this B.E would place an invisible crown on her head.
I fought with Sai and was ready to throw away my internship and
now, she is telling me she’s busy with placements? These thoughts went through Laksha’s head the
whole day, till she finally left a text message for Sai, stating a
simple "sorry". Immediately, he called her back.
“ Laksha, thanks for the
text, I went nuts man, I am so sorry,” he explained in an anxious
tone.
“ No Sai, don’t be sorry, but
you were right. I think of her as the same, but she doesn’t care
about me,” she confessed.
“ Oh ho, I don’t even know
her name, but she took you away from me for two full days. Let’s
not talk about her, honey,” his tone had changed.
"Let's meet at our usual coffee place,
my treat," she said, smiling.
“ Whoa, picked my bike keys
right away! You come to the corner of your street and my Yamaha
beast will transport you like a new born baby,” he said.
After a hearty laugh, she hung up. They
met some time later at the coffee shop and talked for a couple of
hours. Sai was overwhelmed by her. "I love the way you are, when
you are angry, you just blast without a thought, when you chill out
you're an angel."
Laksha just smiled and sipped her
coffee with one brow raised. She looked at him and gave a broad
smile, which summed up that their friendship is strengthened
enough.
***
Laksha was totally enjoying the
internship. She explored much more than just interiors, and worked
closely with seniors in the team. She understood how the United
States works for interiors; she studied various niches and turned
out to be one of the best assets of the company.
I would like to meet you
tomorrow for a small chat at my cabin , said
the email that Laksha had read five times already. She called up
Sai to inform him. "Saaaaaiiiiiiii, the CEO, I mean your cousin,
wants to meet me tomorrow evening yaar," she said in a whisper over
the phone.
“ I do that often, just go
and meet him.” “Dumbo, he is your cousin, but for me he is the
owner of ‘VE’ home decors, my boss!”
"What can I say Laksha, do something,
text me if you can say it. I will read that over the phone," Sai
laughed.
“ Laksha is pretty angry and
she is going to cut the call right away, so Mr. Sai, please get
ready to send lots of sorry’s and flower bouquets, specifically red
roses,” she said with a smile.
“ Anything for Laksha,” he
replied, in a melting voice that usually got her
attention.
Laksha couldn’t stop
thinking about meeting Saurav, sorry,
sorry, Mr. Saurav the next day. Sai
distracted her with a story of how his other cousin fell in love
with a Mumbai guy, which linked his connection with North India. He
told her about the differences in wedding ceremonies and the fun
their crew had due to them. He was fond of telling her cute
stories, the kind that made her smile throughout the conversation.
He had an innate quality of sensing when she was smiling even when
they are on the call he would ask her about it and usually was
right. The roots of love were going deep, watered with the quality
time they spent. The gap that Pallavi had left was undoubtedly
getting filled by Sai in Laksha’s life.
The next day, Laksha picked the nicest
Salwar Kameez she had for her meeting with Saurav.
“ Hi Laksha, come, thanks for
accepting my invitation,” Saurav said formally.
"Thanks a lot, sir, it's my pleasure. I
am happy to meet you."
“ So, how is work? You are
happy, I hope?” he questioned.
"Of course, I am actually learning a
lot. I love it, the team is awesome, and they teach me so well.
They assign me different kinds of tasks, its brilliant working
here. What I was when I stepped in here is entirely different from
what I am now."
“ Great! So brief me your
learning experience so far, what are you up to,” said
Saurav.
"Ok, sir, so I am working on projects
assigned by lead, I work with the CAD diagrams with assistance.
They usually ask me to design interiors and I do, so
Janwillem van de Wetering