Shalini and Mohit tales #1: The heat of the moment!

It is a hot summer Saturday afternoon in June and half-day at the office. Most of the staff has already left. Shalini is unhurriedly making a list of her unfinished tasks. A while later, she looks at the clock ticking at 14.10 hours and starts working again.

She belongs to Jhalawar District and moved to Jaipur last May for the job she cracked from her MBA college. In Jaipur, she lives in a 3-BHK rented apartment with her two flatmates, Shikha and Rhythm. Both are working and amicable. On weekends, they party and go to pubs that Shalini is not very fond of. Shalini got engaged to Mohit recently. Mohit is working for an MNC in Bangalore and getting married in December with him. Her parents found him through a matrimonial ad.

Mohit is soft-spoken, ambitious, and intelligent. He is perfectly tall and dark. Three months prior, she knew nothing about him. After talking daily for half an hour to him she knows he talks less, listens more and values time. No doubt he is so successful. He never celebrates the date or month anniversaries and highly discourages this idea. His philosophy of expressing love is not bound to dates or words. Rather, it is attached to actions. This thought brings a smile to her face. "I have chosen a difficult man", she thinks.

Just then, the phone rings, flashing Mohit’s name on it. Nothing is better than the call of your beloved when you're thinking of him. She ecstatically picks up the phone.

"Hi! Where are you?", Mohit asks in his soft, serious voice.

"At the office”, Shalini replies.

"At this hour? You need to chill yourself a bit. I need to tell you something.", he says, a little anxiously.

She asks in an urgent tone, "What?". Her heart starts to beat a little faster.

"I am coming to Delhi today to attend a meeting and will leave tomorrow afternoon. I....". 

"What?? You are coming to Delhi? Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could have taken the day off and come to meet you. You never tell me anything", she bursts out with exasperation. She always wants to meet Mohit.

"That is exactly why I did not tell you. This meeting came upon me suddenly because my colleague who had to attend the meeting could not make it due to unavoidable circumstances. I am calling you from the airplane. Also, I have not booked any hotel as I have to catch up with my college friends. We are meeting at 20.00 hours in Connaught Place (CP). After partying, I will be staying at their place. I am telling you now because I know you would be angrier if I skip telling you," he says in his all-knowing calm voice.

"Okay! CP, at 20.00 hours. Hmm. First of all, before marriage only cuddling is allowed, so I can stay at your friend's house. Secondly, and more importantly, I hate your practicality," she said.

"What? This is what I exactly asked you not to do. You only listen to what you want to listen to. Hear me, loud and clear, you are not coming. I am gonna get annoyed if you come. This trip will tire you badly. You have a working Monday, I am on a compensatory leave," Mohit said pleadingly in anger.

"I don't care. Okay? Now, do not keep on calling me. I have lots to do now and inform Mummy. Meet me at Metro Gate no. 7 of CP at 19.50 hours.  See you soon, sweety", she says in a cute, urgent voice. Without waiting for his turn to speak she hangs up the call.

Mohit sighs. He knows he can not stop her from meeting him. This trip is going to make her next week long and hectic. But, part of him wants her to do this stupidity. That is why he told her in the first place. Sometimes her impractical, emotional ways make him feel special. This thought unsettles him, he sighs again and puts his phone in 'airplane' mode.

Shalini calls her mother, "Mummy! I am going to Delhi to meet Mohit. First, listen and then react. I will stay at his friend's house and be back in Jaipur by tomorrow evening. Please cover up for me in front of Papa."

Her mother replied, "Okay! Take care and be careful."

"Yes, Mummy! Bye!"

It is 14.30 hours. Time is not left to pre-book a bus journey. She decides to take the first bus, whatever it is, from Jaipur to Delhi. She does not have time for lunch. She goes home quickly and packs a one-night dress, a pair of jeans, and a top. She gets a poignant reminder that she does not own any one-piece dress and make-up for herself. "Okay, Whatever! If I will get time. I will buy one at CP", she thinks.

She reaches the bus stop, buys a water bottle and a packet of chips, and takes the first bus to Delhi, which is a roadway. It is already 15.00 hours. It will take at least 5.30 hours. While on the bus, she devises a plan. She will get off the bus at IFFCO chowk, Gurgaon, and take the metro to CP. It will save her some time. She forgets to account the weekend might cause delays owing to traffic jams.

At 19.00 hours, Mohit calls Shalini informing her that he has reached Connaught Place and is going in for the meeting. 

At 20.00 hours, he again calls her and asks her, "Hey! I am free. Where is your bus?"

"Stuck at Dharuhera," she replies sadly.

"Give or take, you will take two more hours. Which bus did you board?" He asks.

"Roadways," she replies meekly, fearing what is to come.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Travel comfortably! In this heat, you have taken a roadway bus. You are already two hours late. What difference would it make if you had taken half an hour more? I had told you not to come, but you never listen to me. You are always in such haste. I don't know what to do with you,” he says in one breath sharply and hangs up the phone.

Shalini gets frustrated, and the heat and the hunger start to feel too much in a trice. She starts to cry. Her mummy calls and she whats app her saying that there is too much noise in the bus. The bus is running late by two hours. She will call after reaching Delhi.

She is furious and hungry. She is contemplating treating him the same way he treated her. She is in this heat because she is dying to meet him. As if he does not care whether they meet or not? Does he? She was lost in her thoughts conspiring to trouble Mohit. Her phone rings and she pushes the silent button as it is Mohit's call. He calls her again, but she again does not picks it up. He messages her, it is urgent. Pick up my call. "He is always ordering around. He did not even bother to use the word 'please'. “I wonder how people say their courtship is the best time of their life. And he treats me as if I am already married to him", she thinks and picks up the call.

"What?" She asks rudely.

"Where are you now?" He asks.

"None of your concern."

"Stop over-acting with me and tell me."

"First say 'please'"

"Please," he says.

"I am about to reach ‘IFFCO Chowk’ in 10 minutes, I guess", she says.

"Okay. When you reach the bus stop, cross the road, come to the opposite side, we are waiting for you." He hurriedly says and hangs up the phone.

"What? He has come with his friends just to get me. He is caring too”, she thinks, smiling from the heart. "Oh no! But I am looking like a mess in my office clothes. I was worried about not having a one-piece dress, and now meeting him and his friends in daily clothes. I am doomed. Meeting him for the first time after getting engaged is certainly going to create a bad impression. He is going to think that I am clumsy" she sighs in exasperation and keeps both her hands on her head.

She gets off the bus and crosses the road to see him. There he is standing, perfectly tall and dark. His eyes fixed on her and his lips bent slightly to form a smile. Hands crossed and folded under his arms. How everything about him is so perfect, so neat, she can not tell. Their eyes meet and she lowers her eyelashes and blushes slightly.

"Hey bhabhhi ji (sister-in-law). How are you? Nice to meet you," one of Mohit's friends, Sagar says. She comes back to her senses. Oh No! I am not looking good today. This heat sucks! But she has no option. There are two boys and one girl except for Mohit.

"Hi. I am good. How are you guys doing? Nice to meet you too. You guys came to pick me up. Thank you", she says happily.

"You should thank your fiance in that case. At 22.00 hours, when we met him, we came to know that you were also coming and running late by two hours. He was ready with the plan, as he always is. He asked if we could party in Gurgaon. We all agreed", the other friend, Mayank says.

"As if we had a choice. We had to catch up with him, he had to catch up with you. It was a win-win if we all caught up with you. Anyways, it is the right time to include you in the gang," the female friend, Arnika says laughingly. All laugh and agree.

"We can go to sector-29 and will start back when the traffic lessens, at around 1 am. We will park the car at Huda metro Station, go by taxi to Sagar's house, and spend the rest of the night there as he lives nearby. He has said he will accommodate all five of us in his studio flat. Fine?", Mohit asks everyone looking at Shalini. She nods.

"You always save our butt. Always a man with a plan," Arnika says and all laugh again. 

They reach sector-29. Mohit holds Shalini's hand, pulls her aside, and whispers, "Are you fine with all this? We will not get alone time."

"That's okay. I am fine with all this. Thank you for what you have done for me today," she lovingly smiles at him.

"You are looking beautiful. Don't be conscious", he whispers and goes ahead to his friends.

She pauses for a moment. She looks at him, just walking ahead of her. Enjoying, talking, listening. At that moment, all the heat dissipates. All her anger with it. She feels content and frees herself from all the doubts she has in mind. He proved today that he is a man of actions, not words. The path they have chosen to walk together is long and requires a lot of patience and trust. She understands now that it takes time to build lifelong relationships. It is easy to get attracted and difficult to fall in love with.

He looks back and signs her to come along. Leaving all her heat and doubts in the parking lot of Sector-29, she goes with him and his group for a fun-filled memorable night.

P.S.: Shalini called her mother when she got down at IFFCO chowK, Gurgaon. :)