Boss, Miss Amrita is eligible to avail the scholarship the New York School of Pastry Arts is offering on our company's behalf. She has been accepted, though it's not official yet, this is confidential news." Manish ran over to Arjun's cabin.
Arjun's face remained stoic.
"I offered them the scholarship on our company's behalf, though the funding will be transferred from your personal account."
"Fine. You can leave now. You worked hard," Arjun replied, his expressions unchanged.
"Mahi's wedding card just came in with the post," Amrita's mother informed her.
"Okay mom," Amrita replied.
"Are you doing fine Amrita?" her mother asked.
"Yes don't worry."
She was not fine. She had dreams about Arjun walking away from her, every night, and she could not reach him. She was filled with a feeling of unrequited love and anger every day she woke up in the morning. The feeling stayed with her all day, every day.
She picked up her phone to call him every day but would put it down thinking about spending her whole life with a man who loved himself much more than he ever could love her. One who would undermine her dreams and discourage her for his own convenience.
She had a capacity to love like that, loving someone with all that she had. A selfless love. She knew it and still harboured hope to be loved like that in return.
She knew, just one phone call, one word from Arjun and she would forget all her insecurities and all his weakness and rush to him. Maybe she had already fallen in that sort of love, or was not far from falling, deep and unconditional, where hence there was no turning back. She had not even heard his side in the midst of the incident involving Trisha. She had been so worked up and afraid of getting her heart broken. She had been too mean to him, she was afraid.
A month and a half passed.
Amrita had given up hope of studying at the New York School of Pastry Arts. She had tried to draw a bigger education loan, but her efforts had borne no fruit. She applied to a domestic school in the city of New Delhi, the same which Arjun had suggested. The place was not very far from Arjun's office.
It was two weeks before Amrita's cousin Mahi's wedding ceremony. Amrita was sunken into melancholy, not a mood suited to wedding celebrations. She had read so much about the pastry school in New York, had wanted to learn more, with a passion, for a long time now. What was worse was that she knew she would've been admitted if she had been able to pay in full or had gotten a scholarship. She had submitted a power point presentation, video essay and written essays, outlining her journey of starting a successful bakery from the scratch. She highlighted her blog she posted her creations on, her website, the awards she had won over time in competitions, and the reviews of her specialities.
Amrita was in Delhi. The air was not nearly as fresh as in her hometown. It was hot and humid. She was sweating. She followed the owner of the paying guest house through a room and then through a small mess. The living conditions were not bad and it was not costly. They would have to do. Amrita booked a room in the paying guest house, for all through the next nine months. It was not more than three kilometres far from the university she had enrolled in. It was a good university, though it did not compare to the ones she had dreamt of. Amrita was not thrilled about the whole situation but she managed to keep a hopeful state of mind. Once the actual course started, she knew she would love it. She would make the best of it since, if she wanted to be what she thought was being successful, she could do that with these conditions.
"But, my love, why don't you invite Amrita over for dinner?" Abhi said to Mahi.
They were sitting in Abhi's office cabin. It was furnished comfortably, with leather sofas and wide glass windows, which stretched from floor to ceiling.
"Arjun is not himself these days. He won't even tell anyone, what happened between him and Amrita."
Mahi was eating cookies made by Amrita herself. "These cookies are good. Try them Abhi," she said.
Abhi sighed, "I am talking to you about something important here Mahi, would you please focus?"
"These are no ordinary cookies Abhi, no wonder our family baker wants to learn more and be bigger. She definitely has the talent."
Abhi took a bite, munching into the chocolatey goodness. The flavour was warm and deep. "It's rich," he responded. "I love it. I want to put them in a box and market them!"
"My brother's secretary told me, after my coaxing him regarding Arjun's behaviour, that Arjun has sent out a scholarship donation to some University in New York, for Indian students, just so one of those to avail it can be Amrita."
"What?" Mahi responded, confused.
"Anonymously. Apparently, he doesn't even want Amrita to know about it."
"What even Abhi?! Amrita has given up on the foreign university ideas for the time being. She is shifting to our city, to do some diploma in a local university that offers a decent pastry course. She says she can't afford New York right now, so will try again after a few years. Why do you think she is here right now?"
"Oh, this is turning into a mess," Abhi shook his head, restless.
He got up from their table and started pacing.
"I thought she was here right now to help with the wedding preparations?" he questioned.
"She is helping me, along with looking for a place to stay. The girl won't agree to my or mom's arguments asking her to stay with us instead."
Abhi shook his head, still pacing.
Mahi watched her fiancé walking back and forth in his office lounge. She walked up to him, and gently held his hand, leading him back to their table.
Not letting go of his hand she spoke, "Why are you so tense? I understand there is a problem, but the solution is right in front of us. Tell me," she spoke gently, "all that is bothering you."
"Mahi," He uttered after a while, "I made Arjun in charge of the huge Krishi hill project. I understand he is busy with it, but he was never a workaholic. He always took out time to play tennis, or go out once in a while. Since he returned from a meeting around a month back, the only person he ever talks with is Manish, his secretary. He never calls Mohit, he hardly even goes home to our parents. It's like he wants to forget everything by doing nothing but work. I am very worried about him." His face was etched with worry and pain.
After a while, Mahi replied, "Don't worry Abhi, there is a simple solution to this problem. Amrita too has been in a bad mood for a while now, though she won't say if it's just because of her university plans or if there is more to it. We just need to make Arjun and Amrita talk to each other. Something good will come out of it, I am sure." She spoke reassuringly.
"From now on if anything bothers you, tell me Abhi. It bothers me to see you tense. Your problems are equally mine."
Abhi finally smiled. "Yes ma'am," he said, getting up, giving Mahi a light peck on her cheek as he made his way out of the lounge leaving Mahi behind.
Well, well, Arjun, why are you going crazy? Seems like the woman you liked ran away. Haha! What a bloody loser, Arjun's own voice loomed in his subconscious mind.
"Don't worry babe, I am still here waiting for you. I won't let that bakery girl come near you, hahaha!" A piercing high pitched voice sang.
Arjun woke up with a start. Trisha's maniacally laughing face from the nightmare fresh in his mind, Amrita's weeping face right behind.
Damn! Amrita where are you? Leaving me here. I am so alone. Without you, I feel lifeless, a robot.
Just then, the phone rang. "Yes?" said Arjun, in a sombre tone, over the phone. "Arjun, meet with me and Mahi tomorrow. We will wait in your office."
Arjun knew there was no chance for negotiation when Abhi talked in that serious tone.
Next day, Arjun met them both. The two of them looking like they had seen a ghost, all serious and sombre. "Come, Arjun. At last, you have come to meet me. It's been a month already."
"Sit down and tell me all about that has been going on. The good, the bad and the ugly. I want to hear it all. Abhi is so worried, as am I for your health. You see nothing but work, and do nothing but work. So, let's talk about work. How is it going, your work?" asked Mahi.
"Well, Abhi knows it all. As the company head, he gets constant reports from my team."
"The project at Krishi is going well. All the final planning has been worked out. Now waiting for the government's approval which will take about a month or so and then the real groundwork starts."
"That's good to hear," said Mahi in her kind, motherly fashion. "By the way, Arjun, do you know who is in Delhi right now?"
Arjun looked up at her, then at Abhi questioning, "Mohit? Is he back already from his company's trip to Singapore?"
Abhi and his fiancée looked at each other. Then said, slowly, carefully, "No, Arjun, not Mohit. He will not be back by next week."
"Then who?" he asked, innocently.
"Amrita. Would you like to meet her? All four of us together or... well... if you want, the two of you alone?"
Arjun swallowed. "No," he said firmly, in all his arrogance.
"What is the matter Arjun?" Mahi asked, gently. "Everyone... your parents, your brother, me, we all are worried about you. What shall we do to make things better for you? Please tell us."
Suddenly Arjun felt guilty. He looked back to his behaviour the past month. He had been aloof from everyone. Hardly calling his family. Never once speaking to Mahi or his brother properly. Being unreasonably strict with his subordinates at work.
"Does she want to meet me?" he asked, as a faint ray of hope somewhere lighted up within him, crushing his ego.
Well, this was an awkward situation. Mahi realised. She should've first confirmed with Amrita's wishes. But she had been afraid to even venture the topic of her soon to be brother-in-law, observing Amrita's touchy behaviour.
Spotting Mahi's precarious position, Abhi intervened, "Amrita is yet to be talked with Arjun. I am sorry for being so tactless. I should've first confirmed the plan with her."
"It's fine, whatever, I have other, better things to attend to anyway." Saying thus, he got up.
He looked back at Abhi from the doorway and said, "I am sorry I have been acting like a self-centred bastard the past month. It won't happen again."
"It's fine to be like that sometimes man, don't worry about it," his brother replied.
Mahi sat feeling terribly bad about possibly having caused more hurt to Arjun than he had been in before.
Amrita's cell phone rang.
"Hey!"
"Hi," called Mahi from the other side.
"When are you returning home from the PG? We have to go finalise things with the make-up artist for the wedding day."
"I have arranged for a good paying guest hostel to rent, near the academy. Right now I am locating supermarkets and such, then it will take me about an hour to reach your house by evening," her cousin replied.
Amrita reached her paternal uncle's house by four in the evening. She had tea with Mahi and a short nap. By six, they were on the road, with Mahi at the wheel of the car.
Mahi started talking, "When are your classes at the academy starting?"
"The classes will start right after your wedding is over, around three weeks later. Registration at the academy, then getting some basic necessities for the PG will probably take two to three days more, then I will return home. Mom will mostly be overseeing the bakery for the upcoming nine months the Advanced Diploma Course will last for, along with Harish, my manager's help," Amrita told her all her plans in a monotone, like reciting a crammed paragraph.
"Amrita... You don't sound exceedingly excited, not as you ought to be. Why is that?"
"I am... kind of... just that it's not what I had always fantasised about all these years. Going to the best pastry school in the world in New York or really good ones in Paris. I had thought I could then sharpen my skills to the best level possible."
"Sometimes reality turns out to be better than fantasy," said Mahi.
Amrita smiled in spite of herself.
Mahi did not dare bring up the topic of Arjun. This was the first time in two days that Mahi had seen Amrita smile.