I don't Wear Sunscreen (4 page)

“
My resume? What
for
?” he asked her
curiously.

“
To note down your number,”
she smiled with a tinge of shyness.

Their friendship
bloomed
from that
moment,
and Sai grew to be one of her best
friends.

***

Chapter Three

"Pick up the phone, pick up the phone,
pickkkk upppp," muttered Laksha as she dialed Pallavi’s number to
inform her about the internship. After several missed calls, she
gave up and called her parents. "Daddy, I got an internship, and
you know, they promised to pay a good amount as well! It is not
finalized yet," she said. "God bless you sweetheart, here talk to
your mom!” he said, handing over the phone to his wife.

"Hi darling, the best thing to hear
before I sleep. Now don't be a spendthrift, transfer enough to your
savings account regularly, okay?" said Laksha's mom. "Yeah mom, I
will, you take care.. And hey, I might shift soon to a hostel near
my office," she said, "what about your college then?" her mom
inquired. "Just a few reviews here and there, I can travel. I will
let you know, convey my regards to everyone, and tell them about my
job as well ma! Bye!" Laksha blew a kiss to her mom and hung
up.

She kept thinking about Sai; the same
incidents and his behavior impressed her. Even when she felt like
calling him right away, she tried to convince herself that her
parents and Pallavi were more important than him. The temptation
was very strong, however, and she finally gave in and called
him.

"Hi Sai, what’s up?" she
asked.

"You sound pretty dull, what's wrong
with you? Any issues?" he asked in return.

“
Um, yeah, my friend didn’t
answer my call,” she explained.

"That's it? And you’re worried about
that? It's time to celebrate baby!"

“
No Sai, I called her even
before informing my parents, she is really important to me. I don’t
know why she didn't answer my call."

"Chill out, maybe she didn't she was
not well, or she is really busy. I can tell that you value her more
than enough, because she hasn’t bothered to call you for just one
day and you're worried. I’m dead sure she is busy partying and
hooking up with some guy," he laughed slyly.

“
Shut up Sai, how can you
just talk like that about someoneyou’ve never met? And if you can
pass a comment about a stranger like this, what will you do to your
folks? Who knows, you must be bitching about me too. You think I
will fall at your feet just because you arranged an internship for
me? Damn it! Just stop there and don’t call me back," Laksha cut
the call like an angry butcher slaughtering a chicken, blinking
away tears of anger.

Sai kept calling her through the night,
but she didn’t bother till early in the morning. Even then, she saw
the 35 missed calls and but didn’t call him back. She received a
call from the company, meanwhile, informing her to join after ten
days. She told the caller she would let them know and then sat for
a while, confused on her bed.

“
Hey Laksha, sorry, I was
preparing for the semester exams and aptitude tests as well. I have
an interview next month, so I had to begin preparing,” explained
Pallavi later over their call.

“
Why didn’t you tell me
Pallavi, I kept calling you like a nut!”

"Come on, what's the big deal? You know
that dad bought me this cell phone just to help with placement and
studies. I missed one leaked question paper last time, just because
I didn’t have a mobile. Dad told not to use it
unnecessarily.”

“
Great! So my calls are
unnecessary now?”

“
Listen Laksha, I’m not a
designer like you to just design things in a click. I am an
engineer and I have tons of work, you know my family situation.
Don’t irritate me, just grow up!” Pallavi’s tone was stern this
time.

"I called to tell you that I have got
the internship," Laksha said in a flat tone that showed how hurt
she was. Pallavi was astonished and didn’t reply for a few seconds.
"Sorry, congrats!" she said, but then cut the call without another
word.

Maybe Sai was right; she
doesn't care for me as I do for her. Designing is easy, huh? Hell!
I didn’t know this B.E would place an invisible crown on her head.
I fought with Sai and was ready to throw away my internship and
now, she is telling me she’s busy with placements?
These thoughts went through Laksha’s head the
whole day, till she finally left a text message for Sai, stating a
simple "sorry". Immediately, he called her back.

“
Laksha, thanks for the
text, I went nuts man, I am so sorry,” he explained in an anxious
tone.

“
No Sai, don’t be sorry, but
you were right. I think of her as the same, but she doesn’t care
about me,” she confessed.

“
Oh ho, I don’t even know
her name, but she took you away from me for two full days. Let’s
not talk about her, honey,” his tone had changed.

"Let's meet at our usual coffee place,
my treat," she said, smiling.

“
Whoa, picked my bike keys
right away! You come to the corner of your street and my Yamaha
beast will transport you like a new born baby,” he said.

After a hearty laugh, she hung up. They
met some time later at the coffee shop and talked for a couple of
hours. Sai was overwhelmed by her. "I love the way you are, when
you are angry, you just blast without a thought, when you chill out
you're an angel."

Laksha just smiled and sipped her
coffee with one brow raised. She looked at him and gave a broad
smile, which summed up that their friendship is strengthened
enough.

***

Laksha was totally enjoying the
internship. She explored much more than just interiors, and worked
closely with seniors in the team. She understood how the United
States works for interiors; she studied various niches and turned
out to be one of the best assets of the company.

I would like to meet you
tomorrow for a small chat at my cabin
, said
the email that Laksha had read five times already. She called up
Sai to inform him. "Saaaaaiiiiiiii, the CEO, I mean your cousin,
wants to meet me tomorrow evening yaar," she said in a whisper over
the phone.

“
I do that often, just go
and meet him.” “Dumbo, he is your cousin, but for me he is the
owner of ‘VE’ home decors, my boss!”

"What can I say Laksha, do something,
text me if you can say it. I will read that over the phone," Sai
laughed.

“
Laksha is pretty angry and
she is going to cut the call right away, so Mr. Sai, please get
ready to send lots of sorry’s and flower bouquets, specifically red
roses,” she said with a smile.

“
Anything for Laksha,” he
replied, in a melting voice that usually got her
attention.

Laksha couldn’t stop
thinking about meeting Saurav,
sorry,
sorry,
Mr. Saurav the next day. Sai
distracted her with a story of how his other cousin fell in love
with a Mumbai guy, which linked his connection with North India. He
told her about the differences in wedding ceremonies and the fun
their crew had due to them. He was fond of telling her cute
stories, the kind that made her smile throughout the conversation.
He had an innate quality of sensing when she was smiling even when
they are on the call he would ask her about it and usually was
right. The roots of love were going deep, watered with the quality
time they spent. The gap that Pallavi had left was undoubtedly
getting filled by Sai in Laksha’s life.

The next day, Laksha picked the nicest
Salwar Kameez she had for her meeting with Saurav.

“
Hi Laksha, come, thanks for
accepting my invitation,” Saurav said formally.

"Thanks a lot, sir, it's my pleasure. I
am happy to meet you."

“
So, how is work? You are
happy, I hope?” he questioned.

"Of course, I am actually learning a
lot. I love it, the team is awesome, and they teach me so well.
They assign me different kinds of tasks, its brilliant working
here. What I was when I stepped in here is entirely different from
what I am now."

“
Great! So brief me your
learning experience so far, what are you up to,” said
Saurav.

"Ok, sir, so I am working on projects
assigned by lead, I work with the CAD diagrams with assistance.
They usually ask me to design interiors and I do, so whenever there
is an odd placement in the drawing, they help me out.”

“
Hmm,” nodded Saurav as he
sipped some water. Then he asked “so, are you exploring anything
else in here Laksha?”

"Yeah, everything actually," Laksha
said, feeling comfortable with him.

"We are working with clients abroad as
well; we have a few customers who stick with us, but the
advancement in interiors abroad is still not met. What’s your take
on this?”

She continued, “I am exploring
minimalism now, doing great. I love the concept and am researching
well on that, I usually sit and read about it. I also implemented
the concept in my recent submission. My lead appreciated me for the
same.”

“
Exactly! That’s the reason
you’re sitting right in front of me Laksha.”

“
I don’t get you, sir,” she
stammered.

"I saw your design, and was very
impressed to see the minimalism concept-based models from you. This
is my exploration as well, living well with the least fundamental
things around, constructing designs with multi-functional items
that are pretty important these days. I have seen people
implementing this for other clients, but not in India, thinking
people here loves to live in the most sophisticated way. Your
design attracted me," he said.

She was completely overwhelmed and
failed to respond for a minute, but her smile and eyes spoke about
her excitement.

“
So Laksha, do you know
about
Egalitarianism
?” he questioned.

“
No,” she answered honestly,
which got Saurav’s attention.

"It's a term used to denote equality
within an organization. This is followed by the US and other
countries, but not in India. Here we have this power distance,
which I don't care a damn about. I don't want a pyramid structure
in my organization. I want the young talents to pitch in and prove
well. I hope you are one of them. I want you to take up a full-time
job with us. What do you think?" he asked.

"Sir, it's my pleasure! Oh my God, I
didn’t expect this, thank you, thank you so much!" she
said.

"Great, that's nice to hear, the other
terms and details will be explained by HR. Keep up the good work.
Keep exploring everything, and we will often meet going forward.
Just finish this one, and then I will assign you a project
myself."

“
Sure, sir, with pleasure,”
she replied.

“
Okay, keep up the good
work. See you soon Laksha, bye for now, take care,”

"Thank you, sir," Laksha left the room
all smiles and the whole team saw her walking out of the room. Many
comments were passed, which she turned a deaf ear to.

***

Pick me up today, we will
eat at a good restaurant near my hostel,
Laksha sent an SMS to Sai.

Done sweetheart, Yamaha is
dying to honor you,
he replied.

Sai raced to reach on time. When she
sat on the bike he adjusted his mirror to see her reactions while
he rode. Though she saw this, she pretended to be unaware and made
more cute faces.

“
Egalitarianism, power
distance, minimalism, Saurav sir is the best da,” Lakshasaid after
ordering two cold coffees.

“
Sir huh? LOL!” he
laughed.

“
Shut up! He is my boss, he
is so brilliant man, now I know why he is the boss,” Laksha kept
praising Saurav.

“
Yeah, even I can talk all
this bullshit if I spend an hour googling about interior
designing,”

“
Hmm! I smell smoke, do
you?” she chuckled.

"You're irritating me now, see am
leaving." he said.

"Hey, ok ok, no more Saurav topic. Now
let's talk about us," she said.

“
What? Us?” Sai’s eye
widened to twice the usual size.

“
Hehehe, I mean only things
related to you or me, let’s not discuss others, am I clear now?”
she asked.

“
As always! Surrendered!” he
adjusted his straw to finish the last of his cold
coffee.

“
Drop me back home, I have
to pack,” she said after doing the same.

“
Hmm, to pack?” he
asked.

“
I am planning to go home!
I’m home-sick,”

“
Tickets booked? Which
flight?”

“
My grandpa runs a flight
exclusively, don’t you know?” she smirked.

“
Come on! What’s the
matter?”

"Nothing, I must meet them before
joining your cousin’s firm as a full-time designer. Maybe my
college will schedule back to back reviews. My friend also might
come, I must meet her and set things right. I think it’s time, I am
going for a week, will book tickets in tatkal."