I look at my father who is laying on the bed in an unconscious state. The doctor went 15 minutes ago announcing that he had a high fever. I have been here since, trying to bring the body temperature down with wet bandages. This all happened because of me, I knew who much pain my father was going through after my mother's demise, I knew he was broken from within, I should have realized that he needed more time, the tragedy was too big to overcome it so soon. He had lost the woman he loved, the woman who he spent 30 years of his life, the woman who supported him always, and she had gone to a place where there was no coming back. Yet I expected him to move on, I pushed him to do it, to join the office and handle business like before. That was a bad move on my part and the reason why my father was in this condition today. Papa immersed himself into work so that we all believed that he was moving on, now not all, it was that I believe that he was moving on. He wanted to make me his princess happy and showing me that he is no more in pain. The work pressure, the pain of mumma leaving us, all of it was too much to handle for papa, he neglected his health and today he was lying on this bed with high fever and it was all my fault.
I see my dad's phone ringing, the manager is calling. I pick up with the intention of asking him to cancel the meeting, because I know once I tell Karthik about papa's health he will not mind and convince his family not to break the deal. But instead I end up assuring the manager that all will be well and that I will handle everything. I don't know why I said that, maybe because I remember dadaji telling gayu Di, two weeks back at the dinning table that just because we have personal relations with professional clients, we should not use that in a bad way, we should respect the relation. Our family always maintained good and friendly relations with all our clients but never took an advantage of it. If I would get Karthik to delay the meeting, I would in a way be taking advantage of our relation, without having any wrong intentions. Gayu di was at Mumbai with Rama dadi and she was to stay there a couple of weeks, she was gone more than a week back and had no details of the deal. Papa won't be able to lead the meeting tomorrow, gayu di isn't here either, what should I do? I messed it all up. I forced papa to move on, I am responsible for him being ill, so I might as well be the one to set everything straight, at least I can try to. I know a week back we got the deal, the Goenkas wanted some jewellery pieces, different companies had submitted their designs, but our ones were liked best. Papa had said Karthik had taken the decision, though Manish uncle didn't seem to pleased, though he agreed our designs were better than the rest he wanted a couple of changes to be made and had said that officially the contract would only be signed if the new designs pleased him wholly, otherwise the deal will slip out of our hands. Papa had told me that the new designs were completed, and he was almost done with the presentation but not entirely. Other than that I had no much idea of what I was about to deal with.
I place my hand on father's head, it doesn't feel that hot anymore. I pick up the bowl of water and pieces of wet cloths that I had used in the past one hour to bring the body temperature down and leave the room. I am on my way to the kitchen to throw the water and bandages and just then I see Karthik entering the house. He walks towards me and gives me a questioning look, eyeing the items in my hands. I continue to walk towards the kitchen throwing the water in the sink and keeping the cloth to dry.
"Kya hua, Naira", he asks me, I want to tell him, but I don't want any special treatment, I don't want him to cancel the meeting or postpone it. I don't want to do anything which will be against our business ways.
"Kahan khoyi huyi ho, batao mujhe. Ek ghante se call kar raha tha phone utha kyun nahi rahi thi", he asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Nahi woh, mera dhyaan nahi gaya hoga", I tell him.
"Yeh patti aur sab kiss ke liye", he questions
"Woh, yeh", before I can have the chance to say a thing choti dadi comes.
"Karthik beta tum kab aye", choti dadi asks smiling
"Abhi aya hun, waise ghar par koyi bimar hai", he asks choti dadi this time instead of me
"Haan Naitik ko bukhar hai, phele uska sharir kafi garam tha mein abhi dekh kar arahi hun toh kafi bhetar hai. Subhe tak bukhar puri tarhe se utar jaye.", choti dadi told Karthik, I immediately see concern spread across his face after getting to know papa's health maybe that is why I love him so much he treats my family as his own.
"Koyi problem na ho toh kya mein un se mil sakta hun", he asked politely.
"Haan beta zarror jao, Magar woh abhi bhi hosh hai toh koyi baath nahi ho payegi", choti dadi told him and he smiled and went out of the kitchen, I don't know why but I follow.
I see him push open the door and enter, I don't enter just stay outside the room, his back is turned towards the door.
"Bahar khadi kyun ho, tumhare papa ka kamra hai, andar askati ho", he tells me without turning back, I walk in and go to sit at the edge of the bed where papa is lying. I feel a hand on my shoulder, I know whose it is. My Karthik. I remove his hand from my shoulder and grip it between both my palms.
"Naira he will be okay", he says caressing my hair with his free hand.
"Sab meri wajhe se hua hai. Mein bahut buri beti hun, bahut selfish, main bas sab ko agge badhte huye dekhna chati thi, ek baar nahi socha ke papa ko aur time ki zarrorat hai. Mujhe kush karne ke liye papa business par focus kar rahe the, lekin kaam ka pressure bahut zyada tha air woh apni health neglect karne lagge", I tearfully tell him resting my head on his hand.
"Naira tum bilkul galat nahi thi, tum toh sirf unki aur puri family ki khushi chati thi. Fever ka toh koyi bhi reason ho sakta hai, waisa bhi ab mausam badal raha hai, fever, cold, cough, aisi cheezien normal hoti hai, agar woh office join na bhi karte agar tum unhe move on karne ke liye na bhi kheti, toh unki tabiyat kharab hoti, tum achi tarhe se janti ho ma'am ke janne ke baad sir bahut depressed ho gaye the, toh agar work pressure nahi bhi hota, woh phir bhi apna health neglect karne. Don't blame yourself", He tells me cupping my face in his hands and wiping my tears.
"Ab batao neeche mujhe sir ke health ke barien mein kyun nahi batiya", he asks me and I tell him my reason, he gives me a smile, he picks up the laptop and walk towards my room and I follow him.
"Kya kar rahe ho", I ask as he sets the laptop on the table
"Tumhe samjhna hai", he tells me and I give him a questioning look, he opens the laptop and shows me the presentation. "Isse samjhana hai, tum ne abhi kaha, tum meeting ko lead karna chati ho, but you are new to this. It will take time for you to understand this presentation, read and interpret the files. Tum yeh nahi chati meeting ki date badle, nahi badlegi. Lekin mein iss deal ko tumhe samjha toh sakta hun. Presentation ko complete karne mein tumhari madad toh kar sakta hun. Itna bhi haq nahi hai mera", he asks me
"I love you", I tell him as I wrap my hand around his neck and lay my head on his chest
"I love you more", he says wrapping my hands from around him, cupping his my between his palms and kissing my forehead.
We sit down to start with the work. He asks me to call the manager and asks for any files related to this deal that is lying in the office, while he went in papa's room to get the files that were lying in the house, but I offered to get those as well, since I knew where they were. He gave me a positive nod and replied that he would study the presentation and files on the computer in the meantime.
20 minutes later the manager came in with the files. Papa was conscious by then, I sat some time with him, in his room trying to get him to drink the kadha that choti dadi had made, and eat a bit, while Karthik was with the manager discussing about the deal and going through the files, after a while papa went to sleep and I left the room.
When I came back to mine. Karthik was working on the laptop and a number of files surrounded him.
"Karthik", I call out but he doesn't respond, I call again he is still silent, I walk up to him and nudge him and finally he looks up at me.
"Bas thode finishing touches hai, sirf ek akhri baar presentation ko review karna hai. Files main ne study ki hai. Tumhe sab samjha dunga. Just give me 15 minutes more.", he replies.
"I trust you Karthik, you won't let the company down, I know how much you love it.", I tell him.
" woh toh hai, akhri is job ne mujhe itna kuch diya hai, iss job ki wajhe se mein yahan sab se mila, issi job ki wajhe se mein dubara tum se mila aur humara rishta agge badha, warna shayad Rishikesh ke baad hum milte nahi. Iss company ki wajhe se mujhe parivaar aur pyaar dono mila, itna toh kar sakta hun mein, ke ek meeting mein thodi help karlun", he tells me.
Just than badi dadi and choti dadi call from down stairs for dinner. Karthik asks me to leave and says he would come in another 10 minutes after being down with the presentation.
"Karthik kahan hai", badi dadi questions as I walk down alone.
"Woh bas presentation khatam raha hai thodi der mein ajayega", I tell her.
"Phele kahana kha leta kaam toh baad mein bhi ho sakta hai, ab tum akele kahogi, phir woh akele kahega", choti dadi tells me.
"Akele kyun, aap dono nahi kaha rahe", I ask
"Naira, it is 10 in the night, hum sab ek ghante phele dinner complete kar chuke. Tumhe bhi toh buliya tha Naitik ke kamre mein ja kar, lekin tum ne manna kiya", choti dadi says reminding me, I wonder was I so lost between papa's health and tomorrow's meeting that I had no idea how much time elapsed.
"Haan woh shayad mujhe pata nahi chala", I tell her.
"Kaam mein itna mat kho jao ke khud ka khyal na rakho", badi dadi tells me.
"Ab yeh lo aur par jao, mujhe nahi lagta karthik neeche anne wala hai, tum upar jao khana le kar aur tum bhi wohi kha lena", choti dadi tells me handing out a full plate.
"Naira, acha hua tum agayi, bahut late ho gaya hai, mujhe tumhe deal samjhana bhi hai, and tumhe aram ki bhi zarorat hai, warna meeting mein soti reh jaogi", he tells me.
"Abhi tak khana nahi khiya", he asks looking at the plate in my hands.
"Nahi", I tell him
"Kyun", he asks
"Tum ne bhi toh nahi khiya, iss liye socha tumhare saath kha lun", I tell him.
"Mujhe nahi pata tum aisi thi", he tell me
"Aisi kaisi", I ask him
"Pati vrata patni types", he replies and bursts out laughing.
"Mendak tumhe kya lagta hai, tum khana nahi khe rahi issiliye main nahi kha rahi, woh toh bas sab kha chuke aur mujhe akele khane ki adat nahi, issiliye socha tum company dogge", I tell him while hitting him with a pillow, trying to get him to stop laughing.
"Acha okay, mein toh sirf mazak kar raha tha", he says surpressing his laugh, I turn around pouting showing that am still angry. He walks to face me, I look up pretending to ignore him, next second the smell of the food seems stronger than before and I realize he is holding a bite near my mouth.
"Mujh se ghussa hua, mujh par nikalo, khanne par kyun nikal rahi ho", he says feeding me, I smile and feed him as well.
He walk up to the chair opposite to mine and pulls it to bring it closer to mine, so that we both can sit close to one another. You think he brought the chair so close he would think about some romance but instead he opens the file and start explaining me the details.
"How boring karthik, jiss ladki se tum pyaar karte ho, woh akele tumhare saath hai aur tumhe kaam ki padi hai", I snap at him.
"Hum yahan kaam karne ke liye aye hai Ms Rishikesh", he reminds me.
"Haan toh main ne kab kahan, raho, boring mendak.", I huff and look away.
"Naira jab mein aiya tha tum hi kaam ko le kar itni tension mein thi, ab tum kaam ko ignore kar rahi ho.", he asks me
"Tum ne hi kahan tha sab handel ho jayega, tum sab handel karoge, jab tum ho mujhe tension kiss baath ki.", I tell him staring at him lovingly.
"Meeting tumhe head karni hai kal mujhe nahi, mein koyi jenni dekhta hun tumhe ya koyi supernatural shaktiyan hai mujh mein ke Jo bhi mere dimag mein hai woh tumhare dimag mein transfer kar dun. Deal ke details ke liye tumhe yeh files samjhni hogi", He tells me and I nod positively
He starts talking about the deal, explaining each of the designs, showing me the previous designs that were given in the meeting held a week ago and the improved ones that were made in this previous week for tomorrow's meeting, explaining to me the differences between the two designs and how the costs of manufacturing the new designs is the same as was promised with the older designs. He explained each detail, what profit would our company get, what profit would the goenkas get. He quality of the gems, from where they had come. He spoke with great excitement, I can see how much he loves his work, me not so much, I was trying hard to keep my eyes opened, I needed to listen to him and comprehend his words I couldn't let papa down in tomorrow's meeting. I yawn lazily, my eyes about to shut and before it can closely completely, I feel someone kiss my cheek my eyes widen though I knew who did it and turn to look at Karthik questioningly.
"Tumhe neend arahi thi socha jagga dun, coffee banane mein time lagta and looks like a kiss is more effective than coffee,ek second mein tumhari tarhe se khul gayi", he tells me smirking than continues with the work, getting me to understand the presentation.
I was super scared earlier and doubtful if I would be able to handel it but as soon as he told me he would help my fears began to rest and I knew everything would be well at the end and that I don't have to be tensed bit, because my guide, my love was with me.
"Naira", he whispers in my ear after kissing my cheek I turn again giving him a questioning look
"Itni der se bula raha tha tum pata nahi kaha khoyi koyi ho, kiss ke barien mein soch rahi thi, main toh yehi hun", he asks me
"Tumhe yeh galat femi kyun hai ke mein tumhare barien mein soch rahi thi", I reply to him.
"Toh phir kiss ke barien mein", he asks
"Papa", I respond and see his expressions become soft
"He will be okay Naira, unki sherni beti unhe kuch nahi hone degi and kal jab tum meeting ache se handel karogi he is going to be even more proud of you", he tells me while taking my hand in his.
"Main kar toh paungi, kahi meri wajhe se tumhari aur papa ki mehnat kharab na ho", I ask him as an unknown fear takes over my heart.
"Abhi toh khe rahi thi ke tumhe koyi tension nahi kyun ke mein hun, ab pareshan kyun ho rahi ho. Tumhe mujh par bharosa hai ne Naira aur main tum se khe raha hun tum yeh kar sakti ho, sab ko impress kardogi kal.", he assures me.
He finishes explaining to me all what I need to know
"Ab kya", I ask him
"Ab", he says walking to me than puts one hand under my knees and the other behind my back and scoops me in his arms.
"Ab so jao 11:30 hai already", he says laying me on the bed.
"Aur tum", I ask him
"Ek akhri bar files dekh lun phir ghar chala jaunga", he tells me last thing I remember before drifting to sleep was the image of him sitting with the file in his hand
____________________
It is six in the morning as I get up, I look and I find Karthik in the same position he was before I went to sleep only difference his eyes were closed, he must have just fell asleep because the file was still in his grip. I feel guilty for having troubled him.
"Karthik", I call out to him and he at once opens his eyes and immediately panics about the meeting and wonders if he had slept too long, I put his fears to rest informing him that it was six in the morning and there were four more hours to the meeting.
"Karthik tum puri raath yehi the, mujhe sulane ke waqt kahan tha ghar ja rahe ho thodi der mein", I ask him.
"Actually mujhe files jaldi padhna padha ta ke tumhe samjhaun Magar mujhe dar tha ke uss jald bazi mein, koyi galti na ho, iss liye socha phir se padhun time le kar aur thankfully Jo main ne tumhe samjhiya iss mein bhi wohi hai, warna meri wajhe se tum meeting mein galat information deti.", he tells me
"Karthik aram karo meeting mein chaar ghante hai", I tell him.
"Nahi tumhe meeting ke liya prepare karna hai", he argues.
"Karthik mein woh khud karlungi tum apni halat toh dekho ankhein laal hai thakan se, mujhe koyi bhes nahi chaiye. I can't carry you in my arms like you did last night, so just go to sleep, dekho agar tum ne meri baath nahi mani mein meeting ke liye nahi jaungi", I almost black mail him and he finally listens walking up to the bed. I recollect all that Karthik has told me, study the notes that he had especially written for me.
I wake Karthik up two hours later because he would have to go home to get ready for the meeting.
________________________
I reach Goenka office with our manager I look around for Karthik but can't find him anywhere, my heart tenses at his absence. There are only 2 minutes left for the meeting I need to enter the confrence room, but I want to see him before I do, he might be inside, but my heart tells me he knew I must be waiting for him, just then someone touches my shoulder, I turn to see my mendak and just looking at him I regain my confidence that I had lost in his absence.
"Yeh lo, I will always be with you", he tells me putting a Bluetooth on my ear and calling from my phone to his.
"I am there, now go", he tells me and nearly pushes me into the confrence room.
I enter the cabin, Manish uncle announces that Karthik won't be a part of the meeting as he is busy else where. I feel bad that Karthik lied to his father for me. The meeting went smoothly, there were some instance I was stuck at but Karthik prompted me, he guided me how to go about things. We decide to sign the contract and start the deal official when papa is present as his signs are needed on the papers.
________________________
I come out of the office and find him standing there, I wrap my hands around him, not bothering who is looking at us.
"I love you so much Karthik, aaj sirf tumhari wajhe se deal humare haath se nahi nikli, I was able to make papa proud, I love you so much Karthik, thank you thank you so much", I say hugging him as tears stream down my face.
"I love you too aur thank you ki zaroorat nahi hai Naira, main ne kuch nahi kiya, Jo kiya tum ne kiya, tumhari mehnat ka natija hai, main ne bas thoda guide kiya, aur mere help ke bina bhi tum bahut acha karti. I am so proud of you", he tells me wiping my tears and kissing my forehead.
I am so lucky to have him and when I tell him the same he replies he is even luckier because he has me, this is one argument that will never end between us.
I see my dad's phone ringing, the manager is calling. I pick up with the intention of asking him to cancel the meeting, because I know once I tell Karthik about papa's health he will not mind and convince his family not to break the deal. But instead I end up assuring the manager that all will be well and that I will handle everything. I don't know why I said that, maybe because I remember dadaji telling gayu Di, two weeks back at the dinning table that just because we have personal relations with professional clients, we should not use that in a bad way, we should respect the relation. Our family always maintained good and friendly relations with all our clients but never took an advantage of it. If I would get Karthik to delay the meeting, I would in a way be taking advantage of our relation, without having any wrong intentions. Gayu di was at Mumbai with Rama dadi and she was to stay there a couple of weeks, she was gone more than a week back and had no details of the deal. Papa won't be able to lead the meeting tomorrow, gayu di isn't here either, what should I do? I messed it all up. I forced papa to move on, I am responsible for him being ill, so I might as well be the one to set everything straight, at least I can try to. I know a week back we got the deal, the Goenkas wanted some jewellery pieces, different companies had submitted their designs, but our ones were liked best. Papa had said Karthik had taken the decision, though Manish uncle didn't seem to pleased, though he agreed our designs were better than the rest he wanted a couple of changes to be made and had said that officially the contract would only be signed if the new designs pleased him wholly, otherwise the deal will slip out of our hands. Papa had told me that the new designs were completed, and he was almost done with the presentation but not entirely. Other than that I had no much idea of what I was about to deal with.
I place my hand on father's head, it doesn't feel that hot anymore. I pick up the bowl of water and pieces of wet cloths that I had used in the past one hour to bring the body temperature down and leave the room. I am on my way to the kitchen to throw the water and bandages and just then I see Karthik entering the house. He walks towards me and gives me a questioning look, eyeing the items in my hands. I continue to walk towards the kitchen throwing the water in the sink and keeping the cloth to dry.
"Kya hua, Naira", he asks me, I want to tell him, but I don't want any special treatment, I don't want him to cancel the meeting or postpone it. I don't want to do anything which will be against our business ways.
"Kahan khoyi huyi ho, batao mujhe. Ek ghante se call kar raha tha phone utha kyun nahi rahi thi", he asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Nahi woh, mera dhyaan nahi gaya hoga", I tell him.
"Yeh patti aur sab kiss ke liye", he questions
"Woh, yeh", before I can have the chance to say a thing choti dadi comes.
"Karthik beta tum kab aye", choti dadi asks smiling
"Abhi aya hun, waise ghar par koyi bimar hai", he asks choti dadi this time instead of me
"Haan Naitik ko bukhar hai, phele uska sharir kafi garam tha mein abhi dekh kar arahi hun toh kafi bhetar hai. Subhe tak bukhar puri tarhe se utar jaye.", choti dadi told Karthik, I immediately see concern spread across his face after getting to know papa's health maybe that is why I love him so much he treats my family as his own.
"Koyi problem na ho toh kya mein un se mil sakta hun", he asked politely.
"Haan beta zarror jao, Magar woh abhi bhi hosh hai toh koyi baath nahi ho payegi", choti dadi told him and he smiled and went out of the kitchen, I don't know why but I follow.
I see him push open the door and enter, I don't enter just stay outside the room, his back is turned towards the door.
"Bahar khadi kyun ho, tumhare papa ka kamra hai, andar askati ho", he tells me without turning back, I walk in and go to sit at the edge of the bed where papa is lying. I feel a hand on my shoulder, I know whose it is. My Karthik. I remove his hand from my shoulder and grip it between both my palms.
"Naira he will be okay", he says caressing my hair with his free hand.
"Sab meri wajhe se hua hai. Mein bahut buri beti hun, bahut selfish, main bas sab ko agge badhte huye dekhna chati thi, ek baar nahi socha ke papa ko aur time ki zarrorat hai. Mujhe kush karne ke liye papa business par focus kar rahe the, lekin kaam ka pressure bahut zyada tha air woh apni health neglect karne lagge", I tearfully tell him resting my head on his hand.
"Naira tum bilkul galat nahi thi, tum toh sirf unki aur puri family ki khushi chati thi. Fever ka toh koyi bhi reason ho sakta hai, waisa bhi ab mausam badal raha hai, fever, cold, cough, aisi cheezien normal hoti hai, agar woh office join na bhi karte agar tum unhe move on karne ke liye na bhi kheti, toh unki tabiyat kharab hoti, tum achi tarhe se janti ho ma'am ke janne ke baad sir bahut depressed ho gaye the, toh agar work pressure nahi bhi hota, woh phir bhi apna health neglect karne. Don't blame yourself", He tells me cupping my face in his hands and wiping my tears.
"Ab batao neeche mujhe sir ke health ke barien mein kyun nahi batiya", he asks me and I tell him my reason, he gives me a smile, he picks up the laptop and walk towards my room and I follow him.
"Kya kar rahe ho", I ask as he sets the laptop on the table
"Tumhe samjhna hai", he tells me and I give him a questioning look, he opens the laptop and shows me the presentation. "Isse samjhana hai, tum ne abhi kaha, tum meeting ko lead karna chati ho, but you are new to this. It will take time for you to understand this presentation, read and interpret the files. Tum yeh nahi chati meeting ki date badle, nahi badlegi. Lekin mein iss deal ko tumhe samjha toh sakta hun. Presentation ko complete karne mein tumhari madad toh kar sakta hun. Itna bhi haq nahi hai mera", he asks me
"I love you", I tell him as I wrap my hand around his neck and lay my head on his chest
"I love you more", he says wrapping my hands from around him, cupping his my between his palms and kissing my forehead.
We sit down to start with the work. He asks me to call the manager and asks for any files related to this deal that is lying in the office, while he went in papa's room to get the files that were lying in the house, but I offered to get those as well, since I knew where they were. He gave me a positive nod and replied that he would study the presentation and files on the computer in the meantime.
20 minutes later the manager came in with the files. Papa was conscious by then, I sat some time with him, in his room trying to get him to drink the kadha that choti dadi had made, and eat a bit, while Karthik was with the manager discussing about the deal and going through the files, after a while papa went to sleep and I left the room.
When I came back to mine. Karthik was working on the laptop and a number of files surrounded him.
"Karthik", I call out but he doesn't respond, I call again he is still silent, I walk up to him and nudge him and finally he looks up at me.
"Bas thode finishing touches hai, sirf ek akhri baar presentation ko review karna hai. Files main ne study ki hai. Tumhe sab samjha dunga. Just give me 15 minutes more.", he replies.
"I trust you Karthik, you won't let the company down, I know how much you love it.", I tell him.
" woh toh hai, akhri is job ne mujhe itna kuch diya hai, iss job ki wajhe se mein yahan sab se mila, issi job ki wajhe se mein dubara tum se mila aur humara rishta agge badha, warna shayad Rishikesh ke baad hum milte nahi. Iss company ki wajhe se mujhe parivaar aur pyaar dono mila, itna toh kar sakta hun mein, ke ek meeting mein thodi help karlun", he tells me.
Just than badi dadi and choti dadi call from down stairs for dinner. Karthik asks me to leave and says he would come in another 10 minutes after being down with the presentation.
"Karthik kahan hai", badi dadi questions as I walk down alone.
"Woh bas presentation khatam raha hai thodi der mein ajayega", I tell her.
"Phele kahana kha leta kaam toh baad mein bhi ho sakta hai, ab tum akele kahogi, phir woh akele kahega", choti dadi tells me.
"Akele kyun, aap dono nahi kaha rahe", I ask
"Naira, it is 10 in the night, hum sab ek ghante phele dinner complete kar chuke. Tumhe bhi toh buliya tha Naitik ke kamre mein ja kar, lekin tum ne manna kiya", choti dadi says reminding me, I wonder was I so lost between papa's health and tomorrow's meeting that I had no idea how much time elapsed.
"Haan woh shayad mujhe pata nahi chala", I tell her.
"Kaam mein itna mat kho jao ke khud ka khyal na rakho", badi dadi tells me.
"Ab yeh lo aur par jao, mujhe nahi lagta karthik neeche anne wala hai, tum upar jao khana le kar aur tum bhi wohi kha lena", choti dadi tells me handing out a full plate.
"Naira, acha hua tum agayi, bahut late ho gaya hai, mujhe tumhe deal samjhana bhi hai, and tumhe aram ki bhi zarorat hai, warna meeting mein soti reh jaogi", he tells me.
"Abhi tak khana nahi khiya", he asks looking at the plate in my hands.
"Nahi", I tell him
"Kyun", he asks
"Tum ne bhi toh nahi khiya, iss liye socha tumhare saath kha lun", I tell him.
"Mujhe nahi pata tum aisi thi", he tell me
"Aisi kaisi", I ask him
"Pati vrata patni types", he replies and bursts out laughing.
"Mendak tumhe kya lagta hai, tum khana nahi khe rahi issiliye main nahi kha rahi, woh toh bas sab kha chuke aur mujhe akele khane ki adat nahi, issiliye socha tum company dogge", I tell him while hitting him with a pillow, trying to get him to stop laughing.
"Acha okay, mein toh sirf mazak kar raha tha", he says surpressing his laugh, I turn around pouting showing that am still angry. He walks to face me, I look up pretending to ignore him, next second the smell of the food seems stronger than before and I realize he is holding a bite near my mouth.
"Mujh se ghussa hua, mujh par nikalo, khanne par kyun nikal rahi ho", he says feeding me, I smile and feed him as well.
He walk up to the chair opposite to mine and pulls it to bring it closer to mine, so that we both can sit close to one another. You think he brought the chair so close he would think about some romance but instead he opens the file and start explaining me the details.
"How boring karthik, jiss ladki se tum pyaar karte ho, woh akele tumhare saath hai aur tumhe kaam ki padi hai", I snap at him.
"Hum yahan kaam karne ke liye aye hai Ms Rishikesh", he reminds me.
"Haan toh main ne kab kahan, raho, boring mendak.", I huff and look away.
"Naira jab mein aiya tha tum hi kaam ko le kar itni tension mein thi, ab tum kaam ko ignore kar rahi ho.", he asks me
"Tum ne hi kahan tha sab handel ho jayega, tum sab handel karoge, jab tum ho mujhe tension kiss baath ki.", I tell him staring at him lovingly.
"Meeting tumhe head karni hai kal mujhe nahi, mein koyi jenni dekhta hun tumhe ya koyi supernatural shaktiyan hai mujh mein ke Jo bhi mere dimag mein hai woh tumhare dimag mein transfer kar dun. Deal ke details ke liye tumhe yeh files samjhni hogi", He tells me and I nod positively
He starts talking about the deal, explaining each of the designs, showing me the previous designs that were given in the meeting held a week ago and the improved ones that were made in this previous week for tomorrow's meeting, explaining to me the differences between the two designs and how the costs of manufacturing the new designs is the same as was promised with the older designs. He explained each detail, what profit would our company get, what profit would the goenkas get. He quality of the gems, from where they had come. He spoke with great excitement, I can see how much he loves his work, me not so much, I was trying hard to keep my eyes opened, I needed to listen to him and comprehend his words I couldn't let papa down in tomorrow's meeting. I yawn lazily, my eyes about to shut and before it can closely completely, I feel someone kiss my cheek my eyes widen though I knew who did it and turn to look at Karthik questioningly.
"Tumhe neend arahi thi socha jagga dun, coffee banane mein time lagta and looks like a kiss is more effective than coffee,ek second mein tumhari tarhe se khul gayi", he tells me smirking than continues with the work, getting me to understand the presentation.
I was super scared earlier and doubtful if I would be able to handel it but as soon as he told me he would help my fears began to rest and I knew everything would be well at the end and that I don't have to be tensed bit, because my guide, my love was with me.
"Naira", he whispers in my ear after kissing my cheek I turn again giving him a questioning look
"Itni der se bula raha tha tum pata nahi kaha khoyi koyi ho, kiss ke barien mein soch rahi thi, main toh yehi hun", he asks me
"Tumhe yeh galat femi kyun hai ke mein tumhare barien mein soch rahi thi", I reply to him.
"Toh phir kiss ke barien mein", he asks
"Papa", I respond and see his expressions become soft
"He will be okay Naira, unki sherni beti unhe kuch nahi hone degi and kal jab tum meeting ache se handel karogi he is going to be even more proud of you", he tells me while taking my hand in his.
"Main kar toh paungi, kahi meri wajhe se tumhari aur papa ki mehnat kharab na ho", I ask him as an unknown fear takes over my heart.
"Abhi toh khe rahi thi ke tumhe koyi tension nahi kyun ke mein hun, ab pareshan kyun ho rahi ho. Tumhe mujh par bharosa hai ne Naira aur main tum se khe raha hun tum yeh kar sakti ho, sab ko impress kardogi kal.", he assures me.
He finishes explaining to me all what I need to know
"Ab kya", I ask him
"Ab", he says walking to me than puts one hand under my knees and the other behind my back and scoops me in his arms.
"Ab so jao 11:30 hai already", he says laying me on the bed.
"Aur tum", I ask him
"Ek akhri bar files dekh lun phir ghar chala jaunga", he tells me last thing I remember before drifting to sleep was the image of him sitting with the file in his hand
____________________
It is six in the morning as I get up, I look and I find Karthik in the same position he was before I went to sleep only difference his eyes were closed, he must have just fell asleep because the file was still in his grip. I feel guilty for having troubled him.
"Karthik", I call out to him and he at once opens his eyes and immediately panics about the meeting and wonders if he had slept too long, I put his fears to rest informing him that it was six in the morning and there were four more hours to the meeting.
"Karthik tum puri raath yehi the, mujhe sulane ke waqt kahan tha ghar ja rahe ho thodi der mein", I ask him.
"Actually mujhe files jaldi padhna padha ta ke tumhe samjhaun Magar mujhe dar tha ke uss jald bazi mein, koyi galti na ho, iss liye socha phir se padhun time le kar aur thankfully Jo main ne tumhe samjhiya iss mein bhi wohi hai, warna meri wajhe se tum meeting mein galat information deti.", he tells me
"Karthik aram karo meeting mein chaar ghante hai", I tell him.
"Nahi tumhe meeting ke liya prepare karna hai", he argues.
"Karthik mein woh khud karlungi tum apni halat toh dekho ankhein laal hai thakan se, mujhe koyi bhes nahi chaiye. I can't carry you in my arms like you did last night, so just go to sleep, dekho agar tum ne meri baath nahi mani mein meeting ke liye nahi jaungi", I almost black mail him and he finally listens walking up to the bed. I recollect all that Karthik has told me, study the notes that he had especially written for me.
I wake Karthik up two hours later because he would have to go home to get ready for the meeting.
________________________
I reach Goenka office with our manager I look around for Karthik but can't find him anywhere, my heart tenses at his absence. There are only 2 minutes left for the meeting I need to enter the confrence room, but I want to see him before I do, he might be inside, but my heart tells me he knew I must be waiting for him, just then someone touches my shoulder, I turn to see my mendak and just looking at him I regain my confidence that I had lost in his absence.
"Yeh lo, I will always be with you", he tells me putting a Bluetooth on my ear and calling from my phone to his.
"I am there, now go", he tells me and nearly pushes me into the confrence room.
I enter the cabin, Manish uncle announces that Karthik won't be a part of the meeting as he is busy else where. I feel bad that Karthik lied to his father for me. The meeting went smoothly, there were some instance I was stuck at but Karthik prompted me, he guided me how to go about things. We decide to sign the contract and start the deal official when papa is present as his signs are needed on the papers.
________________________
I come out of the office and find him standing there, I wrap my hands around him, not bothering who is looking at us.
"I love you so much Karthik, aaj sirf tumhari wajhe se deal humare haath se nahi nikli, I was able to make papa proud, I love you so much Karthik, thank you thank you so much", I say hugging him as tears stream down my face.
"I love you too aur thank you ki zaroorat nahi hai Naira, main ne kuch nahi kiya, Jo kiya tum ne kiya, tumhari mehnat ka natija hai, main ne bas thoda guide kiya, aur mere help ke bina bhi tum bahut acha karti. I am so proud of you", he tells me wiping my tears and kissing my forehead.
I am so lucky to have him and when I tell him the same he replies he is even luckier because he has me, this is one argument that will never end between us.
Writer: Janvi
