It was a party hosted by the director of the institute for all the faculty members – a yearly ritual he followed to improve relationships with the faculty. Rupali reached out for a plate about the same time as Prof. Sameer Malhotra did. She withdrew her hands.

“Please go ahead,” she said with a slight smile to him.

“Oh no! How can that be, Ms. Rupali,” Rupali cringed at him calling her Ms. Rupali. He always did that. Neither would he use her first name as some senior faculty members did, nor would he address her as Dr. Banerjee as others did, “Ladies first. Especially when the department is trying so hard and going out of the way to hire them.”

Rupali sighed. Sameer Malhotra didn’t make any bones about being a chauvinist. As a rising star in the department Rupali had been a target of his potshots for a while now. But he was fairly senior to her and she resisted the urge to talk back at him.

“Oh yes! The department has made mistakes for years. By hiring slothful gentlemen over ladies with papers published in American Historical Review and other leading journals. Time to correct that. Right, Dr. Malhotra? I am sure you have seen Dr. Banerjee’s CV,” Paritosh suddenly appeared at the scene.

Sameer Malhotra laughed foolishly, picked up a plate, and moved away leaving them alone.

“Thank you,” Rupali said gratefully.

“You are welcome, but you should speak up for yourself.”

“Yeah,” Rupali looked embarrassed, “I just… I don’t know… He is so senior…”

“He is your colleague and you are his equal. But it’s okay. You don’t have to take the burden of fighting back every time. For now, I am there. Come let’s get something to eat.”

Rupali smiled nervously and followed him.

—

The next day Sunidhi had to go on a five-day trip to some tier-2 cities. They had to visit the retailers and come back with a report on how to meet the next quarter’s sales target. The plan was made sometime back and Sunidhi had chosen Aditya’s as her partner. She regretted it now. But what could be done? Work was work!

It was their third town on the third day of the trip and Aditya had come back to his room after a tiring day of retailer visits. He lied down on his bed and smiled unknowingly. He was thinking about Sunidhi. How intelligently she analyzed the historical novels and their characters, how aggressively she dealt with the retailers, how carefree was she when she laughed at her own jokes, how dominant she sounded when she dealt with a mentee who had made a mistake, how stubbornly she insisted on splitting the restaurant bill, and how lovely was the way… she loved him.

But they weren’t meant for each other. She was meant for someone who deserved her. He deserved nobody. He couldn’t even dream of someone as wonderful as her.

He tossed and turned in the uncomfortable bed of the best hotel the small town had. Her room was next to his. If he fell asleep and had nightmares and if she heard him scream in his sleep…. No. He wouldn’t live to face her if that happened. How was he going to manage? He had to find another room, far from hers. He couldn’t trust the thin walls of these cheap hotels.

He got out of the bed and decided to go to the reception to ask them to change the room. He would have to think up a reason for demanding the change? Mosquitoes? Bed-bugs? Broken lock?

Damn! Why did everything turn dark? Light? Light was gone? Did they not have an active backup? No. It would probably be several minutes before someone started the generator. But he was scared. Those hands were creeping up on him. Someone needed to save him. Mom won’t come. She wouldn’t know. Before he knew it, he was drenched in sweat. He needed to find someone. There was a door there. He rushed to it and banged on it. Damn! It was her door. Why didn’t he remember? Her room was next to his. She shouldn’t see him like that. He made to leave. But she was already there by then.

“Is that you, Aditya? What happened?” She was using the backlight of her phone to see him. A little light. Just a little But, it gave him hope; it gave him strength. He was safe. It wasn’t dark. There was no hand creeping up. He turned to leave, but she held his hand.

“You look ill, Aditya. You are drenched in sweat.”

“No, I am fine,” his mind cleared as the fear receded. He was able to talk now.

“You are not. Do you remember how you were banging the door? Come in.”

“No.”

“Come in. Now!”

He buckled under her authoritative tone and followed her. She gave him some water to drink. He took it, feeling thankful. The generator started and the light came back.

“Tell me now. What’s the problem? You are sweating like you are recovering from high fever or something.”

“Yes… Yes… I think I had a high fever and was slightly delirious. Probably had a bad dream and woke up scared. With the sweating the fever has gone down now. I can go back to sleep.”

“Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“No. No, Sunidhi. Thanks, but I am fine now.”

“Okay. These walls aren’t particularly thick. I think you can just shout if there is a problem and I will be able to hear it.”

‘That is precisely the problem,’ Aditya thought sadly. But he smiled outwardly and said, “Sure. But I think I will be fine now.”

“All right. Good night.”

“Good night, Sunidhi.”

But Sunidhi had a sleepless night after that. The thoughts of Dr. Khanna’s observation kept her occupied.

—

“Aditya. Do you mind coming home with me today?” Sunidhi asked Aditya the day after they were back from the trip.

“Anything specific?”

“I want to talk to you.”

“Okay.” Aditya was hesitant, but he didn’t refuse, “What time do you want to leave?”

“Around six?”

“Okay.”

—

To be continued