Part7: Our games, often starts playing up on us!

His phone started ringing all over again……he looked at the phone on his bed with irritation “Now what???”..... the ring didn’t stop……”Who the hell was calling at this time???...it must be past midnight in India!!!”

Must be Sanjay….He has become crazy over this project………Day and night, he thinks only about it…..his poor wife………He grinned and picked up the phone…..he was quite sure that it would be sanjay and didn’t bother to see the unknown local number flashing but he was shocked to hear a soft female voice “hello…Am I speaking to Chaitanya?”

Chaitanya: [hesitantly…looks at the number and keeps the phone back to his ears] Yeah…..who is this??

Abhi: Hi…I am Abhi......remember we met in the evening at the riverside restaurant…….Flamingoes!

Chaitanya: [irritated tone.....he shows his irritation due to the loss of the diary] Who??…..you? how did you get my number??

Abhi:  [hesitant to divulge the truth that she opened his diary] actually, your diary.......is....[Chaitanya snaps in at the mention of his diary]

Chaitanya: WHAT???? you have my diary????? but how??? [suddenly forgets his manners] dont you dare read it! its my personal thing.......

Abhi: [losing her cool hearing his rude talk] will you let me complete? [when Chaitanya becomes silent] I know its personal mister....[pauses and pretends to have missed his name] whatever!! and i am least interested in reading it......I called to give it back to you......

Chaitanya: [somehow Abhi's anger irks him further...he forgets that he is talking to a stranger who is trying to help him] first you take it and now pretend to be good and helping!!!

Abhi: [furious at his accusation] WTH!!!! I try to help you and in turn I get to hear this…….I should have thrown it into the garbage…..OMG, in the first place, why did I even pick it up??

Chaitanya:  [mellowing down a bit] OK cool….miss Abhi….that diary is very precious to me…..…..[pauses and thinks about the contents of the diary….he was beginning to get sentimental about it.…but he stops his emotional outbreak abruptly]anyways, where should i come???? tell me....i will be there now.... I need the diary back!!

Abhi:  NOW??? its too late now....tomorrow afternoon will be fine for me.....

Chaitanya: [sarcastically] May I know whats wrong with the morning half??

Abhi:  I have something important! So lets just talk about afternoon…..if you aren’t free, we can meet the day after..…not a problem for me!

Chaitanya: [deciding to give up] nooooooo……afternoon is fine……same place at 3!

Abhi: hold on…..lets make it 5!

[they start fighting over it for the next 2 minutes before abhi puts her foot down and settles for 4]

Abhi: ok tomorrow at 4 then!

Chaitanya: [hesitantly agrees] OK…….

[Chaitanya cuts the call even without the basic courtesy of thanking her and she is fuming due to his rude and impolite behavior…….]

Abhi’s POV:

[As soon as he cuts the call in a abrupt manner, she starts thinking about their conversation….]

What a rude guy!!! How can he talk to me like that???? I was trying to help him and he in turn shouts at me….leave alone saying thanks, why cant he atleast talk politely??? He doesn’t know how to talk to a girl……stupid! Idiot!

[Instantly, a prank sprung up in her mind]

Mr Chaitanya, you don’t know what I can do!!! Now I will teach you all that you lack…..and you will never ever repeat such a thing to another girl……

Abhi, herself wasn’t sure why she was even thinking about such a prank…..it was the first time that someone disturbed her so much…….She was a girl who always kept to her own business and never poked into a third person’s life…….

She was quite surprised by her sudden change…… …..she had the strong urge to meet him and at the same time, teach him a lesson……however she tried, she couldn’t refrain from playing this game with him……She didn’t want to give the diary to him so easily…....She knew that he could do anything for that diary and it was her trump card to victory……Giving it to him the next day would end all her chances……..so she had to evade this situation somehow and she already knew how…….

Somewhere deep down, she didn’t wish to end this so soon…….

Abhay and Chaitanya met in the morning……The meeting was fruitful and deal was sure to be signed but Abhay had a condition…..He wanted someone from Chaitanya’s team to work closely with Abhay’s team here to coordinate and avoid any confusion…….Abhay preferred Chaitanya to be that person but he left the decision to his choice!

Abhay was a shrewd businessman and all his moves were profit oriented……He never left any stones unturned to achieve success……Loss was never in his dictionary………He wouldn’t want to take chances in this important project……So Chaitanya discussed with his team and agreed to stay back……

It was 4:30 and yet no sign of the girl……Each passing minute was proving to be agonizing for Chaitanya…..

He had somehow finished his meeting with Abhay and rushed here to get back the diary……He didn’t want to arrive late and cause unnecessary confusions…….He had ordered umpteen coffees……………He had made lots of calls to her phone and each time, it went unanswered……….He had the rage to eat her as a whole……

“She is deliberately doing this to me…….may be she wants to win her point and come in at 5….or is she playing a game with me?? Or may be she actually threw my diary into the trash!! Oh god, where is this crazy girl?”

After 6 PM, Abhi finally picked the call……

Abhi: I am sorry…..I over slept a bit…..i wanted to get up…[Chaitanya snaps in angrily]

Chaitanya: what do you mean overslept??? Is that the important thing you had to do???

Abhi:  yup……sleep is equally important…….anyways, let me come to the point….I don’t think we can meet today……..and tomorrow, I am going back to my work place in Southampton…….8’O clock is the train…..So if you come to the station by about 7 – 7:30, you can take back your precious diary!

Abhi snaps the line before he could speak on……

Chaitanya: Oh SHIT!!! how dare she cuts the call!!!! [thinks] She acts too smart….now I am sure that she is doing all this purposefully just to make me run behind her……just let me get back the diary first.….then I will make her repent for this…….

[To be continued]