Pop Quiz
Good or bad Trisha had no recollection of who Ashvin was...
Yes... she was not a social media or a news hound
She didnt read up about him or about Ullal after the incident
She did not lead a crazy social life.
The two day seminar ended uneventfully where the Craft team went over every aspect of what owning a franchise meant
There were people brought in not only from Ready Noodle franchises but also other fast food licenses Cuisine owned
They talked about the steady stream of income and how hassle free food vending business was.
Trisha sat through the classes like a good student taking notes and asking questions
But all along the way in the back of her mind the email from Ashvin poked her
"We do finance ailing small business owners"
She had no experience assessing capital loans. She had no idea if one was better than the other.
In her little microcosm of Ullal and mangalore she knew of nobody that had borrowed money for business
Ph D friends in college were mostly married to employees of banks or state government
She didnt meet Ashvin except for the opening day first hour
She couldnt help but look at his feet when he walked in
There were 17 seminar attendees
In the large conference room at Cuisine Craft with all sorts of marketing material plastered on the wall
He was wearing socks she noticed and Doc Martens suede shoes in grey (she had no clue what brand they were) a silver grey pant and a white shirt with a black belt
He looked rested and energetic contrary to how he was actually feeling
He was introduced to all prospects.. Trisha felt a unusual self consciousness when he walked by her stopping to hand shake and meet everyone
The rush of warm color diffused all over her face as he stood in front
She scolded herself for worrying too much about his socks and hence beginning to see him as a "man".
"Thanks for the email" she smiled offering her hand
He took it eagerly and held it
"Ofcourse... we can talk after the seminar ends tomorrow at 3" he promised
"My father's accountant was busy so couldn not come" she said nervously
"Nothing you cant handle" he said
He let go of her hand
Mr Shanbag used the services of Costa & Shenoy a local tax accounting firm
There wasnt much to account for, not much to hide (from a tax standpoint)... so they didnt give Mr Shanbag much importance.
He had given Trisha a business card, a old soiled one pulled out of his cash register drawer
Ironically the fact that he didnt even know their number from memory should tell anyone how much he needed tax services.
She didnt see him for the day and a half... she did think about him though when she texted Jayadev that he was wearing socks today
Jayadev for some reason was not amused.
"I am just joking he found his socks" she chided to him
"Why is that even important?" he asked
"You are grumpy" she declared
"Dont I have the right to be? You came for two weeks and now are again gone for two days"
"I have to help father"
"He hasnt even asked you to help. He knows you are a chemistry student"
She realized then that Jayadev didnt really understand her angst
"I am hoping for a loan" she explained
"Its franchise, its a make over now its a loan" he was weary
"If we have to be students after marriage, then it must make enough for our living"
"We are not married yet and we are doing fine" he complained
"Because he is not telling us how badly its doing"
"After my CA I will get a job" Jayadev shot for the pie in the sky
She didnt respond
She couldnt
He was as unsuccessful as her in academics
"Did he talk to you?" Jayadev was curious
"umm.. just about the loan"
"He is a big man why will he care about us little people"
That stung Trisha strangely...
"If there is money, they will go after it, all rich people are like that"
"He never said anything bad. He might give us a loan"
"YOU want the loan, not ME" he reminded
"Well you want ME" she clawed purring angrily
"I dont seem to be getting any" he said
"Why cant we wait until we are married?"
"You are suddenly very conservative now?"
"I am not but, in my house?"
"Your father likes me" he said smugly
"He will like anyone that loves me" she said
The afternoon speaker walked around the lunch room asking people to walk inside for the post lunch session on day one
Jayadev sulked so she threw her sandwich container and walked in
The seminar had costed Rs.20,000 she had some money saved up from her TAing at college, Mr Shanbag gave her some and... Jayadev had given her some
She couldnt afford lofty principles, plus she wasnt a feminist. She hung out with women that were studying gender relations sometimes and they warned her from getting too dependent on Jayadev.
She looked everytime the onf room door opened
It was almost like Jayadev had planted a worm in her mind... it was making its way through her brain...
she wondered about where Ashvin was...
Chirag spent more time than necessary with her during aftertoon break
Bringing coffee and making bad jokes
She looked around the room, there were couples in their 40s, some older men and then HER
She chalked it up to "hitting on only young and unmarried woman"
She was used to being hit on, on the local bus
She didnt look anything like Aishwarya Rai the most famous Konkani face to roam the earth.
Nor did she look like Shilpa Shetty
Well... she did look partially like Shilpa
Dusky, Smooth skin, short hair, big eyes and a long slender neck, she had that one crooked canine on her upper left.
Jayadev told her "that makes you look like a cat".
She was more curvy than she liked...
"You should just do your own TV spots for Ready Noodle in Ullal" Chirag gushed, drooling
"Ullal does not have local channel" she said confused
Busted...
"Umm.. or newspaper? or magazine no?" Chirag insisted
She smiled revealing that one crooked canine
"I am not Chinese" she said reasonably
To Chirag she didnt have to be... he was attracted to her...
He handed her too many prizes for the franchise pop quiz at the end of the day for getting many questions not quite right. She earned a Rs.250 Bangalore Central gift card, a Rs.100 Burger World gift card
Forum Cinema tickets...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He sat across from her, sideways, in the conf room, towering even though he was seated
"I didnt bring many papers. Only last year's tax returns" she extended that yellowish paper folder.
She had taken that from her father's room, the giant teak chest of drawer with the clawfoot handles
He did not know about it
Ashvin flipped through it with a lot of interest...
She didnt understand any of it
Just the handwritten konkani notes on a post it saying "loss third year in a row"
She didnt understand what depreciation was, what the difference between cost and expenses was, or what current assets and current liabilities meant.
"Some things are in konkani" she pointed to the schedules at the back
"I can explain" she claimed fearfully secretly sure she couldnt
"This is good" he said
They happened to exchange a glance then...
He looked at her and said "Will you marry me Trisha?"😳😳
He watched her slender hand being withdrawn slowly from paper as her face turned a rich red.. her dusky complexion complementing the blush.
they were still manicured... she wore a powder blue khadi kurta and a white chudidar, kohl lined eyes and and a silver triangle like earrings with tinking beads at the end
The burn scars were fading now... almost invisible
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