Anokhi Fitrat

Chapter 5

After sometime Manik came knocking into his cabin, saying "Bhai kya amazing khaana milta hai Mamagoto mein, maza hi aagaya. Their Khao Soi is too good".

Music was blasting in Kabir's cabin and it sounded like some really intense one was playing.

—------- BGM Demons from Imagine Dragon —--------------

"Waise tu kya kar raha hai?" asked Manik, when Kabir didn't respond to his earlier statement.

"Kuch nahi cricket khel raha hoon, khelega?" asked Kabir, sarcastically.

"Arrey tu itna irritate kyun ho raha hai, kis ne tera mood off kiya, mujhe toh laga abhi tak tu lunch wunch kar ke mast leta hoga sofe pe" commented Manik walking towards his desk spotting an untouched tiffin box.

"Ek min, tune abhi tak lunch nahi kiya? Ek second, aaj suraj kis disha se nikla, ki Kabir Agarwal ne lunch skip kar diya? Teri tabiyat toh kharab nahi?" said Manik bombarding him with questions.

"Just shut up Manik, bas apni bakwas bandh kar!" yelled Kabir, losing it and startling poor Manik who looked as confused as ever.

"Bhai, Kabir seriously bata kya hua?" asked Manik seriously trying to calm his friend down.

"Sorry, woh kuch nahi bohut kaam hai toh khaane ka time nahi mila aur haan humaare saath DP ke clients ne sign kar diya" announced Kabir, like its a casual thing.

"Kya!? Omg, that's great news Kabir" said Manik ecstatic and hugging Kabir.

"Ek min itni badi baad hui, aur tu sada hua shakal bana ke baitha hai? This is HUUUGE! We should celebrate" said Manik, looking at his friend who seemed in the least bit interested.

"Kabiraaaa kya ho kya gaya hai tujhe, lighten up bro!" continued Manik, shaking his friend up.

"Main Nishu ko cabin mein bulaata hoon ek min" said Manik excitedly.

Nisha walked into the cabin, a few seconds later and gave a polite smile to both Manik and Kabir which was reciprocated by only one of them. Before she could gauge anything, Manik approaches her saying, "Nishu humein DP ka client mil gaya, Kabir ke saath unki meeting thi aaj and they agreed to our terms and conditions". He hugged Nisha excitedly while Kabir gave him a death stare as if his day wasn't sloppy enough that he had to see this.

"That's so awesome. Congratulations, Kabir!" said Nisha smiling, holding her hand out of courtesy.

Kabir muttered thanks while continuing to glue his eyes to his laptop, pretending to be engrossed in work. "Yaar, hum teeno ko celebrate karna chahiye aaj" announced Manik excitedly.

"Main nahi aa sakta/sakti" yelled both Nisha and Kabir.

"Kyun, tum dono ke already plans hai?" asked Manik inquisitively.

"Nahi kyun aaj Mamagoto mein maine itna toosa itna toosa ki ab usse zyaada main dinner toh kya, kal ka lunch bhi skip kar loon" said Nisha, clutching her stomach.

Then it struck Kabir, of course, she went on a lunch date with Manik, no wonder he was in such a rush to leave early today. He felt like such a fool that he thought she would even think about having lunch with him, just because he had lunch with her on her first day. All these questions kept flooding his mind, "Were they dating each other? Manik would have told her if they were right? Wait, why did he care if they were dating or not? Why was he so both-"

"Hello, earth to Kabir! Bhai tera kya excuse hai?" asked Manik persistently.

"Aaj raat Maa ka birthday hai, Manik" said Kabir with a deadly tone in his voice, which Nisha had never heard him speak in.

"Oh I see, koi ni hum phir kabhi celebrate kar lenge, let's get back to work," said Manik, understanding the severity too quickly and dragging a confused Nisha out of Kabir's cabin.

Manik left her without any explanation about why Kabir was acting so odd. She wanted to ask Kabir what was up but decided against it. Why was he acting so weird? He seemed in a pretty jolly mood today morning but then what had changed from then to now. Anyway, she decided to park her thoughts and ask Kabir about it later in the evening when he drops her home. She immerses herself in work and keeps herself busy.

A few hours later, it's almost 6 pm and there has been no sign of Kabir, walking out of his cabin. Nisha wonders if she should go and check on him but quickly decides against it. She thinks he might be busy with work and lost track of time. It was okay and she didn't mind waiting, so she just sat back on her desk and pulled out a sketchbook from her drawer and started doodling in it.

Meanwhile, Kabir who had finally decided, he can't keep sitting at his desk and overthinking now grabs his bag and a whole bunch of files and his tiffin bag, all at once and makes his way out of the cabin, only to be surprised by a call from behind, "Kabir!". He turns around to find a smiling Nisha standing behind him and is confused as to if he's imagining her. He checks around to see no one else in the office and before he could conclude anything, Nisha asks, "Here let me help with some of those, aaj bohut kaam tha?" while grabbing his tiffin bag and a few files from the pile.

"Nahi, woh just lost track of time, lekin tum yahan?" said Kabir, wrapping himself around the fact that she was actually here.

"Main yahan matlab? Tumne hi toh kaha tha, environment, ek gaadi, I'll drop you. Oh! I guess I misunderstand I thought you'll drop me shaam ko bhi. I am so sorry—-" started Nisha, feeling sheepish about assuming things.

Kabir looked at her amazed, she had waited for him because he had told her he'd drop her, she hadn't even been upset for making her wait and there he was sulking in his cabin, wasting everybody's time. Feeling miserable about his actions he clarifies, "Nahi nahi, of course I meant it when I said I'll drop. Actually I am sorry I made you wait, I should have texted you ki aaj late hoga, really sorry".

"Arrey it's completely okay Kabir, but yeh batao tumhara tiffin bag itna bhaari kyun hai, tumhe aaj lunch nahi kiya?"

"Uh woh actually haan aaj time hi nahi mila toh main—-"

"Time nahi mila matlab, aise kaise, ek kaam karo tum chalo mere saath" she said, holding one of his hands and dragging him towards what looked like the direction of the break room.