He knew technically he wasn't doing that much, she did cook it after all, but he was restless to see her. Even though she had only been away for a few hours. He made his way through the mall, carrying the two tiffins, almost skipping like a little boy. As he approached the showroom, he stopped just 30 feet short of the door. Through the big windows he could see three or four women, tall, beautiful, and decked up in saris, Pallavi, and, much to his chagrin, Rahul. Then Pallavi's words this morning to Amma came back in his head, "Today's our new season's photoshoot, I'm very excited!" The glass door was wide open, as customers came in and out, admiring the models and then being helped by Krishna.
Stupid Mansi, I know I broke up her wedding, but she couldn't have done this job for her so called "sister??" Raghav contemplated going in, but he didn't want to make a scene. Pallavi had said she was very busy today, what if she really didn't have time to eat lunch? But what if that Saanki Baba actually convinced "Rahulu" to come here to show Pallavi what a trustworthy man looked like? He watched Rahul take photo after photo, Pallavi directing the models to change their positions, changing the lights. Why didn't Pallavi ask him for help. He's The Raghav Rao, sure he's not a photographer, but he could have hired the best photographer in Hyderabad, why this goon? He kept a close eye on Rahul, and then he saw Rahul talk to Pallavi, she was laughing, why was she laughing. He moved closer to the door, straining his ears.
"Pallu, you're the owner, the manager, you design more than 80% of these saris, not Baba, you have to appear in at least some of the photos. What do you lot think, PalluBaby here can model right? She's beautiful."
Raghav clenched his fists, the tiffins forgotten on the ground next to him.
"Rahul, first, do not call me that at work, are you crazy, people don't realize what you're talking about. And second, no way am I doing this."
"Then I guess I have take my camera home Pall..avi" Rahul teased.
"Fine, just a few."
Rahul pushed Pallavi towards the models, making Raghav just a little bit angrier. But soon he got lost in Pallavi's smile, the way her eyes shone even from this far away. How her hair looked like rippling silk. Raghav snapped out of his trance when he saw Rahul walk in front of the camera to fix Pallavi's pallu and then tuck in her hair behind her ear on one side. His fingers lingering a little too long for Raghav's taste. That's enough, Raghav thought, I'm going in. He took a deep breath, picked up the tiffins, and walked into the showroom.
Pallavi looked at Raghav and she almost tripped with shock, one of the models helping her stand back up.
"Raghav, tum? Yahaan?" Pallavi asked
"Haan, main. Yahaan. Why is there a problem?" Raghav responded, his gaze turning to Rahul, who was shorter than he was, so clearly that was a win.
"I brought lunch, well your tiffin, and I brought mine, because well I didn't have any more meetings today—" Raghav started to stammer, what the hell was wrong with him, never in his life had he been this awkward talking to a woman, never. What was going on?
Pallavi smiled as Raghav looked pointlessly at the two tiffin boxes in his hands, and then back at Pallavi. His tension relaxed a little when he saw her smile.
"Pallu, food, obviously very important, but today's busy isn't it?" Rahul jumped in.
Raghav was about to start in on him, but before he could Pallavi stepped away from the camera, moving towards Raghav, and said, "actually, I think the models deserve a lunch break, and so do you Rahul, I just really want to eat what I made for lunch this morning which is—um—um" In staring at Raghav she had completely forgotten what she had made to eat. Raghav grinned at her stammering, and Pallavi just told Rahul and Krishna, "I'll be back in a bit." And she walked out the door, waiting for Raghav to follow.
"We could have eaten in the backroom, but it's so stuffy there, no windows," Pallavi said, trying to fill the silence.
"I know where we can eat, it's got a great view." Raghav said, smiling, and he took her hand to guide her to an old building a few streets down from the mall.
"Why here?"
"Trust me."
He knocked three times on the door, and an old woman answered after a few minutes, "How many hours this time Raghu?" she asked.
"Just a couple, Rupali Aunty."
Pallavi looked quizzically at Raghav, who just smiled, and took the keys from the lady and pulled her inside, led her up what felt like 8 flights of stairs, and then at the top, he used the key to open this door. It was the roof access, but this wasn't any roof. As soon as the door opened, Pallavi felt shaken by the intoxicating smell of lavender, jasmine, roses, lilies of the valley, gardenias, and so much more. She followed Raghav as he walked through the door, and she was suddenly in the middle of the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. Raghav had been here many times, only alone, he liked staring up at the sky, and the cityscape, taking in every last bit of the flowers he could. But today, all he was noticing was Pallavi, the way her face lit up as she saw the flowers and the view, he wanted to see her this awestruck and happy everyday.
