Bombay Romance ♡ COMPLETED

[ 15 ] What is She Doing? ■

'Hello, Sir,' Gauri says, not knowing what else to do.

Amarnath blinks. 'Hello.'

Gauri realizes she ned to get out to retrieve the ball instead of just staring at him through the net. She pulls the gate and walks out of the enclosure.

Amarnath looks at her forest green polo shirt tucked into her high-waist skirt that ends mid-thigh. Her thin, light brown legs are on display which Amarnath consciously ignores as she walks towards him.

Amarnath has walked more than a kilometre looking around the club and isn't a bit out of breath. But now, just as she stands in front of him, his heart is thumping as if he has just finished a twenty-kilometre battle load run on a steep mountain slope. It has been two weeks since they met at the wedding.

He hands her the tennis ball, avoiding eye contact. She looks around, racking her brain.

'Are you here by yourself?' she asks.

'Ji nahi ... I came with my colleagues'

Gauri nods. 'I'm with Dad. Dad! Could you come here for a moment?'

Amarnath looks alarmed. What if he throws in questions like "What do you want?", or worse, "Why are you talking to my daughter?"

'My Dad, Dr. Kailash,' she hugs him sideways. 'He's a cardiologist. And Dad, he's Amarnath.'

'Oh, Amarnath! Hello! Hello!' Dr. Kailash shakes hands with him happily. 'Your full name?'

'Amarnath Duggal' 

'Age?'

Amarnath pauses.

'Dad, he's not your patient' Gauri reminds him.

'Sorry, sorry. Accha, why didn't you call, beta? Gauri was waiting all week.'

Amarnath is perplexed at this. Gauri winces. As if! Am I jobless or what? Dad makes me look like Hema Malini sulking near the phone set. She clears her throat loudly.

Dr. Kailash dutifully changes the topic. 'So, you are the DCP of the Crime Branch? Lots of work right?'

'Ji. Hota hain.'

Gauri plucks the tennis bat from her father's hands and darts to the sports equipment room across the pathway.

'What have you studied?' Dr. Kailash asks.

Amarnath looks at him. 'Political Science'

'Very good, very good. Where?'

'Delhi University'

'Good. Punjabi right?'

'Ji'

'Very good, very good. Listen Amarnath ... ' he starts slowly, leaning forward. 'Gauri might ask if she can have a pet dog after marriage. Just say yes even if you don't want to. Okay?'

Amarnath is at a loss for words. Dr. Kailash, who has his back facing the equipment room, doesn't realize Gauri is back within earshot. She barks something curtly at her father. Dr. Kailash says something defensive. Father and daughter speak in the same unrecognizable language for another minute. Dr. Kailash tells them about catching up with his friends in the dining area and departs.

'Tulu,' Gauri says, looking at a blank-faced Amarnath. 'My mother tongue. Do you know which region it belongs to?'