No matter where you are in your life, you may be regretting choosing the wrong love.
You may be repenting some bitter deeds you committed in the past.
What is it like if life luckily gave us a second chance? Can those issues be resolved at least then for a better life?
The doorbell rang and Alok rushed. A young man in a brown uniform stood outside with the car's keys having a silver keychain with the letter 'A' in capital and cursive. "Nisha sister?", asked he, offering them to his client's son. Alok nodded and accepted them. Just as the mechanic was about to leave that Nisha, tying her high pony, headed towards the entrance asking who had come.
"Mamma! Your car broke down last night?", enquired Alok. She nodded, replying, "I returned with Raftaar, our new neighbor. Did you have a word with him?..."
"Sister, this is for you!", exclaimed the mechanic, pushing the flat's door and barging in before Alok could shut it.
Nisha smiled, shrugging at the rectangular box wrapped in a golden glittering gift wrapper. "Why, brother? I don't even know you!", mocked she, at which the mother and the son laughed, in chorus.
"My boss instructed me to offer it to you. I was about to forget but thankfully you arrived at the right time and saved me!", justified the giggling mechanic. Nisha's eyes rolled hither and thither. She sighed and raised her eyebrows at him, realizing, "Wait! First of all, I didn't even leave my car for service last night. How come?" She turned at Alok and bulged her eyes, shaking her head along, "Yes beta! In fact, I forgot it there. Oh shit! Including key along...How careless am I? Oh no!What if someone had robbed my car?..."
As the two gave a blank gaze at each other, the mechanic interrupted, explaining, "Oh acha! Now I understand, my boss left your car at my workshop and insisted I fix it by morning. It was our closing time but he paid me some extra bucks for working overtime. He also gave me your address and left a small gift for you." She blushed a little, as she received her gifts.
"Please rate our FixCar workshop on Google. Thank you!", the mechanic concluded and left. Alok smiled as Nisha blushed, looking at her gift and running towards her room. He wished at the pooja room, "I hope mom gets her love at least this time. Be fair, oh great heavens! They are perhaps made for each other, Alok sir and Nisha mommy."
Meanwhile, Nisha hurried to tear the box with the pair of scissors on her study table. She opened the parcel and found a yellow note, saying, "From Alok saar to Nisha medam!", written with a blue gel pen. She threw her mouth open at the red nail polish and the thin long black maskara. She blushed and chuckled, whispering, "Aww! So sweet of you, saar!I love you!" She dug inside the box to catch another note, saying, "Nail polish suits your flat nails. Put them on!"
As she arranged her gifts on the dressing table, her smile disappeared as she recollected him sharing the other day," Payal and I are my only family now. We are living together happily." She frowned at herself in the mirror, wondering, "Then why did you gift me?" She grabbed her smartphone from the bed and rang him up. She hung up on hearing the busy tone repeatedly. "Whom does he talk to, early in the morning?", thought she, sitting back on the bed. She then decided not to disturb his morning romance with his beloved Payal. She stood up and stumbled on the box. She bent, grabbed it, and threw it back on the bed.
On the other hand, Dr.Alok, in a light pink full-sleeved formal shirt inserted into black pants and a black suit was ready to start work. He had been busy sobbing at the photo and ringing up his mother, as usual. He shook his head at his parents smiling in the photo, wiped his tears, and ordered, in his heavy-hearted voice, "Ramlal! Keep the car ready. I'm coming. I need to leave earlier. I have the first hour today."
"The waterfall model is the most basic software model", explained Dr.Alok, as he walked on the stage, facing all the students from the first row to the last corner. He pointed at the PowerPoint presentation projected on the white screen behind, looked a bit, and continued, "The main limitation is that it needs all the requirements to be pre-determined." He smiled and threw a question, "It's hardly used nowadays. Why is it so?"
The students turned their faces away from the professor; some skimmed the projected slide while the others turned the pages of their running notes to find the answer and some others stared at the clock striking ten that morning. Some legends peeped outside the windows or secretly scrolled their friends' Instagram posts and liked a few. A tall guy from the third bench raised his hand. Alok nodded and gestured for him to speak up. "In today's dynamic world, requirements keep changing. So, how can we fix them while starting the project?"
"Sexy!", exclaimed Dr.Alok, clapping his hands and making the class too burst into laughter. He gestured a thumbs-up as the student sat back. "Guys, he was right. 'Sexy' has been my slang!"
"Sir, you are so damn cool! Love you!", shouted a stout guy from the last bench. He stood up and clapped, signaling his other classmates too to join. Alok grinned as the class applauded him. The notorious last bencher continued, "Sir, in Rishi University, you have been the sweetest professor we ever had. Sexy sir the way you teach and interact with us!" He looked around and added," I hope you can understand his talent to make me concentrate!"
Alok chuckled and the bell rang. The last bencher lead slammed his forehead and wore his bag, waving at his professor, "Bye sir! Miss you! I am bunking the next class." He bet his friend on the shoulder and ordered, "Abey! Don't forget to mark proxy for me." The professor disconnected his laptop and left the class, smiling to himself. He pushed his cabin door by his shoulder and stepped inside. He left his laptop on the table and sat back relaxedly on his rolling chair. He headed towards the switchboard to turn on the lights. As they glowed at him from the ceiling, he unlocked his phone.
"Sexy! Two missed calls from Nisha medam!", thought he. His fair cheeks of light golden complexion broadened and glittered like a shining star, as he recollected, "She must have got my gifts by now, I guess." He sat back, thinking, "Why did I gift her though?"He chuckled and shrugged, answering himself, "I felt like gifting her. So, just did what I wanted to! What's wrong with it? One must do what one wishes! Freedom of life!" He shrugged again and rang her up. "Sexy! Nisha medam is a big person, I guess. Not picking calls!", thought he, leaning back on his seat and smiling.
Meanwhile, in a conference hall of a twenty-storeyed tall air-conditioned building, housing a board 'George Healthcare' in block letters and in the middle, Nisha was busy playing the slides on her laptop and moving her hands in sync as she spoke clearly. She walked across the stage and perfectly glanced at the presentation projected behind her. The two American blondes, sitting in the left row with her boss couldn't take their eyes off her confidence. Her formal suit added colors to her perfect technical lines. Her team included two senior guys of her age and a young intern lady who sat along the right row. They nodded and gestured to her with a thumbs-up and a broad smile as she bowed and completed.
"So, software for Pneumothorax detection. Any questions?", she asked the foreign clients.
"Thank you!", said Henry Miller, nodding and smiling back. "It works only for chest X-rays. Would it be possible to extend it to CT scans or MRI?", clarified Henry. Nisha nodded, explaining, "Yes. It would mean collecting more of such patients' data. We can do it. We have a fine team for data collection." She smiled confidently. "Would it be possible on a small hand-held device? Not even a phone!", enquired the other client. Nisha pointed at her intern and one of the senior colleagues, stating, "We have hardware specialists in our team. They will develop it for you!"
The foreign clients nodded at each other and stood up. "Good job, Nisha! We are satisfied!", announced Henry. Nisha smiled and nodded at her team who grinned back happily. "We would like you to add the two features we just spoke about. Would it be feasible to collect patient's data?", enquired the other client. "George healthcare has a good tie-up with many hospitals and clinics over the world. We will handle it", highlighted the boss. Henry shook hands with Nisha as the boss signed the deal with the other client.
"We want to see the first version in a month", declared Henry, at which Nisha nodded a bit. As the boss and the clients left, Nisha and her team gave hi-fis to each other and cheered for themselves. However, she was anxious.
"Aren't you happy with the special project's deal, Nisha?", asked one of her colleagues.
"But, guys, we must change the algorithm", worried Nisha, citing, "And the dataset will be larger. We must research, guys. Even the front-end and back-end frameworks will not be simple after their requirements."
"Since AI is cutting-edge tech, there is a lot to learn. Take it easy!", consoled the other colleague at which Nisha nodded. She also pointed out, "But, how did they exactly target the possible outcomes of the project? We had just discussed them the last evening...How will the clients get to know?..." The senior colleague nodded, convincing, "They are clients. They must have done a little background study. Come on!"
The others left to celebrate at the canteen. Nisha dropped her phone by mistake. She bent to take it from under the conference table. She frowned at a suspending black object fixed under the bench.
Is Dr.Alok falling for Nisha?
Dear readers,
Thank you for following my series. Thank you for reading the episode! The next episode will arrive soon! If you liked the story, give it a heart, rate it and share in your circle. Whenever you are free, write your review below and share your valuable feedback. Your voice matters a lot to me.
