Rent or own
He didnt check his text screen with Suvi until they checked in at the airport at midnight for the Air india flight to Delhi
It was an onwards flight to Rome.
Nihar wanted to know if they could go to Rome
He looked at him deeply
"Why not, school session khatam ho jaaye, phir chalte hain beta?" he spoke kindly
"Maybe not" Nihar mumbled
"Par kyon?" he asked worried
"It wont be the same again" he said sadly
He was looking really sad peeking many times through the glass walls to spot Dadi and Mamaji and Mamiji and Aabha Chachi
The girls stayed home because they had kathak lessons at 8 across town
Amma refused to go, she was contemplating returning to work
He wondered if she was lying just to get out of visiting Delhi
Amma was barely 56, she had gone off on loss of pay when Nupur passed
Now Mamaji was able to convince her to go back
She might not get to be Principal but she was willing to take a HOD it didnt matter
She was active and physically healthy.
His mother had basically grilled him for an hour, about why he wasnt "looking"
He didnt tell her was "looking" quite literally that is
He shut his eyes and stretched and made a mental count of women that he had paused to take a second look the last couple months
There were 3?... no may be 4...
His friends had come over for dinner last night all 5 were married, all in Mumbai, the tiny apartment in Borivili
transforming into a raucous party, Saksham and he and the 5 guys went out for a late night beer.
Amma didnt apreciate drinking so for her he was still a teetotaler
Nupur razzed him like anything, getting money and gifts out of him in exchange for holding the lie
Nihar was in the terrace until 2 AM
It was a fortified terrace so there was nothing to fear...
His friends took him for a walk and urged him to start playing the field again
"U are not cheating on Nupur u asshole" they cursed
"Just test the waters man"
"Play around"
"Have a good time"
"No moralistic bullshit dude"
"Get off the high horse you moron"
"Waise celibacy ke liye koi award nahi dete India mein... to sudhar ja... get the f**k out dude"
"Meri ek saali hai, she is a player, baat karaaoon?"
He had to shut them all up finally
It was impossible for him to do at one point
As if on cue his Amma had grilled him this morning
Maybe they all texted her late last night?
Nihar dozed on his shoulder, the flight would be called in an hour the lady behind the desk said
They would load Rome first and then Delhi...
They traveled the world and ate great food and lived on Nariman Point
He was angry.
He hated her for leaving him half way
It was not part of the deal
Families huddled together in groups, giggling, chating, raiding late night snack bars
Paying insane amounts of money for paltry snacks
Nihar wasnt greedy or a "petu" as Amma lamented
He was skinny with brooding eyes, and a large mass of hair
He took on a lost look in public
He exhaled and pulled his phone out... and it was on Suvechha's text screen
She is the FIFTH... he channeled a mental image of her
That extra full lower lip and the contrasting razor thin upper lip, the high cheek bones the upturned on the tip tiny nose, the helical spring hair
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday was a blur, when he finally sat down on his couch, a almost new one, Nupur's choice, a week before she passed, that and the flat screen TV
It was close to 9 PM
The ACs were new and the house froze over
Nihar wandered from room to room
It had 4 bedrooms for a day, he might have Saksham and Co over
He ordered pizza, they said the wait was two hours
He picked up his car keys and took Nihar and they drove to the Sector 3 Pizza Hut (author hopes there is one) on the NOIDA main rd
They parked after circling the block 6 times
When they entered, they bumped into a lil doll like human being
It was Aadhya staring at a candy cane game on Suvechha's phone
"Hi!!!" he said genuinely pleased
Her smile was a lil guarded
She wore a navy ikat sleeveless kurti and a white capri
The strawberry lips intact
"Sorry" she said moving away
He followed her out since she didnt stop to chat
Nihar peered at Aadhya's game
She promptly handed him Suvi's phone
"Aapka treep kaisa tha?" she asked
The leftover pizza box she had made his belly rumble
"It was great, thanks for asking Suvechha" he said casually
That name calling, the way he said her name was very unsettling to her
How can anything FORMAL be unsettling?
She worried
She nodded indicating she was ready to leave
"I moved today" he said
Her eyes sparkled knowingly
"Oh... congrats" she said
"Kiraye ka makaan hai" he chuckled
"Phir bhi ghar hai" she said
"Do u live close by?" he asked genuinely forgetful
She wondered if he completely forgot after one trip to Mumbai?
Reminded herself that there was no friendship here, he was merely her boss and he didnt owe her any scoop on family trips etc
There was no ownership in this equation
"Nahi main Society mein rehti hoon near NOIDA More" she said politely
"Oh yes, I forgot... ooops" he rubbed his forehead
She didnt think it was a big deal or atleast appeared that way
"Iska uniform lene aaye the, bhool gaye aaj saara din" she said sadly
He suddenly realized he had forgotten it too
Aadhya tried to grab the phone from Nihar...
"adhya nakko" she scolded
Aadhya made a face
"Kal school hai na" she said politely stepping back
Indicating she wouldnt want to talk any more, she greeted Nihar, asked him about Mumbai and asked Aadhya to wave to him
She waved many autos... none stopped
He waved and went in with his son
Her standoffish behavior suddenly irked him
Came out a few seconds later
"Suvechha!" he called
She turned
"Kya hua?" he asked
"Kuch bhi nahi" she smiled
He had no idea why he felt like asking her that
An auto stopped
Just when her gaze told him he didnt believe that BS
"You are my boss" she said, as she made Aadhya sit, and slid beside her
He watched the auto leave
Edited by Nisha0604 - 8 years ago
comment:
p_commentcount