Anokhi Fitrat

Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Nisha was getting a tour from Revati, who was explaining to her the various departments and introducing her to the people in charge. Nisha was quite pleased with most of the details that Revati was imparting her and was quite excited to get her desk and get to work.

"Nisha, so this is your desk and the tech department is going to set up your laptop and essentials in a bit. So until then feel free to settle down. I'll mail you over the details which Manik has asked me to forward you, regarding the product and the company. As far as our work culture is concerned, there are no time constraints, people come and go as they please, and take their own lunch breaks, and as long as the work is done on time, we don't question people's schedules. Anyway, I'll let you get to it" says Revati finally and bids her goodbye, making her way to her own desk.

Nisha for the time being looks at her dainty desk and starts rummaging into her bag to get her stuff out. She pulls out a water bottle, a notebook and a pen, sticky notes, an idol of Ganesha, a bag of chocolates, a lunchbox, and finally a family photo frame with her parents, grandparents, and her sister smiling at her.

Just as she finishes placing everything in its place, the IT guy Aravind arrives and sets up her laptop and monitor along with the peripherals. Thanking him, she goes to login into her accounts and starts sifting through her emails. She connects her AirPods to her phone and starts playing music.

—---- BGM (Aaj Kal Zindagi from Wake Up Sid) —--

She finds a bunch of emails from Manik, for her to go through the company documents and other business proposals.

Nisha delves into them and fast forward to an hour later of making notes, and understanding things, she gazes at her watch to see it's 2 pm already. She was late for lunch, she looks around to notice that some of the desks were already empty. She thinks to ask Revati if she can join her for lunch but sees her returning back from lunch with a bunch of office colleagues.

Sighing, she walks towards the lunch room and gazes at the almost empty tables except for one, which seemed to be occupied by two people deep in discussion. One of whom she was familiar with, Kabir and the other one she wasn't aware of. Not wanting to interrupt them, she takes a seat at a table in the corner of the room which is pushed towards a wall, facing the window.

Just as she's about to open her tiffin, someone interrupts her from behind, "Hey, do you mind if I join you?". She looks up to see the same familiar pair of piercing eyes that belong to Kabir. "Oh hi Kabir, of course. I thought you were occupied with someone else," said Nisha, looking for the other person who was with him earlier.

"Oh nahi, it was just a small work thing Tanya had to discuss, I don't usually like talking about work during my lunch breaks, but I guess it was unavoidable. Anyway, how come you are having late lunch, usually iss time pe toh sab apne afternoon nap ki tayyari karte hai" asked Kabir, with a smile on his face, amused by his joke.

"Well, I guess it's a first-day thing, Manik ke emails padhte padhte time ka pata hi nahi chala" shrugged Nisha, opening her tiffin.

"Do you want a paratha?" offers Kabir, pushing his tiffin towards her, "Hey, no it's alright, tumhaare liye kam padega" refused Nisha going back to her box.

"No seriously, I always get extra, so that I can offer it to people, aadha time toh Manik hi sab khatam karta hai, so please I insist, take it" pushed Kabir, trying to convince her.

"Okay, if you say so. I would offer my sandwich to you, but it's definitely too basic in front of the paranthe" dismisses Nisha, taking a paratha from his box.

"No I don't mind, I love PB and J. And it's been a while since I've had it," said Kabir enthusiastically taking one half of the sandwich, while she looked at him in surprise. She knew he only took it to be polite but smiled in return, appreciating the gesture.

"Omg, the paratha is really nice. I haven't had ghar ke paranthe in a really long time. Reminds me of my mom's cooking." said Nisha, going from happy and sad at the same time. Before he could comment on the sadness in her eyes, she masked it quickly and continued to relish the food.

"Well, thank you. Mujhe nahi pata tha mere haath ka khaana, Manik ke alawa bhi koi aur tolerate karega" said Kabir, feeling rather pleased with himself today.

"Yeh paranthe aap ne banaye?" asks Nisha, in awe.

"Haan ji, and please aap mat kaho, tum ya tu bolo. Kaafi old waali feeling aati hai" says Kabir pleading.

"Okay, tumhaare paranthe bohut sahi bane hai, thank you for sharing it with me. Tumne apni mom se seekha?" asked Nisha curiously, thinking it a logical question.

Suddenly, the mood of the room shifted. Kabir's eye which were twinkling at her compliment had a different melancholy in them, but before she could interject and ask. He closed his eyes in order to gather himself saying, "Nahi woh actually Bangalore mein shift hone ke baad, survival ke liye khud se seekhna padha, toh bas after eating a bunch of jale hue roti, here we are" trying to lighten the mood again.

As much as he tried to hide it, Nisha could sense the uneasiness that had built in the air. But she decided against, poking him for answers. "Bechara Manik, usko kitne jale hue roti khaane padhe honge" commented Nisha jokingly, diverting the topic to saturate the mood.

"Haha very funny," said Kabir rolling his eyes at her sympathy for Manik, taking another bite of the PB and J in his hand. The unknown feeling comes up again when she talks about Manik.

"So tum aur Manik, kaafi gehri dosti lagti hai" says Kabir, attempting to make small talk.

"Yes, hum log school se saath mein hai, he was my best friend then, but uske baad, I guess like every friendship, city changes and you drift apart, but we kept in touch and jab uska call aaya to join Kin, it didn't really take much to say yes" explained Nisha, smiling thinking about the old days.

"Par tum Manik ko kaise jaante ho?" asked Nisha curiously.

"Hum dono college mein mile and then after college, he wanted to open a company and I wanted to do something exciting as well, and 4 years later here we are," said Manik, gesturing the space around him with his hands.

Nisha nodded acknowledging it and smiled warmly at him. As if something struck her, she looked at the time and said, "Kabir, as much as this has been fun, I need to get back to work, so catch you another time, thanks for the paratha!" said Nisha, hurriedly and scurried out, packing her things.

Before he could react to anything, she was gone. He shook his head at her antics and smiled. There was something about her he couldn't quite place, that made him feel good. Dismissing his thoughts once again, he went back to work.

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