Rhythm of my life

chapter 18

Rachel was still lost in her thought, on how to confront Mohit. It would seem more selfish on her part, after disappearing for days.
She was already making plans at the back of her head. She kept herself updated on Mohit’s pet project, through his website and the local newspaper.
Rachel shared her motive to Aunt Daisy, though she was happy with it but disappointed too.
“Oh, dear. I’m happy with your idea..indeed very happy. But dedicating your life for them….I won’t agree on this. I want to see your family, before I bid goodbye.”
“Aunty, I think I’ll do justice to them this way. I want to focus entirely on my dream project. Once I’m committed, then I don’t know how things will work. Tomorrow, I may have to dance to His tunes or probably may have to quit it. I don’t want any more mess in my life.”
“Do you think every person on this planet who dedicates their life for a noble cause, stay single? How silly of you? You can clear your stand before. God knows you may get some like-minded person, a gentleman,” explained Daisy to Rachel.
“Let marriage take a backseat for now. Tell me what do I tell, Sir? He may never trust me, I left putting him in a soup …..how ungrateful I was….I’m ashamed about it,” spoke Rachel with deep remorse.
“He will forgive you. I spoke to him few days back; he understands your situation. Aryan seems to miss you a lot, why don’t you have a word with him. He’s small enough to understand your state of mind. At least, speak to him, he must be seeing a mother in you. Ok dear I’ll hang up. We miss you a lot. Drop in sometime,” advised Daisy, hoping for something better.
“Ok, so you are in touch with him! Why so?. Aryan, I know, he must be really hurt. I intend to call him at the earliest. You carry on, bye.”
“Derick wanted some information about a particular company, so I called him up, on his behalf. Bye..bye.”
***
After a few hrs, Rachel calls up Aryan.
“Who?......Aunty…..I’m so happy you rang me up but sad too. Where were you all these days? I missed you a lot. You don’t love me anymore,” spoke Aryan with mixed emotions.
“Oh dear,I love you loads. I’ll tell you all about my stay, some other time. I’m far away from you. I too missed you a lot. Hope you are doing fine. And Ayushman, how’s he?”
“We are all fine. Dad has changed a lot, he rarely spends time with us. Now, Mary Aunty looks after us. She’s very kind and tells us lots of stories.”
“Mary……I think I know her. Is she around, would like to talk to her.”
“Yes sure.. Aunty do ring up Dad and tell him to spend a few hrs with us. He may listen to you. I’m eagerly waiting to meet you. Wait…I ‘ll hand over the phone to Aunty.”
Aryan hands over the phone to Mary.
Rachel was shocked to know that Mary was at Mohit’s place. She was relaxed at the same time, since the kids were having a great time with her around.
Mary spoke in length, on how she landed at Mohit’s place and thereafter, filtering about Mohit’s feelings for her.
Rachel disconnected the line, promising to keep in touch.
****
Few days passed by feeling anxious, by  the very thought of calling up Mohit.
Rachel would keep staring at his no, each time she intended to call him up. This went on for few days. It was just getting difficult, for she was filled with guilt. Yet she wanted to talk to him, because there would be no better person than him whom she could rely on. Must be because, he is that medium through which she could reach out to her goal.
We all come across some helping hand in life, or a signal indicating us to take the leap, to get life back on track. It’s God’s way of leading us to the right path.
Finally, one Sunday morning after her meditation session, Rachel gathered the courage to call up Mohit.
It was 9 in the morning when Mohit’s phone beeped, it went on for some time till it got disconnected.
Rachel grew anxious with all thoughts running across her mind, as to why he didn’t pick up the call.
Mohit was back from the shower, after his morning jog. He dressed himself and as he was about to move out of his room, his phone beeped again. He went to pick his cell and stood rooted, on seeing Rachel’s name flash on the screen. Before he could make up his mind, the line got cut. He noticed the previous missed calls too.
At the breakfast table, Aryan informed Mohit, about Rachel’s call. He narrated everything to Mohit, who was patiently listening to him. He nodded and smiled back, at the same time sat in disbelief. He couldn’t digest the fact that she was actually calling him. After grabbing a few bites, he excused himself and went to his room.
By now, Rachel had lost all hopes and was feeling restless. Just then, she gets a call from Mohit.
There was silence from both ends.
Rachel mustered courage and spoke, “Sir……I hope you are doing fine. Sorry for all the trouble….”
Before she could complete, he interrupted with tears running down his cheeks. “ Sorry! this one word is more than enough for all that you did? I never expected this from you, Rachel. You can call me ‘Mohit’ henceforth, I’m neither your boss, nor you my employee.” Mohit was losing his cool unintentionally. He was deeply hurt by her for what she had done, it was an outburst of his emotions.
Rachel’s voice choked with emotion, she never expected her boss to retaliate in this manner. She had unknowingly created a space in his heart. But it was time to clear her stand too.
“Sir…..Mr. Mohit…I’m sorry for my behaviour. If I wouldn’t have taken this step that day, I would have ended myself. The pain I was going through was ripping me apart. I was hating everything around me. I knew I would end into depression or harm myself. I cannot prove anything, but I believe you will try to understand me. For me work and everything else was secondary, at that point. I won’t call you henceforth. Thanks for everything.”
“Ok. So, you called up to say that you won’t stay in touch with me! That’s not cool!
I understand you better, but if you would have poured out to me, I would have helped you out. Forget it! So, where are you? Should I pick you up? I hope you’re better now,” he spoke, expressing his concern for her.
Rachel was confused with his sudden outburst and soothing words, later.
“I’m put up at a Recreation centre, since I left Mumbai. No, don’t bother yourself. I would like to be with Daisy Aunty for sometime before coming back to Mumbai. Any ways, there’s no one eagerly waiting for me back home. Actually, I wanted some favour from you, can I?” Rachel pleaded.
“Carry on, I’m listening.”
She narrated about the news, that was doing the rounds in the papers about his pet project.
“After going through that article, it struck me hard. I want to put my heart and soul in running that orphanage-cum-old age home. If you feel, I’m capable of handling it, do give me this opportunity. I feel that’s what my purpose in life is all about. I’ll never disappoint you,” she assured him with great confidence.
“Wow, definitely. I can do that; in fact, my search is on for the right candidate. For this you need to shower love more than experience. You’ll have to learn few things, on how to run the show, it’s not that easy. There are many things involved in it. How soon can we meet?”
“That’s great. Maybe in the next10 days, I’ll rush to Goa before that.”
“10 days…hmmmm….okk see you then,” though the wait was too long, but she deserved this break.
“Wait. Wait..One more favour, Mohit,” she yelled, before he could disconnected the line. He was happy to hear her calling out his name like some good old buddy.
“Shoot, now what!”
“I know you are a busy man but don’t ignore your kids. Please spend sufficient time with them. They need you Mohit. I know what it means without parents around. Got it! Bye,” she spoke in one breath to clear her point.
“Wait.. So, you are ordering me, young lady. My brats have already started complaining to you,” he chuckled.
“Yes,Mr. Handsome…..ohh shittt,” she cut the line immediately, on realizing what just slipped out from her tongue.
He was happy inside out and it reflected on his face.
He knew, once she was back for good, he could constantly be in touch with her on  some pretext or the other.