Shades of Life

Her Realization

I woke up bundled in my pajama’s. I turned to my left and saw my face in the mirror and winced.

I look like a ghost.

Did I ever talk about ghost?

I had like a déjà vu when I thought about it.

Weird.

Yawning, I got off my bed and made it neatly before walking into my bathroom. After taking a shower which refreshed me, I got out in my towel. I took my work clothes and got ready. Next weekend I should go for shopping. I need to buy some nice work clothes. I have jeans and skirts more.

My dad never let me wear shorts or skirts so I went wild and brought them before coming here. I always bought short dresses but never wore in front of my family. I used to take it and change at Mona’s house. Her mom is pretty cool.

Did I call her yesterday?

I checked my phone after putting my dress on. I had a message from her which read ‘Call me b***h’. Why is she mad?

I shook my head. I didn’t do anything maybe something must have happened at her home. I’ll call her after coming back from work. She works at night so she must be still sleeping now. She will eat my head if I ruin her precious sleep.

I smiled remembering her enactment of Gollum from Lord of ring saying ‘My precious, my sleep is precious’.

She’s weird but that’s the reason she is my friend.

We both are weird. That’s our thing.

I prepared light breakfast and had it watching an episode of ‘Big Bang Theory’. It always lightens up my mood.

Though I drank a bit more yesterday, I didn’t get hangover. I’m wired that way. At the same time, I don’t remember after I started drinking that beer. When did I come back from terrace?

I don’t remember.

I shouldn’t do it next time. It could have been dangerous. Thank god, I came back safely.

When I reached the office, Keith, Aarav and Richa were hungover. It was fun to see them squirm when I talked loudly just to irritate them. Ashish and I shared a laugh seeing their condition. Vani didn’t give us any heed and kept working in her cabin.

I still can’t understand her.

Aarav and I spend the morning setting up my pc. He installed everything that we might need for this new project. We spent some time brainstorming which software we might need for front end and back end. After deciding what we needed, we installed them.

Rahul came to my cabin and told us to give some files to Varun sir as he was busy. Aarav called me along saying that we can take a break. We have been working continuously since morning. It was already lunch time. He said we will take a walk and meet others directly at the food court.

I got inside his chamber after Aarav. Carla was not there at her station.

I saw another guy inside the cabin and he was cute. That’s what I thought as soon as I saw him.

“Hey man” Aarav said as he saw the stranger and both shared a hug.

“Hey Aarav, how are you?” Mr. Cute asked patting Aarav’s shoulder.

“I’m good, how are you? How was your trip?” Aarav asked getting excited. He’s like a kid on sugar high.

“It was amazing. The resort that I stayed in was beautiful. And beaches ooff! Absolutely f*****g amazing. I video called Varun so many times. He saw those places. Right Varun?” He asked Varun sir who was looking at Aarav’s shoulder.

“Isn’t it Varun?” Mr. Cute asked him again.

“Huh” He looked confused.

“Aarav was asking about my holiday, I video called you once. You saw that place right” Mr. Cute asked raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, it was nice” He said nodding.

“Bro, here. These are the requirements that we have for the project. Rahul directly contacted the client and they are going through all the financial and functional requirement again as they had few changes since last week. Akshara” Aarav said and called me. I passed him a file.

“This too contains everything about it. Just go through it once and let us know if you are okay with this” He told him.

“Okay, I’ll look into it” He said nodding.

“Sir- I mean Varun Rahul said there are few changes made in the contract. You should check with your HR team it seems” I said keeping a polite look on my face. We have had enough awkward encounters and now I want us to have a strict professional talks.

He kept staring at me without acknowledging what I said.

“Varun?” Mr. Cute asked and Varun turned his attention to him.

“Haa” He asked him. I blushed at his stare, it was like he was in some kind of trance.

“That beautiful girl just said something to you” Mr. Cute said smirking pointing at me. Wow, he is a smooth talker.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to them” Varun said nodding blankly at me.

Ever so moody.

“Cool, see yea. Bye Aakash” Aarav said mock saluting.

Finally, I got his name. I was getting tired of calling him Mr. Cute.

“Bye Aarav, let’s meet soon for drinks” Aakash said waving back.

“Not soon though, last night we all were smashed and I still am hungover. Aren’t we Akshara?” He asked me as I stood there silently observing their interaction.

“Oh please, I can handle my alcohol. I’m not hungover” I said smirking.

Varun scoffed out loud.

All three of us looked at him.

“What?” Aarav asked him.

“What what?” He asked back.

“Nothing” Aarav said and walked out.

“Have a nice day Varun” I said and followed out.

“Should we go out to food court?” Aarav asked me and I nodded.

“I’m hungry” I said patting my stomach.

We started talking about some series and went to the food court. We were pretty early so the queue was small. We took our food and went to our place.

“Man, I’m so hungover” Keith said when he came and said sat beside me.

“Go, buy a lemonade and drink it” I suggested. I have teased him enough, I don’t want him to hit me.

Everyone else joined us and we started talking about yesterday and laughed about the story Aarav said and started pestering him to tell us that girl’s name. I wanted to know so that I could tease him and after a lot of pestering he gave her name. It was ‘Anjali’. Classic.

We laughed as Richa imitated Keith’s drunk self as Keith hid his face getting embarrassed. I actually saw Vani smile once or twice.

After a while, one of the other employee that Keith is friend with came and joined us. His name was Pranay and he was cute. Not ‘omfg! He is so cute’ but ‘Umm, he is cute’.

Could I be more of a b***h?

But his sense of humor was amazing. I felt happy as I met new people and had fun conversation.

“Dude, he was such a pain in the ass. I remember him calling you Johnny and someone yelled out ‘Sins’ in the training” Pranay was telling a story about a trainer calling Keith Johnny and we started laughing all over again. My stomach is hurting.

“Shut up, I know it was you only” Keith said covering his face as it was red.

Poor guy.

“Why did he call him Johnny though?” I asked him out of curiosity. He saw me and gave me a sweet smile.

“He said that Keith’s face looked a ‘Johnny’ and guessed his name” He said chuckled and we all ensued.

God! That must have been embarrassing.

“No wonder you are single” I said laughing and all laughed again.

By the time lunch was done, we all had huge smile on our faces. It was fun and I felt like I made friends for the first time after such a long time. I made no friends in my last job. They were just colleagues. But these people are different. They don’t share their intimate personal details but they are friendly enough so that others feel comfortable.

We got back to work. Aarav and I started working on the outline of the project and we should start. He said once we outline the foundation of the code. Varun will provide us a group of programmers and we would start building the code and use agile methodology to get faster result which was helpful. When I saw the whole code coverage and the whole project requirements I was shocked and worried that how Aarav and I could complete just lengthy process but now that I know we will have help with it, I feel calm.

We started working and though it was a headache I loved it. It gave me a sense of accomplishment which I love.

When it was evening, Aarav and I reported to Rahul and bid bye to each other. By the time I reached home, I was tired. The traffic was brutal. I took a nice bath and made Kurkure mix and ate it with satisfaction watching ‘Mom’ series.

While I was washing the dish I remembered I had to call Mona. So, I went to my room and took my phone and came out. I sat on the sofa and video called her. She still has an hour before she starts her work.

“It’s about time you called” came her sarcastic voice.

“Hello to you too” I responded back with the same tone.

“Why the hell did you take so long to call?” She asked and I could see that she was annoyed.

“I had work madam, and why are you so moody? Did you get your periods?” I asked walking towards the kitchen. I feel like eating popcorn.

Yeah, I know I’m a junkie, a junk food eater.

“I’m not. Don’t you remember what happened last night?” She asked looking at raising her eyebrows.

“What about last night?” I asked taking popcorn packet and the cooker out.

“Don’t you remember? Ah, right. You forget stuff when you get too drunk” She realized on her own. I do forget when I get s**t faced but I later remember it in parts if someone reminds me by telling me what happened.

“Nothing happened okay, I went for drinks with some colleagues who by the way are amazing. I had so much fun. There are a cool bunch. A bit weird but nothing that I can’t handle. They are super friendly and easy going so my awkward self hasn’t made an appearance in front of them yet. Wheww!” I said swiping my forehead whistling. I started the stove and popcorn is in making.

“Yada yada yada, I don’t care. I’m 100% sure they are not as fun as me” She said rolling her eyes.

“Are you jealous, baby girl?” I asked in Massimo’s voice. Ah! 365 days. Had some good laugh watching that movie.

She scoffed which suddenly reminded me when Varun did the same in the afternoon.

“I’m not but why the hell did you forget to mention that Varun Mehta stays in your apartment building?” she demanded looking at me with ‘Don’t kid me’ look.

“How the hell did you get to know that?” I asked her in surprise. How did she found out about it? I never told her. I haven’t told anyone, not even my parents. Definitely not my friends otherwise they would flood my phone will calls asking about him.

Now even in groups they always ask whether I saw in company or talk to him and I have answered no. I can’t handle that craziness right now.

“You did and oh! I saw him on your phone” She said smiling sarcastically.

I started laughing at her absurd statement.

“Mona, when did you start day dreaming?” I asked her chuckling.

Popcorn was done and poured it out in a large bowl.

Yum! Can’t wait to devour it.

“Akshu! Last night you went on terrace and video called me. You finished that strong Tuborg beer and forced me to sing with you. Thank god, I was on break. We were singing when someone came and when he came near you it was Varun Mehta, I actually talked to him. You even called him sir. Try to remember” She revealed everything and I stood there rooted on my spot.

Just like that everything that happened last night came back to me in full speed and I cringed.

“Oh no” I whispered and the bowl fell from my hand.

Bye bye popcorn!

See you in heaven.