And Mondays were never the same | Short Story Part 4

The Rohan and Rhea love story continues. Hope you enjoy the words the way I did while penning them down. Would love to hear your feedback and ideas for the next part.

It had been a week, and neither Rhea nor had her mother received any news from the Sharma Family.

With every passing day, Rhea kept getting pulled towards Rohan. Their once a day interaction at the water cooler near Rohan’s workstation, got stretched to lunch time. There were days when both would ditch their respective team members and sneak out for the evening tea.

They would talk about work, politics, other new joiners in the team, technology and what not. Rhea being the inquisitive self that she was, tried raising the “Do-you-know-about-the-marriage-proposal?” topic several times during these meetings. But for some weird reason, the conversation always got dropped just as Rohan was about to share with her his marriage proposal developments.

Today Rhea had decided that come what may, she will definitely confront Rohan on the marriage proposal and seek closure. Rhea’s mother too had been pushing her to talk to Rohan and “gauge” his mood every now and then.

Rhea wore an orange chiffon saree that hung perfectly on her hour-glass figure. Complete with a tinge of Kajal, that outlined her big Bengali eyes and her thick locks that when left open, rested peacefully on her shoulders, Rhea looked every bit a goddess.

She knew the power she held over men when she slipped in to a saree. She saw from the corner of her eye, the many men who turned their heads as she walked by. But the one man she wanted all the attention from, was not to be seen at his desk.  

Rhea looked around for a bit, but Rohan was nowhere to be seen. So she walked back to her workstation, turned on her “Do not disturb” mode and plunged into the 37 mails that awaited her response.

At 1:45pm, there came a pop-up on her screen, and Rhea’s lips curled up into a smile:

Rohan: Oh my my, someone is looking gorgeous! Saree suits you so well.

Rhea:  Ahaaaannn... Thank you Thank you! You are far too kind.

Rohan:              What’s kind got to do with you looking pretty? I stated a fact. I am sure you must have been complimented by many today.

Rhea:  Naah. Not really. Just a few ;)

Rohan:            Yay a… whatever. Acha Let’s go for lunch! I am starving.

Rhea:  Oki… But don’t see you at your desk. Where are you?

Rohan: Just wrapped up a meeting. Shall meet you outside the first floor canteen.

Rhea: Roger that :) Be there in 5 minutes.

She logged out of her system and marched her way to the canteen. The lunch went as usual. 

They talked about the new project that had started gathering a lot of buzz, the endless politics around it, goof-ups that happened and were hushed under the carpet. Rhea noticed the slight tilt of his head that he did to his right, every time they laughed. Also, his eyes were chocolate brown. The kind of brown you wouldn’t mind getting lost in. The kind of brown that makes you fall in love. The kind of brown that change your Mondays for-ever.

“Oh and Guess what? I said a yes!” said Rohan.

Rhea, who had completely zoned out came back to reality with these words and couldn’t comprehend what was it that Rohan had said a yes to. So she just smiled, nodded and said “Cool”, so she doesn’t look stupid.

“Hello? Madam? Did you not hear me?” asked Rohan Questionably.

“I did. I surely did. I heard you Rohan. Um… You said a yes?” Rhea said, trying to cover up.

“Let me repeat it, for that was not the reaction I was expecting. Remember the day my mother had been calling me up frantically to see a few girls’ profiles for marriage? Well, I have given a go-ahead to one of them.”

His words were a bolt from the blue for Rhea. Sure she wanted to know about his marriage plans and who did he finally settle for and all that stuff, but as per her ease. She had planned it all in her head. That around 4-4:30 when they go for evening tea, she would ask him. Usually there weren’t many people around at that hour, and she too would be comfortable plunging into this topic. But not in the middle of a canteen while having lunch with 500 strangers around her and herself lost in thoughts, appreciating his physical self.

Rhea stole a glance at Rohan and then looked everywhere, but at him. She was blushing nervously. Framing all the thoughts in her head, how she would reply and confess her feelings, right from the time she saw him for the first time and all that she felt for him.

“She is beautiful, obviously. And works with a multi-national company here in Mumbai. My parents will talk to her family and fix up our first meeting the next week.” Continued Rohan.

“Oh Sharmaji, you could have directly said that- Rhea I like you. And that my answer is- yes. Why build up the entire story and act as if I don’t know anything. Silly boy!” Rhea thought to herself and giggled.

“That’s nice. If you like her, and so do your parents, there can’t be a better set-up.” Replied Rhea.

Rohan smiled and Rhea couldn’t help by notice the perfectly chiselled jaw line that he had. Noticing Rohan from such close proximity always gave her Goosebumps. She always found it difficult to focus on the conversation. That’s the kind of personality he had, and the impact he had, on her.

She didn’t have the guts to ask the name of the girl, so she just kept beating around the bush to keep the conversation going.

“So… What else?” she said.

“I am quite nervous, I have to confess. All this is moving so fast. I hope I selected the right girl. Oh by the way, did I tell her name?” asked Rohan.

Rhea’s face was red with shyness and embarrassment. Of course she knew the name of the girl. The build-up of emotions was so strong and confusing that Rhea couldn’t articulate her words anymore. She simply raised an eyebrow and looked straight in his eyes.

“Priya Jethmalani”

Rhea thought she heard it wrong, for there was way too much commotion in the canteen. So she leaned in and said, “What?”

“Priya Priya! Her name is Priya Jethmalani.” Repeated Rohan.

And this was the moment Rhea lost the colour of her face. Was he kidding? Or had he really chosen someone else over Rhea? Rhea made no attempts in hiding the terrible blow that this name gave her. Rhea got puzzled and could feel her head spin. No No No… This can’t be happening. Really Rohan! Oh why!

And with the face that looked white as snow, she wished there was a button to vanish right at this very moment. Her heart had broken into a million pieces and she had no idea if it would ever become one.