Bombay Romance ♡ COMPLETED

[ 02 ] Badass-ing ■

A lady in her late fifties walks into the office with the air of a bloodhound. She wears a crisp cotton saree, neatly pleated and pinned up at the shoulder; a round framed glass sits halfway up her nose. Her hair is grey with streaks of white hair across the locks. She makes a beeline towards her cabin.

Gauri instantly scrambles to her feet and catches up with her.

'Ma'am, I've prepared your schedule for tomorrow,' Gauri says breathlessly, reading out pointers from her spiral-bound notebook. 'I've already spoken to the Shramas. They're coming for a meeting tomorrow afternoon. Also, I did a detailed report on the void marriage of the Muslim Marriage Act, just like you mentioned earlier. It's got detailed pointers of th-'

'Turn the radio on.' The lady says and gets into her cabin, closing the door behind her.

Gauri blinks at the door and the notebook in her hand. She slowly trudges toward the tall teakwood radio stand. She turns the radio on and adjusts the volume to an audible but non-distracting level. A sweet female voice greets the nation to the Geet Vihar program and announces that it is Rajesh Khanna's movie songs for today's episode. Then, Kishore Kumar's addictive voice fills the room.

Pyaar Ki Galiyaan, Baago Ki Kaliyaan ...

Sab Ragaraliyaan, Puchh Rahi Hain ...

It is the chartbuster song where Rajesh Khanna sits in an open jeep and flirts with Sharmila Tagore in a train amidst Darjeeling's sleepy lush green hills. It makes even the hardest of hearts long for the warm sunshine of love.

Roger looks assertively at Gauri as she slinks back to her seat, defeated.

'You don't care about the Sharmas. Or the Muslim Marriage Act.' he says confidently, shaking his head.

Gauri frowns at him.

'I know this buttering technique of yours. You'd do it to that Social Science teacher too. What do you want from Vidhya?'

Gauri slumps her shoulders a little. 'A recommendation letter.'

'Recommendation letter?' Roger repeats.

She nods. 'I wanna apply to Harvard University. They want two recommendation letters. It'll look impressive if I have one from an employer instead of just professors.'

'Hmmm .... USA or UK?' Roger sounds impressed.

'US' Gauri shrugs, not without a little pride. 'I've already studied in the UK. I went to the UCL for six months. Student exchange program.'

'Wow, did you like it?'

'I loved it' she blinks. 'That's why I wanna go abroad again. I don't wanna stay here.'

'But you should stay here with Vidhya. Your bitchy attitudes are just made for each other.'

Gauri slaps a file on his shoulder.

'It was a compliment.' Roger rubs his arm. The continues to tick half past four.

'Hedge?' The lady calls out from her cabin.

Gauri gets up in a flash and rushes. The papers on Roger's table fly and he has to hold them in place.

'Yes, Ma'am?' Gauri says in her most polite tone. The lady waves her head. Gauri closes the cabin door and walks to her senior, Vidhya Bhushan's table.