Love, Lies & A Cup of Chai

Chapter 5

"Dekhein me tou aaj time se puray paanch minute pehlay aa gayi hun ab kaisay daatengay aap?"

Farjaad's eyes shot up from his laptop screen to see Umeed swing inside his office holding the door handle. As she moved, her hair with its natural soft curls bounced with each step, but he observed that there was something subtly different. A portion of her locks seemed to have been artfully straightened, an intriguing contrast to her usual style.

She wore a vibrant red long shirt adorned with embroidery on the neckline and the quarter-length sleeves decorated with delicate lace detailing, paired with khaki pants. She looked happier, giving him a full face of smile.

The same smile she was bestowing upon her fiancé just the night before.

"Aapko kya lagta hai? Me yahan aapko daantnay ke liye baitha huwa hun?" Farjaad asked in a flat tone, his eyes focused on his laptop as he typed away.

Umeed skipped further into the room and took a seat in front of him, her expression a mix of confusion and amusement. "Lagta tou yahin hai." She said, jutting her lips and tilting her head as if it was the most obvious thing. Farjaad looked back at her with a frown.

"Miss Umeed meray paas hazaar kaam hai karnay ko aur aap ko daantna meri priority ya task list mein kahin nahin aata. Understood?" He declared, his eyes widened and eyebrows raised. "Aur haan, abhi time hai paanch baj kay chabbees minute, humari meeting saarhay paanch ko scheduled hai, abhi chaar minute bachay hai usmein so aap mujhay please apna kaam karnay dein."

Farjaad couldn't believe that Umeed thought he sat there, contemplating and looking at the clock to track her timings so that he could make a comment on it. He ran a whole company, hundreds of people ran their households with his money and ran one of his own. Yet somehow, this girl had the audacity to think he even remotely cared about her coming five minutes early. Farjaad clenched his teeth, subtly tossing his head to the right in clear disagreement, deliberately pushing aside reminders from his brain about the time he spent glancing at the clock for the past thirty minutes.

Umeed gaped at him, opening her mouth multiple times trying to come up with an answer but utterly stupefied by the absurdity of the man sat in front of her. But this couldn't dampen her spirits and she probed further, keeping her bag on his table. "Sad kyun rahay hai aap?"

"Miss Umeed aap mujhay mera kaam karnay dengi?" asked Farjaad, this time in a stern tone, as he aggressively pressed his laptop's keyboard. "Meeting kay waqt miltay hai abhi aap please baahir jaayein."

Umeed stared at him incredulously. "Aap pagal wagal hain kya? Abhi kya kuch do minute bachay hongay saarhay paanch bajnay ko, un do minuton mein aapnay aisa kaam kya kar dena hai jo duniya hila deni hai? Aur aap chahtay kya hain? Me das minute late kya ho gayi tou masla, ab jaldi aa gayi hun tou bhi masla!"

"Do nahin ek minute reh gaya hai aur aapnay bohot hi kaamyabi se meray chaar minute zaaya kar chuki hain." Farjaad stated, holding the dial of his watch as he calculated. "Aur chahay aap der se aayein, jaldi aayein ya bilkul na aayein, mujhay kya farq parna hai?"

Umeed held her hand up in the air in a questioning gesture. What had gotten into this man?

"Mujhay kya pata? Aap hi tou mujhay waqt ki pabandi par lectures detay the ab aapko farq nahin parta! Theek hai me chali jaatu hun aap chill karein, aisa na ho kay aapka robotic software crash aur hardware short circuit ho jaayein meri wajah se." Umeed jabbed, grabbing her bag as she stood up to walk out.

"Let it be. It's five thirty."

Farjaad announced, and she slumped back into the chair with a thud, almost tossing her bag onto the table. Farjaad looked at her quizzically, noting how she didn't seize the opportunity to engage in an argument today, despite being presented with multiple chances, albeit not intentionally on his part. He wasn't sure how to interpret this. Not that she was being sweet with him or something but Umeed Pasha letting go of clear chances to pick up a fight was surely surprising.