WARNING AND WAVERING
It was an unproductive day at the department for Megha. She decided to vent out her frustration by washing clothes on the terrace. The wind soothed her perspiration and the evening sun hid behind the clouds to provide her with shade. No one disturbed her there and she finished washing in peaceful solitude. Her mood was lifted so much once she finished her task, that she began humming a tune while spreading her clothes on the clothe-lines on their terrace.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew and her white dupatta flew away. It flew down to the front yard of their quarters. Swearing under her breath, she raced down the stairs and reached the front.
There she found her dupatta in the hands of the green uniformed man - Mr. Disaster, accompanied by Nanhi and Mahi.
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As Mohan was gathering the dupatta in his hands, he heard hurried footsteps in their direction.
"Mahi was right, I suppose." Mohan realized, as he turned around and saw the person.
"You! That's mine." Megha - Mahi's sister, Miss Spitfire - pointed at the dupatta in Mohan's hand.
"Here it is! I'm not stealing it or anything. It just flew down and I caught it -" Mohan passed it to her quickly.
"- with your dirty hands!" Megha exclaimed, seeing the marks left by earth on her pristine white dupatta.
"Hey! I didn't do that intentionally." Mohan replied indignantly.
"Intentionally or not, you are a disaster always." Megha stated.
"And you! Ready to spit fire at the fall of a feather!" Mohan replied sarcastically.
"One more disaster-" She pointed her finger at him "-and I'm reporting you." Megha warned.
Mohan had not taken her seriously till then, but the way in which she spoke stirred his anger.
Mohan, you can't afford to lose the job, control yourself! His rational part ordered. Mohan stood fuming without uttering a single word, staring at Megha's face defiantly.
Mahi might've noticed the anger that rose in his eyes and the difficulty with which he controlled himself. He interjected:
"Didi, calm down, will you? He didn't do anything intentionally."
"And what are you two doing here?" Megha turned to Mahi and Nanhi.
"We were helping-" Mahi blurted out.
"Enough! Come inside, both of you!" Megha ordered.
She spared one more angry look at Mohan's direction and hurried inside the quarters.
"Come Nanhi!" Mahi took Nanhi in his arms and turned to Mohan.
"She's had a bad day at work today, Bhayya! Sorry for that." Without waiting for Mohan's reply, he hurried off behind his angry sister.
"Arrgh! She's going to be the death of me!" Mohan exclaimed furiously to himself.
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"Haven't I taught you not to speak with strangers, Nanhi? And Mahi, you are not a child anymore, are you?" Megha began as soon as they got inside.
"We asked Papa's permission-" Mahi said in between.
"To get dirty? Look at Nanhi's hands! And nose! You wiped your runny nose with dirty hands, didn't you Nanhi?" Megha asked, her fury now clouded more with worry.
"Sorry Chachi." Nanhi replied timidly.
"Come Nanhi, I'll wash your face." Vidya, who took pity on the children, ushered Nanhi inside. Megha let out an exasperated sigh and turned to return to the terrace again, to wash her muddy dupatta.
"For getting Nanhi dirty, I'm sorry, but not for talking to Mohan Bhayya." Mahi's declaration sounded from behind and she turned around in astonishment.
"You won't believe your sister's words that he's a Mr. Disaster?" she questioned.
"Mr. Disaster? Here I was thinking Nanhi was the only childish one, naming him Green Uncle." Mahi snickered.
Megha felt embarrassed for a second, but quickly returned to her elder-sister mode.
"Don't change the subject, Mahi. You must have a solid reason if you believe he's good. Care to explain?" Megha asked him in a no-nonsense manner.
And finally, Mahi told about the whole accident incident, how Mohan had dashed out into the road to save Nanhi. Megha couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"And he hid it from me to save you two from my anger?" Megha asked disbelievingly.
"Yes Didi. He said that even though it was not good to hide things from elders, since nothing had happened that day, he decided not to tell you." Mahi replied and went inside to tidy himself.
Megha realized how prejudiced she had been. Just because he had harmed her rose plants, she labeled him as Mr. Disaster. Out of the window, she could see his distant silhouette, still bent over in his work.
So, he's not that bad as I've thought. she thought.
Maybe I'm prejudiced about Rajeev also. Arrgh! I need to clear my mind and think properly... What do I do? Megha wondered. Prerna's face suddenly swarm to the front of her mind. Megha smiled and went to fetch her phone to seek her best friend's advice.
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ESTÁS LEYENDO
THE CLOUD'S CHARM
FanfictionMegha, as her name suggests, is a dynamic girl - one who floats in life's flow just like clouds. And Mohan, despite his name, is not much of a charmer in his social circle: he was yet to find someone special and currently, he was concentrating on...
