13: Magnetic force
Vani finally gets to thank the stranger from the bus. Karan, Ritwik and Yash have a game night. Dhriti makes a decision.

Tara was having breakfast when she got a call from Vani.

"Yes Vani, your favourite scrunchie is here, you did not drop it on the road, " Tara said before she even heard Vani.

"Oh, thank God, " Vani said, sighing audibly. "I was so scared, " she added.

"Yeah, don't worry, it's here."

"I have your keys, so can I just swing by after some time and take it?" Vani asked.

"Yeah sure, just make sure you lock the door properly before you leave, "

"Yes, captain!"

Vani's favourite scrunchie wasn't some fancy or expensive hair tie; it was a simple, plain black one that you could find anywhere. Years ago, Tara had bought Vani this scrunchie with the money she earned from scoring full marks on her 10th-grade board exams in Math. From that moment on, whenever Vani lost it, Tara would replace it for her. Vani always has the scrunchie with her—either in her hair or on her wrist. For Vani, the hair tie was a symbol of Tara, and she lovingly carried it everywhere.

Hours passed by and it was around 12: 30 a.m. Tara's house was a fifteen-minute rickshaw ride from Vani's office that is, assuming that Vani would get a rickshaw swiftly. The universe was on Vani's side as the rickshaw-waale uncle who was just standing in front of her ofice building readily agreed to take her to her friend's apartment.

-

Tara had a small break when she got a call from Karan. She felt her heartbeat quicken as she straightened up and picked her phone up, receiving the call.

"Hey...you're not home by any chance...right?" He cut straight to the chase, but his voice had a certain hesitation that did not sit well with Tara.

"No, I'm at work. What happened?"

"I forgot my tiffin," he sighed.

"How can someone be so stupid?"

"I woke up late! And then I was super late, so I was rushing and it that haste, I forgot my tiffin!" He tried justifying himself.

"I wake up late all the time. All the time, and this has never happened to me. It's just a skill issue on your part," she said, and Karan groaned.

"Of course, Tara, you're the best person in this world" he said, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Whatever," Tara's eyes went to the wall clock.

"Wait...Vani must be at my house right now, she said she was going around at this time to take her scrunchie. You should call her!"

"Oh wait, really? I'll call her right away, bye" he hung up the phone abruptly, annoying Tara. Could have waited for me to say bye, he didn't even thank me. What a jerk!

Karan hastily dialled Vani, not wanting to reach her number after she left the building. Luckily, she received in one ring.

"Ha bol," (Say,) Vani said as she was busy locking the door of Tara's house. Both her hands were occupied so she had to tilt her head to hold her phone with the help of her ear and shoulder.

"Are you still in my society?"

"Yeah, I'm locking Tara's house,"

"Can you bring my tiffin to my office? Please,"

"Karan, I am not jobless, I have to go back to work," Vani said and Karan sighed.

"Yeah, you're right." He said.

"Yeah, I'll get it for you," she said confusing him.

"But you just said,"

"Yeah yeah, I know. I am amazing!" Vani interrupted him and he shook his head.

"Thanks Vani"

"Alright, see you"

-

In around thirty-five minutes, Vani had reached the Pune IT Park.

"Madam, ID card dakhva please," (Ma'am, please show your identity card) the watchman said.

"Me visitor ahe" (I am a visitor) she replied, and he nodded.

"Tithun jaa," (Go from there) he said, pointing to the security check for visitors. Vani nodded, and quickly made way there. She took long strides and was in a haste. She knew that Karan does not have an adequate breakfast like a normal human being, so it must have been impossible for him to have good breakfast on a day when he was late.
It was almost 1:30 p.m. and her friend must be famished now.

Karan's office was on the eighteenth floor. It was a sleek, modern and a luxurious office, being one of the biggest IT firms in India. They had a huge visitor area. Italian marble, wallpapers in the colour scheme of the company's logo with some typical corporate offices' quotes, a huge L-shaped sofa and couches, and a newspaper-magazine stand, of course.

Vani sat down and rung Karan, who did not answer her, which annoyed Vani. Not wanting to do something unproductive while she waited for Karan, she quickly opened her laptop, going through a case file.

Around five minutes passed, when she was disturbed by a familiar voice.

"Vani, is that you?" She looked up to see Manav Limaye standing in front of her.

"Manav?" She asked softly, getting up. He flashed a very charming smile at her.

"Did you come here to give me food made by your kaku? Man, you're a heck of a saleswoman, or wait...are you here because I'm just a magnetic human being?" He asked. Please like the joke, please like the joke.

Vani chuckled softly and Manav released the breath he had been holding back. Thank God.

"Why are all brown boys the same person? None of you are the centre of the world," she grinned at him, and he shrugged.

"Objection, my lord. I disagree with Advocate Joshi,"

"Objection overruled," she replied.

"Hey, why are you the opposition and the judge?" He asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Because...I'm Vani Joshi"

"Is that a copy of the I'm Donna dialogue?" He asked and she nodded eagerly, excited to talk about one of her favourite shows.

"Yes, what is it as effective?"

"Not at all," he laughed, and she laughed back.

"You're the first Suits fan I have met, my friends have watched it but no one's like a fan...they don't want to have like discussions with me," she rambled and he chuckled.

"My Instagram feed is just Suits reels," he said. Liar.

"Oh really? Give your insta,"

"Yeah, it's @manavlimaye23"

"I'll add you. But just a warning, my Instagram tends to get 'cringe' according to my niece" she said, aid quoting the word 'cringe'.

"Same, what is with the younger people saying cringe to everything! My younger brother does the same thing, all the time!"

The two shared a hearty laugh.

"We act like old people, sometimes,"

That was the moment when Karan came in.

Why are they laughing? Like they don't even know each other.

"Vani, hey"

"Kuthe hotas tu? I called you like, ten times" (Where were you? I called you like ten times) she asked, rolling her eyes.

"I was busy,"

"Yeah I got you your food despite having a job, try and have some courtesy" she said.

"Why are you always mad at me?" He asked, groaning, taking the lunch from her.

"You do stuff to make me mad all the time" she smiled.

"Okay," he accepted defeat.

"Anyway, my work here is done. I'll get going now. Bye, Manav." Vani said, and Manav nodded.

"Good day,"

Vani turned towards Karan, "Karan, khaun ghe lagech" (Karan, have your lunch now)

"Ho khato," (Yes)

"Okay bye"

"Bye, kaam kar jara" (Bye, go and work)

Vani exited and Karan looked at Manav suspiciously.

"What?" Manav asked, raising his brow.

"What were you talking to Vani?"

"We were just doing small talk," Manav replied, utterly confused.

-

Vani was lying on the sofa, scrolling on Instagram. Reels were certainly addictive, and her thumb was continuously working, oscillating up and down on her screen.

She got a follow request.

@manavlimaye23 wants to follow you.

She quickly accepted it. Bored of the reels, Vani decided to look at the posts on her home page.

She straightened a little as she saw a post.

( @sharmiliii baby you look perfect tonight❤️ )

It was a picture of Vani's school friend Sharmila Dalal posing in a pretty lavender lehenga against a night background and showing off a ring on her hand.

'Tara wants to facetime'

She received the call but was distracted.

"Oye kay jhala?" (Hey what happened?)

"Nothing, just a little tired"

"Hmm" Tara hummed.

"Why are you humming, weirdo?"

"Aata kay mhanu me?" (What should I say?) she retorted.

"I don't know," Vani muttered.

"Did you give Karan his tiffin?" Tara asked and Vani nodded.

"I see,"

"I met Manav there."

"Okay? I mean he works there so it's not surprising,"

"Yeah no, I'm...I'm just saying. Who did you meet today, Tara?"

"Oh, look who's being weird now!" Tara laughed loudly.

"You cackle like a witch!" Vani said, annoyed.

"And you insult people like five-year-olds!" Tara retorted and the two burst into laughter. Simply seeing the other person was enough to put a smile on their faces. And talking to each other...a laughter riot.

-

(next day)

Dhriti was done with her yoga class. She was waiting in the living room, watching the news as the water for her bath filled her blue bucket. Her back was resting against the sofa while she had zoned out a little. Her encounter with Aditya was still fresh and upsetting. She knew she was in the wrong. It was her who had disappeared from his life, out of the blue the moment she felt it was inconvenient for her.

What am I doing in my life?

'Reached'

Her phone buzzed as she received Raghav's message.

I am going to sort everything out. Put an end to this madness, Dhriti. Get your life back on track.

She took her phone in her hands and typed out a 'formal' message to Raghav.

'The job is interesting- I am in. Please let me know the details of the interview. I'll be there. Thank you for the opportunity

P.S: Don't skip your meals and have some healthy Indian food too'

Raghav sent a thumbs-up to her message and sent a contact to her.

'My HR head, she will contact you soon'

'Okay' she typed back.

Dhriti then called up her mother to let her know that she is 'leaving her job'.

-

Vani was at the bus stop near her house. It was a windy day, and a few strands of her hair had ditched her French braid and freed themselves, swaying with the wind. She was sitting on the bench, listening to songs. She wasn't as focused as she always was, her mind slightly distracted. She kept zoning out, staring into nothing without any particular thoughts churning in her mind.

It wasn't anything unusual. Vani wished what every human being wished: to go back in time and make it all right. No one wants regrets in their life, no one wants to make mistakes; yet that's what we have the most. Perhaps, screwing up every now and then screamed 'human being' than anything else.

The bus she was waiting for had arrived and was on time- to her shock. She got up and her eyes landed on someone familiar. Manav Limaye. He was sitting on a seat in the second last row, looking out of the window and listening to songs. With quick steps she walked there.

"Hey, can I sit here?" She asked, tapping on his shoulder. Manav, who was lost in the music was startled.

"Huh?" Hs tensed shoulders relaxed as he saw the familiar face. "Oh Vani, tu ahes. Dachaklo mi! Bas na," (Oh Vani, it's you, I was startled! Please, sit)

She gave him a warm smile, sitting beside him. Her mind went back to the time when she had first aseen him, on the same bus. The two sat in a comfortable silence.

"Manav, there's something I need to say to you" Vani breathed out and Manav turned to her, eagerly listening.

-

It was nighttime. The roads had gotten busier, and the roads were wet and muddy due to the rains. Karan, Ritwik and Yash had gathered at Ritwik's house for their monthly game night.

The guys (even Raghav if he was in the same country) would gather and have an evening to unwind, have some man-to-man time, playing videogames, talking life, relationships etc. This particular night was surely going to be huge as all three were struggling in their own ways.

The night was going to unpack a lot, and it begun by the clinking of glasses.

"Karan, congratulations on your new house, man" Yash said, handing him a huge bag. It was a luxury brand's bag- the one in which you'd keep the products bought from the brand. Karan snickered.

"Posh gifts aren't going to make up for your absence, Yash. We are friends now, not business partners." Karan said, shaking his head in sheer disappointment.

"Bhai pehle gift dekh le na..." (Just take a look at the gift first) Yash said and Karan rolled his eyes.

"No but Karan's right you know." Ritwik started, "You're a part of the group now Yash, not just a honourary member because you married one of us,"

"Man, thank you so much...you guys are kind of like the first friends I have," Yash said, surprising the duo.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I never really had any friends before. Always kind of a loner in school and college,"

"You're now friends with the cool, popular kids from school and college, don't worry,"

"That is an embarrassing line to say, Karan" Ritwik said, clicking his tongue.

"It's true though," Karan shrugged.

"What, you'd bully the nerds or what?" Yash asked.

"No, that was your wife, not us. We were the nice popular kids," Karan said and Ritwik laughed.

"Yeah, she's our very own Regina George," he said, and Yash rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, very funny" he said blandly.

"Acha acha sorry, woh kya hai na, when you have known a person forever you can't help but joke about them," Ritwik said.

"It's a natural instinct at this point" Karan added.

"Yeah, yeah I know" Yash said and paused.

"I really admire your people ka friendship. It's real," he resumed. "Wait, did you even see the gift?" he added, raising his brow.

"No wait,"

It was a photo frame. A picture of the Men's Indian Cricket Team winning the 2024 T20 world cup. At the right corner in the bottom, Yash had added a chit saying, 'For every 19th November, there is a 29th June'.

"Abb itna acha gift dene ke baad kaise gussa kar sakta hu mein?" (How can I stay angry after you gave me such a wonderful gift?) he commented, smiling fondly at the photo frame.

-

She remembered.

She fucking remembered.

Vani Joshi remembered me from the bus.

While the cricket game played in the background, all Manav could think about was his and Vani's conversation from the bus.

"Manav, there's something I need to say to you,"

"Bol na," (Yes?)

"Thank you, thank you so much,"

"What for?"

"I didn't say this to you when we met before...because, to be honest, I thought that you would think I'm weird for remembering your face for all these days." she said and took a momentary pause. "I don't know if you remember, but the woman you helped at the bus stop that day, you know all her things had fallen and scattered and you...you had helped her, there were people shouting at her, she had gotten a call and everything; that was me. You had helped me" she said, smiling widely at him.

"So, Manav Limaye- thank you so much for that day."

Manav breathed in and smiled at her.

"You're welcome, Vani Joshi,"

For Manav, it was not just something exciting because a girl he thought was pretty had remembered him- it was the feeling of being seen and acknowledged. It meant a lot to him. The fact that she felt awkward and was scared to sound like a 'creep', but still thanked him in such a matter-of-factly way had touched his heart.

What is this woman? Why do I keep on thinking about her?

"You're a magnet, Vani Joshi. And I'm afraid that in this case, I'm acting like a goddamn metal," he murmured and sighed.

heyy, im open to alternative titles for this chapter. let me know if you think of something🤗