Journey Of Strokes

CHAPTER 8

Aarohi POV

I woke up early as I and Ayush decided to drop Bhai off at the airport. The flight is at 9:00, so we start at 6:30, and it takes an hour to reach the airport. We quickly get into Ayush's car, load Bhai's suitcase, and drive towards the airport. We blast music and enjoy this feeling for the last time for a while. After about half an hour, I take out the box that Mom has packed for us. I open it to see there were sandwiches. I hand one to Bhai who is in the passenger seat and take one for myself. While eating, I simultaneously feed Ayush also.

We bid our goodbyes, promising to meet soon. Ayush drops me off at my office and leaves. I take out my phone and message in the family group chat that I reached the office. While walking towards the elevator, I see Avika also waiting for the elevator, so I go and stand beside her. She smiles at me. "Good morning, mam" she wishes. "Good morning, Avika"  We reach our floor, and I go to my cabin while Avika sets her bag on her table and gets the tablet for my schedule.

Today is another busy day with a lined-up meeting and visit to the printing company with Mr. Mehta. I take the drafts and go into the meeting room to meet the artists individually so we can have a one-on-one discussion and make changes if necessary. I only decided to meet 3 artists today as I had time until the afternoon.

All the meetings were done by 12:30 p.m.,  I ordered my lunch to my cabin as I had to arrange the changes made in today's meeting. I'm happy with the meeting, as I could see the passion of the artists for their work and their willingness to take some constructive criticism. I make a Word doc with all the details, which I took on my notepad. As I was finishing up the last bit, I hear a knock on my door. I call out, "Come in."  Thinking it was Avika, I say, "I will send you the Word doc of the changes. Make sure it –" I stop mid-sentence, I notice that it was not Avika but Mr.Mehta who knocked. I look down a bit embarrassed but quickly compose myself when I see that Mr. Mehta has a smile on his face. "Sorry, I thought it was Avika" I say once he comes inside my cabin. "No problem. Are you ready to go?" Mr. Mehta asks and I nod my head while packing my laptop and notebook with materials in my bag. 

We go down together, and as I wait outside for Mr. Mehta to bring his car, I see a security uncle. I smile. "Uncle ji app ne khana kha leya kya?" (Uncle did you have your lunch )  I ask, and he nods " ha beteya hum ne kha leya aur app?" (yes child I have eaten and you ?). I nod, and as I am about to ask something, I hear the car horn, and Mr. Mehta's car emerges from the parking. I say goodbye to uncle and climb into the car. As I didn't have my car, I had no option but to go with Mr. Mehta.

Throughout the car ride, we had small talks here and there, but most of the time I was busy looking at the materials. We reach the company, where we are led to the meeting room by one of the staff. The director was already present, so he extends his hand for a shake hand. I wait for Mr. Mehta to shake first, but he signals me to go ahead first. We shake hands and jump into the topic of the meeting.

The meeting lasted about 2 hours, and the final decision for the book cover page, the font, and the style of the book were decided and the contract was signed along with the Non-disclosure agreement (NDA). We bid our goodbyes and walk to the car. As I was about to reach the door handle, Mr. Mehta already opening the door. I thank him and sit inside the car.

As we start driving, Mr. Mehta asks, "Ms. Roy do you like to listen to music?". I give him a polite smile and answer him, "I do like listening to music ". He smiles at me, and soon the car is filled with soft music. As we drove, I tap my feet to the music while looking at the scenery changing from the green fields to buildings slowly emerging in the distance.

My trance was suddenly broken by my phone ringing, and Mr. Mehta lowers the music volume.    " Ya!" I say in a lower tone as soon as I answer the call. "I left your car in the parking lot"  Manya's voice fills the car. " why? Tu kaise jayegi? ( how will you go ?) " I ask her. "It was on the way to work and my colleague is picking me up " she answers as if it was common knowledge for me. "Fine, message me when you get there." I reply, and we end the call. The car falls into silence before Mr. Mehta speaks, "Do you still have work at the office? I can drop you home if you want, as I didn't see your car in the parking lot today." I quickly refuse him "No, no! I still have work at the office and my friend just brought my car to the office. Thank you for the offer, Mr. Mehta". He just laughs it off and points at the watch on his wrist before saying "As working hours are done and we are not in the office right now, I prefer you call me Karan." I just give him a polite smile, as I didn't know how to respond. There was no further conversation, only music filling the silence.