Crack The Job

5- Uncharted Proposal

Payal

"Are you sure about this?" I asked for the umpteenth time. Somewhere, it was odd. I totally abhor this idea but I have no idea why Shruti is hell-bent on this.

"Come on, what's so hard? No wonder you were single all your life. Just do it, okay." She sipped on her mango milkshake, trying to avoid looking at me straight. I noticed she was being strange from the moment when I mentioned my plan on getting a false husband.

It was kind of my brother-in-law's plan as he confirmed he would take care of the rest if I messed up. Although my sister was a bit uncomfortable about this plan, she eventually agreed when I told her that I am taking this job as temporary and will be sure to quit it on getting a new one. 

When I called up Shruti to help me out, out of the blue, she suggested the one name that was enough to choke my breath. Siddharth!

But I don't have an option now. With each second, my hands trembled and sweat beads trickled down my forehead.

The call rings stopped when I heard the clean deep voice. My heart was pounding on hearing his voice. As if his face just flashed upon my inward eye. "Hi..." I hardly uttered when Shruti nudged me, asking me to talk comfortably. "Siddharth? This is Payal." 

I sat awkwardly in the awkward silence filling up the air. "Ah... Payal... how— I mean so suddenly? Sorry, how are you?" He sounded taken aback, hardly composing himself. 

Obviously, he never expected this. I, myself, didn't expect this to happen when I woke up this morning.

"I am fine. How are you?" My eyes darted towards Shruti when she casually let her eyes droop down.

"Yeah... fine." I could hear crackers bursting outside and my sister cheering and chanting Dhoni's name from the dining room in the background. 

"Siddharth, it's been so long right? How about we meet sometime?" I cut down to the point. 

"Ah... right. We should... meet. But where?" He stuttered.

I looked at Shruti for guidance to which she wrote down a name and showed me. "Wonder Cafe... near our college? I just wanted to visit that place... it has beautiful memories." I looked at Shruti again to see her release a sigh of relief. "How about tomorrow?" 

"Yeah... that's the best place to meet. I am fine with tomorrow..." had paused before adding hurriedly, "Ah sorry, tomorrow is not possible. How about the next day?" 

"Fine with me. Thank you." With that, our awkward conversation came to an end. I threw up my hands and feet, rolling on my bed with my head down, my hair covering my face. "It feels as if I can die now." 

I looked up to see Shruti shaking her head as if tired of my dealings. I sighed, throwing myself back into the bed. 

★★★

Siddharth

"Why the day after tomorrow? I am free tomorrow too." 

Abhiraj picked up his phone from the side table and said, "No wonder you are single. Girls like it when guys take their time. They then think that the guy is in an important position. They also like it when the guy is organised. So plan your first day nicely. The first impression is the last." 

As he surfed through the internet, he continued, "Take the advice of an experienced man." 

"Does that mean Payal wants to talk to me?" I asked, still not sure if I was dreaming or not.

Abhiraj was busy on his phone when he replied, "Yeah man... she meant that clearly." He was typing vigorously until he stopped and looked up. "This is your only chance."