Part 8

Ignoring the pounding in his head, Arnav walked over to the table with his cell phone sandwiched between his ear and shoulder, “Yea Aman” and picked up the bunch of letters that needed to be sorted.

 “Sir, we just received the details of Ms. Vaid’s itinerary, she will land in Mumbai on Wednesday, and Lavanya Maam has fixed a meeting for Thursday. But…”

“What’s the problem?” even as he sorted them in order of priority, his attention was already drawn to one particular envelope that stood out like a sore thumb, “Sir, Lavanya Maam has extended her New York trip by another week, and Aakash sir has just informed us that he will be off next week”

“Then you are going to Mumbai Aman- we need Natasha on board, book your flights”

“Yes sir” Arnav’s eyes were glued onto this letter with no return address; he couldn’t quite figure out why those words felt oddly familiar and what he found inside only confounded him further, Three hundred rupees? A bemused Arnav kept staring at the cash in his hand trying to make sense of it until, it hit him like a jolt from the blue; involuntarily, he let out a gasp and sank down on his chair because there was only one person who ‘owned’ him three hundred rupees, Khushi…he sat dazed. Once he overcame that initial shock, he re-read his name and address composed of letters that were a little quirky and somewhat squiggly.

This revelation was followed by a sort of frenzied excitement, he had not experienced in years - blood gushing through his veins as if fresh life had just been injected into a morbid soul, he sprang up and paced the room clutching on to the money. “Mumbai?” he stared at the postal stamp incredulously, even as his mind tried to make sense of his own failure to track her down; a chilling possibility suddenly gnawed at him but he wasn’t ready to go down that road just yet, “So that’s where you are!”, he knew looking for Khushi in that city would not be an easy thing, but at least he had an opening.

Arnav wasted no time in calling up Aman and instructed him to book the earliest flight to Mumbai, “Change of plans Aman, I’ll be going to Mumbai. Email me the all the pertinent details relating to Ms. Vaid and confirm that meeting. Inform the staff to get my apartment ready.”

“Sir”

“Aman…?”

“Yes Sir?”

“Remind me again about what we know of the Di’s financial transactions in Mumbai?”

“Sir, Someone used to cash it on the other end using another card but the activity has ceased since the last couple of months”

Arnav wasn’t ready accept his hunch yet, “I want a copy of everything you have on that before my flight…and” he paused, “Try to get a flight for today, even if it’s a late night flight”

“Yes Sir”

 
Yes because sometimes, letting go IS the right thing… May be we weren’t looking in the right places…- those words kept ringing in his ears as he stared at the city through the tinted glass, “What are they hiding?” he clenched his fist in frustration “You can’t trust anyone but yourself” he reminded himself confident that he held the most important piece of the puzzle in his hands.

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Deeya had bitched about Khushi’s manager all through their brief auto ride to the Multiplex, where they had gone to watch a Salman Khan movie, Dabang 2 to de-stress in Deeya’s words. By the end of the movie, Khushi admitted that the mindless flick had helped somewhat, “It was so mind numbing that I think it killed everything else” she had quipped even as they ran to catch the auto back to their hostel.

Five minutes later as they rode through the rain, their conversation veered back to the movie, “But I thought you loved Salman Khan”

“I did” Khushi removed the wet scarf covering her head, “I still do…” she sighed as she folded the wet scarf,”Now I can see how silly all this is…but Thank you Deeya, it was better than watching MasterChef… I realize now movies are like a quick fix, they help you escape reality, and Devi Maiyaa knows I needed some escaping tonight!” Earlier in the evening, she had returned back from work, drenched and in a sullen mood and had been seriously tempted to call Payal for the second time in the day but had chickened out fearing another break-down. Her day had started off in a terrible note with her potbellied middle aged manager yelling at her. It had spiraled into a bigger mess by the end of the day when she found out what her intuition had been hinting at regarding same pesky man and his wandering eyes.

“What are you going to do?” Deeya asked as the auto motored along splashing water thanks to all the clogged drainages, “I don’t know” the pragmatic Khushi responded. The Khushi of yore would have probably slapped him and walked off after preaching him to death but now she wasn’t sure, things weren’t as simple. They didn’t talk rest of the ride, each one lost in their own thoughts in the rain that had taken their city hostage for most part of the day, “It’s funny” Deeya spoke as Khushi paid the man, “You notice these potholes only when it rains”

“Correction” Khushi pulled her towards their building entwining her arms in hers, “Only when you walk…in that rain”

Later that night -

“What options do I have Deeya?” Khushi snatched the cigarette from Deeya’s hand, and brought it close to her nose sniffing it, only to have Deeya snatch it right back, “No you are not” her voice reprimanding.

“I wasn’t going to…” her eyes betrayed her words.

“I don’t trust you anymore…So I’m just going to play it safe” and she put it out.

Khushi picked up that butt and brought it close to her eyes, her glazed eyes lost somewhere else, “Sometimes I am tempted you know…”

“To?”

“That may be I have been too naïve all my life, maybe I should just try everything …and then make an informed decision?” Deeya stared at Khushi long and hard before she snatched the cigarette butt from her yet again and threw it out of the window into the rain, “Trust me, there is no making that informed decision because it will be too late by then”

Khushi listened intently, “When a poisonous snake approaches you, you get away as fast as you can. Not linger around to see when it tries to bite you”

“And you are telling me this?” Khushi raised her eye-brows unconvinced given Deeya’s own love for cigarettes and her penchant for trouble.

“Yes, experience is a bitch and you can do the smart thing and learn from mine. And stop sulking for god’s sake; I cannot deal with all the melodrama at home too. I have an early morning shift tomorrow” switched off the bedside lamp, “We’ll figure out what to do about that Manager too, don’t lose sleep over it”

They lay there for a long time, both lost in their thoughts, listening to the platter of the rain outside, “Khushi…” Deeya broke the silence, “Hmmm…?”

“Promise me you won’t do anything silly?” the concern evident in her voice even though she had odd ways of showing it.

Khushi chuckled, “it’s not funny, I’m being serious” Deeya reiterated.

“I won’t…” her tone reassuring, “Now go to sleep, will you?”

“We’ll figure out what to do about that pesky Manager…okay”

“Deeya?”

“Hmm…”

“I have a confession to make”

“What?”

“I sent him that letter”

“You did what?” she was up in a flash and hovering over Khushi’s bed, “Tell me what again?”

Khushi blinked, “I sent him the letter” she responded slowly.

Deeya threw her arms up in the air in exasperation, “Why would you do that? Are you crazy?” she was angry alright.

“I wanted to hurt him” the revelation startled Deeya who simply stared at her friend in quiet disbelief, “Now he knows you are in Mumbai, you do realize that right?”

 “Not like he cares” Khushi shrugged.

“You’re turning into me Khushi” Deeya walked back to her bed.

“I think I’m finally getting in touch with my darker side?” Khushi’s stared back blankly puzzling Deeya further, “I’m starting to feel the same…”

Deeya stared into the ceiling going over everything that had just transpired, her friend was beginning to worry her, “But Khushi, if he doesn’t care, you would never be able to hurt him, right?”

Khushi did not respond to that because she did not want to think about what that really meant.

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When Khushi walked into the old age home the next morning, she was greeted with a warm welcome and more than a few surprised faces, “We weren’t expecting you here on a Saturday morning?” one of them asked her, “Surprise!!” Khushi smiled as she hugged her back.

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To her annoyance, her thoughts kept going back to Arnav throughout the morning even as she worked in the kitchen - wondering how he would have dealt with this issue. You don’t have what it takes to survive in the real world; his words played in her mind even as she sat down with her lunch. Just days prior to their wedding, by the door to his room, he had taunted her and she had given it back, you don’t have a heart! May be there was her answer. “Stop being so emotional Khushi” she talked to herself oblivious to the fact that the entire table was cued in to her by now, “There is no passion there…everything is so mechanical…Hey Devi Maiyaa”

“Why do you look for passion at work?” Mrs. Malik, who normally kept to herself asked curiously.

“Because, if you can do something you are passionate about then you don’t have to work for the rest of your life” Khushi blurted it out before she realized what she was doing.

“What happened? A second voice asked, while another followed soon “Is everything alright?” their concern for her was genuine.

Khushi looked up, still lost but not completely zapped out of it yet, “Just issues at work” hoping to play down everything.

“Issues…?” they reacted in unison, “Let’s see work getting too tough for you?” the old military man was quick to judge her though, “The Manager…” Khushi looked around the table, “He told me I would have to be the Commis for three years”

“Excuse me Ladies, I’m going for the second helping” he got up effectively dismissing her, “The younger generation today has no patience…” and was followed by two other people except for Mrs. Malik who stayed back, “Let her be, will you” she had a certain presence about her that commanded respect.

Khushi took a spoon full of her pasta, “hmm...” her mind still trying to work out her next step.

“From what I’ve seen of you, you cannot be so dismissive about work…there has to be more” she moved her chair closer to Khushi’s, “I hope you don’t mind me asking?”

“No…please…I could use someone to talk to. Vedji is out of town this week” Khushi looked up at her as it suddenly occurred to her, “We have never talked before Auntie”

“Not much of a talker I am” the lady shrugged, “But I can listen…”

Khushi took a sip of water, “It’s just that, the Manager told me specifically that there was one way I could rise up the ranks in that kitchen…” she chose her words carefully not knowing how Mrs. Malik would react.

 “That Bas****…” Mrs. Malik cursed under her breath “Haaaaw…How do you know?” Khushi was surprised at Mrs. Malik’s quick conclusion.

“All men want the same thing” then she noticed Khushi’s disbelief “Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t become old for nothing, they are incorrigible!”

Khushi’s thoughts drifted to one man, who either slept in the green recliner or with an Arnav rekha in between.  No she did not need to be swamped by those images again, she reminded herself.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that…” she placed her hand on her head reassuringly, “That man…” she paused, “He didn’t do anything else, did he?”

“Apart from making improper advances and suggesting that I visit his apartment, where we could discuss my issues…and hierarchy” the disgust apparent in Khushi’s voice, “No, nothing else”

“Then what did you do?”

“I refused and ran out of his office as fast as I could” she responded with such detachment that it made Mrs. Malik feel uncomfortable, “How can you be so calm about this Khushi? This is wrong!”

Khushi shrugged nonchalantly, “I guess nothing surprises me anymore…I just know that I cannot be around people like that…not anymore…it brings back...they don’t change” She checked herself; there was no going back to that part of her past only if life would allow her to move ahead. Mrs. Malik observed the play of emotions carefully and realized that Khushi was not as detached as she had thought her to be.

“Why don’t you inform the higher Management?”

“I did call the immediate supervisor” disappointment was evident in her voice. “But was informed that the owner does not live in India and that Mr. Mehta was their most valuable staff who has been associated with them for over twenty odd years…” Khushi stopped, “He was very dismissive of my concerns…almost as if he was not willing to hear a word against Mr. Mehta unless I had some concrete proof”

“They are all same…but you didn’t quit did you?”

“Not yet. I don’t want to go back there but I feel like if I don’t, it’s like giving up…and that’s all I have. I want to make him pay, I have worked so hard to get there, you know, I don’t want to give this up without a fight”  Mrs. Malik was observing her closely “But now more than ever, I will be so conscious of the fact that I am the only female in that kitchen… and after what he said… can I go back...”Khushi looked at her for answers, “Should I?” for the first time, Mrs. Malik could sense a certain fragility about her – and for some reason, she really wanted to help this young girl. But she was distracted by Mrs. Silvio who walked in to the dining hall at the exact moment immediately lighting up the atmosphere with her infectious Tuscan smile, and her unique mash up of Italianalized Hindi, “Namaste…”

Their conversation may have been cut short but Mrs. Malik did notleave the table to greet her friend before giving Khushi a piece of advice, “Khushi always remember you have to learn to pick your battles. You don’t declare war when you are a sitting duck. I’m not telling you to give up but be wise. Do you understand what I am saying?”

Khushi couldn’t but nod, Mrs. Malik had an overpowering aura, “Now cheer up will you! Come… I’ll introduce you to Mrs. Silvio”

“Is that?” Khushi asked as she tagged along.

“One of our oldest patrons” she paused, “And that’s her son Raul” and stopped to look at Khushi with a smile she hadn’t seen before, “This might just be what you need right now!”

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