Part 12

Nikhil's Office, Bengaluru

It was exactly after a fortnight that they met again.

The work for the Bungalow renovation and redesigning was on full flow, and Nikhil had arranged for a meeting in his Office with the team to take stock of the situation. He was pleasantly surprised to find Rohini there, along with her Father, Santhanam and a few others.

Not that she said anything. She concentrated hard on the discussion happening around the table, nodding her assent once in a while, passing on a note or two to her Father.

Nikhil was relieved to find her alright, and was glad that he had not pursued her that night. He had thought about it later; they were hardly close in any sense of the term, for Rohini to share her personal life with him. He had known that something had troubled her alright, but then that had not of course warranted unwanted intrusion.

Nikhil personally believed in respecting boundaries, as much as he did not favour people interfering in or with his life. Except for Roshan and Poorvi of course, though they knew their limits well.

Hence, despite his best intentions, Nikhil had backed away.

...

Rohini checked her watch; she had a meeting in the next office building and she hurried outside the meeting room, during the break.

Only to be stopped by Nikhil

"Rohini ... Ms Kulkarni ... a minute ... please" he strode confidently towards her. Dressed in quintessential black trousers and a cotton white shirt, Nikhil looked comfortably control of the situation. Rohini waited for him to catch up with her.

"You are leaving?" he was curious.

Rohini nodded

"There's another meeting. Since Dad is here, makes sense for me to go attend"

"Alone?" he asked again, his curiosity egging him on.

Rohini stopped in her tracks and turned towards him, causing Nikhil to almost bump onto her. Rohini smiled, her brown eyes dancing all over Nikhil's face

"I prefer not being chaperoned, Mr Shastri"

"Nikhil ... I insist" Nikhil smiled in earnest. He led her to the elevator and extended his hand

"See you soon"

A moment later, she was gone, leaving behind a trail of cherry blossoms. Nikhil could only shake his head.

Nikhil felt bereft by the time Rohini was gone.

...

Two days later

"It's Roshan's Birthday next Friday. We are going to celebrate it at Nikhil's bungalow" Poorvi's excitement traversed through the air waves, as Rohini's stomach sank. She already knew what was coming next.

"But the Bungalow is not ready ... yet" she croaked.

Poorvi settled down on her couch

"Yeah, but Nikhil mentioned that a part of it is habitable. And three to four rooms have also been done up, partially. He has really been busy with the bungalow. Don't know what these boys are planning. I am just happy that I will finally be able to step out for some time."

"Atharva?" Rohini asked.

"Of course, he will come along with us. I couldn't leave him behind, even though my parents are still here" Poorvi chattered non stop. "And between us we will manage"

"Us?" Rohini could feel the question stuck on her throat.

Poorvi conitnued

"Of course. We want you there. You have been instrumental in getting Nikhil motivated about that bungalow. He was so undecided before he saw those sketches. Hang on, somebody's at the door. Say I will call you later, I have loads to share ... Bye"

And then she was gone like a gust of wind.

...

Rohini paced around in her apartment, thinking how to avoid the party. She listed down all the probable reasons - like how she was not free, like how she was not a part of the friend circle, like how she had life altering work to do, like how she didn't want to travel to Ullal; like how she wanted to curl up on her bed and sleep through the weekend.

And like how she didn't want to be there with Nikhil around, knowing that their interactions would generate undue interests and raise eyebrows.

Rohini settled down on the window seat, remembering all their instances. She had grown to respect him, though he was as mysterious and mercurial as before. After the initial frictions, the project had proceeded smoothly, much to Santhanam's delight and to Madhukar Nayak's relief, and Nikhil had proven himself to be a sensitive and compassionate client.

"Much better than that MLA's idiot son ..." Rohini shouted out aloud, while throwing a cushion at the imaginary figure.

She understood what her Father was doing; and she hated it. And like her, she knew, Nikhil also disliked these intrusions.

"As if we are kids" Rohini lamented.

....

Next Saturday, Around 8.00 a.m.

Rohini got down from her car and looked all around. She inhaled deeply and spread out her arms, embracing the serenity and tranquility of the place.

Neither her Father nor his car could be seen anywhere; whilst she was traveling from Bengaluru, her Father was expected to join her from Udupi, where he was attending his friend's marriage anniversary.

Rohini had suggested that they meet at the tea stall and then proceed to the Bungalow together. Madhukar Nayak had suggested otherwise; but Rohini was determined not to fall for his ploy. She already had to bend backwards and accept the invitation because her Father wanted to come and join as well, in pretext of checking out the work done by his team.

Her legs had been cramped from the long journey via road and Rohini walked aroundback and forth to improve the blood circulation, willing life back to her nearly numb legs.

Her phone pinged; it was a message from her Father. He still had another twenty minutes to reach. He urged Rohini not to wait, but to proceed to the house.

Rohini ordered for a cup of tea as she waited; her eyes taking in the relaxed beauty of the place. It was cool and pleasant and the slight wind rippled all around her, making the tree leaves sway and dance to an intimate, personal tune. She was part excited about the visit to the bungalow, she would be visiting after quite some time and she could feel the excitement bubbling within her. However, there was another angle to the visit, something that she had to be careful about. Pushing her hair back from her forehead, she delicately sipped on her cup of tea, reminiscing about the previous visits and how the bungalow had captivated her imagination.

She hoped and prayed that the visit would be worth it; after all, the visit was one of the reasons why she had agreed to come over for Roshan's birthday.

She further hoped that Nikhil would be happy with the outcome; his hesitance and his diffidence had been rampant at the initial stage.

Rohini heard someone calling her, she turned around only to find Nikhil hurrying towards her, dressed in his jogging attire. He slowed down on reaching her, the smile on his face widening to a grin.

"Wow. Thanks. I didn't think you would come"

"Anything for Roshan. And Poorvi" Rohini acknowledged. "And of course the bungalow ..."

"Of course" Nikhil smiled as he settled down for some tea. Rohini couldn't stop herself from returning his smile; there was an infectious lilt to the atmosphere around them as their tentative chatter found life.

End of Part 12