Enchanted Pursual (Complete)

Chapter 3

Mitali Jain

For years our family had a trend like any other family would have during summers. But many other families in Mumbai had something which would involve long vacations to different parts of the country, some who had home or knew their natives would land up there and the lucky or well planned ones would be on a flight by the third week of May.

But for us we had something completely different. Ours would include going out to the farm house of ours that was about 2 km away from the boundaries of what people called Mumbai, and Geographically outside Palghar or Thane district.

All in all this place was something, where we would end up for a long vacation, that would start off from Friday evening, with me and my mom sitting out in the garden, basking in the cool winds, blessed by the canopy of trees that was spread around the whole premises and the sweet and enticing smell of the wet soil.

This was pretty much what we would do the entire weekend, and finally return back home.

Hence when that weekend, when I was finally and officially introduced to them by my brother, it was conflicting to decide what kind of people they could possibly be.

The place and the weekends of summers were so private affair for me that, to share it with someone whom I was meeting for the first time was something really disturbing. But Adjusting was something which I was told, I should learn.

It had always made me wonder, if my mom would have known of my dilemma, if not for my perfect pretence of acceptance she would have surely said,

"The power of being girl is, you don't live just one life, in this life... you are a mixture of many roles and hence posses so many abilities, and for the right role, it is what the time and your wit will decide automatically for you."

Hence that weekend, dressed in my Capri a loose t-shirt, with my hair tied up in a bun, I met him again. This time though, I knew his name, what and who he was.

"Why is it always that you forget to greet me? It somehow wounds me Mitali!" Daksh stood there in the verandah of our farm house, His features so different from the ones back in Gallery.

"You guys know each other?" my brother butted in as the other companions stood there with their eyebrows raised.

"Daksh was there at the Gallery during the week." I informed and then looked back at Daksh. His eyes still strained at me as if he was trying to decode something.

"I hope you got the list of the artists?", his head tilted a bit while he leaned on the bars that held the extended roof of the verandah.

"Yes, I have forwarded it to my boss, once I decide for the paintings I will mail you the price as well."

"Meet me and give it to me."

"Huh?" I asked taken by surprise again. This person seemed to have surprised me by his words not just once, but a number of times and it somehow made me laugh.

" You know if you wouldn't have been as decent as you were on our first meet, I would have taken you to be some sort of pervert." I retorted quickly, my voice came out that of like an offended person.

For a long time, I was called to be one of those who didn't had any bone in their tongue, though there isn't one, but that was a phrase which my mom had always pulled up on me when I just couldn't point out when to say what.

But the way on that humid afternoon everyone had stood their gob smashed looking at me with their eyes wide, my mom ready to bash my head in anything that was nearby, though I came to realization that I really needed to work out on it, I saw him.