Mr and Mrs Unromantic

Cancelled

Ahem..

Ahem.. ahem... venkat cleared his throat multiple times to get Sreeja's attention towards him who was looking elsewhere.Sreeja was busy looking at something, so Venkat cleared his throat again which resulted in his throat choking. Hearing the choking sound, Sreeja turned towards venkat and gave him water.

"are you ok?" asked Sreeja with a concern.

"yes ,I was trying to make you turn this side and got my throat choked" he said drinking the water.

"Sorry , I did not hear you calling me. By the way why did you call me?"

Not knowing what and how to start Venkat thought of starting the conversation with a general topic and asked about her work. Sreeja started narrating her office stories while he patiently listened while admiring her. After few minutes, Subhi and Sreeja's brother joined them too. Once all the remaining shopping got over everyone bid farewell and went home.

At home, Subhi asked Venkat about the conversation they had.

"Ya I told my office routine, my workload, how I travel and she too was sharing the same , her office gossips, her team mates, her project... " said Venkat by looking at the ceiling fan with a smiling face thinking about the time he spent with Sreeja. 

"Do you know she gave me water when my throat choked and asked if I was ok?" he continued

"Anyone would do the same. There is nothing romantic about it. What else did you guys talk? And for god sake don't get shy. I can't even tolerate it." said Subhi with an irritated tone.

"Our topic then went it to sports..... then ... "

"enough enough, just stop narrating the useless conversations of you both. Leave all that...did you get her number?"

" no di.." said venkat now looking at his sister's face with a frown." I don't know how to ask her number suddenly. What will she think of me?"

"Simply waste. No comments. Pcch..it's all my mistake for having too much of expectations from a 80's kid. I will get her number " said subhi who threw a pillow on him on went out.

1 week passed. Subhi asked her mom to get Sreeja's number and shared it with Venkat not after purchasing two kurtis, one earring, a sandal, and a bag as a bribe from him. It took two days for Venkat to talk with Sreeja over the phone. 

First day when he called she did not pick up as she was in meeting. When she tried calling again , he got busy and did not pick up. He again called her the next day thinking calling her at night would not be correct. 

The next day he got a message from her stating she will talk with him the next da due to the back to back meetings and heavy workload.

Third day, Venkat was eager to talk with her, but it was very formal talk for just 15 minutes  mostly about the previous delays that happened for them to talk. He also came to know that Sreeja is using a basic handset and not a smart phone and thought of presenting a new phone as an engagement gift.

one week later... 

Sreeja came home happily to share the good news about her confirmation on onsite travel next month. But her happiness was only for a short duration when her mother did not accept her plan .

"maa, why are you doing like this? I have been waiting for this for a longer time. I have even accepted the offer and they have started with the process"

" how can you say ok without asking our permission? Do you know your engagement is fixed for next month?"

"its ok, mom, I will return even before that, so there should not be any problem. It's just for a week"

"When are you going?"

"24th of June"

"Your engagement is fixed for 25th June. We all have decided and tomorrow we are going to fix the marriage hall,soon we will start with the invitations"

"what???maa , how come you all finalized it without asking me? I have plans. Move the date to July"

"You move your onsite plan before that. It is all fixed by them. We cannot change it."

"Maa. Don't irritate me, its no use talking to you. I will talk to dad. Paa, where are you?

Sreeja tried to convince her father to push the dates but he too denied it this time rather than supporting her which he usually does. He said, he would have considered it if it had been for a longer duration.

Venkat's parents want the engagement to be held as soon as possible as they had limited auspicious days before Aadi month. He too felt having the engagement early would give them some hope and assurance for Sreeja's marriage.

Sreeja felt very angry and even started to cry. She has a craze for onsite right from her childhood. There had been a time when there was a lot of onsite craze, that wherever she saw heard people stating they have gone to onsite either for studies, marriage, or work. She wanted to go onsite and work rather than going on dependent visa and sitting idle in the foreign country.

 Now feeling all her dream has shattered, she felt very irritated and got angry mainly on Venkat when she heard he is the one who suggested that date. Her parents even warned her from sharing anything about the onsite even to Venkat fearing it might lead to any problems in engagement.

The next day in office she tried asking for a change in the travel dates stating the engagement but was all in vain as her Manager did not approve of it and chose a different person instead. The following days, she did not talk much and sometimes skipped talking with Venkat stating silly reasons as she was in full angry mode with him. 

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