Winner of Wattpad India Awards 2020 (Judge's Choice) in the New Adult category.
~*~
"The lights are cheeky, you can't live without them, and yet if you get too close, they'll blind you. Darkness? Well it doesn't cheat. It's cool and soothing. It's r...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What do you mean that's the limit?"
The grumpy clerk on the other side of the glass rolled his eyes, scratching the top of his nose. "Ten thousand is the limit madam, you can't withdraw more than that at such a short notice. Now please, let me leave. It's lunch time." He motioned for her to move away from the line, pulling down the shutter and getting up from his seat. The fifteen or so people queued behind her groaned when they heard about the extra waiting hour they had to endure.
Madhu returned back to the bench, sitting down next to Nakul. "Now what do I do?"
"Maybe avoid throwing away all the money you have?" he suggested cheekily, letting out a short laugh when she lightly smacked his arm in annoyance. "I'll get the car, wait here."
She nodded absently, counting the bundle of cash before separating the bills and keeping them in different compartments of her large handbag.
Madhulika had woken up that day to realise she only had three thousand Rupees worth of cash left. She expected the twenty thousand bucks she had taken out before leaving Delhi to last her sufficiently for the two months she planned to spend in Bhabra. But one thing led to another and that money disappeared in just two weeks. Her credit card was useless here, since all businesses were dependent on hard cash. Madhu needed more money for what she had planned to do. Unfortunately, Sakshinagar had branches of only government banks and not private ones. It was a blessing that her father preferred the former and she had a joint account with him, otherwise things could've gotten awkward.
She wasn't exactly fond of being poor, even if it was for a few days.
Her Honda rolled in front of the bank and Madhu rushed out to sit in the passenger seat. Hitting the road a minute later, Nakul cursed under his breath at the slow-moving jam of vehicles on the uneven roads, which consisted of a hoard of trucks, noisy two-wheelers and animal carts. She didn't blame him, it seemed like people in Sakshinagar respected traffic rules as much as Delhiites respected parking tickets.
They made another stop at the post office to collect the mail her father had sent, before again driving off to the restaurant.
Madhu didn't know how to act when they finally reached the restaurant. The waiter led them to a two-seater table right in the middle of the room. It was a family place, with children running and chasing each other in the spaces between the tables and parents yelling at them to finish their food. She felt everyone's eyes on them and couldn't help but feel out of place in her kurti and jeans, conscious that she was the only adult female in the room who wasn't wearing Indian clothes. Or at least a hundred percent Indian.
Nakul, on the other hand, looked completely at ease as he flicked through the menu. "Would you like stuffed dosa or plain?"
"Whatever is good really. I don't know much about this place."
"Their special is tandoori chicken dosa, but I suspect you're vegetarian?"
