How much can change in five years between two people meeting again? They went to high school and to college together but that was it. She stayed back in the city for two things, a job and a potential boyfriend, on the other hand, he moved to another...
"I might act like nothing is above Jen for me, which sometimes is true but I really really want you to be in my life. I haven't made a friend like you in ever who gets me, every fucking time and I don't want to lose that, okay? And this is my way of apologizing for all the crap that you overheard me saying to Manik." Sameer held his one ear with his free hand, by the end of his speech. Nandini laughed, lightly, before swatting his hand from that position.
"It's okay, Sam!" Nandini muttered to him and took a sip of her coffee. The two of them then spend another hour chatting about random things until Nandini decided to call it a night as she had to get up early, the next day, to work on her new designs.
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Nandini's outfit
The next morning, at 7:30 am, Nandini sat down to do her finances which was long impending for that month. She usually did her finances in the first week of every month but this time, she had to push it back given all the things that went down, first, with Jeanette and then Manik.
During this process, Nandini noticed the huge transaction of 1.5 lakh rupees that she had sent to Dhruv, a few days back. He was in a bit of a crisis when he had called her up, asking for help. She was well aware of his reluctance earlier which is why she understood that it must have gotten really bad for him to come up and ask for that money from her. She lent it to him, in the blink of an eye because she, genuinely, wanted to help him out but it had come at a price. Now that she thought about it again, she realized that this was one of the reasons that Jeanette had flipped out on her.
A month and a half ago, Jeanette had asked her for ninety-five thousand rupees to borrow in order to buy certain filters, lenses and calibration equipment. Jeanette's paycheck was delayed, that month, and hence, Nandini had already covered up for her share of rent and other joint expenses for their apartment. Plus, ever since Dhruv and she talked, in Pune, about his need for money to pay EMI, Nandini wanted to keep that money aside for if and when he asks for help. Given all this, Nandini had to politely refuse Jeanette for this additional expense. She did not want to lie to her best friend about delicate matters like money so, Nandini chose to be honest. Jeanette looked visibly disturbed when Nandini denied her request but did not say anything about it so Nandini decided to let the matter go.
Nandini, now, realized that things between them had begun to go downhill from that point which upset her, instantly. Why did she have to notice this? She was already finding a hard time to recollect all the good times from their long-term friendship to put a veil over all the bitterness but such discernments were setting her back. These thoughts only highlighted all the red flags to her which she did not want.
Nandini, abruptly, shut her laptop. Her mood was spoiled, early in the morning. The one thing that could, possibly, distract her from these chaotic emotions was far away from her. She missed him, terribly. She had, repeatedly, told herself that it was okay and she was fine with this distance but it was far from the truth. Additionally, not being able to talk to him, even over the phone, frustrated her beyond limits. To top everything, the guilt for bearing such thoughts, overpowered her senses. She did not want to have complaints about him being too busy to even call because she understood that he was spending this quality time with his family after ages.
