Good that Idraneel hasn’t seen her.
Better that he unknowingly saved her.
Punky stuck her phone in her purse and felt sick to her stomach.
Outisde, the guy that knocked Hrishi’s phone accidentally was laughing with his friend Indraneel Deshmukh, who had no clue Pankaja Vyas was hiding in a stall ashamed…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pankaja @ the pub
“Just tell him you have a migraine and leave” Sulu urged
“Oh I am going to, but I am so disgusted with myself re”
“Don’t think about it, just waha se nikalne ka re”
“I know” Punky splashed water on her face and dabbed it with some wet paper towels. She didn’t know where she could go from here. Tinder was supposed to be her big avenue for s---l adventure.
She stood staring at the mirror, a bunch of women walked in giggling and whispereing
She left the bathroom and started walking toward the spot where she had left Hrishi
She made eye contact with Indraneel
They both recognized each other. She looked everywhere for Hrishi, and he tapped on her shoulder a few minutes later with a amused grin
She knew Indraneel had watched that
“Dance? Drink?”
“I have to go” she blurted
“WHAT?”
“Umm.. I have to go” she leaned to speak into his ear
She felt his heart pounding, that put her off even more, she wondered if he was anticipating a hook up. She wanted to run away as fast as possible. She felt apologetic she was doing it to his wife and daughter
“Umm… no I get migraines, I never drink pineapple juice, the cocktail that other place made had some in it” she lied
“Really? I didn’t taste it” he brought his face closer to let her have a taste
It was too crowded, they could have gotten away with a full on French kiss
She pulled away, staggering back and hitting another guest on his chest with his elbow
Indraneel was not too far, he saw it all
“Listen to me… lets just get out of here?” Hrishi urged
“No… I am just going to go home, I spent 20 minutes checking my purse I couldn’t find my meds”
“Oh, we can get it no problem”
“No… its OK”
This man was insistent
“Are you sure” he was suddenly very cautious
“Yes…”
“Tomorrow night?”
“Can’t do it for 10 days” she kicked herself for her choice of words “DO IT? PUNKY?”
“I cant meet next week” he panicked
“That’s OK, we can umm.. we can think about this” she nodded starting to walk to the twin glass doors
He walked by her side
She dreaded having to go by Indraneel
“Next time we shouldn’t do dinner or dance or pub” Hrishi spoke authoritatively
JUST as they approached Indraneel
“Hmm”
“Sahi me… apne ko aisa time waste nahi karne ka” Hrishi giggled like a h---y teenager.
Indraneel and her made eye contact soon after… she looked sideways
“Thanks, you don’t have to leave with me” she paused to get rid of Hrishi
“Main bhi ghar jaayega” “Abhi yaha pe kya time waste karega” Hrishi grinned wide
She wondered who he even was
In the auto, she searched all the way to Sulu’s house
The next couple days she kept searching the web, and finally landed on a lackey to a state lawmaker, agriculture minister’s deputy’s assistant. His name was Ganpat Phansare? Something, she wondered how he picked the name Hrishi
She texted the grainy blurry photo she found of him at some political event to Sulu
“I need to take a break Sulu, I cannot just randomly hook up” she mumbled when she met her Wed night
“Har koi married nahi rahega”
“Who knows… Indraneel could be too”
Indraneel of course, wasn’t… and he was thinking about Pankaja at the pub
“Har koi married nahi rahega”
“Who knows… Indraneel could be too”
Indraneel of course, wasn’t… and he was thinking about Pankaja at the pub
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Reverse
She threw herself into her school work, Ajji and her had a couple of flash points. Ajji couldn’t figure out what was causing her to be snappy, she called Sulu one afternoon and enquired.
“Its nothing Ajji, just let her be”
“She used to be always excited about getting ready, wearing make up, buying clothes, going shopping,planning vacations”
“I know Ajji”
“Then YOU must tell me what is bothering her”
“Actually she is just exhausted, she took on coaching for another kid as you know the Tuesday kid, cant recall, Shivaji Nagar?”
“Oh yes, Kunal, Kruti?”
“You know???”
“She tells me everything, but the last two weeks she has been really moody”
“Well Ajji she doesn’t want to bother you, but Mrs Deepa? The teacher she is filling in for? Is not returning for a while”
“So that’s good na?”
“Its is… she can get more money, but she has to teach to be able to get the extra”
“I shouldn’t be forcing her to make more”
“Its not you, she is too focused on havinga good time Ajji”
“She should be enjoying with husband and kids, she hasn’t even saved up for the wedding, we will have to sell this house after we marry her”
“No… what will Prateek and Prajakta do?”
“They can study there or come back to Pune to work”
“Who goes to a village to study, you are speaking in reverse Ajji”
“Things are in reverse in this family, my daughter and son in law not being here, me managing kids and raising a family, Punky holding down 2 or 3 jobs”
“But Ajji please don’t take any drastic decisions, she will find a nice middle class boy who will not ask for anything”
“She is in her 30s, she is not getting a “boy” Ajji was sad
“It’s a manner of speaking Ajji”
“No I think we should sell, if the groom’s family notices we have money, she will get married
“She is having a good time, I doubt she wants to marry now” Sulu reassured Ajji
She texted her friend
“Why cant you hide your feelings at home, Ajji is upset”
“About what?”
“You are gloomy and Ajji thinks she should sell the house and go back to gaon”
“And do what?”
“Buy you a groom”
“Niice” laugh emoji
“You just hook up quick and make urself happy”
“With some political underling?”
“No with a hot, sizzling single guy”
“Speaking of which the last three weeks Indraneel has been missing”
“Who is that?” Sulu had forgotten
“The man who could make me ---- fully clothed” “The man who is a serial insulter” “Kunal’s chachu”
“Sahiiii” “Good for u” “U got rid of him”
“I wish had wanted that” Punky muttered to herself, a reaction she didn’t really expect herself to feel
From a Devil to a Saint
He really thinks the family is being unreasonable with their demand for his time?
Look Test
The new guy seems to be a dud already. This one is going nowhere.
The guy is married and has a kid? Maybe he is divorced. At least we hope.
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