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Take care of your health nisha...
All the best for your xams :)
Will wait for the updates😃
Part 51
"A After Eight hot chocolate and molten lava."
"A Cappuccino and Mississippi Mud Pie for me."
The waiter diligently took the order and when away.
"So?"
"Soo..?"
"So, what's up larki? You just disappeared and I literally had to drag you out for coffee aaj," complained Sameer.
"Jhoot! You were the one who was too engrossed in his business work to spare time for me," Khanak shot back.
"Chal jhooti. Naya dost bana liya hai tu ne. Pata hai sab mujhe."
"What naya dost?" Khanak acted aloof.
"Acha so we're gonna play that game, huh? Chal mein aunty se hi baat kar leta houn."
"Sam!!" she stared at him. He just smiled smugly.
"Did mom say anything to you?"
When Sameer didn't reply Khanak became uneasy. She lightly slapped his hand on the table, "Batao naa! Bai ne kuch kaha tum se?"
Sameer continued to smile.
"Sameer!!"
"Relax, relax sunshine!" he laughed, "Mujeh nai pata tha tu itna effect hogi iss baat se."
"Mein effect baat se nai tumhari expressions se huwi houn. Acha tell me na, mom ne kya kaha?"
"Aunty ne kuch nai kaha..but you know I have my sources," he winked.
"Fine. Na batao." Khanak huffed.
"Haan batana tou tujhe chahiye. What's cooking?"
"Nothing as such. We're just friends."
"Just friends?"
"Yeah."
"Khanaakk?" Sameer raised his eyebrows.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity to finally be able to open her heart, Khanak relented. She filled in her friend about the trip to India which although was ages ago but seemed like it had just ended a few days ago. She told him that she had been in regular contact with Shaantanu and that they had buried the hatchet for good.
"So ab what's next? What have aunty uncle said?" asked Sameer.
"Nothing in particular. Shaantanu made it very clear to all the elders that we're not getting married so that's that," Khanak smiled as the waiter served their food.
"Shaantanu made it clear?"
"Haan," Khanak digged into the molten lava.
"Aur what about you?"
"Matlab both of us made it clear to everyone."
"You sure? I mean.. You did like the guy and if you're friends now tou why not
see if things could go ahead?"
Khanak shook her head and Sameer got the hint. The topic changed to business and Shantanu Khandelwal named was forgotten for the night.
*****
Shaantanu took out his cell phone as soon as her left his father's office.
"Got it! :D" he texted Khanak.
No sooner than he had shut his office door, Shaantanu's cell phone beeped, "Amazing! Knew you'd get it. Party kab? :P"
He smiled at her reply just as Rahul walked in.
"Arrey wah mere dost!" Rahul patted Shaan's back and hugged him, "You finally did it, huh?"
"Yeah! Finally!" Shaan continued smiling.
"Ab ye smile permanently pasted rahe gi tere face pe. Damn proud of you man!"
Little did Rahul know the reason behind Shaan's smile was not just him getting the Satrangi Project from his dad. It was also the thought of Khanak's response and their growing friendship that had found its way onto his face and creased away the grimness, a feature that had become constant ever since his return from London. He could never have imagined that he would have been able to solve the issues between himself and Khanak so easily let alone have predicted they would become good friends. And as much as he hated to admit it, Khanak's presence had made him more optimistic. She made him feel good, she made him feel worthwhile. She was perhaps the only one who realized his workaholic nature was just to prove the tabloids wrong and not because he had great interest in the business. But she was also the one who listened to him cribbing about how fed up he was of working and overtime discussions with her had made him start to enjoy working in the family business.
Khanak had made him realize that it wasn't the business he hated, but the sense of normalcy he felt at the workplace. Despite an office and respectable position he did not have much prominence as part of the company. It was Khanak who had made him realize that all he needed was direction. He didn't mind the numbers, the legal papers, the design sheet or the sample booklets. He just regretted not being the one managing it all for once. And now he had got the perfect opportunity.
Satrangi had been a clothing line that the Khandelwals were looking to start to mark their entry in the textile business. Though they were starting it as a product, they hoped to segregate it into a sub-company in the empire soon after. The stakes were high and so were Shaantanu's aspirations.
This project seemed to be a golden opportunity for Shaan to establish himself as a businessman and make himself prominent. He wished to be seen as an individual to be reckoned and not just someone who stayed in the shadows of his father's brilliance pretending to do business. If he had invested so much time and energy into the business, secured several contracts and clients, and established himself as a socialite-turned-workaholic, leading this new project was a right he believed he deserved.
"Hello, Ms. Gupta please Satrangi ki saari files mere office mein bhej dein. Potential suppliers, clients, investors, intial outlay...whatever paperwork has been done I need it in my office first thing tomorrow morning!" Shaantanu chirped into the microphone, barely being able to contain his excitement.
*****
Meanwhile in London the Jadeja household was undergoing changes of its own. Times may have given women more power, political representation and greater prominence but reality will always remind us that women are expected most to perform in their social capacity.
At 23, being done with the highest level of formal education that she had planned to achieve, Khanak was repeatedly asked what her plan in life was. Unfortunately, Khanak had not thought much of a plan. The last year had flown by in a whirlwind and the unfamiliarity of it all had given her little time of what she wanted to do in the future. She had savoured every moment, cherished every memory and lived magnanimously whether it was at the university or at home. Or in India. Never before had she felt more alive, more important.
"Beta you have to think about these things. This is inevitable," Alpana tried to reason with her daughter.
"Mama, it will happen when it has to. These things can't be rushed." Khanak replied.
"I understand beta, but Shaan wali baat ko ek saal hone ko aya hai. We aren't rushing things but- "
"Now why does Shaantanu have to be brought in every such conversation mom? That chapter is done." Khanak interrupted her mother, not the first time on this issue.
As always, Alpana said the last words and left Khanak to deliberate. "If it's done tou what's the point in denying to meet new prospects?"
There it was. The parting line. Usually it was just about how she wouldn't want to end up alone or how it was pointless to sit idle at home, but today it hit her. She had always stated she wanted time for herself and to think what she wanted in her life but she suddenly realized she hadn't been doing any of that since her Masters ended anyway. So what was her reason to put off the search for a groom? Did it have anything to do with Shaantanu?
She went to her bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Looking at herself in the mirror she wondered where her life was going. All the talk about marriage and a potential career was driving her crazy. Constant reminders of having to settle down and find a pathway for life rang in her ears like the prayer bell early in the morning- you have to get out of bed to face the day but the comfort of the bed makes you lazy.
Shaantanu Khandelwal. What about him? He seemed unfit as a life partner from every angle the first time she saw him. Yet she had felt attracted to him. However much she denied, it was the truth. And as they had come to understand each other more, she had realized that there was a more sensitive side to him than he let on. She had been wrong to judge him so quickly though she had been right to be wary of him. But what bothered her most was that he kept things to himself. He was skeptical and at times cynical. They had become good friends now, yet she felt he kept himself at a distance sometimes.
Who ever said all friends share souls? They give each other space or tear down the walls. Since Khanak neither had the willpower to do the former nor have the courage to do the latter, she was faced with one question: did she, in the deepest corner of her heart, still feel attracted to Shaantanu and did she desire for their friendship to be cemented in an eternal bond of togetherness?
While helping her mom set out the dinner table that night, Khanak took a deep breath before gently breaking her decision, "You're right Bai. What's the harm in meeting someone new?"
A smile immediately crept up Alpana's face, "Sach?"
Khanak nodded and hugged her, "As long as I still have my
options to have a career."
"Of course beta! There is no hurry but in cheezoun mein time lagta hai. We don't
want to pressurize you or keep you from doing what you want."
"Jee Bai, I know. But I wasn't sure if that's what I wanted. I just don't want all my education to be for nothing."
"That won't happen. Jo tu chahe gi wohi ho ga but it doesn't hurt to keep your mind open to other things. Why don't you ask your Ada about joining his company? After all, it's your own and you can choose whatever department interests you."
Khanak just smiled back and after clearing up post dinner, rushed to her room and called Sameer.
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