Sunday, 24/05/2009 ... in Coimbatore, India

Ajay decided to go to Isha's bookshop again that morning. When he arrived there, wearing a grey tee with black trousers, he saw a printed sign on the door.

HELPERS WANTED

Monday to Sunday

8.00 am to 10.00 pm

Ajay grinned as he entered the shop. Isha was nowhere in sight. He walked down the aisle looking at all the shelves of books until he found Isha, wearing a burgundy coloured salwar suit, trying to push one of the shelves towards the back of the shop. He held the other end of the shelf and helped her push it to the back. Isha looked up at him, noticing that someone had helped her to easily move the heavy shelf.

"Why have you come again?" asked Isha.

"To help you. You've kept a sign that helpers are wanted," explained Ajay as he followed Isha towards the front of the shop.

She shook her head as she said, "My shop is not the place for you." She handed him a flyer and said, "This is."

The flyer was an invitation for any musician who could perform in the Lahari Resort's outdoor restaurant every night from 7pm to 10pm.

***

Later that morning, Ajay was standing in the office of the manager of the Lahari Resort, playing a tune on his guitar.

The manager smiled, "Beautiful. You are very good. But I can't offer you a job here."

"Why, sir?" asked Ajay, puzzled.

"I only need an average musician to perform here for just three hours every night. I think it is better for you to become a musician of your own, selling your own albums. That way, you will earn more than double of the salary you will ever get here. I can't spoil your life by offering you this job."

"So, you are thinking about my future. But I'm thinking about your hotel's future, sir. I'm sure you can give me a job here until I can get a sponsor to start composing albums on my own, right sir?" asked Ajay.

***

Few minutes later, Ajay walked out of the Lahari Resort; his face as grave as ever. Priya, wearing a lime green coloured salwar suit, was waiting for him outside.

"What happened?" asked Priya in concern, upon noticing him.

"I don't know how to face Dad," stated Ajay, solemnly.

"They didn't accept you, is it?" Priya's face fell.

"From now on, I can't go around with you anywhere at night." Ajay still appeared very serious. "I won't borrow your money anymore."

"So, you got the job?" Priya looked up at him elated.

"Yes, thanks to Isha!" Ajay finally grinned.

Priya stopped in her tracks and glared at him, agape. "I've been with you all these years. You express your pains to me, but you thank her?"

"When I don't thank myself in the mirror, then how can I thank you? You're like me in the mirror."

Priya grinned as she gave him a playful punch on the arm and they continued walking home.

As soon as Ajay was in the privacy of his room at home, he took his mobile phone and texted Isha.

"Thanks! I got the job because of you."

In less than a minute, he got a reply.

"You're always welcome. Congrats! Hope you like your new job! :)"

Ajay grinned and replied to her text.

"Yes, I luv it! I think our friendship has become strong enough to invite you out for coffee this evening with one of my friends."

Ajay waited patiently for her reply, but she didn't reply until after a few minutes.

"Ok, I'll try to come. Where is the venue?"

"Café Coffee Day. We'll be waiting for you. Please do come. :)"

Just as Ajay sent his message to Isha, Priya walked into his room. "Hey! What are you doing here? Come, let's go meet Uncle at his office. I can't wait to break the news to him!"

"Why are you so excited? We'll tell him when he gets home," said Ajay.

"Come on, just imagine how happy Uncle will be when he knows that you got a job! Come, let's go tell him now itself!"

***

After a lot of compulsion from Priya, Ajay was finally standing in his father's office, accompanied by Priya.

"Dad, I've got a job," started Ajay, after being nudged by Priya, as Kishan sorted through some papers and continued his work, ignoring them.

"In which band?" asked Kishan, without looking up at them.

Ajay rolled his eyes and remained silent.

"Not in a band, Uncle. He'll be performing in Lahari Resort," said Priya.

"How much is the salary?" asked Kishan.

Priya turned to Ajay, saying, "Oh yea, you didn't tell me about the salary."

"Salary is Rs. 10,000 a month," said Ajay.

"Do you know how much you need to run a house in this city? If you had studied as I'd said, you would have been able to get a good starting salary of minimum Rs. 20,000 to 25,000 and you would have been able to lead a good comfortable life," said Kishan.

Priya looked down at the floor, disappointed. Ajay just remained silent.

***

That evening, Ajay and Priya were at Café Coffee Day, waiting in wonder whether Isha would turn up.

"Will she come?" Ajay asked Priya for the umpteenth time.

"For God's sake, I don't know. Let's just wait and see," said Priya.

"Tell me, Killer, will she come?"

"This is the 107th time! You've asked me 107 times already. Don't worry, I'm sure she'll come," assured Priya.

At that moment, they noticed Isha walking into the café, wearing a violet coloured salwar suit.

"I told you she'll come, right?" whispered Priya to Ajay. Ajay grinned in glee.

"Hey!" Ajay called out to Isha, and their eyes met. Isha smiled and made her way over to their table.

"Hey, how are you?" asked Isha, when she noticed Priya seated next to Ajay.

"I'm good! You?" asked Priya as Isha seated herself on the chair across the table.

"I'm fine too," said Isha to Priya, before turning to Ajay, saying, "Congrats again!"

Ajay smiled and murmured a "Thanks."

Just then, a waiter came to their table to take their orders. Priya and Ajay quickly gave their orders, hot coffee and iced coffee respectively, as well as some snacks.

When it was Isha's turn, Isha turned to Ajay, showed him two of her fingers, and whispered, "Help me choose one." Ajay touched one of her fingers. Isha then turned back to the waiter and made her order for iced coffee as well.

Priya, who had been watching uncomprehendingly, asked, "What was that?"

"Umm..." Isha started apprehensively.

"I'll tell," said Ajay, before continuing, "Since she was a child, her dad used to select the best of everything for her. But he suddenly died in an accident seven months ago. That's when she realized how dependent she was on her dad. Even now, she still doesn't know how to choose anything for herself, so she shows fingers for everything she has to choose."

"You've done this much research about her?" Priya asked Ajay in a whisper.

Ajay grinned as he whispered back, "Of course."

As the three of them sipped on their coffees, they remained silent for a while.

Finally, breaking the silence, Isha asked, "So, what is next?"

"What do you mean by next?" asked Ajay.

"As in, now that you've got a job," prompted Isha.

"Yeah, I'll be performing at the Lahari Resort every night," answered Ajay.

"Oh, not that, I'm asking about your marriage," said Isha, gesturing towards Priya and Ajay.

The spoon in Ajay's hand dropped to his plate. Priya coughed as she almost choked on her food.

Priya and Ajay exchanged glances, before turning to Isha, shocked.

"Our marriage?" asked Priya and Ajay, in unison.

"Aren't you a couple?" Isha asked in alarm.

"Who in the world told you that?" inquired Ajay.

"Why shouldn't anyone say that? During our college days, wherever we saw one of you, the other will also be there. The two of you were always together. In the classrooms, canteen, library, everywhere! The two of you never let anyone between you. The entire campus, we all thought that you were a couple. The guys especially were jealous of Ajay, having a girlfriend who was the beauty queen of college. And so were the girls as well, jealous of Priya, because she was the beauty queen, whose boyfriend was the cool Ajay," clarified Isha.

"Oh my gosh! There is nothing like that between us! We are just best friends who've known each other longer and better than any of our other friends. Priya also already has a boyfriend, Udhay, a great businessman in London. They are gonna get married soon," justified Ajay.

"Oh, I see," said Isha, smiling sheepishly.

As they were about to leave the café, Priya met a friend of hers and was chatting away, while Ajay and Isha walked out through the door.

"Thanks for coming," said Ajay to Isha.

"Actually, I've to thank you; I really enjoyed meeting you guys today. It was a relief from my tedious life, consisting of just my home and my bookshop. I'm not a very outgoing person, so being with you guys, really made me feel like I've still got friends," said Isha.

Ajay smiled.

***

Monday, 25/05/2009 ... in Coimbatore, India

That morning, when Ajay got ready and left to the park, wearing a blue tee with denim trousers, as always Priya's dance class had just finished.

Priya looked stunning as usual in a coral coloured salwar suit as she approached him. She handed him an envelope as she sat down on a bench in the park, smiling as she eagerly watched him open the envelope.

"What's this?" asked Ajay, as he seated himself next to her and opened the letter in the envelope.

"Do you remember I told you I'm interested in joining a dance academy in Chennai? I've been selected to join a one month course in that dance academy! I'll be leaving for Chennai end of next month!" sang Priya joyfully.

"Won't you ever say something good?" asked Ajay annoyed.

"Don't be so mean! I've always wanted to go there, you know right?"

"If you go to Chennai, then what will I do here? Life will be so boring. Nah, I'm not gonna let you go."

"Oh come on, you've stayed few years in Mumbai, while I was studying in London, right? Then, I'm sure you'll be able to manage here. And you can always talk to me on the phone every day when I'm in Chennai."

Ajay took the letter and tore it up, grinning at Priya. "Now, how will you go?"

Priya rolled her eyes. "I knew you might do something like this so I gave you the copy only. The original is with me."

"Please don't go."

"Let me think about it, there's still one month to go."

"Tell me you won't go."

"Fine, I'm not going."

***

Within the next few weeks, Ajay and Isha had become good friends. During the daytime, he would help her out at her bookshop and they would have lunch together. At night, she would accompany him to the Lahari Resort, where he would perform.

Meanwhile, as Ajay now spent more time with Isha, Priya found herself alone most of the time. Even when Ajay was with Priya, he would either be busy texting Isha or lost in thoughts of Isha. At the same time, Udhay was also very busy with his business in London, he rarely had time to call and talk to Priya or chat with her. Seeing how busy Udhay was, Priya's hope of him, coming to India soon to marry her, was now demeaning.

Loneliness began to overwhelm Priya. That was when she came across the letter from the dance academy in Chennai. Hence, she decided to join the one month course there, without troubling herself or anyone else because of her aloneness.

***

Tuesday, 16/06/2009 ... in Coimbatore, India

That morning, Ajay woke up hearing his mobile ringing. He was astonished to see that it was Isha calling. He quickly answered her call.

"Hey, are you busy?" asked Isha, with a tinge of nervousness.

"Nope," replied Ajay, "why?"

"Can we meet at the Cross Cut Road in an hour?"

"Sure."

"Thanks! I'll see you later."

"Anytime for you. See you!"

Ajay quickly got ready and sped off to meet Isha, wearing a light yellow coloured tee with navy blue trousers. When he arrived at Cross Cut Road, Isha, wearing a dark scarlet coloured salwar suit, was already there.

Isha waved and smiled at Ajay, before approaching him, saying, "Hey!"

"Hey! What's up?" asked Ajay.

"My cousin's wedding is next weekend, so I need to buy a dress. I don't like shopping because I can't choose anything for myself on my own. My mom is busy at our bookshop. That's why I brought you too with me since you know me better than anyone else now. You'll select for me a pretty dress, right?" Isha directed Ajay towards the textile shop nearby.

"No, I'll make you select yourself a dress today."

"Me? No way! You know me well, I'll get confused."

"Sure, today I'll select. Tomorrow, your mother might select. Whether our selection is good or bad, is just an opinion. But liking it is a feeling. That's what I want you to know today."

"Okay." Isha smiled doubtfully.

There were not much customers in the shop at that time.

"Now, don't waste a second. Select all the dresses that you might like here," initiated Ajay, as soon as they reached the section of dresses in the shop.

Isha pulled out all the dresses that she found attractive but couldn't decide which was best.

"So, you've chosen eight dresses altogether. Out of these, there are five light pink coloured dresses. So, light pink is your favourite colour, right?" asked Ajay, putting the three other dresses, which were not pink, away.

"Yeah," replied Isha.

Ajay looked at the remaining five light pink dresses and divided them into two sections.

"Of the five light pink dresses you chose, three of them are simple while the other two are flashy. So you are a simple-minded girl," determined Ajay.

Isha nodded in agreement as Ajay kept the two flashy dresses away.

"Now, out of these three, not all three of them will be comfortable for you. So, go try these dresses now, and see which one is the best!" said Ajay.

Isha went to the fitting room and tried all the three dresses.

"This is the most comfortable one," said Isha to Ajay, walking up to him after a few minutes, holding one of the three dresses in her hand.

"So you've selected your dress on your own!" exclaimed Ajay, "Happy with your selection?"

"Of course! At this rate, I'll be changed the longer I'm with you," said Isha, with a smile.

***

Saturday, 27/06/2009 ... in Coimbatore, India

That morning, Ajay woke up early. He was going to surprise his Dad. The night before itself, he had bought a brand new motorbike for his Dad and hid it in the unused garage of their house. Ajay quickly got ready and headed downstairs, wearing a green coloured tee with khakis. He brought the motorbike out of the garage and set it beside his Dad's old motorbike.

As Kishan was leaving the house to go for work, he found the new motorbike next to his old one.

"Dad, I bought this bike, for you, on instalment with my first salary," said Ajay.

"You don't have a secure job. If you don't pay the monthly instalments correctly, the bike will be seized. I'd rather use my old bike than use a bike which has no guarantee," replied Kishan, as he got onto his old bike and left for work.

Ajay looked down at the ground, disheartened.

"Your father doesn't want to use the bike, it's okay, at least you use it," said his mom, Sarita from behind.

"I bought it for him; when he wants to use it, let him use. I'm not gonna use it," said Ajay, walking the bike back into the unused garage.

"Father and son, both are stubborn," said Sarita, turning to Amrita, as Ajay left the house to meet Isha.

"What happened, Aunty?" asked Priya as she walked down the stairs, wearing an orange salwar suit, as she was about to leave for her dance class.

Sarita narrated to Priya what had just happened.

"Ajay never told me that he got his first salary. Let me see the bike he bought," said Priya, as she walked off to the garage.

Sarita and Amrita exchanged glances as they realized something was wrong between Ajay and Priya.

Priya returned in a minute, saying, "Nice bike. I'm sure Uncle will like it."

"Is everything okay between you and Ajay?" asked Sarita, "You both usually do everything together; I'm surprised you didn't know he bought the bike."

"Everything is fine, Aunty. Don't worry," assured Priya.

To be continued...