Those of you who know Hindi, read the conversations in Hindi in Italics. I have written the conversations in English within brackets for those who don't understand Hindi .

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           Raina went to work in houses, at her usual time everyday. The daily routine was kind of set. It suited her to a T with time for everything. She had not run into him entire January after their brief meeting, on the second day of that month.

           Sunday morning, she opened the door to terrace from his bedroom to sweep the terrace. She pushed the switch on the wall, to turn on the light that dimly lit the terrace. She always loved how beautiful the terrace looked in that light, with sky slowly slipping out of it's black dress, revealing a very faint shade of itself, with no hint of sunrise anywhere. 'Darkness with hope of light' is what she called it. With twilight embarking, the chirping of birds inhabiting the woods that formed the view of his terrace, could be heard.

           After sweeping the terrace, she stood there a little longer than usual, taking in the view and sound of the singing birds, since she was going to miss it that month, except on Sundays. Her chemistry professor had told the class that they were going to have a change in timetable for the month of February. In February, they will have chemistry lectures and labs in the morning, one hour before their first lecture. It also meant that lectures for the day would be over one hour before for her, since chemistry used to be her last lecture. He cited personal reasons without giving in details for the change, but otherwise also professors sometimes did change the lecture timings when it didn't upset anyone else's schedule. But, it did upset her schedule. She could now only manage two 2BHK apartments of the working ladies in morning. She decided to work in his house after college hours on weekdays with no change on Sundays.

            Kaabil, Hrithik's new movie had just released, so when she went home after work that Sunday, her cousin Priya insisted that they go and watch the movie in theater  that afternoon. She wasn't really busy, but she didn't feel like going and wasting two and a half hours watching a movie. 'How could she be so unenthusiastic, and feel watching Hrithik's movie a waste of time?' the thought crossed her mind. Her interest in him was gone like it was never there at all. She had heard that people lose interest in their favorites and movies when they have some kind of love going in real life, but she was not in love with him. It was not her heart. It were her eyes that couldn't get off him. She had seen young and old men in her slum walking around shirtless, with their hairy chest and not so flat stomach on display. Their shirtless sights never caught her eyes, but followed every movement of her shirtless master. She passed those shirtless men of slum as if nothing, and he roamed shirtless in front of her as if nothing, as if she was not a girl, as if it would have no effect on her. It had an effect. It affected her eyes, and through them, it infested her brain with his images.

                At first, she tried to excuse herself from going to watch movie on the pretext of lots of college work, but later looking at how keen her sister was and had no one to accompany her, she agreed to go. They went to a single screen theater and watched the movie from seats in stalls. They both liked the movie and returned home discussing the movie. Her little sister went on and on about Hrithik's Greek God good looks, and she didn't utter a word appreciating his looks. "What, you didn't find him good looking just because he was playing a blind man, and didn't look straight into your eyes?" her little sister teased  when she didn't respond to her Hrithik's appreciation, like she had expected her to. Raina responded with, "He was looking okay. Not all that".  "You must be blind in your mind to not find his looks divine," her little sister snapped at her. She was right, she had seen him only twice and her mind was already binded to him to turn her blind to everyone else. It was not like she was daydreaming or having any sexual imaginations and thoughts about him, but he was simply there. She didn't want anything with him but his image just got stamped brightest in the part of her brain responsible for visual perception, she hoped not in permanent ink.

           After the college next day, she went straight to work in his apartment. It was a little after 2 pm in the afternoon. She turned the key in the keyhole and opened the door. She could hear someone in the kitchen from the foray itself. Her heart stopped for a second that he was home. She slowly walked into living, and saw a man looking in her direction from kitchen. It was not him. The man was not tall like him. He was young, fair and short with mustache and  a nice crop of black hair on his head. He was decent looking. She saw he was chopping vegetables on the cutting board. 'Oh! he is the cook,' her mind registered.

Cook: Kaun ho tum? Aise kaise andar aa gayi? (Who are you? How did you walk in like that?). He asked in Hindi with a regional accent to it.

Raina: Main, bai .( I am the maid). She answered.

Cook: Achchha! To tum kaamwali bai ho? Humko laga pata nahin kaun ghar mein ghus aaya.( Oh! you are the maid! I was like God knows, who entered.)

Cook: Tum  to subah aati ho na?( Don't you come in morning?). He asked as she walked in the kitchen.

Raina: Haan.(Yes). She said keeping her bag in it's usual place against the wall, at the end of the kitchen.

Cook: Aaj kaam pe kyon nahin aayi subah? Saare bartan pade hain sink mein. Humein gande kitchen mein kaam karna bilkul pasand nahin hai. Hum abhi saare bartan dhone jaa hi rahe the. Acchha hua tum aa gayi. ( Why did you not come for work today morning? All the dishes are lying dirty in the sink. I don't like to work in dirty kitchen. I was about to clean all the dishes. Good that you came).

Cook: Ab pehle humko bartan maaj ke dedo, uske baad baaki ke kaam karna tum.(First clean the dishes and give me, then do your other work.) He said as he finished chopping the vegetables. 

She started cleaning the dishes in the sink with drainboard, standing on his right at the distance between stove and sink. Sink was on the same wall as stove at the right end of the long kitchen platform. Refrigerator was at it's left end in the space between platform and wall. Wide kitchen island was behind them.

Cook: School padhne jaati ho? (Do you go to school?)

Raina: Nahin, college.( No, College.)

Cook: Achchha! (Okay!)

Cook: Kahaan se ho tum? (Where are you from?)

Raina: Jalgaon.

Cook: Marathi ho?

Raina: Haan (Yes).

Cook: Hum Orissa se hain. (I am from Orissa)

She nodded to acknowledge as she washed the plates in a hurry.

Cook: Pehle humko kadai dho ke dedo.( First wash wok and give me.)

Raina: Theek hai Bhaiya, abhi kar dete hain. (Okay, brother. I'll do it right away.)

Cook: Bhaiya mat bulao humko, bhaiya nahin hain hum tumhare. Bhaiya bolo saheb ko, humko nahin. Humara naam hai, Bapi. Humko Bapi bulao. (Don't call me bhiya(brother),I am not your brother. You call our master bhiya, not me. My name is Bapi. Call me Bapi.)

Raina: Okay, Bapi. She stifled her laughter hard.

Cook: Tumhara naam kya hai? (What is your name?)

Raina: Raina. She told, giving him kadai(small size wok).

She was itching to ask if he was at home, but how was she going to ask. She wasn't going to address him bhaiya as suggested by him. She was in these thoughts cleaning the other pans when Bapi called out her name,"Raina". She turned her head to him.

Cook: Hum bhaiya se tumhari shikayat kiye hain, hum unko bole ki aaj humko saara bartan aur kitchen saaf karna padega kyonki tum aaj chhuti maari ho.(I have complaint about you to bhaiya( master). I told him, I'll have to wash the dishes and clean all the kitchen as you didn't come to work today)

She looked at him with no movement in her eyes for a second and then asked,"Kaise? Phone pe? (How? On phone?)". She asked inquisitively.

Cook: Phone pe kyon karenge, jab ghar pe hain.( Why would I complaint on phone when he is at home)

Raina: Ghar pe hain? She didn't know why her heartbeat quickened with that knowledge.

Cook: Hum jab aate hain, bhaiya humesha ghar pe hi hote hain. Humare paas tumhari tareh ghar ki chhabhi nahin hai, ki jab marzi kaam par aao aur jab marzi jao.( Whenever I come, he is home. Like you, I don't have a key to come and go whenever I want). He said stirring the vegetables in oil in kadai.

'That means she was always going to find him and this cook home at this time' thought wandered in her mind as she looked at the vegetable in wok.

Raina: Itni saari sabji kyon bana rahe ho ek aadmi ke liye? Koi aur bhi hai ghar pe? ( Why are you making so much vegetable for one person? Is there someone else too?). She could't help inquiring.

Cook: Humko kya pata, hum thodi ghoomte hain poore ghar mein tumhari tareh. Bhaiya humko bata dete hain kya banana hai aur phir apna kaam karne ooper chale jaate hain, aur hum khana bana ke doosre ghar kaam pe chale jaate hain. (How do I know? I don't go around the entire house like you. Bhaiya(master) tells me what to cook and then he goes upstairs to do his work and I finish my work and go to other house to work.)

Cook: Par haan, lunch hum aksar do se teen logon ka banate hain, aur dinner ek ka.(But ya, I usually make lunch for two to three and dinner for one.)

Raina: Dinner banane dobara aate ho? ( You come again to make dinner?)

Cook: Na! Ek hi baar mein lunch aur dinner sab bana ke chale jayenge. Dinner fridge mein rakh jayenge. Hum apna saara kaam achchhe se karte hain. Hum aath ghar kaam karte hain, par kabhi koi humari shikayat nahin karta. ( In one time only I prepare both lunch and dinner. I keep the dinner in refrigerator. I always do my work nicely. I work in eight houses and nobody ever complaint about my work.)

Raina: Sab tumhari tareh thodi hote hain'(All people are not like you). She mumbled

Cook: Kuchh boli tum? (You said something).

Raina: Nahin( No). She picked up the broom and started to go.

Cook: Arre yeh platform geela ho gaya hai sink ke paas, tumhare bartan dhone se. Ise thoda pochh do sookhe kapde se.( The kitchen platform is wet near the sink from your washing dishes. Just wipe it a bit with dry cloth.)

She picked up a wash cloth and started to wipe.

Cook: Arrey! Tumhare chehre ko kya hua?(What happened to your face?) He asked all of a sudden, shaking her up.

Raina: Kya hua ?(What Happened). She asked looking down wiping the platform, getting nervous at the mention of her face.

Cook: Tumhara haath to gora hai, par chehra itna  kaliyal.(Your hands are fair, but your face is dark).

'Shit, he noticed', was the immediate response inside her brain. 'What to tell him now?'she started brainstorming quickly.

Cook: Mumbai ka dhoop bhi na, sabhi ko kaala kar deta hai.( Everyone turns dark in Mumbai's sun)

Cook: Hum jab shuru mein... Orissa se aaye the.. to ekdum tumhari tareh kaale ho gaye the.... dhoop mein ghoom ghoom ke... kaam ke chakkar mein. Chhutti ghar gaye to maa boli ...vaapis Mumbai mat jao. Mumbai ka mausam tumhare liye theek nahin hai... Ab kaale hone ke dar se dhoop mein jaana aur kaam karna thodi koi chhod deta hai. Ab Mumbai mein jo kaam milta hai, paisa milta hai, orissa mein thodi milti hai. Kaam to humein Mumbai mein hi karna hai. Phir hum fair and lovely lagana shuru kiye, oo ladkiyon wala cream aur humara rang saaf ho gaya dobara se. (When I at first came from Orissa to Mumbai, I had turned dark roaming around in sun for job. When I went home on leave, mother told not to go back since she thought Mumbai weather doesn't suit me. In fear of getting dark, we can't stop going in sun for work. What job opportunities and money we get in Mumbai, we don't get in Orissa. I had to work in Mumbai..then I started using Fair & Lovely..it's a cream for girls..and my skin got it's color back)

She controlled herself from laughing out at his story.

Cook: Koi cream lagati ho? (Do you apply any cream?)

Raina: Nahin.(No) She shook his head wiping the platform near sink.

Cook: Hum bata rahen hain tumko, fair and lovely try karke dekho.... tumhara chehra theek ho jayi. Tube mein aati hai cream... aur bahut sasti bhi hai. Fair and lovely, jaanti hogi tum.( I'm telling you, try fair and lovely, your face will become good. It comes in tube and it's cheap. You might know of Fair and Lovely). She tried not to smile knowing there was always one small bottle of it in her bag.

Raina: Haan, pata hai mujhe.( Yes, I know.) She replied.

Raina: Aap roz is time pe aate ho?( Do you come at this time daily?) She asked before walking upstairs with a broom.

Cook: Hum roz barah baje aate hain, aaj bhaiya phone karke deri se aane ko bole toh hum dekhe ki tum aayi nahin ho. Aaj jaane se pehle saare bartan phir dho ke jaana. Kal jab hum aayein to humko saare bartan aur kitchen saaf chahiye.(I come at twelve. Today bhaiya(master) called me to come late. Before leaving, you wash all the dishes again. I want all utensils and kitchen clean when I come to work tomorrow)

She nodded her head with 'Thank God, or he would have killed me with his talk' inside her head. Now, it was time to face someone who killed with his looks.

             She walked upstairs with broom, her heart beating fast in nervousness, not knowing what to expect. The damn cook even complaint about her.

She knocked on the bedroom door.

"What is it Bapi?" his irritated voice came from inside.

It scared her more, and in the next second, door opened and he was there standing shirtless in front of her, just in his tracks holding a burning cigarette in his hand.

"Oh, you! This time!" He expressed surprise at her presence there.

She looked down, as she found it hard to look at him like that up close. AC was on full blast in his room that she could feel the goosebumps rise on her skin standing merely at the door.

Abhimanyu: Isn't it too late to sweep and mop the house?" He asked with a tinge of anger in his voice.

Raina: I have chemistry lectures and practicals in the morning this month, so I cannot make it early morning. I can come only at this time after my college is over.

Abhimanyu: Sure! I am the one who considers everybody's odd timings. I like everything odd."

The way he said it, she couldn't really understand if he meant it, or he was being sarcastic, yeah more like sarcastic.

Abhimanyu: Listen, this is the time I sleep. He stated sternly.

Raina: Okay! What time you wake up in evening? I'll come at that time. She looked at him.

Abhimanyu: Really? He asked squinting his eyes.

Raina: Yes. She said looking at him, nodding her head.

Abhimanyu: Go now, and come at 9 pm. He said in a voice that meant order.

Her eyes widened and froze in a stare on his face.

Raina: Will you drop me home after work? She asked after a pause.

Abhimanyu: You have some audacity to ask me this. He said in a state of shock.

Raina: Because it's really late. She said softly and politely.

Abhimanyu: Yeah! Why not? What better things I have to do than become your chauffeur now. He said with sarcasm in his voice.

Raina: Please, let me explain this to you once. She pleaded.

Abhimanyu: Proceed.

Raina: I'll have to give up my job in the other two houses to keep this. That would mean surviving in half of already less monthly wage. The change is for this month only. After that, I'll revert back to my usual timings in the morning.

He looked at her for a moment, considering her situation.

Abhimanyu: So, you are going to disturb me at this time everyday?

She nodded her head and said very innocently, "Only this month".

He smiled a little after all the frowns.

Raina: I'll clean the room. She said as her upper body moved forward to go in, but he didn't move and kept standing like he was.

Raina: Okay, I'll skip the room. She said taking steps backwards.

Abhimanyu: You can't skip this room everyday. I like my bed to be perfectly made and bed sheets changed everyday. Go and clean the other rooms and terrace and then do my bedroom.

She went into terrace through common entrance, and started sweeping the terrace. She noticed his bedroom window and door that opened into terrace closed and curtains pulled on.

         Abhimanyu walked out of the room and took the stairs down to the living room with the girl he had come home with that day. Wearing a white tank top and shorts, she walked into the living room, smoking. Bapi was still there cooking in the kitchen. His head turned to their footsteps, and he saw them walk and sit on sofa. Abhimanyu too lit the cigarette in his fingers and sat next to her with his arm resting on the back of sofa behind her.

       Bapi turned to them to talk. "Bhaiya humko bataye nahin (Bhaiya didn't tell me)... ", and he stopped. Abhimanyu gave him such a stare that he immediately turned back to his stove. He knew that stare  way too well. He finished his work quietly. Put the lids on the pans on stove and said, "Achchha bhaiya, hum jaate hain"(Okay bhaiya, I'll go now). Abhimanyu nodded his head, and he left. Raina while working upstairs was quite surprised that cook who talked non-stop with her was so quiet with them.

            After finishing all the work upstairs, Raina came downstairs and walked to the kitchen. While on stairs, the first thing that caught her attention was his hand behind her on sofa. Then, as she walked to kitchen, she saw him and the girl sitting quietly on sofa next to each other lost in smoking their cigarettes as if it was the best thing in the world. She took a quick look at the girl while wiping the kitchen island. She was not the girl she had seen before. Then, she looked at him. Still shirtless! Her eyes caught the smoke rising from the smoldering end of the cigarette in his mouth as his eyes closed and opened. 'With that chimney in front of his mouth all the time, no wonder he is always feeling hot', she thought she had her answer in that moment. She started doing the dishes with her back to them. They sat there for a while and then went upstairs.'How come they don't get AIDS or STD's' she thought about him and his girls as she finished her work with a mop in gym room. 'He and the guys like him should worship the person who invented latex test tube to collect their solution,'she banged the door close behind her.