Part 5

Next day all the members of the family got busy in carrying on with their routines and works. Nisha was flooded with urgent work in the office.

During the coffee break she found Neerja engaged in a discussion with Damini who motioned her to join them. Damini was telling something that happened last evening. Damini had sat late up to 6:30 pm last evening. Almost everyone had left the office. The gossip was that a big fight and shouting happened in Deven’s room. Loud noises and arguments roared the corridor and when Damini was about to leave her desk she saw Meenakshi rushing out of Deven’s room in a frenzy and climb up the window in the main hall. Suneel who was going towards the elevator pulled her down and yelled at her. He took her with him down the elevator. By the time Damini could finish closing her computer and went down by the elevator they had already left. Meenakshi had not come to office the next day. The three friends wondered what could be the matter with Meenakshi. Was she attempting a suicide?  

Nisha considered herself to be not a gossip monger type and returned to her desk because she knew if that this news would spread like fire in the jungle and soon the whole office would be talking about it in hushed tones. Poor Meenakshi she might become the ‘talk of the town’ mused Nisha. Soon the Team head called Nisha in her office and detailed her for another new project. She was soon immersed in her work. The lunch was very quick. She had to sit a little late to complete flagging important issues in her recent project file. By the time she could finish it she realized it was already seven and that meant she would have to hurry up to avoid being too late. All her colleagues had already left.

She was surprised to find that the elevator in this part of the building was not working that day. She went to the opposite wing on her floor, but there too it seemed to be the same problem. Nisha decided to take the staircase to descend down seven floors of the building. Nisha was quick in climbing down up to the fourth floor. But the door to the staircase on the fourth floor was shut tightly. She noticed that the door was bolted. She wondered where the security guard was. She applied a lot of thrust but could not open it. It seemed that nobody had opened it for a long time. A lot of dust had collected in the thin gaps. She pulled the door towards her and tried to move the bolts slowly but it would not budge from its place.  This part of the building was usually deserted. Especially that evening she could not see any body. Again she applied all her might to open the bolt but nothing happened. She tried again very hard this time but still nothing and Nisha starting feeling a sense of frustration building inside her. This time she put all her strength to open it but it wouldn’t move. She did not know what to do, but as she struggled again once more with the bolt, she stopped as one large hand from behind her almost covering the whole bolt opened it in one smooth quick go and it slipped as if by magic.

Nisha turned around to find out who her saviour was and found Suneel towering above her, his eyes looking at her intently. She was drawn by the usual amused look they held. Nisha was transfixed in the gaze. It seemed to her that a sweet message was being relayed which was almost touching her heart. Spellbound by the magic of the moment neither of them realized that they had engaged each other in a gaze for quite some time. The loud movement of the door behind her broke the spell. She suddenly felt very light headed and a sudden euphoria surrounded her. She quickly attributed it to the feeling of freedom from her short lived frustration. He gestured her to move first out of the door as he opened it ajar. But she moved a step forward to pick up her bag which she had kept on the window sill to make her both hands free. In the process her soft shoulder brushed against his chest which felt rather hard to her. Both of them came down silently. Nisha was a little worried because it was now dark outside.  She started to move towards the bus stop, but Suneel stopped her on her way and offered to drop her near her house.

“I see that you are working very hard, and it’s a bit late. I’ll drop you home”. Nisha started to say no but realized that Suneel had not asked her permission and was actually telling her what to do. The firmness of his jaw and command in his voice did not allow her to reject or say anything else and she quietly walked behind him towards the parking for two wheelers.

Suneel dropped her near her house on the service lane that led to her house and said it would save him time and effort from making a detour on the longer road.  Before leaving he suggested, “It’s good to finish your work on the same day but you must take care that you do not get too late. In this office usually most of the people leave by six”.

Nisha felt the old irritation returning and before she could retort Suneel had already left. “How dare he direct me?”  “What does he know?” It is only because of his objections and criticism that she was trying to prove herself and was working so hard. Now who will explain as to what he was doing in the office at this hour?” Nisha felt sure, “He thinks too highly about himself he is a great snub”. With these thoughts Nisha and the scent of his aftershave lingering with her she entered the house.

When the lovely aroma of freshly cooked food struck her she realized how hungry she was and the sight of mother pouring out soup for her father diluted her irritation. Soon she started exploring kitchen table by lifting the lid of each and every pot peeping in to discover what was prepared for dinner and very soon the warmth of the house dispersed her irritation totally.