"Hi!" Ishani smiled, greeting Sidharth outside the Brew cafe the other day.
"Hey." He extended his hand behind her, gesturing to her to lead them in.
"Weather's not really nice today." She mentioned, looking outside one last time before entering the cafe. It was raining, not very heavily though but she was glad that he made it.
"Yeah." He nodded.
"Tum Mumbai me nayi ho?" He couldn't help but ask because she didn't look like she was used to the traffic and weather.
"I mean 6 mahine pehle hi properly shift hui Mumbai me. Usse pehle.." She replied.
"Is this table okay?" She asked, they got the corner most table since the cafe was at it's peak rush at this hour.
"Yeah, fine by me." He shrugged, taking a seat in front of her.
"You were saying.." he asked her to continue.
"Mumbai se pehle maine Bangalore me kaam kiya saal bhar pehle, that was when I had joined E-times." She told him.
"Oh, good good." He replied.
"What about you?" She asked him.
"Me? Oh I've been in Mumbai forever. School, college, almost sab kuch yahi kiya maine mostly." He replied.
"What would you like to have?" The waiter interrupted them at that very moment.
"A latte would do.. you?" Sidharth looked all over the menu and then looked at Meera.
"My regular?" She smiled and turned to the waiter.
"Chocolate creme frappuccino." The waiter replied in order to confirm that's what she wanted.
"You do come here often." Sidharth commented.
"A lot! Poora din baith ke sirf articles likhti rehti hu, bore ho jati hu. And then, I love coffee so much!" She replied.
"What are you more into, chai ya coffee?" She asked then.
"Chai I'd say. The smell, the taste. Anytime anybody asks, chai." He replied. He indeed was a chai person, he'd enter his kitchen for that particular thing.
"Family bhi yahi rehti hai tumhari? Maine Meera Vardhan se kafi kuch suna hai sabke bare me." She asked him.
"Yeah? All good things I hope." He chuckled, indeed his friends were like and all of them had been together for a few weekends last summer.
"All good things! Meera is like Sid ki Mom itna acha khana banati hain, Sid ki di has always been such a great help! Your sister gifted her saree to Meera and she was so touched." She told him and he couldn't help but smile, indeed Meera was his one good friend.
"And then she insisted this, I mean, usne mujhe tumse milwaya apni party me." She added a little later.
"Yeah. She suggested the similar to me." He replied. They looked to his side when the waiter arrived with their orders.
"It's good." He said upon tasting his coffee, it was strong, wasn't too sweet either and it was just as he would have preferred. When he looked at her, she was stirred her coffee a little and sipped it using the straw.
"I'm a coffee person. Anytime coffee. Helps me concentrate." She told him.
"That sounds little like an addiction." He commented and she couldn't help but laugh at it.
"Acha, are you coming to Natasha's cocktail tomorrow?" She asked him.
"Sorry who?" He replied.
"Natasha Nair, she was there at Meera's wine tasting. Tum sab friends ho na?" She told him, wondering how did he not know those people.
"Nahi, mai toh sirf Vardhan aur Meera ko hi janta hu. I stay out of that circle, itni cocktails aur gathering meri bas ki nahi." He shook his head. He wasn't a part of Meera's elite social circle, he was just a friend in that case.
"Oh. I didn't know." She nodded, no wonder why she met him at Meera's for the first time.
"Yeah. Mai unke hi sath dikhunga, yadi koi work related invite nahi hai toh. Free hota hu mostly toh mujhe le chalte wo dono apne sath. We hangout often." He further elaborated and she nodded, finishing her drink.
"You done?" She asked him and he nodded, gesturing the waiter to come over for the billing.
"Sidharth, lemme pay." She insisted when he pulled out his phone to pay online. But he didn't seem to listen and paid it anyway.
"Coffee itni achi lagi matlab?" She asked him.
"Bol sakte hai. The ambience is also good." He nodded, looking around.
"I usually bring my laptop along, sit and work here some times. Pehli baar aj mai akeli nahi aayi yaha." She mentioned.
"So did you miss your laptop?" He asked her and she chuckled, shaking her head.
"What about you? Wishing you were in the office, working?" She asked him the same in other words, wanting to know if this date went well or not for him.
"No. It was good for a change." He smiled. She was a nice girl, there were no second thoughts on that.
"But Ishani, I've to tell you this." He added, wanting to let her know something.
"Yeah." She nodded, encouraging him.
"I'm not looking for a relationship at the moment. I don't think I'm ready for one right now." He mentioned and her smile did falter a little, she wasn't expecting either and didn't change her demeanor towards him. It was supposed to be a friendly date today.
"It's okay." She nodded with her pretty smile again. She waved at him one last time before getting into her car and turning the ignition on. Realizing that it was okay and he was person she barely knew.
He drove back home. He was quiet and somewhere occupied, he had partly lied to Ishani about it. It was true that he wasn't ready for a relationship but what about the moment he shared with Shehnaaz. He wasn't expecting a relationship with her either but he didn't think twice before kissing her, back then. That was the thing. He had somewhere involved himself with her and wasn't out of that moment completely and the fact that he was still on talking terms with her, he didn't want to mislead Ishani with the similar notion.
"How did the interview go?" Sheena asked Shehnaaz over a video call. Her friend had finally agreed to get her CV ready to get back to work and found herself an interview.
"It was fine. Recruiting season nahi hai, na kahi pe openings hain." Shehnaaz shrugged as she sat on her bed and began to fold the washed and dried clothes one by one.
"Hm. Koi na." Sheena replied, silently gesturing to her husband to join them.
"Kisko ghoor rahi hai? Kaha hai Guru?" Shehnaaz smiled, asking.
"Hi Sana! Kya haal chal? Tere Mama Mami gaye ke abhi bhi tike huye hai?" Gurjot showed up the next moment.
"Dheere bol!" Shehnaaz angrily whispered. Her relatives were still staying over, they were about to leave soon though.
"Agle hafte jayenge bol rahe hain. Kehte hai, Mummy ko le jayenge. Thoda gao ghoom legi, saalon se gayi nahi hai." She added.
"Hm. Not a bad idea." He replied.
"Mummy bol rahi thi, weekend ke liye ja sakti hai. Thoda bahar nikalna ho jayega unka bhi." She mentioned, picking up the folded clothes and taking them towards her closet.
"Interview ka kya hua?" He further asked.
"Flop. Junior assistant ke liye offer kar rahe the, maine hi mana kar diya." She replied, entering into the camera frame.
"Tu maanti nahi hai meri baat, Delhi me hoti toh mai 1-2 calls lagata tere liye." He commented.
"Nahi jana bhai mujhe Delhi! Tum sare kyu aise peeche pade ho!? Kya hai tu? Jo tere call karne job mil jayegi mujhe?" She asked, annoyed with the question.
Be it her mother, her aunt, uncle, Anju and a few times even Sheena had suggested that if she moved to a bigger city, she'd find the deserving job. They weren't wrong about it,it was just that she didn't want to leave her mother again.
"Toh tu ek kaam kar, mat kar naukari. Baithi reh. Meri help mat lena kabhi galti se bhi." He snapped back.
"Ha, mujhe bhi tere ehsaan nahi chahiye. Guru dafa ho." She replied in a similar tone.
"Arey arey? Kaha ki baat kaha ja rahi hai? Pagal ho kya dono?" Sheena grabbed her laptop, moved to the living area and eyed her husband, he shouldn't be talking like that to Shehnaaz.
"Mujhe kya ghoor rahi hai? Apni dost ko bol ki uske liye hi bol rahe hai sab! Usko job chahiye, nahi bhi chahiye." He replied.
"Apne pati ko bol, usse lecture nahi chahiye meko." Shehnaaz mentioned, making sure even if Gurjot wasn't on the screen, her voice was reaching his ears.
"Aye Sana! Tu mil mere ko, mai tab bataunga tujhe!" He marched towards his wife, looked at the webcam and spoke.
"Tu aana mere samne, mai dekhti hu tujhe. Aaya bada. Kya kar lega?" Shehnaaz retorted and hung up on his face. She wasn't mad at him, she was mad at the people making the same comments about her job again and again.
But she knew that she was at fault here this time, she shouldn't have quit her job immediately but she didn't have any other options back then. A month of no job wasn't as calming as she had expected. Above all, she needed money to run the house and to repay the medical loan in a few months. She didn't need money immediately and that is why she had refused to work for the under deserving job and a low income today.
'Interview kaisa gaya?' She received a text from Sidharth later in the night. That was the time they got for themselves after working all day.
'Bakwas.. mat puch..' she sighed, replying the same thing to everybody.
'Vaise tune jab company ka naam bataya tha.. mujhe laga ke isse achi toh teri pichli company thi.. I had guessed that they wouldn't have the right job for u..' he mentioned. They had been in touch for a few days now and when she had mentioned the company's name, he had looked it up on the internet.
'Please can we not talk about it?' she said after reading his message.
'Sure' he replied.
'What all did u do today?' she asked then.
'Went on a date' he mentioned.
'Wow! How did it go?' She asked but on her end, she was surprised because she had no idea he was looking for a relationship. That was new.
'Fine' he answered.
'Gonna see her again or what?' she wasn't expecting such a one word response. Was it so special that he didn't wish to share?
'I don't know' he responded in a similar manner again.
'🙄🙄' she was getting certain about his need to keep it private till it turns permanent. He was doing it on purpose.
'What??' he didn't understand why she was rolling her eyes at him.
'Playing hard to get?!' she teased him.
'No! Why would I do that??' he asked her.
'How'd I know?🙄' she replied.
'She hot?' she couldn't help but ask.
'Yeah' he replied, wondering if his date thing had bothered her.
'What's the problem then?' she asked again.
'😂😂 ' he actually laughed at her remark.
'What?' she asked, confused.
'I don't wanna talk about it Shehnaaz.' he replied, because she just wouldn't stop asking questions.
'Fine!' she gave in, almost believing that he was going to date that hot girl.
'Nothing left to talk about or what?' he asked when she went silent for a minute.
'Kuch puchu?' she asked and he replied with a yep.
'How did u manage it Sidharth?' she asked then.
'What' he was confused about it.
'After ur father.. kya kiya tune?' she asked clearly
'Honestly.. kuch nai kiya.. ' he read her question a few times before coming up with an answer.
'Bas time nikalta gaya.. family ke sath.. dosto ke sath dheere dheere sab apne aap hone laga..' he added.
'Hm.. ' she replied.
'Tu mat soch itna.. aunty hai na tere pass.. unke liye kar..' he asked her to relax because he did have some ideas of what all could be going on inside her head.
'Hmm' she replied.
'Mummy hi reh gayi bas mere pass' she added.
'Isliye mai kahi nahi jana chahti..' she further wrote.
'Kon bol raha hai unko chhod ke jane..? jaha jayegi leke jana.. ' he responded.
'Hmm' she replied.
'Kya banai dinner me?' he asked for a change.
'Kadhi chawal.. Mami ne bola banane' she answered.
'Sahi hai' he commented.
'Arey maine tujhe ek baat nahi batayi' she began when she suddenly recalled something.
'Kya?' he asked.
'Mujhe ek aur job ka offer aaya tha' she answered.
'Mami ke cousin ke clinic me.. receptionist ka.. she didn't know I'm a graphic designer' she wrote and began to laugh at the incident.
'😂😂👌' he sent some emoticons.
'Mummy kitni offend ho gayi thi.. maine to hass dena tha..' she told him.
'I'd like to see how u do as a receptionist' he commented.
'Kutte😂' she chuckled when he said that.
'Mama mami don't really know us.. bas formality ke liye ruke hai.. Mama wants to make it up to Mummy kyuki unke gharwalo ne Mummy ko nikal diya tha..' she began to mention.
'Love marriage ki isliye?' he asked.
'Ha bol sakte hain.. lambi story hai.. complicated hai..' she replied. Her parents love story was going to take a while if she began with it so she saved them some time.
'I wanna drink.. so bad' she casually mentioned.
'All u have to do is step out of ur house' he suggested, knowing very well that she had stepped out of her house just that day for her job interview, otherwise she believed she was better in her bedroom.
'As if I don't have to come back? Mummy maregi.. she doesn't know that I drink' she replied.
'Really?' he asked.
'Yeah.. She has no idea' she answered.
'So innocent man.. meri Mom ko toh dekhte hi pata chal gya tha that I got drunk.. unhone thappad lagaya tha..' he told how it was at his place, it was one hilarious incident if recalled today.
'Serves u right.. mine is a little too religious.. couldn't risk it' she replied.
'Mai bata dunga aunty ko' he told her.
'Kya batayega be.. kaam kar apna😂' she replied, smiling at his texts since they did manage to uplift her mood for a while every other day.
'Kisi na kisi din toh zaroor bata dunga..' he repeated himself, keeping in mind to talk to her mother some day.
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Hello all.. I'm busy with my studies so cannot promise when I'm gonna show up.. anyway.. how was the chapter?
Sidharth is a man of manners and ethics for me.. I wanted him to go and see if the date works out for him..
How's Shehnaaz's situation as of now? Did u find it improving?