Way To Home

Nine

"How will I arrange for the money in this much time? You know my condition right?"
Sunaina was at her edge. She needed loads of money for her mother's treatment, all her resources were draining out like river.

"Sunu, if I had, you wouldn't have to say all these so many times, I already told you I don't have that much money on me now." Niharika tried to make her understand.

"How is that even possible? Okay, just lend me whatever you can." Sunaina pleaded.

Niharika heaved a sigh, "I am telling you. I don't have any big money to give you. The only deposit I am left with, I can't use that, my parents are old too."

"But you have Prajakta di, Ranvijay.. I have no one."  Sunaina said being emotional.

Niharika's shoulder slumped in despair, "I can't help you right now, I will be only able to give you 20% of what you need. But, I will talk to Ranvijay if some fundraiser is possible."

"No, thanks. You know I won't be able to take that blow on my self, I can't stoop so low, that I have to beg in front of strangers." Sunaina said and left Niharika's house immediately.

Ranvijay entered not long after, as soon as he entered the house he understood her brooding atmosphere.

Sunaina went to her house, crying cats and dogs.
Arjun on the other hand, was suddenly missing Sunaina out of nowhere. But, but, but, can the baddie just randomly show up just because he misses someone! Nyah, he has a reputation to keep.

He opened up a file curated by Sunaina, and started nitpicking flaws just to bicker. To his surprise, the ever-perfectionist Sunaina, actually had way too many mistakes in a current report. This was really unlikely. But, Arjun brushed off his thoughts and grinned to himself, "Good for me, I can pester her, huhu haha."

He checked his clock, 10 pm, not that late to call someone about office work right. But the submission date wasn't in about a week. Still a person can be serious about his job right? Yes. Atlast he let his childish side win over his better judgement.
He called her up. Sunaina was still a crying mess. She rejected the call. He scrunched his eye brows up. Someone just hit a blow in his ego. He called up again. Before he can lash out, it was Sunaina who lashed all her pent up emotions.

"What's wrong with you?" She shouted with her choked voice, "if someone is rejecting the call, that means she isn't in a situation to take the call. Don't you have a bit of conscience? Or common sense? A person can be in n number of problems to not take the call, what is there to call repeatedly? Wait for the person to call back or just get lost, what is this behavior?"

Arjun was a bit taken back, but he wasn't one to just take any blow without flailing their arms a bit in response. "Wow, chivalry is dead. No, it should be dead! You catch someone's mistakes before anyone else, and then call that person to inform her, but what do you get?"

"Is it a time to call? I am not on my working hours, that I will be liable to answer you on anything related to work." Sunaina replied.

"45 typos, 13 miscalculation in a whole data sheet making it kinda irrelevant, 2 error in insertion from client data." Arjun attacked her dangerously.

Now this was something Sunaina hated with her gut, from the very beginning of rookie days, letting anything affect her performance in work, though she may not love it but it is what helped her survive.

A dead silence over the line made Arjun panicked. Arjun whispered, "Are you okay, Sunaina?"

Sunaina was controlling her tears, her voice got even choked, "I will look into the files and correct them. Thank you." She immediately cut the call.

But that voice gave Arjun a chill down his spine. He was feeling extremely guilty for souring her mood. So, he automatically acted on his instinct and called Niharika. After getting a summarized version from her, guilt crippled into his heart, consuming him whole. He thought for long, but his restlessness was not allowing him to sit still.

"Fuck it." He got up from his sofa, took his hoodie and went out. He travelled for an hour, got his thing and made a tour to Sunaina's house. He rang the bell for three times. Still no response.

Sunaina was actually in a dilemma, whether to check who was ringing the bell in this odd time or not. Impatient Arjun called her again. Sunaina sighed, and answered it, "I told you, I will look.."

"Open the door."

Sunaina opened the door in a daze. She was shocked to see him standing there. He thrust the packet in her hands and dashed out of there.

Sunaina looked inside the packet to see a large chocolate, and a tub of chocolate vanilla icecream. She was too confused to react, but a ghost of smile consumed her face as well as soul.

In Ranvijay and Niharika's house

He didn't stress thinking she was just tired. But, when the whole dinner passed away without a single word, he started getting worried. "I will ask her once we go to bed." Ranvijay thought to himself, looking at her doing something in her phone.

After sometime, Niharika entered the bedroom and straight went to Ranvijay, tightly hugging him. Ranvijay got a bit startled but he tightened his hug. He was getting a premonition from long, he gently caressed her head asking, "What's wrong?"

"I couldn't be a friend, Jay, I disappointed her, I couldn't help her." She muffled in his  chest, but Ranvijay was clueless. True to his nature, he remained still letting her get her pieces together and tell him the full story.

After hearing the story, it was now him who felt sad. "If you look at it that way Niharika, then it's all my fault. It's me for whom, you are unable to help her."

Niharika quickly denied, "No, what are you saying?" Ranvijay shushed her, "Shh, it's none of our fault, the timing is wrong. But, I will look into it in my way, don't worry. I will figure out a way."