Part 8

Next morning Maa popped up the question to Nisha as to whether she liked Suneel. Nisha said that she wasn’t sure and for the last seven eight months of her working in her company she had always thought of him as very arrogant and rude.

She realized that Maa was surprised and was not ready to believe her and Neeru was openly protesting against this view.

However, Maa said, “It’s a critical and very important decision of your life.  So we will not rush you into anything. You take all the time you require to decide or even before you say a clear no. But promise me that you will make a well considered decision.”

Tinkoo said that Suneel had promised to take him and Neeru to the Railway Museum so he will be visiting their house even today.  Maa suggested that Nisha should give herself a chance to know the guy better.

Tinkoo was first to get ready and urged both Neeru and Nisha to hurry up.  He surprised everyone by eating his breakfast very quickly today.  Generally Sunday mornings are lazy. Nobody in the house would be in a hurry to take a bath but Neeru was the next to get ready and helped Nisha in selecting her dress.  Nisha chose a light green coloured short kurti in cotton with small floral pattern in pink and white on it to go with her light blue jeans. Neeru picked up large hoop earrings from their assortment. The big silver rounds had little flowers in light pink and green enamelled on them Nisha had always liked them but had never wore them. She reached out to pick up the golden coloured studs that she mostly wore but Neeru snatched them away.

“These will go much better with the dress Dee”, Neeru added, “Try them just this once... here....  let me help you .....” Neeru made Nisha put them on.

“Oh! Look how gorgeous! Now look at yourself!” Neeru pushed her in front of the mirror. Although Nisha voiced her protests aloud but she could not help secretly admitting to herself how lovely she looked.  The big round rings studded with flowers accentuated her long and delicate neck. The colour of the shirt and the hoops softened the brown of her eyes against the black eyeliner that gave her large eyes a deeper look. The waistline of the shirt made her look even thinner.

“Now this will provide the finishing touch”, Neeru handed her a pale pink lipstick with matte texture from their collection. The light blue goggles and the white flat sandals helped complete the look.

All of them got ready for the outing.

 Soon Suneel arrived to pick up the trio. He wore a light blue cotton shirt which fit smartly on his broad shoulders and white trousers with brown leather sandals which gave him a slight casual look and made him appear taller than his six feet.

He informed Maa that they would be lunching out but he would like to have dinner at home with them. His Sunday evenings were generally free.

They liked the railway museum and enjoyed the toy train rides especially Tinkoo. He was very excited. Nisha found that Suneel had an acute sense of humour and could relate very engaging and hilarious jokes.  She soon forgot everything about the marriage alliance and started to enjoy herself.  It seemed that she was laughing a lot after a long time.  She liked the carefree way in which all of them could behave in Suneel’s company. He made others feel comfortable with him. She was pleasingly surprised to discover this aspect of Suneel’s personality.

 Soon all of them started feeling hungry so a fast food restaurant was selected as their next destination. They ordered Burgers and Pizza along with cold coffee.  Then they went to see a Bollywood movie at a nearby theater and had a lot of fun eating popcorn with coke during the interval.  Even when  the sun receded on the horizon nobody wanted to go home in the evening but Suneel and Nisha insisted that they head towards their house.

Baba was waiting at home and complained that it had taken them too long to come back. Suneel desired a cup of tea so Nisha offered to make it herself.  She found Baba and Suneel engaged in a political discussion on the current events as Baba laid out the chess men on the board.

Nisha liked the atmosphere in the house. It had become very lively as the loud sounds of excited laughter from Baba, Neeru and Maa reached her even through closed doors as she changed into comfortable clothes.

Mondays were always very hectic at the office and this week was expected to be even more so, as new projects came her way one after another.  Time flew very fast and Nisha hardly got time to eat a quick lunch. She found that Damini and Neerja were even busier. But things were under control by the late afternoon and her friends joined her for a coffee on her desk.  They excitedly told her about the new movie they had watched and recommended that she must watch it too.  She did not feel like sharing with anyone the tales of her weekend and concentrated only on listening to them. She decided that there is no point in telling her friends so soon about her family’s efforts towards a marriage alliance and that too with a guy at the office.

It is strange that we can hide a number of things from even our close friends if we pay attention to just listening to them and talk only about what interests them the most.

Before leaving the office she got an SMS from Suneel that he had to hurry for some urgent work and would like to see her the next day.  She felt a sigh of relief. She realized that she would have to face a difficult situation sooner or later and wondered how she would tell her mother and now Suneel too that she was not ready for marriage.

 

Next day was again very hectic at office. True to his word Suneel appeared at her desk right at 6 pm while she was picking up her purse.

“Coffee?” he asked.

“I think I should go home”, Nisha suggested trying to avoid him; “I will get late”.

“Don’t worry about getting late I have already sought permission from your Baba”, Suneel added quickly sensing her reluctance.

Smiling at her he motioned her towards his motorbike.

The Cafe’ Coffee Day was unusually less busy  that evening.  Famous as CCD, it has become very popular especially among the youngsters. It may be attributed to the rich aroma of roasted coffee that greets one even before entering the shop and the ambiance of the place. Another factor is people can spend a lot of time there chatting or waiting for someone or simply relaxing. She noticed two people were working on their laptops while sipping coffee. Suneel found a corner table for them as he carried their coffee.

Suneel started the conversation telling her about the new work that he was doing, and Nisha forgot all her reluctance and was drawn into the dialogue.  She found herself giving suggestions regarding search engine optimisation and marketing tactics that could be used to boost the clients’ businesses.  She argued that the importance of social media sites in this kind of work could not be ignored especially to gauge trends in customer preferences. They did not realize how quickly one hour had passed. In fact she found herself in an engaging academic discussion and enjoyed herself after a very long time.  Suneel remarked that he appreciated her knowledge and might apply in his business the practical tips she had given.

Soon it was time to leave. Suneel said that he was looking forward to this meeting as it would give them a chance to know more about each other. Nisha found that Suneel was very warm and it was easier to talk to him than anybody else without being judged.  She decided to air her fears and tell him very clearly before he gets any ideas about her liking him.

“Suneel, before we leave I would like to tell you something”, she looked at him, her eyes pleading.

 He was all attention as soon as she said it.

 “Yes Nisha?” He was now looking at her intently.  Suddenly Nisha was at a loss of words and could not decide how to go about it.

Seeing her hesitate he urged her, “Come on Nisha you wanted to tell me something. What is it?”

“I’m afraid.. I don’t know how to say it.. But I think.. I have committed a blunder....” She hesitated. “Let’s leave,... I think it is getting late... I think...maybe...I will tell you some other time..” her reluctance was returning.

Suneel took her hand in his and its warmth reassured her.  “There is no need to be afraid of anything; whatever you say will remain with me.”

He encouraged her to speak, “Did something happen at home?” Noticing that she  shook her head he continued gently, “was it at office?”

She nodded silently.  “Was it relating to work?” When she shook her head again he asked quickly, “then somebody at the office?”

“Who is it?” He insisted.

“Meenakshi”, she whispered noticing the look of astonishment that crept in his eyes she added, “I think I am responsible for what happened to her”.

“What? How?...”

“I know she tried to jump out of the office window, which you prevented.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

 With difficulty she told him how she had gone once to have coffee with Deven and then to see a movie with him and the likelihood that it might have been interpreted as the beginning of a love affair by Meenakshi.

“So, you think you are the one who is responsible for their break up and her resignation later on?”

She saw that amused look returning to his eyes. He said, “You have just overworked yourself into this thinking and it is not true”.

He excused himself to take a call outside the cafe’ as it had become a little noisy.

“Come”, He urged her to leave the cafe’.

They did not talk anymore as she climbed back behind him on the motorbike. She was not able to guess his exact reaction to what she had told him but the feeling of guilt in her heart was still very pronounced.

They were now on the highway but instead of going straight on the main road Suneel turned left.  She thought “This is not the way home, where is he taking me? Does he know another route? He might be taking a detour to avoid congestion on the road”. But she felt too tired to ask anything.