#Fasana
#Episode2
#ContinuationofTheMarriage
#Alovestory
#Disclaimer: This is an original work of fiction. Any relation to any person or organism living or dead is purely coincidental. This story cannot be published, copied or reproduced elsewhere without the consent of the author Rhituparna Chakraborty. This is a work of imagination with no intention to hurt anyone.
Saanchi said, ‘ Umm.. how are you?’. Mushtaque replied, ‘Fine. Thanks for asking. How are you?’. Saanchi replied, ‘ I am fine too.’ Saanchi did not know what to say more. She said, ‘ How is your wound? Is it getting any better?’. Mushtaque smiled and said, ‘It’s fine. Nothing to worry about.’ Saanchi wanted to talk to Mushtaque for ever but she had no idea how she could extend the conversation. She said, ‘ I hope I did not disturb you. You must be at work.’ Mushtaque replied, ‘ No, not at all. Yes, I am at work. I am sorry, I will have to hang up now. I have an important piece of work.’ Although Saanchi did not want to hang up, she said, ‘ Sure. Nice talking to you. Take care.’ Mushtaque said, ‘ Same here. You too take care.’
Saanchi went home. Parvati was not at home. Purshottam saw Saanchi and said, ‘ Heya little girl. How was your day?’ Saanchi replied with a warm smile, ‘ Very nice Papa.’ Purshottam smiled and said, ‘ Good. Wait, let me get tea and snacks for you.’ Saanchi said, ‘ It’s okay Papa. I will get it myself. Where is Maa?’ Purshottam said nonchalantly, ‘ She has gone to school. You know her. She calls herself a homemaker but she works as a consultant music teacher, then she also works as a social worker and then she also helps other teachers when it comes to taking the kids for excursion and all. I don’t how one person can manage so many things. Your mom made lunch, kept snacks ready for you and then left for her work. You know, right after your marriage, she had suddenly received a call from a teacher in school requesting her to take the kids for an excursion. The principal trusts your mom and hence he insisted that she should go. All the same your Mom told Sarita, our househelp to manage the house while she was away.’ Saanchi said, ‘ Yes, Maa had always been super active. She is a perfect homemaker but more than that she is a perfect teacher and a social worker. Although she has to step out of the house and travel often, she ensures we are all comfortable. I wish I could be like Maa.’ Purshottam smiled and said, ‘You are our darling daughter. Now, go quickly and freshen up. I will get tea and snacks for you.’
Saanchi went to her room, took a warm shower and came out. She checked her phone. She looked at her messaging app. She checked if Mushtaque was there. Yes, Mushtaque’s number was there on the messaging app. However, there was no profile picture. Saanchi was tempted to text him but then she thought, what if he never replied? She dropped the idea of texting him and went to have tea with her dad.
After tea, Saanchi went back to her room and took out the books and started working on the notes she had to prepare. Her phone was new. She had lost contacts of all her friends. Hence, she shared a status message asking all her friends and acquaintances to save her new number and send her a message with their names so that she could save their numbers.
After couple of minutes, Saanchi’s close friends texted her and Saanchi saved their numbers. Suddenly a message popped up. ‘Priyanshu here.’ Priyanshu was Saanchi’s school senior and now he was her colleague. He was a professor of Mathematics in the college where Saanchi worked. Priyanshu liked Saanchi and he wanted to marry her. Priyanshu’s family had approached Saanchi’s family for the alliance. However, Saanchi’s father had refused because Priyanshu did not belong to the same caste as that of the Pandit family. Saanchi was never romantically inclined towards Priyanshu. Had it been an arranged marriage, maybe she would have been okay with the alliance. However, since her family did not approve, she was okay with that as well. She did not love Priyanshu, however, she liked him as a very good friend.
Saanchi texted back Priyanshu. Priyanshu was around 30 years old. He was of average built. He was around 5 feet 9 inches tall. He had wheatish complexion, tiny eyes, short but pointed nose and a slightly elongated face. He was very charming. He wore a pair of rimless glasses and his dress sense was amazing. Always in formals and polished shoes and being fit as a fiddle, he looked super cute. Girls in college would go ga over him. However, Priyanshu liked only Saanchi. He was not happy with Purshottam Pandit, nonetheless, he never showed his angry side to him nor Saanchi, nor anyone else.
Priyanshu texted, ‘ It was nice meeting you in college today Saanchi.’ Saanchi replied, ‘ Same here.’ Priyanshu said, ‘ How is Kushal?’ Saanchi waited for a while. She sighed, paused for a breath and said, ‘ It’s over.’ Priyanshu read the text. He was shocked. He waited for a while and then texted, ‘I don’t know what to say here.’ Saanchi texted, ‘I will tell you tomorrow. Bye now!’. Priyanshu texted, ‘Bye.’
Saanchi then got back to her work. She prepared all the notes. After she was done, she looked at the clock. It had been almost two hours since she was working. She got up and stretched. She looked at her phone. She scrolled through the messaging app. She looked at Mushtaque’s number. No, no text from him. She then told herself, ‘Oh come on Saanchi. Mushtaque does not even know that you are waiting for him to text you. You have seen the kind of profession he is into. You think, he has time for romance? Moreover, what if he has a girlfriend? Worse, what if he has a wife? What will you do then?’, Saanchi suddenly stopped thinking and told herself, ‘ Damn it. I don’t want to fall in love. He is not even thinking about me and look at me here, all this while I am thinking about him. Shame on me.’ Saanchi then told herself, ‘I spoke with him just today and now I am dying to talk to him again! What garbage is this? No, I won’t text him first. Never. He will think I am desperate.’ Saanchi did not look at her phone. She walked out of her room and went to the kitchen. Just then Parvati came. Parvati smiled and said, ‘Why are you here in the kitchen Saanchi? Sarita will come in a while and we will make dinner. You go and spend some time with your dad.’ Saanchi said, ‘No Maa, I will make dinner today. You go and freshen up and spend some time with your hubby.’ Parvati laughed.
After dinner, Saanchi went to her room. She was tired. She wanted to sleep. She picked up her phone and kept it aside on the bedside table.She checked her phone for messages. There were plenty of messages from her friends but no message from Mushtaque. Saanchi told herself again, ‘Stop being stupid Saanchi. Mushtaque just did his job. He does not think about you the way you keep on thinking about him. The sooner you get out of it, the better it will be for you.’ Saanchi slept.
Next day at college, after hectic back to back classes, Saanchi was about to leave for home. She usually walked home because the distance was less and that way she got some exercise too. Priyanshu came and said, ‘ Hey Saanchi, we could not talk today at all. If you don’t mind, would you mind going out for a cup of coffee with me?’ Saanchi wanted to go out. It had been a long time, since she went out. She smiled and said, ‘ Sure!’ Priyanshu said, ‘I will go get my car.’ Priyanshu got his car. Saanchi was about to board the car when she saw someone at the college gate. He was walking towards her. She knew who it was and she could not control her joy. It was none other than Mushtaque. Saanchi was surprised. Mushtaque came and said, ‘Hi Saanchi.’ Saanchi’s expression revealed how surprised she was to see Mushtaque. Before Saanchi could say anything, Mushtaque took out a phone from his pocket, gave it to Saanchi and said, ‘I came to return your old phone. We found it and thought it should be handed to its rightful owner.’ Saanchi smiled, took the phone and said, ‘Thanks!’. Mushtaque was wearing a sky blue collared T shirt and black denim trousers. He took off his glares. Saanchi stared at his brown eyes. Priyanshu disembarked from the car. Saanchi was lost in Mushtaque’s eyes so much so that she was startled when Priyanshu called out her name. Startled at hearing her voice, Saanchi said, ‘Uh yes Priyanshu.’ Saanchi then introduced Mushtaque and Priyanshu to each other. Saanchi looked at Mushtaque and said, ‘We were going for coffee, would you like to join us?’. Mushtaque replied with a warm smiled and said, ‘Thanks! But, I have some errands to run. You guys carry on.’ Saanchi was disappointed but she knew she should not express that. So, she said, ‘Oh ok.’ Mushtaque left. Saanchi boarded Priyanshu’s car and they left too.
On his way home, Mushtaque told himself, ‘ I should have known it. How can a sweet girl like Saanchi not have anyone in her life. This guy Priyanshu is dashing and super charming. Why the hell have I been thinking about Saanchi? Just because she had called me yesterday I don’t need to assume things. She might have called me as a courtesy or a thank you gesture. I have to take her out of my head. Damn, this is hard.’
To be continued……
