No matter where you are in your life, you may regret choosing the wrong love.
You may repent of 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?
For instance, what about love in middle age?!?!
"Excuse me, ma'am", said the fair man with a thick black mustache, standing at the entrance of Nisha's cabin. Nisha, in a dark blue suit, nodded and gestured for him to come in. He placed a glass of brown tea with ice cubes floating in it, on her desk. As he held the white tray closer to himself, Nisha sipped the drink, scrolling through her mailbox on the big Mac desktop screen. She let her eyes through the report document and the Excel sheet. Her mobile vibrated and she placed the empty glass on the table.
"Kareem...Yes, I will be there in two minutes before twelve noon. The reports and the presentation are fine. Keep them ready. Is our entire team present?.. Good!", she spoke and cut the call. "Thanks for the cool tea", she thanked him as she got up from her seat and left towards the door. He walked in the corridor for no fewer than a couple of seconds when his mobile rang. He placed the tray having Nisha's glass on a desk left to the water drum.
"Hello", answered he, looking away from his tray. The call cut in a second or two. He sighed. "Weird people! Why do they call when they don't want to utter a single word?", he thought and turned back towards his tray. He threw his mouth open and rested his right hand on the chest. "Hai Daiya! Where is the glass?", he exclaimed, standing alone in the deserted corner of the office which had no employee cabins beside, till a few feet. He bent only to see the empty shelves below. "Brainless thief! What will he do with an empty glass? Haha! How I wonder he guessed the tumbler to be made of gold!", thought the servant, grabbing his tray and leaving through the fire exit.
Meanwhile, Aashitha pushed the cabin's door and rushed toward Nisha's table. She carried the glass only after wrapping its bottom with white tissue paper. She neared the upper portion of the glass tumbler to the drawer. "God please help me!", she hoped, looking up at the ceiling. "Please open. I am sure there is something very important here. God! Please help me expose an inhuman lady", she wished as she sweated profusely and breathed harder.
"Fingerprint Recognized!", the LCD screen announced as it buzzed along thrice so that only she could hear it within the room. The draw opened on its own. Aashitha kept the empty glass on the table. As she left her hands only to find a handful of photos, she challenged her boss, all in her mind, "Nisha, you refused to take me on your team, right? See what happens. God bless you and your family!"
She found Payal's photos shot during their college days-one in which Payal sat beside a Pooja room in a blue lehenga, another in which Payal posed looking backward and with her back facing the camera, and another in which Payal and Alok held hands and stood together in front of a gate having Kanpur Technological University written in yellow on a dark blue background; they were dressed in their graduation gowns and many such photos of the couple. However, Payal's face was scratched halfway with a pencil and some with red or blue, or even black ball pens. Ashitha turned the photos to see the white side having "I hate you, Payal. I really hate you" written in bold black block letters all over.
"Oh! Some matter of love", she realized, smiling to herself. She frowned, wondering, "But, why would you pick every available photo of the girl whom your guy loves and scratch her faces everywhere?" She rolled her eyes hither and thither. She finally concluded," Oh my goodness! Nisha isn't normal. Otherwise, why would you hate someone to such a core? Yes, we may hate an individual during our lifetimes but to such an extreme?... This doesn't sound casual. Interesting! Something fishy with her. See that's why I told you that god witnesses all the things..."
No sooner had she captured the photos with her smartphone than she restored the wooden drawer with the photos. "Nisha shouldn't get any doubt. I need to be careful and surprise her! Phew!", she thought. She was about to leave when she noticed a small silver key fallen down. She took it and shrank her eyes. She turned around to see the keys of the respective shelves plugged in. "Which key is this?", she shrugged to herself.
"George Healthcare. Oh yes!", exclaimed Ramlal, parking the car right in front of the office building. He turned at Dr.Alok on the back seat. "Sahab, we have reached", he announced at which Alok looked outside through the window. He opened the door and got outside. "Return at five to pick me up", he reminded the driver at which the latter smiled and turned the vehicle in reverse to disperse.
"Nisha medam, you cannot misunderstand and leave me like that. Look at how coincidences are bringing us together. Why don't you too put in some effort and shower your love?", Alok thought, smiling at the black banner with "10th International Tech Summit for Healthcare" written in bold yellow. "Keynote speakers", said the next line in italics and white, with some photos as thumbnails along with their names and topics. Alok spotted him at the very beginning of the second row of speakers and stepped in.
The receptionist walked with a bouquet of yellow lilies to him. She bowed and offered it to him, inviting, "Good afternoon, Dr.Alok Sharma. We are delighted to have you here sharing your thoughts on..." As he smiled and took the bouquet in his hands, she referred to her mobile screen and completed, "How can the Augmented Reality(AR) used in gaming be applied for chemotherapy? Thanks for the interesting topic."
"Please welcome", she greeted, directing him inside. Just as he set another foot, the receptionist interrupted him again. "Sir, wait." She came running towards him as he turned back and shrugged at her. "We also let one of your family members accompany you. I hope you knew it upfront but I don't see anyone else here..." Alok looked up and around. He blushed at Nisha standing outside the auditorium on the second floor. Nisha was busy chuckling and talking to her colleagues. He observed her loosely left hair and the big white rings swinging along as she nodded. "Sexy, medam!", he whispered, blushing at her side smile.
"Sir!", the receptionist clapped near his eyes. He turned back, answering, "Thanks for asking. My wife works in the company. She is my only family now. She will accompany me to the summit." He took long steps towards the stairs. But, he never missed glancing at Nisha who was too engrossed to notice him.
"Anyways, kudos to our team that the clients are finally satisfied and the pneumothorax project is done. Also, great work on the full stack React website too. The database was acting quite weird but James...", appreciated Nisha, looking up and patting her colleague standing beside her. "You handled everything on time and perfectly. Awesome indeed!" As they saw the auditorium getting filled with people entering and taking their seats, they decided to go in.
While Nisha followed her teammates, she was suddenly pulled aside. "Hey!", she exclaimed. She bulged her eyes at Dr.Alok catching her arms and closing her mouth. Her eyes almost burned his meek dilating pupils turning light brown in love. The two stood at the corner separating the auditorium through a concrete wall. Nisha removed his hands from hers. "Why are you here?", she asked, breathing hard and raising her eyebrows at him.
"I am one of the keynote speakers of the summit organized by your company. Now, after your company especially inviting me for one of my biggest researches pertaining to healthcare in the country, how do I refuse, medam?", he revealed. She folded her hands and looked down through the glassed walls marking the end of the floor. She was about to walk away when he caught her hand again. She turned back at him. He sat down and extended his hands with the yellow bouquet at his lady. "Medam, I am sorry for the last night. You misunderstood me very much. How could you judge your poor Alok saar in less than a minute? Do you really feel that I am such a man? Your Alok..."
"You belong to the evil Payal now. No wonder you would transform into a devil!", she commented and looked away from him again. He called her out at which she turned back again. "Nisha, I haven't been staying around you with such creepy and flirtatious intentions as you feel. I understand that it's natural for a woman to be under such a misconception when a married man gets more friendly with her but remember that I can never be one such case..."
"Men will be men", she uttered, releasing her hand and beginning to walk away. He caught her hand again. He whispered in her ears," Can you sit with me in the special speakers' seats during the summit?" She, hitting her hair on his face, turned back at him, denying, "No way!" She was just about to leave when her hair was pulled from her back.
"Ouch!", she exclaimed to turn back and see her hair being stuck in his watch. She stopped as he tried to free the strand of hair hugging the button on the head of his smartwatch. He released, commenting, "Medam, look at how your hair doesn't want to leave me. It's only your brain thats wrongly instructs you to avoid me. Your heart has been longing for me all these twenty-eight years and now your hair too..."
"Shut up! It was just an accident. And, note that I won't sit with you during the summit. Goodbye!", said she, waving at him. She walked inside as he blushed. "Sexy! What do you think of me, medam? I am not only a researcher but also your lover. Wait and watch!", he thought, nodding at her who turned back, shrank her eyes, and made her way into the venue.
Nisha sat with her colleagues in the seventh row out of the fifteen rows extending from the left corner to the right throughout the dark auditorium. Dr.Alok's eyes went over his fellow speakers occupying the first row; they sat, laughing and holding their wives' hands. He then shifted his vision to Nisha who ignored him and looked at the welcome video playing in the projected presentation-the only source of illumination. The renowned professor ran up the four steps leading to the stage covered with red carpet. He headed towards the wooden desk in the other corner.
"Wait, the introductory speech has not yet begun", "His turn hasn't come, right?", "Why is he already on the stage?", "Exactly! Why? What's he planning?"- questions arose from the audience's minds as they gave curious glances at each other. Nisha too shrank her eyes and shrugged at him. "Never mind! I don't care!", she whispered, filling the timesheet on her smartphone.
Alok tapped the mike fixed to the desk. He held it with his thumb and index finger. He announced, "Dear ladies and gentlemen, pardon me. I understand how you have prioritized the event and are present here to get valuable inputs on a variety of topics but I can't take my seminar today." Nisha shrugged at him whose eyes were now upon her, from the stage. "What!", she exclaimed, turning hither and thither, with her eyes scrutinizing the stunning faces of her fellow listeners all around.
How can Alok let love interfere with his professional duties? Or what's he planning?!
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