Game

“Hello?...Nalin?”
“Akki , meet me at 8 for dinner?”
“Ok..Khej”
“Done!”

At 7:30 Pm , Akanksha shut down her computer , signed out and started towards the parking lot . It would take a good twenty minutes to drive down to Indiranagar , with just about 10 minutes buffer time for the Airport road signal .

RADIO CITY! blared the FM.
“Welcome back to Route 91 and this is Darius” blared he.The next request is from Varsha who says “Hey Darius ,I’m madly in love with my ex-boyfriend and I would like to dedicate a song to him and he is currently going out with my best friend.So, I’d like to request a song from Bewafa….”.

Akanksha slammed down the accelerator and cruised down the inner ring road.

8:15 Pm :
“Aks!Sorry am late..left office a little late”
“Lemme guess..you left at 8?”
“Hehe!...U know me so well and yet you always come on time , Aks?”
“Habit..So tell me , what’s eating you”
“Hold your horses , Aks , lets order first.Waiter!”

“Boliye, bhai saab”
“Ek Tandaai , Do Ajwain ke parathein , ek dal , Ek Kulfi, Do Lassi”
“Aks, anything else??Aks?”

Nalin turned around to find Akki gazing at some paintings. This place was an old haunt of theirs. Very strategically located, in between both their work places .It was owned by a renowned painter , and sometimes the painter would sit in the porch near the entrance and paint .His paintings usually depicted women , mostly with the emphasis laid on the eyes ,sometimes on the nose-ring , or even the anklets, almost always with a shayaree attached. One of them was Akki’s favorite.

It was that of a woman staring at the sea and it read

“Kya naam dein ab is zindgi ko hum
ek dard hai, ek aah hai, ek nasoor hai aur kuchh bhi nahi.

jab bhi kho jate hain teri yadon ke manjar mein,
koi pukare to akser kahte hain yahi,
na jagao awaz de kar kuchh lamho ke liye
dard soya hai abhi ”

“Akki , come on over . Stop staring at it with your big eyes, the glass might crack!”
“Tell me Nalin, what’s up?”
“Its about Keerthi.”
“Keerthi from office?”
“Which other!Yeah , her .I’m planning to ask her out tomorrow . What do you say?”
“Hmm .. not a bad idea. You could get to know her better .Just ask it in a nice manner .Don’t sound too needy ”

Nalin cleared his throat.
“Ahem , fair Keerthi , will you come with me to dinner tomorrow?”
“No!”
“Pleaaaaase!Pretty Please!”
“Nalin!”

“Akki!”

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“How went the date , Romeo?”
“Better than expected..She actually turned up!”
“So , do you like her?”
“Don’t know yet Aks , lets see tomorrow, another date..Hehe”
“Same girl?”
“But , of course!What do you think of me!”
“Where did you go by the way?”
“Rice bowl”
“Thought you hated Chinese….Her idea?”
“I don’t hate Chinese per se…yep her idea”
“Yep , you don’t hate it per se..just that you would have stopped at the starter and finished up with dinner..”
“Doesn’t matter Aks , will take her elsewhere tomorrow”

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“Ms Akanksha?”
”Yep , tell me, Hussain”
“Nalin sir is at the reception”
“Tell him I’m coming”

“Akki! C’mon lets go for a cup of coffee!I’ve got important things to discuss”

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“So , do you think I should do it?”
”Don’t you think it’s a little too early , Nalin?”
“Its been 4 months , Aks. And I think I’m pretty sure . And I cant keep dating her and not say anything at all.”
“Its still just 4 months , Nalin , how many dates is that ?24 dates? 2 hours each? 48 hours?Thats like knowing someone for 2 days”
Nalin looked away as he bit his lip whilst swirling his cup of coffee.
“You know what our problem is , Akanksha?”
Akanksha looked steadfastly at Nalin’s eyes…Habit.
“You think you know everything. You think you can sit up on a pedestal and call all the shots. You are never supportive about anything I do!”
“So what do you like most about her , Nalin?”
“From the top of my head , well, she’s very understanding.Sometimes this irritates me you know , Akki!Its like she’s absolutely spineless!”
“And oh!She also likes Chinese …”
“I ABHOR Chinese!I have half a mind to kill all the Chinese in the world.I’ve had so much Chinese that I can actually speak the bloody language with all those dorky door-men!”
“One more thing , Akki. Frankly tell me what did you think of her when you met that once?”
Akanksha smiled.Her slow smile with her eyes transfixed on Nalin’s eager face.
“Well…”
“I promise you that it will get better .. now that you are going to see more of her”
“Yes”

Only time will tell.

Nalin signed the bill and got up.
“Thanks , Aks , you’ve been such a brick!”
“Nalin ,you got some change for the parking?”

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“So here we are!”
Akanksha looked up.Nalin was trying to break the ice.Time to do something about it.

“So , Keerti , Nalin tells me so much about you that I simply had to meet you to believe it”
Keerti looked straight into a pair of large steel grey eyes and smiled.
“So then , we’re even stevens”
Nalin looked on.The two most important women in his life.
“Waiter!”

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The painting looked exquisite .Especially against the setting sun .It was a year since she last saw Nalin.Had she really loved him?Yes , in parts .He had a wonderful sense of humour and he could drag you up from the doldrums in no time at all. A big heart that was child like and innocent . She missed those eyes .

Nalin … was he really worth going through all that ?Nalin , who could be so easily swayed by anything anyone said . Nalin ,with whom it would be so easy to seed a doubt in . Yes , I did the right thing..I couldn’t have fought her all my life .

Some women are like that . Mysterious. Enigmatic.The more Nalin tried to know her , the more she didn’t let him.Dear God , I hope he never does…

~~~ ~~~~~~~

“4 letters , down, for an amusement or past time ,hunted for food or sport”
Nalin looked down from his lap top. His darling wife was propped down leaning against his feet and trying to solve a crossword puzzle.
“Akki , how about a candle lit diner tonight?”
“Game”