Almost Love (ON HOLD)

CHAPTER 18

On the flight back home all I could think about was how Simmi made me promise to contact Miranda Publishing and start fulfilling the little bucket list which I made on impulse.

But did you really make it on impulse? Haven't you wanted to do those things since forever?

Now is not the right time, i scolded my conscious.

The flight landed and I walked out of the airport to find the cab that Pawan had booked for me. He still hadn't come to pick me up but i was thankful that at least I didn't have to book a cab on my own.

I went straight to my mother in law's house to pick up my son. I rang the bell and heard Yuv's excited voice from behind the door. As soon as my mother in law opened the door, Yuv jumped up to hug me.

"Mummy, I missed you."

I ruffled his hair. "Mummy missed you too."

I bent down to touch my mother in law's feet. "How are you mummy? I hope Yuv didn't trouble you much." I said when Yuv jumped infront of the TV.

"No no, not at all. He's such a lovely child. I really enjoyed with him, you should send him over more often."

I smiled. My mother in law was fiercely independent. After Pawan's father's death, we had offered her to stay with us, her family, but she refused. She said that she enjoyed living in a society, there were really amazing facilities and huge parks but the best part was that there were so many aged people in the society with whom she had become great friends. Rather, she had asked us to come and stay with her but Pawan was rigid. He downright refused. He didn't want to leave the bungalow that his father had built.

"Yuv, come on. We're leaving!" I told him after having tea and chatting with my mother in law.

"No, mummy! Can't we stay some more?" Yuv groaned

"He's right, Meera. You should bring him more often. You know how lonely I can get and he's a good company. He even goes to the park down and has already made friends."

I ruffled Yuv's hair and he nodded. I felt a little bad for her. She was so old and alone and Pawan didn't even visit her that much. I promised to send Yuv to stay with her more often and even visit her myself and hugged her before leaving.

On the way back home I took an auto and he started chatting amiably.

"So, did you have fun at dadi's house?"

"Yes mumma. She made such tasty food for me and we used to stay till late at night watching movies. She even took me to the park and i made so many friends. Mummy, did you know there's a swimming pool as well? I even went swimming with my new friends." He excitedly explained.

I laughed. "Looks like you didn't miss me at all."

"No mumma, there will never be a day I won't miss you."

"What about when you grow up and get married? You'll have to love your wife more than me."

"If that is supposed to happen then I will never get married. I will always live with you."

I sighed. This was my boy. Mine. I was so proud of him and so happy that he thought so high of me. I quickly opened my purse and looked inside. "Look what I got for you for being a good boy and not troubling your dadi." I pulled out a chocolate.

"Thankyou." He said and pulled it out of my hand before opening. He broke a small piece and offered it to me.

"No, you have it."

"Just one bite, please? I know how much you love chocolates." He brought the piece closer to my mouth and i grinned before eating it.

"I love you."

"I love you mummy."

After I got home I quickly started preparing dinner for everyone as Pawan would soon come home from office. After dinner, I gave an extra big kiss to Yuv when he went to go to sleep and an image of Meeshu came to my mind.

The next day I woke up early and finished all my work after Yuv had gone to school and Pawan left for office. I quickly switched on the computer in the guest room and pulled up a chair. I typed Miranda Publishing House on the search bar before i could over think it.

I typed the number given on their website and taking a huge gulp of confidence, dialed their number.

"Miranda Publishing House. How may I help you?" A cheery voice of a young woman reached my ears.

"Hello, I read about your internship programme and I was hoping to get some more details about it." I said softly.

"Yes, of course. Let me transfer you to Mr. Kartik Goenka who's taking care of the internships. Can I get your name?"

"Yes. I'm Meera Singh... Singhania." I decided to use my maiden name just for precautions.

The line went on hold and about one minute later a cheery voice reached my ears. "Hello, Miss Meera?"

"Hello. I read about your internship." I repeated.

"Oh, yes. It's a very interesting programme for people interested in literature or even the publishing industry in specific. So, are you interested in the programme?"

"I— I'm actually not sure about it." I accepted. "I just wanted to know how.."

"Oh, don't worry. There's no compulsion for you to continue if you don't want to. A two month long batch is starting in two days. You can come that day and you'll be shown around the office and given a brief about everything. After that if you still want to continue you can give your name. And if you don't want to continue anymore, then that's fine as well." He said and eased my nerves.

"Oh, that's great. Thankyou so much!"

"No problem. So will we see you on Wednesday at 11 am?" He asked.

I nodded and then i face palmed when I realised he couldn't see me. "Yes. Thankyou again." And then we hung up.  

I couldn't stop the huge grin that broke on my face. Finally it felt like I was doing something worthwhile, something for myself. I couldn't wait to tell Simmi about this!

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