beside her...
fulfilling long forgone mutual feelings...
It was already late when I took the last resume on my desk. Our department was hiring senior officials for the new unit that my company had started last month. I was really surprised to see this particular resume. The name on the resume excited me no less. I called my assistant in. "Is the candidate here?" I asked showing her the resume.
"Yes, I shall call her in. She has been waiting for the last half an hour or so," my assistant left before I could say anything more.
The knock on the door brought me back from my thoughts. I heard myself saying "Yes, come in." She was dressed in a blue saree and strikingly matching deep shaded blouse. She looked elegant in her attire. Age has not fully caught on with her; she still had the beauty and energy that I was so familiar with, from our childhood. Not that I would easily recognize her in any other situation or without the resume that was in front of me. She had applied for the position of Administrative Manager. I asked her to sit and looked into her resume and the application.
As per the resume, she is now with a BPO company in Cochin. "You are from Kottayam, aren't you?" I asked her withdrawing my attention from her resume.
"Yes, but how come you know?" her surprise was very evident from the look on her face.
"Let's say I did some background check on you... I am from Kottayam also," I answered without giving away much. "Why do you want to shift to Calicut?" I kept up the official tone.
"I recently got divorced and want to move away from Cochin," her frankness surprised me.
"What about your sister, is she still with you?" she was now getting a bit wary of my questions.
"She is in Dubai, with her husband" after a few seconds of silence she answered. I stood up, walked to her side and touched her left shoulder. "How dare you..." she jumped up and slapped me. But I was smiling when she looked at me to speak. She looked really puzzled by all this. She started to leave.
"Bi..." I walked towards her and took her hand in mine. Hearing the name that only I used to call her, she turned and looked at me quizzically.
"Arun, is that you really?" she was not yet ready to believe me.
"Yes, of course I am. How else can I know the name I used to call you during our childhood days?" I questioned her doubt. She reached into my open arms and we hugged each other. We remained like that for some time; she was gradually adjusting to the shock of meeting each other like this after a very long period of distance.