“You are late again madam,” Karan informed her in a no- nonsense tone as she tip- toed her way to her room, hoping he wouldn't catch on. She clicked her tongue in guilt.

“Sorry, sir.”

“I doubt your sorry holds any meaning when you've been late for like... the tenth time this month? Or twelfth.”

Pallavi exhaled a sigh. Back in Hello Services, it was easy. She could be twenty minutes late and no one batted an eye about it. Her ex manager reminded the Khuranna sisters to be on time sometimes but that was it. Obviously that kind of freedom wasn't possible everywhere. Utopian Adverts was opposite when it came to punctuality. If one punched their bio-metric after ten minutes past the designated time, their attendance would be marked as ‘half day’ and one could do nothing about it. And she was thirty minutes late.

Later on.

“Look, I've blotched your attendance stating you were on time everyday. Your salary won't be deducted. But I won't be able to help you once you get your biometric. You'll be on your own.” Karanl stated, closing the file. “Tell your maid to cook your lunch on time.”

“I will. Thank you,” She replied, heaving a sigh of relief. He was indeed a lenient manager.

* * *

Pallavi was jokingly asked about her relationship status once. She replied single as there was no point in talking about a relationship that was nearing its expire date.

“Boring people,” Karan replied in disbelief to both Pallavi and Yash. “What's the point of your youth then if you're not experiencing that? Be committed, have fun, break your heart.”

Gee thanks, Pallavi was experiencing just that.

There was another instance some days later on. You know scenarios when WhatsApp web is left open on the PC. Karan wasn't paying attention but he couldn't help if his eyes caught on the word 'baby' and a kissing emoji on Yash's WhatsApp web chat. Pallavi noticed that too, but chose to say nothing.

Yash returned to witness both of them wearing a hideous smile. “So who is this baby of yours?”

He chuckled knowing he couldn't divert it anymore. “She works as a fashion designer in Gurgaon.”

“Nice!”

“Is that why you keep going to Gurgaon from time to time?” Karan confirmed. They began talking about it while Pallavi resumed working on her PC system. Karan even mentioned something about the serious relationship he once had before marriage though obviously it didn't work out. Now when Pallavi thought about it, all the members of the social media team were committed. No one was single.

“And what about you? What do you call your boyfriend by?” He asked her out of nowhere.

“I call him baby or babe. Hate the word babu though.” She admitted blissfully. She couldn't deny it either.

“Acha, is that why you keep charging your mobile so that you can chat with him?” Karan came to another conclusion. He seemed to be critically observant of the people around him, pointing things one wouldn't bother to remember. He scoffed. “Lagta hai mere team me saare aashiq bhare hai.”

“Aree!” She retorted.

* * *

“Happy birthday, jaanu. I'm sorry I couldn't get you any gift. Papa really needed the money so my salary got spent. It's a financial crisis,” Pallavi apologized as she and Adhvik met in front of the Parijat farm later on.

Adhvik who appeared in a checkered shirt and black jeans shook his head, smiling. He took her hand. “Its okay, jaan. Just you being here on this day is the biggest gift for me.”

“Aw, really?” She placed a hand over her chest and pulled him for a hug when he nodded.

Apparently Covid was still out there to take over the country, this time in the form of Delta variant. Many restaurants were closed for dining and were only accepting online orders. They ended up ordering a pizza and a choco- lava cake which Pallavi thought about serving as the birthday cake. She placed two candles on it and requested Adhvik to blow it off.

He pursed his lips together. “No, you do it.”

“But it's your birthday.”

“I don't care. I want you to blow off this candle.”

Pallavi reluctantly gave in. It seemed like a slight rip-off of Wake up Sid movie when Pallavi held the palm- sized muffin on her hand.  They gazed happily into each other's eyes until she blew air out of her mouth to pass a gentle message to the candle. Doing this on someone's else's birthday was definitely a first.

“Happy birthday to you— aree, why are you taking my photo with the cake?” Pallavi stopped clapping, letting out a giggle.

“Cos' it's my birthday. I can do whatever I want.”

Pallavi finished the birthday song despite his protest as he found it cringeworthy singing in public. They finished devouring their pizzas while Adhvik attended his birthday calls. She got annoyed by the frequency of it as he keep getting more and more calls while he was with her. She eventually got up after being butt-hurt from sitting in the rectangular boundary for so long. It was only then she spotted a suitable seat to rest their butts on. They finally settled down on the nearby bus stop.

Pallavi took the opportunity to link her arms and rub her head against his shoulders lovingly. He too wrapped an arm around her shoulders, beaming at her innocence. They talked about mundane things for a while. She recited things about her new company and her interesting team. More often than not, they fell in silence, watching a horde of vehicles pass them by.

Suddenly Adhvik shifted uncomfortably, distancing away from Pallavi. She shot a questionable glance. “What happened?”

“I spotted my office goers on a bike passing from here. I- I think they saw us.” He snapped his head to his left and tched, “Fuck, that's my boss.”

Pallavi moved away, creating more space between them. It was only then they realised their folly. They just chose the worst place to sit for everyone to lay their eyes on like a showpiece. Who the fuck huddled with each other on a bus stop?

“Sorry,” She mumbled.

“You know what? Screw this!” Adhvik stated, changing his mind as he shifted closer to Pallavi's side and wrapped an arm around, enveloping her in it. She looked at him aghast. She touched his forehead. “What?”

“Okay, you don't have a fever.” She shook her head in disbelief and added. “Well, excuse me for coming in terms with this new Adhvik who doesn't give a damn about what his colleagues think about seeing him with a girl. The previous Adhvik used to stop talking to girls for a while.”

“Yeah, I did that,” He shrugged. “But it doesn't matter. So what if they saw me with a girl? Being in a relationship at this age is not something out of the box. It's perfectly normal.”

“Ah, I think I fell for you even more.” Pallavi squeezed his arm, her lips twitching wide.

Soon the orange hue sky turned dark blue and eventually into black as night kicked in.

“Do you see this Volvo bus passing by? What if we climb on it and travel far away from here. Just imagine.”

“Yes, I imagined that now let me go.”

“Did you notice something different about me?”

“There is?” His brows knitted as his eyes hovered at her features until it shot up in recognition. He pulled it out playfully, making her groan. “You have a plait, you dirty girl.”

“Ah yes! Especially braided for you, mkl.” She held his cheeks between her palm, her voice seductive.

“We'll surely continue this session next time now let me go.”

Pallavi laughed out loud, feeling powerful over him. Apparently his friends including Arjun were waiting for him in Adhvik's room but his girlfriend being clingy refused to let him go. She sighed besides the warmth his shoulder provided. “But I want to spend time with you more.”

“Spend time with me on Sunday. I- I'll come near your society then.”

“Are you serious?” Her eyes lit up.

“Dead serious. Now will you please—”

“Let you go, yes!” She finished his sentence and unhinged herself from him. She patted his back. “Ja Adhvik, ja, jeele apni zindagi!”

There was no way he would visit her society on Sunday. Pallavi knew that. Still she liked he thought about it. They hugged it out, said their love you's and parted for the day.

Needless to say, Adhvik received a lot of questioning and teasing at office a day later on. Surprisingly, he took it like a champ stating proudly that she was his girlfriend. The world was indeed a strange place.

* * *

Adhvik and Pallavi kept seeing each other as weeks and months passed. At times their meets were outdoors while at other times it was indoors. They were doing everything they did before Adhvik's roka, despite him talking to Poonam on a regular basis. Pallavi knew it was wrong but she couldn't care less when she realised he wasn't going to be hers after a few months while that woman would have him for life.

“Are you sure you would be able stay away from me after marriage?” Adhvik suddenly asked after she expressed her affection towards him. They were sitting on a restaurant having dinner.

Her smile faded as she added reluctantly. “I'll have to. It's not like I have a choice.”

“I highly doubt that. Especially sex. Admit it, you'd miss it bad.” He  smirked, holding her chin while his other arm wrapped around her shoulder. “Tell you what? We can continue this after marriage as well. We can just book an Ola room and meet there.”

“I want to but we... we can't do that, Adhi,” She answered, her voice brittle. “What about your wife?”

“Its not like we'll keep doing it forever. Only until you find your husband.” He noticed her head downcast and sighed. “Say, are you happy when you're with me?”

“Of course I am.”

“Then be with me. For your happiness. If our happiness is selfish and wrong so be it.”

It wasn't the first time Adhvik said something like that. He had been implying to continue their relationship after his marriage in secret. At first, it seemed like a running joke until it wasn't funny anymore. Pallavi refuted the idea but her emotional self couldn't deny it completely so she just went with ‘we'll see’.

One day, she had enough.

“But why not? It's only for a while. We won't tell her anything.”

“No, Adhvik! Even if we won't tell her anything, it's still wrong. Not to mention risky. Can you imagine what would happen if she got a whiff of us? You'll be in big trouble.”

To be honest, Pallavi hardly cared about that chick. It wasn't about Poonam. It was about her and Adhvik. Their reputation and their morals. Even if her wife never found out, Pallavi would still be labelled as a cheater and a homewrecker. Adhvik too. She didn't want that. She didn't want to soil their images.

So Pallavi repeated what Deepali plummeted into her head. It brought her to her senses. “Tell me, will you be able to look her in the eye after you fucked me? Will you be able to cheat after going through every single ritual, right from the ring ceremony, varmala, to the pheras in front of her and both your families? After she leaves her home and is welcomed to your family home in her wedding lehanga. Huh, will you?!”

That was enough to leave Adhvik spellbound as their call experienced silence for a while. And then, came a small voice of reason. “No... I won't be able to do that to Poonam.”

Pallavi felt both relieved and hurt. She was about to continue when Adhvik beat her to it, his voice stern. “Alright baby, we'll delete all our chats, photos— everything we ever had after 14th of December, okay. We'll just be long, distant friends. Happy now?”

Her voice choked. “Why would you do that...?”

She was about to continue after a pause when she heard the sound of the beep. Adhvik had ended the call. She covered her mouth and wept numbly in a corner for a while.  Atleast she got him to agree. That meant something, right? It was for the best.

In the end, she prayed God to lend her the strength to go through this phase. Something that proved to be difficult than any other phases in her life.

Pallavi ignored when Adhvik messaged her the next morning. She was also furious about a couple of other things he had mentioned during their previous conversation. She finally picked up the phone after he called her in the evening. He was in a crazy mood yesterday which reflected in the way he spoke. He apologized for his actions.

“Guess this means we only have three months together. We'll have to make it count.”

Just thinking about her life after three months sounded like a life sentence to her. As if she would lose touch of the outside world, only to be surrounded by the emptiness of the dark. No, no don't think about it. Just think about how to make it count.

“Are you really going to delete all our chats and photos?” She asked, her voice desolate.

“No baba. I only said that out of anger. I'm not deleting anything unless it becomes absolutely necessary.”

“Alright...”

“I just— I feel for you, Pallu.” He continued. “I know you, I know how emotional you are. I understand when you say you'll feel lonely afterwards. I won't because I'm already getting involved with someone else. That's why I wanted you to settle down first. Mera kya hai? Mai apne aap ko sambhal leta...”

“I'll manage, Adhi.” She replied with a lump in her throat. “It won't be easy but hey, I'm not going to be single forever. I'll find a wonderful man, you'll see.”

“I sure hope you do. Meri dua hai ki tumhe aisa pati mile jo tumhe dekh kar jeeye. Someone who wakes up thinking how lucky he is to have you. Someone who saves your photo as his wallpaper...”

He hadn't even finished his sentence when he heard soft muffled cries from the other end, startling him. “Idiot... saying all those romantic things all of a sudden. You never said these things before.”

“Even I can talk like an aashiq (lover) sometimes,” He let out a chuckle. “I did mean all of that. I want you to be happy more than anything else. More than me.”

“Awh, I want you to be happy, too. I hope she takes care of you and loves you for life. You deserve it.”

And she hoped none of them wouldn't have to say these things in any other lifetime ever again.

The rest of the conversation went in talking about their Delhi trip which was still a big question mark on becoming a reality. They first had to wait for the Covid situation to cool down and then they would have to check whether Adhvik was free considering all the marriage shopping he was about to take later on. But Pallavi wasn't the one to give up, oh hell no! Their Delhi trip was the only major wish remaining that she was aching to fulfill. If she couldn't marry him, she could atleast do this. She had to make it happen no matter what.

* * *

Time passed like a flow of a river until Diwali knocked on their doorstep. Pallavi was gearing up for the Diwali holidays from her office. It was the last working before that and the office had prepared a festive celebration. Everyone was dressed up for the occasion in colorful traditional wear while some in western. Pallavi had opted for a light green salwar kameez. She decided to click some selfies to show off to Adhvik later on.

“Oh, there's the rat, oh shit!” Yash exclaimed, pointing to an area near her foot.

“Yikes, where?!” Pallavi jumped out of fear, only for Yash to start laughing loudly. She sat down, shooting daggers at him.

“You fell for it again.”

“That's because there was a rat in this room last week.”

Apparently, Yash had found a new way to pull Pallavi's leg by fooling her with lies. At times it was lies like these while at other times, it was about Sakshi madam paying a visit to them. Of course Pallavi chose not to believe him but you know how some lies turned out to be true. She chose not to believe and the next thing she saw Sakshi at their door while Pallavi had sandwich in her mouth. Talk about second hand embarassment.

“You're going? But why?” Pallavi enquired when she noticed Yash packing his bag. “Join us, the party is about to start. ”

“Sorry yaar, I can't,” He apologized. “Have to catch my train in the evening. No worries, Karan and Manish are going to be there.”

“Yeah, I know...” She was just hoping for the whole social media team to be there for celebration and group photos. In the end, they wished each other and bid farewell.

A while later, Karan turned up at the office in a simple traditional wear. “What, you're still here? Go ahead, the festivities is about to start.”

“Going, I'm just, um...” Pallavi bit her lip, too busy inserting hair pins to the side of her hair while checking her image from the phone's camera.

He peered behind her from a distance then turned to take something from his desk. “You don't need to do this by the way. You already look pretty as it is.”

Pallavi hands dropped from where they were as a blush crept her face. Her voice was barely audible as she mumbled. “Thanks...”

Wish she could have said the same to her manager who had killed it on white kurta with blue jeans. Not to mention the ruffled hair and specks on a three- day bearded face.

* * *

“This is Arushi, Lina and myself Radhika. Everyone, this is Pallavi Khurana from the marketing department.” Radhika introduced Pallavi to the horde of pretty girls standing besides her. “Karan told me about you. I know it can be pretty endearing with all the boys around. We are from the customer support department. You can come and talk to us anytime, alright?”

“Yeah, okay, nice to meet you...” Pallavi went along and exchanged pleasantaries with them. She recalled the conversation she had with Karan earlier on where she complained about the lack of girls in their team and he suggested to befriend the ones from the support and counseling team. Guess he must have told them. That was kind of him.

Pallavi spent the next hour, trying to mingle herself with the girls. More than their looks, it was about how well they dressed up in modern traditional wear that went along with high heels, lavishly painted nails, eye shadow and what not. While she had only put lipstick and eyeliner in the name of make up. These women were also well spoken and outgoing, given the nature of their work. She couldn't help but feel small and conscious in front of them. So when she was approached by Smita, the only other female acquaintance she knew, she fled to her.

The rest of the afternoon passed in playing games like housie and riddles. The participants were supposed to write the numbers on their own. Pallavi chose to scribble numbers that were common and surprisingly, she won the game. It was nice being clapped by everyone. They also played a game where they had to come up with a creative rangoli like design using the items from the table. She and her team won that too. Perhaps today was her lucky day.

The main attraction however was the after-party dance. The boring people were long gone, leaving the room with the marketing team, support team, and some of Karan's office friends. Pallavi was reluctant to dance at first but when the girls began to groove, she couldn't stop herself. Infact, she was full on dance mode a while later, moving her hands and hips along, nearly surprising everyone (although she stopped solo dancing when everyone clapped seeing her). Hours passed in dancing to various Bollywood and Punjabi songs while consuming iced cola in between. Everyone was either singing, dancing, laughing or yelling. It was madness.

A situation had presented itself in front of her where she could forget everything. Forget her dying relationship, Adhvik's marriage, her weight, family financial issues, future and just immerse herself in the present.

And so, she let herself go. She danced until her feet hurt, she laughed until her facial muscles wore out. Gosh, she couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed this much. As she joined hands with the people who were forming a circle, she couldn't be more thankful for her job. It saved her. 

Of course an occasion would be incomplete without photos and videos. People were stopping momentarily in front of the camera-man Manish to pose themselves before strutting away to dance again. There was one instance when she posed for a picture with Karan. She displayed her toothy smile as usual but it faltered when he casually leaned closer, causing their arms to touch. Her cheeks flared up for some reason or perhaps she was simply body conscious. The photo witnessed a carefree Karan and a forcibly smiling Pallavi who leaned slightly away from him. Awkward.

Perhaps Pallavi was the only shy one as other girls didn't hesitate to drape their arms around Karan or vice versa. Infact Radhika even suggested a pose where the women were sitting on the floor with him on their lap, spreading his arms and mouth wide. Pallavi's eyes nearly balled out when she saw that. Hence why Karan went around telling them not to post on Instagram lest his wife saw it. “She would divorce me the very next day.” He pleaded.

In retrospective, Pallavi knew she would be crying her eyes out later on but at this time, it didn't matter. If happiness was a fleeting thing, so was sadness. They both went hand in hand. Just that, one was more palpable than the other.

And such was the course of life.

* * * * * * *

Her life is changing in many ways. Hope you liked it. I'll try to post faster now (I say that but fail everytime).

Can you guess what the next chapter will be about? The hint is already there in this chapter. 😉 Look forward to it. Take care. 😁