Part 1

6th June

THERE was a throbbing in my head and my eyes ached and burned. The computer screen was a blur. The long hours are catching up, I thought, I need a long break, which I knew was not likely in the near future.“Sumeet, just a second, please,” I lifted my head up from my laptop, a little irritated, and looked at Rajesh, “I just want to introduce Nituj and Priyanka, who have joined today as Management Trainees.”The words did not register fully, as my mind continued to grapple with the data on the monitor. My glance shifted to the couple standing beside Rajesh. The boy looked nervous and gave a weak smile; the girl was haughtily examining my cubicle, which on that saturday afternoon was more messed up than on other days.Rajesh was the HR manager and a good soul. He smiled “Sorry, Sumeet. I know you guys are busy, but I am taking these kids on the rounds to meet everybody.”“Hi guys. Welcome to the corporate jungle.” I said politely, as I stood up and shook hands. He was a skinny runt, she was as tall as me and her grip was firm and confident. “Since you guys are going to be around and I have hell breaking loose on Monday, would appreciate if we got to know each other at leisure. Ok?” I smiled.“Sure, Sir. We will spend some time with you next week, if that is ok with you?” said Nituj. He smiled, while the girl, clearly her interest in the introductions were minimal, scanned the half empty office.“Rajesh, could you arrange a computer for me from where I could access my Yahoo mail.” her voice had the breathless yet childish tones of one who was still undergoing the transformation from a kid to an adult.

GOD, I am beat, I thought an hour later, the need for a smoke and a whiz, overpowering. I stood up, stretched and ambled towards the corridor when I saw her sitting at Shalini’s PC. Good looking kid, I thought. She did not lift her head up as I went by; engrossed in typing out what seemed to be a lengthy mail, but I caught a fragrance of jasmine in the air.In the men’s, I peered at my saturday stubble, Shit, should have shaved today! A couple of grey hairs were also creeping on the right temple. Growing old, buddy! I told myself as I walked back to my cubicle; the halfway point in your life, 36 years old, time to stop those roving eyes!The presentation did not seem too interesting anymore, not that it was in the first place, but now I couldn’t concentrate, too. I leaned back in my chair and examined her more closely. She had long, black hair, which was lying in waves on her shoulders. Her arms were long and slender, and the plain cotton white blouse that she wore made them seem even longer. The saree was simple cotton, worn in a casual though expert way. Intelligent face, high cheekbones, a slightly pinched look around the lips. Lovely ,clear, alabaster skin. Narrow eyebrows which were furrowed as she read something on the screen in front of her.

“Hey Buddy!” The thud on my shoulder almost made me topple over. It was Sanjeev, the head of the testing team and a good friend. “If you keep leching at all the women in the office and not concentrate on finishing the presentation, these guys are going to have our ass next week.”“Man, have no fear... It’s almost done. Will do the final tweaking by Monday. Let us catch up for a Beer tonight, what do you say?” I said as I started packing up for the day.


10th June

THE branches of the tree whispered and the leaves rustled in the strong breeze, as I moodily looked through it, leaning on the balcony wall. I was tired and it had been a hectic two weeks.“Ahh Man! That was tough. Good the presentations went of well and the brass is happy with our plans.” I sighed as I took a long drag on the cigarette. “You are right da, Tough days ahead too!” said Sanjeev, cleaning his glasses. “How’s the family taking all these late nights and seven day weeks?”“Anitha is cool. But managing the two kids is tough on her too. It’s good she is taking a break from work. Have asked her to get her Mom here for a while.” I said leaning over the balcony wall, not looking forward to the unavoidable visit from the in-laws.“Good Afternoon. Sir.” I turned around and my breath caught in my throat. God, she is beautiful, I thought. The black formal trousers and the off white shirt, made her look even taller.“Sharma asked me to request you to give us the data files and the source codes of project Phoenix. We just want to take a look at them” She was smiling today. It lit her face up and made her look about sixteen years old.“Sure, ask Murali to give it to you. Tell him I said so.” I hesitated, “and later if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”‘Ooh . . . that is great, Sir! Can we have some time with you for discussions once you are free?” she asked, indicating my almost burnt out cigarette.“You could discuss with all concerned regarding Phoenix and then spend time with me regarding any doubts is what I meant,” I corrected her. “And stop calling me ‘Sir’, my name is Sumeet.”

“SHARMA is Chief and I will call you Mischief.” she said, her eyes twinkling in the chandelier lights. We were having dinner at the Taj in honor of the visiting dignitaries. Sanjeev had just deserted me from our vantage location near the Bar and I was just finishing my third drink when she appeared by my side with a glass of orange juice in her hand.“Very funny,” I laughed. “Lady, you need to watch your mouth. You are bound to get into trouble if you let it run away from you!”“Oh, I’ve been observing you for the last couple of days. I know beneath that stern mask that you put on there is an amusing, mischievous person. At times there seems to be a reckless madness in your eyes which is just waiting to burst out.” she said with her eyes looking into mine, a little worried that she had spoken so much, I guess.“Yeah, sure. I hire my masks from the costumier who provides stuff for the movie crowd!” I looked around for Sanjeev, wanting to leave. “Could you drop me off at my hotel, please?” she quickly finished her drink and placed the glass on the table.“Sure.” I said. I gave a thumbs up to Sharma as I moved towards the door to indicate to him I was leaving.“7.30 tomorrow, my dear brother.” he said happily. “And get your brother Sanjeev too. I think he has had one too many to drink and has passed out in the toilet. Bloody drunkards the lot of you!”“Done thing, Boss.” I smiled as I shut the door behind me. The difficult days at work were alleviated to a large extent by having an understanding boss like Sharma.

“SO how are you enjoying the transition from being a student to a professional?” I asked, honking to get a cyclist out of the way. He seemed drunk and shook his hand at me as I passed by. “I am fine. I am just finding it a little hard coping with staying away from home. First time I am staying away from my folks. Both are doctors, but both had enough time to spend with me and my brother as we were growing up. I really miss them.” her voice was a little husky with emotion. “Anyway forget about that. Tell me about yourself. How many kids do you have?”“Two - a daughter and a son.” I said briefly. Somehow I did not want to talk too much about my family with her. “Priya, Let us catch up for Dinner one of these nights if you are not too busy that is. I will show you the sights of our beautiful city.” I realized I had spoken before I could think about the wisdom of the whole matter.“Sure, Mischief. I would love that. Good Night and thanks for the lift.” she said as she slid those long legs of hers out of the car.


22nd June

THE cool breeze rippled across the water, making the reflected starlight dance and in the distance there was the sound of a motorbike moving away from us. She hugged her knees tight as I looked at her, a faint smile lifting the corners of her mouth, her skin glowing in the dark. I leaned back on the windscreen and stretched my legs on the bonnet. “Sing me another song,” she asked. “one more of the Cliff Richard numbers. Please, Mischief. I love the way your voice brings out the emotions in the songs.”“Beg your pardon, Ma’am. I have exhausted my complete repertoire of singable songs, if you know what I mean. I can sing in Tamil, but I don’t know if you would get the meaning. Anyway, do you think it is getting late and it’s time we went back?” I asked getting off the car and packing up the leftover food.“No, please! Some more time, it’s earlier than last night,” she pleaded throwing her head back and running her fingers through her long hair. Her breasts tautened against her t-shirt when she leant back and I felt desire flaring through me again.

THE last week had run on a similar pattern. I would get a call from her around 7.00 or 7.30 in the evening, three tables away and a whispered voice would ask me if I was free to drop her at her house. The drive to her house would be a review of the day’s activities and plans for the forthcoming launch and her progress reports and Nituj’s issues with his training manager. She would have ordered dinner from a restaurant near her house and we would pick it up and then the long drives would happen on the highways and dark deserted roads. One night we had come across this lake on one of the side roads and it had become a regular halt for the last few nights. There was a small rise on the western part of the lake where we parked the car and sitting on the bonnet, we would talk till late into the night. We talked about books and music and laughed, reminiscing college days and friends we had known and sang songs till our throats hurt. We sang songs forgotten since my childhood days and she would join in that squeaky/husky voice when she knew the lyrics.I was rapidly losing control, I knew. I shouldn’t be doing this, I kept telling myself, but I was slowly losing myself in her soft, dark eyes. Her translucent skin, the long legs and the flat belly flitted around in my thoughts, day and night, and I did not know what to do about it.

OUTSIDE her house, I switched off the engine and looking into the smiling face, I took her soft hand with the long, long fingers, in mine.“Priya, there is something that I want to tell you, been wanting to tell you for the last two days.” I took a deep breath and said, “I know it is wrong, but I have to tell you this. I think I am falling in love with you and I don’t know what to do about it.” I did not look at her, somehow my courage failing me.“I know, Mischief.” Her hands pressed mine firmly. ‘Don’t worry about it. We will talk about it tomorrow. But don’t let that stop you from spending time with me. I haven’t been so comfortable with anybody in my entire life and just because of this, I don’t want to destroy what we have.”I watched her as she climbed up the stairs and at the top she stopped to wave at me as I turned and drove home with the smell of jasmine, strong and powerful inside the car.