Posted:
8 years ago
Heartburn & Heartache
Thursday Friday and Saturday FLEW by for him
She was in a seminar Admarcom (advtg Mktg Comm) 2016 at Claridges on Thursday and Friday
She got emails from him, she had no reason to assume he wasnt in the office
There was no OOO on his email
They didnt "meet" daily for work, so she attended the conference worked with her team, the media buying team and the clients during breaks
The topics were hugely interesting and engaging, there were giveaways at the
end for answering quizzes, there was trade show like stalls with the latest digital production equipment, content writing tools and supplies
Her bag was filled both days
On Saturday she woke early at Tai complained her "chest hurt" her rickshaw wala helped bring Tai down and take her to the clinic, where the Doc said she had severe "heartburn"
Tai was disappointed and Suvi was furious for runing her Sat
She came home let Aadhya watch on the ipad and took a nap, waking at Noonish to find Tai making lunch, FOR HERSELF ofcourse
No spice no seasoning, she was told, by the Doc
"U have made me sick, I came here because you had nobody and you made me sick" Tai mumbled
"U are sick not because of me" Suvi responded
She made pooris and chana for herself and her daughter, Tai let her khichri waste away and ate 8 pooris
Suvi did not throw it or put it away, let it lay there on the counter
She realized Neel was moving today when she packed the leftover pooris in a container
Maybe she should have taken lunch?
She went to her phone, the last exchange was from Tuesday and that was it
There was no reason for her to check on him so left the phone on the dining table
She cleaned up for the Bai, as she was expected to show up any minute, running the kitchen faucet
Tai walked over to her phone and looked at what Suvi was looking at
"Agar kho jaane ka dar na ho to" and then there was an address
Tai didnt read or write English or spoke, so she couldnt get that part, plus it was Hindi written in English
But she realized a address was written
She made a disgusted face and went back to her couch
Suvi took Aadhya down at 3 ish, there were no kids around, it was 46C
She came right back up...
She worked for an hour, and had a question on Trademax's special approval to pay 70% upfront and the other 30% after commercials in Tier 2 cities aired
She didnt see any approvals in her email in box
She wanted to know if Neel had approved such delayed receipt of fees
There was a long winded process for seeking Accounting/Billing's aprovals for clients that did not pay it all upfront
They were an ad agency the cash flow wasnt huge
Esp in Delhi when requests came via netas the agency gave such people a break
She picked up her phone and texted "Did u approve Trademax's 30% being pushed out 6 months?" she asked professionally
"I did Suvechha" he responded 30 ish minutes later
She felt bad she may have bothered him on a busy day
"I am sorry aap shifting mein busy?" she asked
he didnt respond...
She didnt know what she felt but she did feel something...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neel sat down to eat the kulfi Aabha Bhabhi had made, his mother read a newspaper on her ipad, when she wore glasses she looked exactly like the Principal she was when she worked
"Nihar ko Dilli kaisi lagi?" she asked setting her ipad down on the pillow
"Theek hai... ghar par rehta hai saara din"
"Kitna sharmeela hai" Amma worried
"Usko video games dila den aap, bus khush!!" Neel smiled
"Aapne kya socha beta?" Amma asked softly
"About what Amma?" he asked... he knew exactly what
"Aise to chalega nahi" Amma waved a finger
"What are you talking about?" he dismissed her angrily
"Main agle 50 saal aapke kehne pe Dilli Mumbai to karoongi nahi" she said firmly
"To Dilli ruk jaayen aap" he smiled, flashing the perfect teeth, he was very handsome in the white kurta and chudidar
His Amma always summoned a relative to get him authentic Lucknavi duds
"Aabha ki ek cousin hai" "Aap miley ho" Amma began
He got up from bed quickly, his phone fell on the floor
He picked it up, it was Suvechha's text screen, he began to text
"Main Mumbai mein hoon" he texted Suvechha after an hour of her asking him "shifting mein busy ho?"
"Baithen Neel" his Amma urged seeing him do what she thot was work text
He leaned on the window
"I dont want to meet any one"
"Theek hai, hamari pasand se na sahi apni pasand se?" Amma pleaded
He tucked his phone in his pocket
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