AN INEQUITABLE LOVE

Courtyard Bakers, @11

Sidharth
Morning!

Shehnaaz
Hi! Morning! Kaise ho?

Sidharth
Umm..Nice.
Wanna catch up today?

Shehnaaz
Uh. Ohkay. What time? Where?

Sidharth
Courtyard Bakers, @11

Shehnaaz
Ohk. Talk to you later.
Your motuman is too lazy to get dressed now.

Sidharth wouldn't have asked for a better start of the day. The first thing he saw was Shehnaaz's whatsapp status and thought of texting. To his surprise he got an instant reply from her and he was really happy about it.

This was usually the time when Shehnaaz had to wake up Shrey for his school. Everyday, she starts waking him up an hour before the actual time and that's how he manages to catch the school bus in time.

Shrey was constantly humming some song, the same line of some song, trying to figure out the next line. He asked Shehnaaz as she buttoned up his shirt. " Mumma", she said in a feeble voice. He called her again when she didn't reply to him; yet again in the same feeble voice. Hahaha! Wondering why the dynamite seemed so silent that morning? Let's see..
He whined. And here was the glare!

"Kya ho raha hai? Seedhe khade nahi hua jaata?!", Shehnaaz almost screamed when he started sobbing. "Ab kya hogya", she hid her face in her palms. She should control her anger, she thought. She couldn't help but scream at Shrey every time she had a fight with Rishabh. Well, she just had him who was close to her and she did vent her anger on the little one unknowingly. She felt bad for him. "What happened?", she asked after calming down.

Shrey hadn't been talking to her since then and that was bugging Shehnaaz. He did not even kiss her cheeks just like he always did before leaving for his school. It surely would turn out to be a bad day for her because she had been cribbing and shouting since she woke up. "Ahh! Half an hour!", she exclaimed. It was already half past ten and Shehnaaz still stood in the kitchen in her night suit, trying to decide what to cook for lunch. She quickly chopped two potatoes and put them in the pressure cooker with some green peas, chopped onions, tomatoes, some spices and a half glass of water. Makki ki roti would be the quickest thing she could make with the sabji and even Shrey loved having it with some ghee brushed on it.

Shehnaaz texted Sidharth that she would reach late by some 15 minutes and also apologised for the same. "It's completely fine. I am stuck at work too. Will reach by 11.30", Sidharth replied. She was relieved. Selecting a perfect outfit, Shehnaaz quickly ran to take her bath.

Sidharth was in a very good mood as he reached the office. He had been thinking about his meet with Shehnaaz the whole way, mentally preparing himself on what to say when they meet. That didn't seem to last long and the sole reason for that being Rishabh Chawla. Sidharth remembered him for they met each other in Goa and here they had another encounter. Their companies being two of the most successful ones in their fields, they had decided to come up together for a project. Hardly did Sidharth know how a jerk he was. The things that he spoke and the way he spoke them were enough to give one a clear picture of how actually the man was.

" Are wah wah wah! Sidharth ji, I have to say this now. Aap bhi kam nahi ho. Keeping such good women around you. Maan na padega aapko. Kabhi humme bhi batao from where do you get them", he spoke.