"Welcome home sir, welcome bhabhi ji." The owner of the house SamaiNa came to see, greeted them zealously, pushing himself aside to let them enter his heavenly abode.
"Hi." They responded to him with a polite smile, parking their respective footwear outside the door.
"Aaiye baithiye." He insisted, his body settling on the plush grey sofa.
Sameer and Naina sat beside each other on the adjoined settee, perusing the lavish furniture which they saw on the internet posted pictures. It looked the same, with no difference, just a slight error that they didn't see, there was a small crack on the front wall but it can get repaired.
The owner's wife offered the couple two glasses of homemade rose sharbat with a soft smile, and at first, they refused to take but she kept on insisting which forced SamaiNa to accept the mild frozen beverage. As they took a sip, they glanced at each other, and then sipped again, though a little noisily. Meanwhile, the impeccable man Mr.Ashish Verma the holder of this home kept talking with the prospective buyers, engaging them in good topics.
"Inse miliye. Yeh meri wife, Mrs.Garima Verma." He introduced the woman in her 40s with a sweet smile on his face, and she folded her hands, mouthing a gentle "Namastey."
"Namaste." Naina greeted her in a soft voice, finding the woman pretty good by her tone and appearance.
"Aapka profession kya hain waise?" Ashish asked the young boy.
"I am a software engineer," Sameer replied to him with an inevitable shine in his eyes, his smile extending bit by bit as he saw glimmers in the owner's eyes.
"Oh waah waah, bahut hi badhiya hain ji, engineers bahut note chaap rahe hai aaj kal, pehley ton unpe kitne jokes bante the, hasi nahi ruk pati thi" Ashish said joyfully, making his wife feel extremely weird as he was indirectly insulting the young boy's profession because of his nonchalant remark.
"Haa par ab humein izzat se bulaya jata hai." Sameer chuckled, keeping a small smile alive on his lips.
"Bilkul, aur aap kya karti hai bhabhi ji?" Ashish turned to ask the young girl, sounding eager to learn about her career choice.
"I am a wedding planner," Naina said normally, wondering why he was addressing her as Sister-in-law. For god's sake, she was younger than him.
"Kya baat hai, meri beti bhi pehle wedding planner hi banna chahti thi par baad me uska mann badal gaya. Now she is in Pune, fashion designer ban rahi hai." Ashish spoke with a prideful smile on his face, and SamaiNa bobbed their heads.
"Kuch lege aap dono?" Garima asked the couple in a tender voice.
"Nahi nahi, hum yahan sirf ghar dekhne aaye hai." Naina was quick enough to refuse the soft-spoken woman.
"Phir bhi thoda sa kuch kha lijiye, meri wife aloo methi ke pakode bahut ache banati hai," Ashish said gleefully, looking at his spouse with a bright smile on his face.
"Next time, abhi nahi, humein bahut deri ho rahi hai office ke liye," Sameer replied to the excited human as politely as he could, pushing an apologetic smile to his wife.
"Chalo theek hai, aaiye main ghar dikhata hoon." Understanding their urgency to leave for work. Ashish stood up and so did SamaiNa.
They took the whole tour of the grandeur home, loving the detailed and comprehensive demonstration given by both Ashish and Garima. Sameer and Naina were genuinely impressed with the decent interiors speaking richness through their shades and the thoughtful color coordinations sprayed at walls, ceilings, and railings seemed pleasing to the eye. Ashish was telling the young couple how it took him an immense amount of hard work and loss of sleep to build his dream home with constant support from his wife and daughter. He worked relentlessly for years and finally fulfilled the dream he saw as a teenage boy. SamaiNa intently heard him, smiling in response, and his story somewhat felt relatable to Sameer as he remembered how he used to sleep only for three/fours while studying for engineering because he didn't get time in the entire day to learn anything, owning to the job of giving tuitions to kids to run his house.
