"Lalita, make the curry little less spicy, have been having lunch outs since last three days " instructed Ananya as she sipped her evening ginger tea while watching flix. She had been waiting for Lalita to finish the chore so that she can drop the bomb.
"I am leaving Didi " said Lalita while picking up her plastic bag kept near the entrance door.
"Ah, wait" Ananya waived her to stop as she paused her video on mobile screen.
Lalita's Yellow with bold green leaves saree looked beautiful on her. The sweat glistened on her forehead as she waited for Ananya to speak.
"Lalita, I will be leaving the city in a fortnight, have got another job in a different city, wanted to inform you fifteen days prior so that you have ample time to search another job” smiled Ananya.
Lalita's face fell. "Didi, why what happened”
“Got a better Job” Ananya gave a short reply to set the boundary for no further probing.
“Oh, the house was nicely decorated with everything in place, never thought that you would leave the place so soon, Because of you I did not take up another work which was offered to me a week back. They were paying more “She finished in an almost accusing tone.
Ananya gave a hard look but immediately retracted to reluctant and forced smile with guilt written on her face. She had no reason to feel this way but still she felt.
Lalita left immediately with a sad face. With all their banters and little lies aside, both of them had an invisible bond. Lalita was at peace in her house as Ananya hardly ever poked her nose in her work and Ananya was fond of her as she loved the hair massage accompanied with little gossips given by Lalita.
A week had passed and whole week she was busy winding up her work, clearing her dues and other paper work in the office. It was her last day in the office.
"Ananya, better email me all the reconciliations you were working upon, I don’t want to restart with another person all over again " mentioned her reporting boss while crossing her bay. He immediately waved a fellow colleague to come with him and took no notice of Ananya who was busy clearing her desk drawer. The boss behaved as if it was not her last working day and he meant business as usual. The reluctance shown by her colleagues to bid her teary-eyed farewell bruised her ego. Aditya acted distant ever since she had disclosed her news about her engagement in her what's app office friends’ group. He seemed cold and Ananya missed his little cares.
"Hi" bounced Surabhi from no where. She handed Ananya a little gift and hugged her.
"So, all set " quipped Surabhi.
"Yes...little errands here and there...will be leaving the city in a week."
“Which company”
“Some company”
Surabhi hadn't been really rude to her but Ananya never felt comfortable around her. The small gesture made by her today did not change her opinion. Despite the mandatory farewell lunch outs nobody seemed to really care about her last day in the office. She felt nostalgic while crossing the office building one last time. She waved for the cab and stared at the road and shops on the roads with a heavy heart. This was her routine and now she was probably catching the cab one last time.
As she opened the door of her house, she felt drained. Aditya did not wish her goodbye and she felt hurt. Hurt, disappointed or empty or all of the emotions at once.
She threw her bag on the sofa and went straight to take bath. Lalita had made her favourite pulao and the aroma did not lift her mood either.
" Didi...your mobile phone is ringing"
"Lalita, I can hear, don’t bother" she yelled mildly at her and immediately felt sorry for her rudeness.
All her clothes were strewn away in all directions. A carton full of discarded clothes was kept in a corner which she meant to give away to Lalita.
"Didi, the ladle has lost its shape and the pan has a broken handle, do you need to take it away or would you give to me? "
"All yours " smiled Ananya
The bell rang and she heard the broker at door.
He had apparently brought a prospective tenant to examine the house. Ananya fumed. Her things were all over the house. She disapproved this behaviour of broker to presume that he could barge in any time without giving her at least a call. She politely turned him away and told them to come tomorrow.
Ananya read her offer letter gain. She had its hard copy in her hand. One last use of the office printer. She scrutinised the contents once again. The package offered was equal to what she was getting in her present job but the company was much smaller and job profile was not as per her industry experience. She felt a lump in her throat. With all her ties severed from the current office the decision to join a new company was now irreversible. She felt agitated and opened a job portal site and applied to many jobs in a jiffy. A slight thumping in her chest was beginning to make her restless. Her relationship with her mother had deteriorated.
As she sat in the waiting area at the airport with a cup of coffee in her hand, she felt weak. She was an independent girl paying her own bills, running her own house, snapping back at people who slighted her. But still felt like a coward. Her parents were not happy with her for leaving her present job. She decided to remain quiet and not explain herself to her parents. She remembered all those towards whom she had not been so kind in the past, but was surprised to discover that she did not have any remorse for her blunt behaviour. Her phone rang.
“Yes Mumma, internal checking done, it’s still good two hours, ill go and check around the shops, it’s screaming SALE everywhere”
“It was not my fault Mumma, I am hanging up”
She looked around. There was no one in plain sight whom she knew. She shuddered to think about her now called off engagement. She more so felt humiliated because the engagement was called off by “HIM” citing incompatibility. She felt angry all the more because the engagement was called off because he found her suffocating. He just did not call off the engagement he gave “specific reasons” while she chose to keep quiet gracefully, which she now regretted, without getting provoked to counter accuse. Her graceful demeanour through all this drama was not even appreciated by anyone. She was too numb to note that someone pointed out so many flaws in her which she did not even know that they existed in her. May be there were some but who doesn’t have? Her mother tried to teach her about the corrective measures she should take. That is when she lost her confidence for a brief time lapse. Through all this bitterness she thought about Aditya for a moment who found none of these “specific qualities” in Ananya. Ananya was anything but HERSELF in the office. As tears welled up in her eyes She responded to the boarding call and walked towards the queue as if two heavy stones had been tied on her foot. She felt a little cowardly but a thought about Aditya, who was so distant and mildly rude to her off late, boosted her confidence. The insecurity and fault did not lie with her. The FAULT was with HIM. She felt lighter and sombre at the same time. She thanked Aditya with all her heart, exited from her erstwhile office friends’ group and made her way towards the aircraft.
