𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐠𝐞 ✔️

Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

“Please. Come in,” Came the manly voice from the other side of the door, the receptionist wished me luck once again before she walked away. I stood for a few seconds, trying not to be nervous or scared. It’s just an interview, there’s nothing to be anxious about, I told myself. The confident Ishita was lost somewhere and I badly needed her to be here.

Inhaling a long breath, I held the knob and stepped in. I saw a man sitting on his table with his back facing me, I haven’t seen his face but I could see he is a muscular guy with five feet ten height according to me. He was talking to someone on the telephone at his desk, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or something but when I heard his Punjabi accent, I felt myself feeling easier and less anxious.

I was not sure why, was it because of our same nationality? Perhaps. Whatever the reason was, I am grateful for it.

I kept my head down and locked my hands in front of me, I waited for him to be done with his phone call, I didn’t like to interrupt anyone, who knows it could be an important call as well, even though the language he’s using is not English or either Hindi, but a foreign one which I have never heard before.

He laughed all of a sudden, “Fine, I will come there next summer, yes, I promise! Yep, bye, see ya,” And he hung up his call.

I looked up at him and at the same moment, he turned around, making him lock his darkest brown orbs with mine, he had a perfectly trimmed beard shaped, a pretty eagle-type nose, and shady thick eyebrows, he had long eyelashes which were giving his face, a fuller look.

“Are you….?” He asks, breaking eye contact, he moves to sit behind his desk on the chair as he gestured to me to sit on one of the opposite chairs. 

As I took my seat, I introduced myself, “I am Ishita Mane, I came here to give an interview for the assistant manager post,” He stretched his hand to me for a handshake, and we gently shook hands, there was a hardness in his palm that didn’t go unnoticed by me, it might be because of lifting too much weight at the gym, clearing indicating his fitness.

“Good to meet you, Ishita, I am Hardeep Singh, mostly everyone calls me Hardy in short form, so you can go by it as well. And where are you from?” He asked, letting his Original Punjabi accent take over the tone of his voice like he was comfortable showing me his Indian-origin side.

“Maharashtra, but I have been living in the US for the past three years,” I replied to him.

He nodded thoughtfully, “Are you Marathi?” 

“Yeah,” I gave him a short reply.

“Good, by my name and accent, I think even infants could guess my originality,” He joked, making me chuckle at his statement, I put a strand of my hair behind my ear as he continued, “But my parents shifted here from India when I was in my mother’s womb for my papa ji’s business and I grew up here only, but I visit Punjab quite often in a year,”