The peon knocked on the glass door which had a name plate saying 'Rajesh Waswani'. He knocked again the second time before turning the knob. When he peeped inside he found no one behind the desk. The photocopy machine which was connected to the LAN was buzzing even as sheets with colour graphs were spewing out. The peon took a manila envelope from the file in his hand and placed it on the desk. Just as he turned around Rajesh filed into the room reading something intently on his phone. Without looking up Rajesh said, "yes, Krishna, what is it?" Krishna did not hesitate and said with practised tone, "it is your pay cheque and payslip, sir."
Krishna left while Rajesh still kept reading on his phone. Rajesh was reading the latest book on the stock market scandal available on Kindle for a free trial period. Rajesh would never commit such a sacrilege so as to read a book during working hours but the book was unputdownable. He has been reading it since last night.
After about an hour Rajesh returned to his laptop to read his mails. It was almost 11 am and BKC had gained its usual commercial throb. Rajesh could see the expansive BKC skyline from his office floor-to-ceiling window from the Mithi river bridge on one end to the Asian Heart hospital at the other. An urgent mail with a red exclamation mark was from his boss which said that he would have to leave for Pune immediately to meet a client who had promised an unusually small business deal if someone from the company came to see him at his office at Magarpatta SEZ.
Rajesh knew that being a senior manager his boss would not send him to meet someone for a pittance but there would certainly be something more to it than meets the eye. He didn't wait to meet his boss to know what the game was. He simply shoved his MacBook into his bag and left his office leaving the door ajar.
In about half an hour Rajesh parked his car near a lane adjacent to Pritam da Dhaba at Dadar and walked towards the Volvo bus stalls. He was one behind the counter when the man in front of him was seen having a verbal duel with the staffer. The passenger did not have Rs20 change and that had led to the fracas. The man behind the counter finally asked the customer to move aside while he tried to get the change from other customers. Rajesh looked at the passenger and sized him up. He was a Nepali, about 5 feet 5 inches in height, fascinating body which was chiselled in a gym. He was wearing a bright red shirt with large abstract designs of red and blue.
The shirt looked cheap even if it was beachwear. The Nepali passenger must not be more than 20 years old. He looked at him for a second and gave him a twitch of a smile. The Nepali looked harassed and too stressed to respond to his overtures. He was muttering something under his breath. He had one of his hands on the counter. Rajesh, in a fit of indiscretion, kept his hand on the passenger's hand and said,"don't worry."
That was when the young Nepali guy gave Rajesh a good look. He slowly withdrew his palm from under Rajesh's hand almost in embarrassment. Rajesh told the man behind the counter to book two tickets pointing to the right row on the seating chart laid on the counter. Rajesh was handed the two tickets after the credit card was swiped. The staffer then returned the Nepali guy's money.
"Thank you s0 much. The bus leaves in ten minutes and the pick up bus is waiting for us. Let's hurry," said the Nepali.
"Not before the rituals," Rajesh replied extending his hand to the Nepali. "I am Rajesh Waswani. I stay in Mulund. What's your name and where do you stay."
The Nepali was slightly shaken by Rajesh's formal approach. He took Rajesh's hand to shake but kept mumbling something. Rajesh was oozing his charm more so because his hormones were running riot. The Nepali was incredibly sweet and innocent which was the hallmark of his age. Rajesh kept his other hand on the Nepali's shoulder to calm him down and said soothingly, "What's your name, buddy?"
"My name is Sachin Rana. I work for a watch company. I stay in an office accommodation in south Mumbai."
"Great, that was a good start. Now let's hurry before we lose the bus."
They both walked past the huge boulder of garbage holding each other's hands and boarded the blue pick up bus.
The Volvo bus took almost an hour before it started its journey. The rush was less today and it took longer to fill. The Volvo buses running between Mumbai and Pune would leave only if they can fill to a predetermined threshold capacity.
Rajesh let Sachin take the window seat and Sachin felt that Rajesh was being a little protective of him. Sachin didn't need Rajesh's protection because Sachin was capable of punching people on their noses. But Sachin started liking Rajesh's genuine concern and his overt friendliness. The two spend the next three hours of the journey talking about each other's career and future plans. Rajesh in the most nonchalant way even got Sachin's mobile number and his schedule for the next few days. Rajesh had only one meeting at 4.30 pm at Camp. So he broached the topic of a date that evening.
"How are you placed this evening?" That again was uncomfortably direct for Sachin because by now Sachin's gaydar was also beeping vigorously. He was getting this strange feeling for the first time in his life since he became sexually mature at the age of 11. He knew this was not a friendly meet up. Sachin remained coy, and Rajesh was happy that he was not alone in having that embarrassment. He waited for a long moment before Sachin blurted out, "sure. I am free in the evening. Where do we meet up?"
It was Rajesh's turn to take a long moment to reply. "I am staying at Magarpatta as it has one of my favourite hotels. I will be staying there after a long time."
"Yes, I know that place quite well. I will be there by 7 pm."
"Oh great, then we will have a drink and dinner at the outdoor restaurant which is known for its continental cuisines."
Sachin only nodded in agreement. He wondered what was for dessert.
Sachin got down from the bus at Wakad as he was going to meet his friends at Symbiosis. Three of his friends were already waiting for him with their mobikes at Wakad junction. He bade Rajesh goodbye for then, and strolled towards his friends who were garrulous as usual. The language was replete with four letter words. Rajesh, who was now almost 30, wondered when did he speak that kind of language last. He told himself, "teenage is about gay abandon, no pun intended there."
Sachin asked one of his friends to get off his mobike for him to ride. He was good at speeding in Pune. His friends were only too happy to oblige. The camaraderie among the youngsters seemed unusually good, but at that age friendships are always above par. When they reached Symbiosis almost everyone in the campus knew Sachin. Most of them would come and give a hug because he was not seen in the precincts for over a year ever since Sachin took up a job in Mumbai. He was now on the verge of completing his graduation by way of a correspondence course.
Rajesh, on the other hand, got down from the bus at Pune railway station stop and walked briskly toward Grand Sheraton where his meeting was slated to happen at 4.30 pm. There was only half an hour to prepare. He first went into the washroom and changed to a formal suit. There were about two or three other men in the washroom, but Rajesh was an exhibitionist. He loved to strip in front of guys. He even changed his underwear in slow motion. The guys were slightly embarrassed at first but then he pretended to be too concerned about his meeting schedule. He did this even at swimming pools.
His meeting with his client was expectedly nondescript and Rajesh's bewilderment was still shown on his face as to why his boss would send him to Pune for this meeting.
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At about 6.30 pm Rajesh wound up the meeting perforce. He was not interested in spending another moment on an inconsequential sales talk that would not yield more than Rs7-lakh. That was for the interns to deal with, he thought. The client seemed mighty impressed with his presentation and even said that none of his competition had made so much effort into convincing how good Rajesh's company was in delivery. Rajesh usually takes accolades in his stride because he was used to it. He quietly collected all the papers in front of him, pushed them neatly into the yellow file -- a colour which signifies insignificant client, and closed it with finality.