An official matter, episode 6

Next day at work, Ruhi looked lost. Kirti asked her, ‘What’s wrong Ruhi? Are you okay?’. Ruhi replied with a lost tone, ‘ Hmm’. ‘ Then why are you so quiet? I mean when we are working we are always quiet, but then in between we do take out time for silly gossips. Today it seems, you are not in any mood for jokes’, said Kirti. Ruhi looked languidly at Kirti and said, ‘ I don’t know Kirti. I am really not happy about something.’ Kirti said, ‘ What?’. Ruhi said, ‘ I can’t tell you now because I am not sure if it is just a figment of my imagination or I am not liking whatever is happening.’ With a perplexed look, Kirti asked Ruhi, ‘ What are you not liking? Office? Don’t tell me you are planning to resign!’. Ruhi said, ‘ Nnno, not that. It’s something else. Even I am unable to figure out what’s happening.’ Kirti sighed and said, ‘ Alright! I will not bombard you with questions. Anyway, Shobhit had called. He was trying to reach you but your phone was switched off.’ Ruhi said with a surprised note, ‘ My phone is never switched off. Let me check.’ Ruhi checked her phone. Indeed it was switched off. Ruhi rubbed her forehead, ‘ Silly me. How can I be so absentminded! I had switched it off in the morning because of some technical glitch. I was supposed to switch it on after 10 minutes. I completely forgot.’ Kirti looked at Ruhi and said, ‘ Girl, maybe you need a break. By the way, please call Shobhit. Could be something important.’ Ruhi was about to call Shobhit, when Shobhit already arrived near her desk. Ruhi said with a smile, ‘Kirti said you were trying to reach me? Sorry, my phone was switched off and I completely forgot to switch it on.’ Shobhit smiled and said, ‘ Don’t say sorry for such trivial things. I wanted to confirm if the migration was done last night? We have a meeting with Mohit in some time.’ Ruhi said, ‘ Yes, it’s done.’ Ruhi then said on a friendly note, ‘ You know Shobhit, you have a great taste for formal shirts and trousers. Can you help me buy some shirts and trousers for my Papa?’ Shobhit’s eyes twinkled. He smiled with warmth and said, ‘ Ofcourse. This Saturday?’. Ruhi said, ‘ Okay!”. When they were talking, they did not realise that Mohit was standing behind them. He had come over to talk to Shobhit, Ruhi and Kirti because they were the senior team members handling this critical project. The moment she saw Mohit, Ruhi could not take her eyes off him. Today too, he was dressed in formal attire. In all these months, Mohit always wore casual clothes to office. She was surprised at this change of his. More than that, she wondered whether this change was because of Ragini. She had seen Ragini. Ragini looked like an angel. With peach and cream complexion and an alluring structure, Ragini was someone who could turn heads. Mohit and Ragini would make an adorable couple, thought Ruhi. Suddenly she felt a nudge on her waist. It was Kirti. For the past 2 Minutes Mohit was asking Ruhi something and Ruhi was lost in her own world. She jumped back to the present and said, ‘Uh, wh, what?’ . Mohit looked sternly at Ruhi and said, ‘ I think you need to have a cup of coffee.’ Then he looked at Shobhit and Kirti and said, ‘ Let us all meet in 10 minutes after a coffee break.’

At the cafeteria, Shobhit asked Ruhi, ‘ Are you okay?’ Ruhi smiled and said, ‘ Yes, I am fine Shobhit.’ Kirti said, ‘ No, she does not look fine. Something is bothering her.’ Ruhi patted Kirti’s shoulder and said, ‘ I am fine girl. Let’s go. Khadoos will strangulate all of us if we are late.’ Shobhit laughed and said, ‘ By the way Ruhi, Paarth should not have avoided Dhwani, right?’. Ruhi looked at Shobhit surprised. Again a coincidence. That is what Ruhi had felt about Vikram Kumar’s character ‘Paarth’ in the novel, ‘A tale of love’.

When Ruhi, Shobhit and Kirti came to Mohit’s cabin, Mohit was on a call. They could not hear the other side of the conversation. Before hanging up, Mohit had said, ‘ Sure! I will meet you at the parking lot.’ Ruhi felt an unknown piercing pain. She did not know what kind of pain that was, but it did hurt her.

After the meeting, Mohit went out of office. Ruhi rushed to the window to see if her doubt was correct. She was right. Ragini was there in the parking lot. Ruhi saw a different side of Mohit here. Ragini was pulling Mohit’s arm and was saying something excitedly. For the first time in her life, Ruhi saw Mohit smiling. Ruhi felt a weird sensation in her body. What was wrong with her. She did not know Ragini. Mohit was a just a ‘Khadoos’ for her and yet she looked forward to seeing Mohit everyday. Ruhi was at her wit’s end, not knowing what was happening.

Shobhit too had started behaving strangely. He had never texted Ruhi before. However, these days, he would send her some quotes of Vikram Kumar before bed time. Those quotes were the quotes Ruhi liked a lot. Ruhi never knew Shobhit liked Vikram Kumar so much. Everyday at Vikram Kumar’s page, Ruhi would post something and there would be a ‘like’ from Vikram Kumar. Everything seemed strange for Ruhi.

Months flew by. Their project went live and it was a huge success. Because of this, this company of Mohit bagged more projects and it kept on growing.

It was almost a year now. Vikram Kumar aka Vishaaka Khatri posted a video message for all her fans. Her book will be released coming Sunday. She requested all her fans to be there and there was a surprise for her favourite fan. Ruhi was thrilled. She told Kirti to come with her. Shobhit had confirmed he was coming. Ruhi told Kirti, ‘ Never knew Shobhit knew so much about Vikram Kumar. His and my views about the characters of Vikram Kumar are so similar. Today both of us will see Vikram Kumar aka Vishaaka Khatri live. You know, I am worried. What if Shobhit gets the surprise gift from Vikram Kumar? Look at me, how silly can I get?’ Kirti gave a mysterious smile to Ruhi and said, ‘You are not silly. You never know, you may get a lot of surprises!’ Ruhi giggled and said, ‘ Hope so!’

Come Sunday Ruhi was super excited. She wore a light pink chiffon salwar suit. She let her hair down, wore a light coloured lipstick. For the first time in her life she wore a pair of stilettos. She always preferred block heels or wedges. However, after seeing Ragini’s stilettos, she could not bring herself to wear any other style of footwear other than stilettos.

The event was organized at the Five star hotel near Ruhi’s office. Kirti and Ruhi grabbed the front seats. Shobhit said he would be there but he had not arrived as yet. Just then someone came and sat beside them. Ruhi turned to see who it was. She was shocked. It was none other than Ragini. Ragini was dressed in a super gorgeous saree and subtle jewelry. Her make up said as if it was a very special day for her. Ragini caught Ruhi staring at her. She looked at Ruhi and smiled at her. Her smile reflected immense happiness. Ruhi wondered what was it that made her so happy? Ruhi smiled back at Ragini and said, ‘I am Ruhi.’ Ragini said, ‘ I am Ragini.’ Ruhi then asked with a smile, ‘ You are looking jaw dropping gorgeous.’ Ragini smiled shyly and said, ‘ Thank you! It’s a special day for me today.’ Ruhi looked at Ragini and said, ‘ Aha!’. Ragini blushed and said, ‘ Hmm. Umm, you know what, I should not say this, but somehow I feel, I can tell you this. All the same, everyone here will know it anyway.’ Ruhi looked at Ragini perplexed. Ragini said, ‘ The love of my life is going to propose me today. I am getting engaged after the book release.’ Ruhi’s heart skipped a beat. She saw Ragini waving at someone excitedly. It was Mohit. A piercing pain stabbed Ruhi’s soul and couple of drops tears fell from Ruhi’s eyes. Ruhi rushed to the washroom. She sobbed there like a baby. She told herself, ‘ Mohit and Ragini are getting engaged. Why am I crying?’ Ruhi knew why. She had fallen in love with Mohit.

Ruhi washed her face, applied lip colour and pretended as if nothing had happened and went and sat beside Kirti. Kirti looked at Ruhi and asked with an angry tone, ‘ Where were you?’. Before Ruhi could answer, Kirti said, ‘ A surprise awaits you girl.’……

To be continued……..