turned and walked away" he said
Her heart did a somersault
"Did you tell my in laws the kids go to the same school?" he asked
"Haa to jaate hai na?" she asked
"U didnt tell them you work for the same company?"
"Umm... tabhi tak to main waha se chali gayi" she said
"I am having my direct reports over for dinner Wed night, so they can meet everyone" he said
"Mera shaayad mushqil hoyega" she said
"Why?" he asked
" Kanika ki Mom ne text kiya woh abhi sick ho gayi... itna jaldi dono ko ek saath nai rakhne ka" she said
"Cant you bring her?" he asked
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