When a Lawyer Falls in Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

Nair had problems of his own. Like not knowing which girl to eye at which time. He thought he had seen his soulmate, a beauty with large eyes fluttering for his arrival by the crowded water cooler, where she stood patiently waiting for her turn. Since Pavan had not seen her before, he presumed she was a new student. Hence he strode up to her gallantly and offered to fill her glass. Perhaps if it was a few millennia ago, she would have been standing with flowers in her hair and an earthen pot, coyly tucked beneath her arm, offering him water. But in a slight reversal of roles, Pavan heroically elbowed his way to the approving lady with a stained stainless steel glass, overflowing with water.
     
    Standing next to a water cooler, very close to a drainpipe, watching the pretty water guzzler before him, Pavan decided he had arrived at the most romantic spot ever. Since he had parted the Red Sea a minute earlier with the precious glass, he had no intentions of parting with the pretty young lady now. The lady of course had other plans. She asked Pavan, in a voice laced with indulgence, the year that he belonged to. Pavan promptly launched into a monologue, convinced that the young lady was a fresher, desperately in need of being enlightened on the subject of college, the endurance-testing lecturers and the pathetic mess food.
     
    The young lady’s expressions oscillated from amusement to horror, the latter emotion however, soon transmitting to the suddenly startled Pavan, for standing before him was the newest faculty member of the department. A fact she made him aware of, after he had given her a lengthy biography of the ‘lullaby artists’ who taught their classes.
     
    Just why did water coolers exist? If only someone would dig a well, Pavan Nair would have gratefully jumped into it!

 
     
     
    Nine
    ‘What a nice white shirt! Can I autograph it?’ asked Sonali playfully, one afternoon. It had been more than two and a half months since Ankur had actually spoken to her and Sonali had finally noticed. The speed of her observation powers was truly astounding.
     
    Ankur remained silent. If nothing else, he still had the privilege to sulk.
     
    ‘So the lawyer can’t laugh!’ said Sonali giggling and nudging him with a pencil.
     
    ‘I don’t think your boyfriend will like it, if he sees you flirting!’ Ankur retorted, the hurt in his voice clearly showing.
     
    It was Sonali’s turn to become silent. Her smile had suddenly vanished. ‘I was not flirting!’ she replied, in a tone both defensive and surprised. ‘And Rohit is not my boyfriend…I mean…not really.’
     
    Really? Ankur wanted to ask. How about telling him a few things that were really ‘really’!
     
    ‘So what is he?’ asked Ankur, the thoughts in his head moving faster than his tongue. He was almost tempted to switch over to Marathi. It is always easier abusing someone in one’s mother tongue.
     
    ‘God! I didn’t think you would be so jealous!’ snapped Sonali, her voice rising in pitch. It is always a dangerous sign when a girl does that. What follows is usually a flood of tears or a tight, matter-of-fact slap. Ankur wanted neither, so he softened his stance, ‘You have been ignoring me these days…,’ he said, in a tone that made him sound like a whining housewife.
     
    ‘Ankur, I…I need to tell you something,’ said Sonali, pushing a strand of her silky hair behind one ear.
     
    ‘What?’ asked Ankur, intrigued. He fervently hoped she’d say something he wanted to hear.
     
    ‘During the last internship, Rohit and I…,’ but before Sonali could complete her sentence, Ankur butted in with a loud, ‘No! Stop!’ He knew what was coming. The very mention of Rohit Randhwah could make him cheerfully commit murder
     
    ‘No listen!’ Sonali asserted. ‘The reason I hang out only with Rohit these days, is because…I’m deeply…obligated to him.’
     
    Obligated?!! Now this was new. Obligated for what? For the shade his