Wordless Love

The weight of affection

Piya and Aarti were waiting in the meeting room. Judging from the empty cups and water tumblers, they had been there for a while.

"Another round of coffee? "Tara said as soon as she entered the room. Tara was not a person who wasted time on small talk. Both the girls nodded.

Jai was a little disappointed – both the girls seemed normal – they smiled and stood up when Tara and Jai entered the room and agreed for another cup of coffee immediately. People do not look heartless or wear their cruelty as a badge, he told himself. It wasn't easy to guess who was who. Jai had only seen The Girl briefly in the hospital on that fateful day. He may have met her when she was a schoolgirl before that. Their mothers were best friends and saw each other as much as their busy schedules allowed. But between Jai's college and The Girl's school, they were together only a couple of times.

Both the young ladies were the same age – while one wore a large white shirt with black trousers and the other decided to show up in a pair of old jeans and a threadbare T-shirt. A red dot, the sindhoor, on the forehead of the one wearing the shirt she was married. Jai was sure Veer would have mentioned if The Girl was married. "What if she recognized him?" the thought came to Jai's mind. He had not considered that possibility. Fortunately, Tara did not give him a chance to dwell on that.

"We've had a very long day, let us get started without wasting any time. If you girls are ready," Tara added in the end. Piya and Aarti nodded and opened their laptops. Jai released the breath, The Girl sat opposite him and did not recognize him.

"Are you a fan of Manga comics?" Tara pointed to the stickers on Piya's laptop. Piya started at the sticker: It was of a young blonde man wearing a silver-grey headscarf. He seemed to have cat whiskers too, but that was difficult to tell given both the laptop and the sticker had seen better days. Piya nodded with a shy smile with a blush creeping up her neck right to her ears.

"Well if she was embarrassed by her juvenile sticker collection, she could have left that at home," Jai said to himself. He did not like anything about her so far and was sure his feelings would remain the same till after this meeting.

Aarti and Piya made a great team – Aarti talked as Piya pulled up the presentation, reading material and the data needed. Tara and Jai had many questions, and each question was answered. There were a couple of places when Aarti and Piya struggled with the right answer. Rather than avoiding an answer, they focused on how they would find the solution and how that would be a learning curve for them.

Jai could not help but be impressed by their work. They had done away with a slide deck that all the other firms used. The girls instead had opted to use a whiteboard application. That changed the tone of the meeting from a one-way communication about "what we can do for you" to an interactive discussion about "how can we build the future together". It was clear from Tara's questions and how she bent towards their laptops that she felt the same.

"This seems a great plan – but you would need a lot more hands to execute that. It is clear that you will have a manpower problem on your hands very early in the project. How do you propose to solve that?" Jai asked. He knew that they did not have a satisfactory answer. That was the weakest link in their chain. Maybe this was what he was waiting for.

Aarti started saying something and then stopped. Piya was furiously typing on her laptop. The silence was awkward, punctuated only by the noise of Piya hitting the keys. "Did we get our projections wrong?" Aarti asked.

Tara passed Jai a confused look but kept quiet. "The projections are correct. Your plan even leaves a tiny room for revisions or unexpected delays. That is impressive, however, your projections do not match the pace in our business plan." Jai noticed Piya make a subtle gesture to her laptop. Piya had found an acceptable response! He was right.

For the next five minutes, Aarti talked about how the project could be divided into smaller, manageable bits, and they could begin work on different bits simultaneously. She also mentioned that they would get help when and where it was needed.

They had reserved the last part of the meeting to showcase the work they had done so far. Aarti did not mention any company names, instead focused on the business problems and how they solved them. The girls were smart – they were focusing on their strengths and not letting the fact that they hadn't worked for big companies yet steal the spotlight.

"Thank you for your time," Tara said. "I am sorry the meeting took longer than we expected. We are impressed, both by your work and the passion you have for your work. We are meeting a couple of companies tomorrow and will let you know our decision soon."

Again it was Aarti who said the goodbyes for both of them. Jai got a distinct impression that Piya was a woman of very few words.

"I must say I am impressed." Tara persuaded Jai to join her for dinner. "Only so that we can compare notes", she has said. They sat in a secluded corner near the pool. The temperature had dropped, and the enormous fans placed strategically around the pool made the atmosphere bearable. "I liked Aarti, she is smart, can think on her feet, approachable. I am not so sure about the other female."

"Piya – Yeah she doesn't like to talk much it seems – but she is the brains of the operation. Don't be fooled by the fact that she hid behind those cartoon stickers for most of the meetings."

"Anime." Tara corrected him.

"Is there a difference?"

"If you have to ask, then, no there is no difference. Seriously you can know so much about so many things and yet be totally oblivious about some – As if you were living under a rock!"

Jai laughed. Tara was one of the few people left in his life who could bring him down a peg or two when needed. Life with Tara could have been easy, if only. There was no time for a walk down the memory lane. Jai had to tell Tara about Piya, that Piya was The Girl. Tara was in a good mood; it was a pity.

"Before you make up your mind, you need to know something."

"You sound serious – don't tell me you have decided to help me after all I am one of your dearest friends – I am sure you can give me a friends and family discount."

At any other time, Tara's tenacity would have made Jai smile – but right now, it was as if someone had wrung all smiles and happy thoughts out of him. "Piya is The Girl", he said without any preamble.

"Piya is a girl?"

"The company's name Meena's Creations. Meena was Piya's mother – Ma's friend who- "

Tara froze mid-bite. She placed the folk back on the plate and pushed back her chair. As if putting a physical distance between them would help. She did not ask him when did he realize that. There was no need to do that. The guilt was written all over his face.

"It was dad, he found out." he explained.

"So, it was Veer who put you up to this. Tell me Jai, why am I not surprised? The Girl does not want you or your father in her life. Why can't you understand that? You keep going to her only to be kicked away like a dog."

"You are talking about my father here Tara."

"No, I am talking about me, you, your father and your mother. I was there holding her hand as she took her last breath. She did not care about her husband, her son or the woman who was to be her daughter in law. No regrets for missing our wedding, or not meeting our future kids – just that she could not say sorry to The Wretched Girl."

Jai let his anger slip. He knew how Tara felt. It hurt that she could articulate the way he felt so quickly when he had spent years trying to find the right words.

"I promised dad, I would give her a fair chance – Neither one of us, me or my dad intervened- she found out about the project herself, worked on it and you selected the firms on the basis of merit. If you had not selected her project, we would not be here."

"I believe you – You have always told me the truth, even when I hoped and prayed for a lie. But my question is – when does this end – let us say I decide to go another way – then what next? I am sure Veer would not give up so easily. He spent years trying to find her. We can't expect him to walk away now."

"I hadn't thought that far ahead. The only scenario I was considering was where we give her a fair chance and she fails to impress us". Jai reached out and held her hand across the table. Tara did not pull her hand away. Both of them needed the comfort of a friend.

"I can do that. You did mention that they are short on manpower. That is a good excuse, no, scratch that – it is a good reason – I can't place the future of my company at a risk."

"But when does this end then Tara? Her company is not doing well, your project might be the last chance she has. The problem is not that she will drown, I do not care about that. The real problem is dad, he would not let her drown alone. The sense of failure, that helplessness and that guilt, I do not have the strength to see that all over again. I need you Tara. Help me." Jai whispered the last two words. It did not matter if Tara heard them – his drooping shoulders, the bowed head and the heavy voice all shouted that he needed help.

Tara thought about it. She was not a woman who could be rushed into decisions. The server came to check on them. She waved him away. She sat there, holding Jai's hand across the table. Jai did not raise his head. As if life had beaten all the energy out of him.

"Okay, we get her and her friend on board." Before Jai could get a word in, "But I have my conditions – you will personally supervise the project – and they will work as your employees. In case you are thinking of how much should you invoice my company, do not bother. She will learn a lot from you and by the time the project will be over, she will be able to get a job in any company she wants to work with. That should be enough for you and Veer. I am giving her an opportunity to get her house in order and an opportunity for you to finish this painful saga once and for all. That is payment enough."