The U- turn

She was waiting, and waiting sitting across the big, repulsive …the pale door near the staircase. She was cladded in her pair of greyish-blue denims and a crisp lime shade halter top. Oh, that oomph! The office people passed by again and again and glanced at her. She tried to read their lip sync but doesn’t care over the usual comments she is accustomed to.Her gaze was steadily set on that huge rectangular piece of wood. Her fingers sometimes clenched the folders and sometimes the straight hair falling on the shoulders were being played with, as the time had to be passed. She twisted sometimes to look for the receptionist who was busy taking long calls at the receiving desk.

The interview with him was fixed for 10:30 this morning, she has her own office to attend to which she has escaped to attend to this new offer. ‘Shelly Seth’ called the haughty receptionist, Mr. Aman is waiting inside for you. The name, pinched something inside but the eyes shimmered and this moment was thanked by her. She hastily turn to her nude-tinged heels and walked in head-high. The disposition she carried through the foyer was all calm and the elegance was personified in the way she dressed for the day. After all, she was to audition for a new advertisement, she had to look her best and yet effortless in appeal. Aman looks at this muse walking in the chiffon top and kept looking……She sat opposite him, thoughtfully shook hands with him and expected the round of questions to be put forward. She was quiet and quiet…. he sat alike. The silence invaded the atmosphere and no questions came around. Aman congratulated her, they shook hands. She came out of the same repulsive door without looking back, walking aimlessly, clueless and unable to react.

The phone buzzed one, twice and thrice, Shelly did not pick and undecidedly sat in her car and drove to her workplace. As she parked the car in the lane outside the office suddenly a realisation hit her, that mummy’s call need to be returned before she reaches the workplace.  She didn’t know what to say, she said, ‘I did get the job, but I am not going to go’.

The day was absent-mindedly spent at the workstation, some assignments done, a few scenes shot for the advertisements. Unless she found the bunch of documents at her desk - freshly wet by the drops from the eyes that gazed upon them; she didn’t know she was crying. The tears marked her journey to the lovely days spent together in college, the frames flashed in front of her, the selfies they clicked together, the biscuits they broke into two and sipped from the same cup, the visit to the quiet lanes of Hauz Khas that was the favourite hotspot during the college days, the drives together, listening from his boring Kishore Kumar numbers to her favourite Honey Singh, the days of sharing the same platter and being best friends to the cutest couple, Aman and her…

She was breaking into pieces by now, after all she had promised herself 4 years back that she will never meet him again. But, life had planned something which she had never planned, life today morning had taken this U-turn. The evening brought such dullness, mummy made her favourite Orange Chicken; Shelly took her pillow to her couch and the dinner remain unattended.