On the Brink of falling in Love (On Hold)

"I'll drop you home"

Techozip Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

The "tac-tac" sound of keyboard keys slowly faded as the clock struck 7. The office had by now worn the look of a dark, ghostly building accompanied by an eerie silence. A silence that had replaced the hustle and bustle of the day. Even the ever-noisy cafeteria was left deserted. Apart from the director and the HR manager, who still worked in their cabins, the rest of the crew had wrapped up their work, with a child-like excitement as they looked forward to the extra long weekend they had ahead of them. Diwali. The festival of lights brings happiness in the lives of people, they say. True enough, a five-day long weekend for Diwali did bring happiness. The happiness of no work. No stress. No traffic. Just as Srishti looked around to realise that the office was empty, Preeti, her colleague, who had also wrapped up for the week, popped into her cubicle.

"Arre yaar Srishti, it's already 7! We got to be leaving girl. You still working today?"

"Um.. Preeti, I really have to get this done. You do know that am going to my aunt's place this Diwali and am certain I'll not be able to work from home. Also, I really don't have much time after the holidays before I submit my project."

Preeti frowned on listening to Srishti but nevertheless, did not argue for it was true. Srishti had loads of work to be done before she could hand over her completed project to her senior and leave. Srishti had completed a degree in Bachelors of Commerce and completed a degree in Masters of Computer Applications. She then did a Bachelors of Education course and pursued her passion for teaching, as a professor in her own college. However, the burning desire to gain more experience and knowledge pushed her to take up projects with software companies and IT firms on contract periods as a freelancer. She went to college in the morning and managed to rush back to her projects in the afternoon, keeping her busy and occupied throughout the day. Though her father was not very happy with her stressful schedule, he still encouraged her realising her enthusiasm to learn and achieve more. Her mother had been her support system throughout. She would understand her daughter even when the latter never voiced out anything. Life was bliss.

Greeting her for the festive season and promising to catch up the following week, Preeti bid bye to Srishti as she continued to work on her project. The major programming part was done as per the client's request and it only had to be checked for errors. A detailed presentation and file had to be submitted along with the software and Srishti had still not started the paperwork. Once she had finished correcting the errors in the programme, she checked it one last time. Smiling tiredly on realising that the programme was running fine, she rubbed her temples out of exhaustion. Deciding to do the paperwork after the long weekend, she began to wrap up her things. She had gone through a very long day and her energy levels seemed very low as she slowly, in a snail-like pace, grabbed her things. Just as she was done packing, she turned around only to be startled by the presence of a man. Srishti almost shrieked out of fright as the man began laughing his guts out on looking at her petrified face.

"Jospeh! Oh God, you moron! You scared the life out of me!! Why in the world do you have to stand behind me like a freaking devil in the dark? Have you lost your mind?" she continued to rant out her frustration at the "devilish" lad who still had not come back from his laughter ride.

"You looked so funny Srishti..hahaha..and ya, I was just going to leave the premises while I saw you up still. So thought will see if you're done", he chuckled as he managed to respond in between his "earth-shattering" laughs.

"Thanks, am done. But why were you staying up past office hours?", she asked as she saw the old office clock display a quarter past eight. Wasn't it only the director and the manager who worked till so late?

"I had a few pending reports to be completed and submitted to the manager. So I thought I might just stay back and get it done before we retire for the long weekend", he replied as the two got into the elevator of the building.

"Gosh! I do understand the director being a workaholic. But it's definitely weird to see a manager who works this hard. I mean, I have never seen anyone get so excited for work. Like, he's the last one to leave the building every day!", Srishti voiced her thoughts about their manager, a little stout man, in his early fifties.

Shocked?

People, don't judge anybody! It's okay to gossip! Though not all the time, Srishti did seldom gossip about her office colleagues with Preeti and Joesph. She would just let herself lose and laugh off at the juicy details she managed to hear.

"I'll tell you his truth. He's scared of his wife. He lands up first at office every morning and is the last one to leave. He ensures that he has minimum encounters with her. Guess, that lady might be thrashing him up every time she sees him", Jospeh said with such a 'I-am-serious' tone that Srishti burst out laughing hard, her stomach aching and tears blurring her vision. By now, they had walked to the parking lot and as she wiped the tears that had welled up in her eyes,

"I'll drop you home", Joseph offered.

Joseph was three years younger than Srishti and they had hit off as good friends in the very first meet. He worked in the finance department and was a junior analyst. He loved his job and was a very lively person. He had been referred to as the "chocolate boy" of the office and to tag along, he effortlessly flirted with every woman at work. He tried some "cheesy" lines and filmy dialouges on Srishti too, but she knew they were completely harmless. She would just laugh along and smack his head lightly in return.

As they drove past the night traffic, the cold wind hitting their faces, they talked about work, projects and the upcoming long holiday. Joseph, who never had a connection to traditional practices of Diwali, him being a Christian, stuck to his plans of simply relaxing and bursting crackers with his friends. Srishti had to leave the following morning to her aunt's place. Her aunt, her mother's sister to be precise, had called them over for the festive season and her invitation was something that could never be denied.

As the bike pulled over outside her house, Srishti got off the bike and thanked Joseph for the ride before he drove off. As she entered through the gate, she saw her father at the doorstep, giving stern, death glares towards his daughter's "bike-driver" while her mother smiled at her husband's antics from behind. Though her father trusted Srishti a lot, he could not help but be protective of her in front of the world. To add upon, knowing that Joseph was a Christian and was of the flirtatious kind, no amount of convincing from the mother and the daughter could change his opinion on the boy.

Ah, the orthodox, over protective father!

Ignoring her father's shooting daggers, Srishti walked inside only to be ushered by her mother to the table where her dinner had been laid. Her mother affectionately patted her head as she gobbled down the food in no time. She was really hungry and tired. She mentally groaned upon realising that she had to start packing her bags for their trip the next day. Her mother, who by now had understood the train of thoughts running through Srishti's head announced,

"I have already packed your luggage. Don't stress yourself further and don't work tonight any more. Just get some good sleep. We have to leave tomorrow morning."

Srishti couldn't help but give a grateful smile as she mouthed a 'thank you' to her mother. She wished her parents and returned to her room. After checking and replying to a few mails and messages, she rolled over her bed to catch some sound sleep.