That day, I had the lunch with him. I didn’t attend any calls that came to my mobile. I didn’t care about the business. I didn’t care about the family. I just had one good day in my life.
“Hey Janani, how come you drove the car? Didn’t you make any mistakes?”
“Even I don’t know how. I just thought about you and nothing else. Amazing.., wow.. So, I have learnt to drive completely..”
“So, you no longer need me right?”
“Hey, I always need you”
He was happy hearing this. And when I was about to leave, he got a call to his mobile. It was some girl. He didn’t attend the call, but he ignored it. I looked at him suspiciously.
“Are you coming to work tomorrow?”
“No, I am not sure Janani”
He got the call again. He ignored again. I took the mobile from him, just when that girl sent him a message. In which she has sent that, she wanted to be with him. So please don’t go to work tomorrow. I looked at him and got so angry.
“Is this the reason, you are not coming tomorrow?”
“Uh, No, err.. Nothing like that Janani. Just because of my sickness.”
“Don’t lie Raju. You are fine the whole day with me. And now you are not coming for any reason?”
He was silent. I just walked away from that place. He tried following me and convincing me, but I slammed the car door, and started off. That night, he tried calling me several times. He sent a lot of sorry messages. I didn’t respond to any. He might have got tensed. He might have not had food. He might not get sleep. Despite knowing this, I was not ready to respond, because I was busy crying in my room. There was no one to ask me why I am crying. Even I was not so aware of why I am crying. I slept like that crying without having dinner.
Woke up the next morning. Did the usual works, but with less tempo. Felt, I should have responded to that guy’s calls. I felt bad that I made him tense for nothing. I thought of calling, but realized he will be here within few mins for sure, and can solve this directly instead of call.
As expected he was early today. He sent me a message saying I am near the car, ready for today’s work. I saw him standing near the car, and I was happy. As I came out of the kitchen, Kumar came and said that he is going late to office as he some plans. I was upset, that it will take some more time to talk with Raju. I said OK. Time went by. Kumar came out from the room well dressed and was about to leave. He went out near the car, and suddenly he called Raju.
“Hey, you…”
“Me, sir?”
“Yeah, come here.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“My driver has not come today. So, drive this car today.”
“Ok sir”
I was so disappointed. They left the place. I continued with my job, half heartedly. I was so weak that day that I made some wrong shipments. Rekha was shocked to see me so dull and making errors in the work. She asked me what happened. I didn’t want to reveal anything. I said nothing. She asked me to take rest. I left back home early that evening. I was sitting silently, when I got a call from Kumar.
“Janani, just hand over the suitcase that I’ve kept in the bedroom to the guy I am sending. I am going to Mumbai for some urgent business dealing. It might get delayed. I might be in a situation to travel abroad from there. So, I will keep you updated. Ok? Bye..”