Jatin hesitated, then shrugged, resigned. “All right. Thank you very much, but you really didn’t have to.”
“Oh yes, I had to. I wanted to give you something.” Priya smiled and once again Jatin marvelled at the change in the woman.
“Oh, that reminds me, do you two have your horoscopes with you?” he asked. “I’d like to show them to my Boss. She’s an excellent Astrologer.”
“I would love to get my horoscope read by Soniaji!” Naina exclaimed. “But… ” The two sisters glanced at each other. “I’m afraid we don’t have our horoscopes,” the younger girl continued. “My parents may have got them made, but we’ve no idea where they are. Do you, Priyadidi?”
The older sister shook her head. “No. Though I would love to know my future, too!”
“In that case, why don’t you two write down your birth date, time, and place for me? You know those, don’t you? Good. Just the time, date, and place would do.”
“Oh great!” Naina suddenly seemed excited like a child, Jatin observed, pleased, as she ran to fetch a pad and jotted down the details. She passed the pad to her sister, who wrote down her birth particulars, then tore the page from the pad and handed it to Jatin.
“Thanks!” He smiled at them and rose to leave.
“Don’t forget to buy your gift,” Priya reminded lightly as he departed.
The rain had lifted but the sky was overcast and a cool breeze blew in through the Stellar Investigations’ window. Nidhi lay curled on the red pillow, fast asleep. Sonia looked down at her fondly. The cat seemed to choose a different coloured cushion every day! The blue velvet collar round her neck, her golden fur, and the red cushion made a beautiful contrast. Sonia wished she had her digital camera. She must remember to bring it to office and keep it in the cupboard.
Sonia glanced at the horoscopes she had charted out from the information Jatin had handed her earlier that morning.
“What are you thinking, Boss?” her Assistant asked as he entered with two cups of chai.
“I hope you aren’t in a tearing hurry for me to read these horoscopes,” she said as she accepted her cup.
“No, of course not,” Jatin lied. “But sooner the better. Oh, and I’m rich by two thousand rupees! A gift from Priyadidi!”
“Wow! And I thought you said she was a nightmare”
“Did I?” Jatin grinned, feigning ignorance.
“What do you plan to buy with it?”
“I don’t know. Something for Naina, I think. I surely don’t mean to use the money for myself. And right now I’m going to keep this envelope in your drawer. I’ll take it when I need it”
They sipped their tea in companionable silence.
“Boss, do you need me this afternoon? I mean, we aren’t working on anything and…”
“As usual, you have a date with Naina,” Sonia completed.
Jatin grinned, sheepishly. “Actually, I was planning to take Naina for a movie. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge!”
“How romantic. But Jatin, you’ve already seen DDLJ thrice!” she reminded lightly.
“Boss, so have you!” he retaliated. “And so what! It’s a great film with loads of lovely songs. And I’ll be seeing it for the first time with Naina. And then we have to go shopping. She wants to go to Wadekar Jewellers and buy some silver for a friend’s wedding. It’s her favourite shop and Mr Wadekar knows me personally, so I’m going to help her choose the gift. And then I’m going to take her home. I want to introduce her to my parents.”
“Oh! Introduce her, as in - this is my good-friend-cum- wife-to-be?” Sonia asked, carefully, hiding her surprise. Jatin was surely taking long strides in a very short period of time
His grin widened. “Not exactly. I shall do that only after you give me the green signal. First you read the horoscopes, give me the thumbs-up, then I propose, and then I announce! Right now, she will be introduced as a special friend. But I’m sure my parents will take the hint.”
“You’ve got it all lined up in your head, haven’t you?” Somehow Sonia didn’t know why she was so surprised. Was it because of the speed with which Jatin’s love affair seemed to be rolling? Or because she never really expected him to ever get this serious about any girl?
“Go ahead,” she told him. “But Ganapati is drawing to a close. After that, you won’t have so much time courting your girl-friend,” she warned.
“I know that, Boss. That’s why I’m making the most of this time. And take my advice, you should use this holiday, too! Go out with Mohnish, go to DDLJ with him for the late-night show.”
“No thanks!”
“Or simply romp around town with him, the weather’s so romantic, so perfect for two souls in love to be together -”
“Hold it! Who said I’m in love with Mohnish?” Sonia exclaimed.
“You don’t have to say anything, Boss. Your eyes speak for you,” Jatin aired his opinion grandly.
“I agree with you. Sonia has the most expressive eyes I ever saw!” Mohnish remarked, entering the room with a flourish.
Sonia blushed. What perfect timing! How much had Mohnish heard? Jatin could be such an idiot at times. She scowled at her Assistant, but he was grinning from ear to ear.
“By the way, why were you complimenting Sonia?” the journalist asked, drawing out a chair and making himself comfortable.
“All I was saying - ” Jatin began.
But his Boss cut him off neatly. “Do you want the day off, or not, Jatin?” she asked him, in her best blackmail tone. She felt like throttling him at times!
“I want the day off!” Whistling cheekily, he left the room.
Mohnish grinned. “You and Jatin constantly share secrets and leave me out of it.”
Sonia laughed and rolled her eyes heavenwards. “Secrets with Jatin! He’s more used to ladling out mature advice to me.”
“Has he been urging you to leave this office and spend some time out in the beautiful outdoors?”
Sonia was a little startled. Had Mohnish put ideas in her Assistant’s
