Soumen looked elated to see her back. That relieved and scared her in equal measure. Did it mean that her job was safe? Or was she headed into some inappropriate, dangerous territory?

“You still look unwell,” Siddhartha commented when he ran into her in Mrinal’s office.

“I was saying the same thing,” Mrinal concurred with his boss.

“I’m fine, Sir,” she replied, “Looks take more time to improve than illness.”

“Take care!”

By late afternoon she felt her fever return. Thankfully, Soumen was not in the office. So, she sneaked out early only to run into Siddhartha.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

She flushed, “I wasn’t feeling well.”

He sighed and said, “Look Karishma. I appreciate your dedication to work. But it isn’t a crime to take a few days off to recover from an illness. Your job isn’t going anywhere.”

She flushed even more. Then she smiled nervously and thanked him.

—

“What was the need to rush off to the office when you were still unwell?”

Karishma saw concern in her mother’s question – a concern she was dying to see ever since she had come back to this house.

“I did think I was fine, Mummy. And I came back, didn’t I, when I realized that I wasn’t well?”

“Or you couldn’t stay away from that boss of yours, eh?”

So much for the concern! Karishma looked in the hall and satisfied herself that her daughter was busy playing by herself. Then she told her mother, “Please shut the door, Mummy. I need to sleep.”

She could shed a few silent tears in her bed.

But her mother didn’t leave her until she had shot another arrow, “How did it come to this? Since when did you become a woman for whom her home was not enough? Not her husband’s home? Not her child? Not her parents’ home? How come none of this is enough for you?”

Karishma pretended not to hear her and held her tears until the door was shut.

—

Soumen knocked at Siddhartha’s door after dinner.

“What’s up, Sonu?”

“Dada, are you never going to get married?”

“Why did you suddenly think of that today?”

“Well, I have been wondering about it for long, obviously–”

Siddhartha chuckled, “No. You haven’t been. Let me guess. Do you want to get married?”

“How on earth do you always know?”

Siddhartha started laughing seeing Soumen’s perplexed face.

“Well. You don’t have to wait for me. Your sister didn’t.”

“She is a girl. They can get married in childhood and nobody will blink an eye. Look at Karishma. Marriage, child, divorce – everything done!”

“Who is the girl?”

Soumen sat on a chair opposite Siddhartha nervously.

“Shivani?” Siddhartha prompted.

Soumen shook his head and said, “Please don’t laugh, and don’t get angry.”

“That sounds serious. Come on, now. Who is it?”

“Karishma!”

“What!” It had been easy to know what was on his kid brother’s mind. But even in his wildest dreams Siddhartha couldn’t have guessed who was on his mind. “Why?” he blurted, baffled.

“I like her. She is great.”

“Is it your way of ensuring that she stays your assistant for life? And does all your work?” he was now amused.

“Come on, Dada. Now you are making fun of me.”

“You are serious?”

“Yes.”

“And she has agreed?”

Soumen sank back on his chair, “I haven’t asked.”

“Then that would be the thing to do, won’t it?”

“Dada. I am really confused. And nervous. Should I ask? Would Baba be okay with it? Are you okay with it?”

“The only important question is – Sonu – are you okay with it? Have you really thought this through? She isn’t your type – so to say. She comes from a different world. She has been married, she has a daughter–”

“I know all that, of course.”

“It’s not a small matter.”

“But I want her.”

“If you are so sure, then ask.”

“Thank you, Dada. This is a relief.” He got up to leave, then suddenly hesitated, “But aren’t you ever going to get married?”

“Oh, come off it, Sonu,” he guffawed, “Take care of your life, that should be enough of a worry for you.”

But the smile disappeared from Siddhartha’s face once Soumen left. Karishma in this house as his brother’s wife! That was going to be difficult to put up with. It was bad enough that he had fallen for that chit of a girl who was nothing like them. Now Soumen? He himself wouldn’t act on his feelings. But Soumen would. And what reason did Siddhartha have to stop him?

—

That knock on his office door at seven in the morning annoyed Siddhartha. A couple of times a week, he would arrive in his office as early as five to be able to deal with some of his tasks in peace before meetings took over his life and day. Not many people knew about this practice of his and those who did knew not to disturb him. He ignored the knock. Then a slight screech told him that someone was tentatively pushing the door. He was forced to look up.

“Who the hell—” his words got stuck in his throat when he spotted Karishma’s frail figure behind the door.

“Come in,” he said, his voice now normal, almost soft!

She looked more flustered than she had looked in her first meeting with him. She came in blabbering apologies, “I am sorry. I know you are not to be disturbed now. But your calendar for the day was full. I had to talk to you immediately. Else it may have been too late–”

“Breathe, Karishma. Too late for what? What do you want to talk about?”

“Soumen!” she blurted, and then added as an afterthought, “And me.”

Siddhartha couldn’t help smiling. So, his brother had gone ahead with the proposal after all. But he pushed the responsibility of this conversation on Karishma. What for? Why did Soumen not inform him? And then it dawned on him that Karishma’s nervousness was not a happy one. She was agitated.

“What happened?” he asked, anxiety showing up on his face.

She started pacing the room. Then spoke in one breath, “Last night, out of the blue, he proposed to me. I need you to know that I have never tried to seduce him. I have just been trying to do my job all through. I really can’t afford to lose my job.”

From that Siddhartha could guess the answer, but he asked anyway, “So you refused him?”

“Of course. It was a ridiculous idea.”

“Why ridiculous?”

She started, “You don’t think it is ridiculous?”

Siddhartha paused for a moment before asking, “Did you refuse because you thought I would have objections?”

He noticed her hesitate. Finally, she spoke, “I would have thought of that, of course. Yours and his entire family’s–”

“If that was the case, you needn’t have refused. You can still set it right, I am sure–”

“You didn’t let me complete, Sir. I would have thought of your objections if it came to that. But it never did.”

They were distracted by a soft knock on the door. “Mommy,” a faint voice seemed to call.

“I am sorry. That’s my daughter. It was too early for her pre-school and day care wasn’t yet open–”

“You left her outside, alone? Bring her in.” Siddhartha frowned and Karishma complied immediately, partly relieved, partly worried.

The child looked confused inside the huge office, in front of a stranger. “Say hello,” Karishma nudged her.

“Hello,” she obliged.

“Well, hello,” Siddhartha grinned at her, “How are you doing today?”

“I am doing fine. Thank you,” Kirti replied with a clarity that seemed to take even Karishma by surprise. She still didn’t pronounce Soumen’s name correctly. And here she sounded like an adult. Siddhartha broke into a laughter.

“Very sweet. Why don’t you take a seat?” he said, still grinning.

Kirti looked at his mother. “Say, thank you,” Karishma prompted and she obliged again.

Karishma was happy to see Siddhartha smiling at her daughter. A twinge of guilt raised its head. Was she using her child to win her boss over and save her job? But she stamped it down. Keeping her job was the most important thing. For the same child of hers.

She helped Kirti sit on a chair by a wall, slightly away from where she and Siddhartha were talking, got her busy with a cartoon on her phone, then came back to continue their conversation.

The interruption had cleared Siddhartha’s head a bit.

“Sit down, Karishma,” he said, realizing that she had been standing until then. She slumped rather than sat on a chair.

“Why did you refuse him then?” he asked next.

For the first time since he had met her, he found that he had offended her. “So, if there isn’t anyone else objecting, is it unfathomable that a woman would refuse him? Perhaps you think that it is, especially for someone in my position. It must be foolish and arrogant on my part that a rich, eligible guy should propose to me and I don’t agree at the drop of a hat. Given that I am struggling in my life and money is my biggest problem.”

—

To be continued