Behind the bride's veil - V

'Varun NO...!', I let a faint cry out.
'What do you mean NO! Look at the time!', Dad rattled me and woke me up.
I opened my eyes wide and looked around.
'It's 7!', he was angry. 
'You have no seriousness, how many times do I need to wake you up like a kid. You keep working through the night and wake up late. And today's your meeting right? You should work backwards and manage time. When will you... Nee thirindave maate', he shook his head in dismay.
'Sorry paa, I had a dream and I... '
'I'm tired of listening to this. I don't know, do whatever you want. You reach office on time or you're late, I don't care', he was now very evidently upset.
Anyone will be; for a meet with a client in the morning, 7 generally is breakfast and skim-though-agenda time. But I was setting my bed and sashaying along.

I picked my phone up to smile at 7 messages, a zillion Whatsapp notifications and 5 missed calls from Rishi. All in 1-minute intervals.

I prepped my mind, held my breath and called him up.
It was probably quarter of a ring and he answered it. I gathered my mouth to say 'Morning!' only to hear a very choleric 'WTF are you idiot, I've been calling for the last 5 minutes nonstop! We're all here so I tried your landline. Come fast!'
I skipped the greeting and said, 'Sorry Rishi, give me 5. I'm gonna be flying!' I expected a tiny laugh or smirk. 
'Shut up and leave now, ass!' was what I got.

Rishi Sharma was one of the reasons why I loved to work, and go back to work everyday.
He knew just 2 things. Work. And wine. And he was a winner at both.
I huffed my way up to work to see him at the entrance.
'Hold it, hold it Rishi, I'm soo sorry. I woke up to a bad...'
He beamed. 'I just wanted to see you early today. They'll be here in an hour. How's the nice Monday morning looking?'
If only eyes could burn.

'You know, I'm going to hunt you down. I drove like a fruitcake risking my precious life only to see your face?'

'Oh you'll thank me now. Take this', he thrust some Starbucks Espresso into my hands.
Coffee melts away anything. So did I.
'You'll pay for this Mister', I smiled.

'Rishi when're they going to be here? Isn't it late already?'
The room was getting impatient and the bustle only got louder.
'They'll come wait, probably stuck in traffic from the airport. All lofty sophisticated people mind you. Look', he handed the profiles of those who were coming.
I flipped over the pages and was bored halfway.
'No women in the team Vandhu', he gave me the puppy face.
'I thought I'll see the golden women at Goldman Sachs'
'Haha, awww. It's okay! But looks like a senior team, senior in age and experience', I sighed.
'Yeah, except for a few. There's one Aditya and one more. Rest, yeah senior', he laughed.
'Who?'
'Some Aditya. And... Aah, yeah Siddharth'
'Aditya who?'
'Dunno'
'What do you mean don't know?', I pounced. 'Give me that sheet!'
'Gosh, it must be him', I mumbled to myself.
'What happened?'
I riffed through every page praying I don't find him but equally anxious to see him. I was torn between excitement and apprehension.
'Aditya Kapoor', the name was right in front of me.
'He's coming!', I smiled and sighed at the same time.
'You happy or sad about it? You look confused. You know him?'
'You all know him!'
'Is he... Oh my gosh! Mr.Past? Really? Coool stuff. Dude I. Am. Loving. This!', he exclaimed.
'Are you nuts? What am I going to do?'
His phone rang, it was Smitha. 'Okay cool', he snapped.
'Sweetheart, they're here. Come let's welcome them. And a special welcome hug to your Him.'

Behind the bride's veil - IV

'Isn't this Quiz Up addictive?', whined Tanya, her thumb on an auto-mode clicking away answers to glory and her eyes fixed on my nice big new Nexus 6 screen.
'What's this stupid game about T! People at work too are hung ho about this. Do you actually game those strangers across the world?', I felt like a kindergarten kid.
'Hmm', she replied instantly, jolting slightly for every answer in lightning speed and occasionally cussing at the wrong ones.
'So maybe the six degrees of separation comes in handy! Isn't the Bacon number fascinating? You practically know every mortal in some way!', I exclaimed.
'It is', she said uninterested.
I snapped. 'Can you stop cracking that screen and talk?'
'God wait. You're forever talking. Lemme finish this one game, I'm a step away from becoming Zen-Master ten times in a row.'
'Eh?'

After a minute of intense quietude and focus, she gleamed at the screen.
It read, 'You're now a CEO. Use title?'
'Hell yes I'm using it!', she hit yes.
'CEO? Hahha whattt?', I was very amused by now.
'Look, I just finished my 50th level in Business. Aaand that makes me a CEO!'
'Whatever. Can't be bothered', and I smiled and took back to reading 'The Bankerupt'.

'You should totally try this, it's amazing.'
'Here, type your password', she almost pasted the phone on my face.
I gave her a disgusted straight face. 'And now you have all the time to talk right? Go awayyy'
'Shut up and type!'
'Why should I take all of this nonsense Varun?', I yelled to him. He was busy on his laptop and smiled to himself.

'Let's see, which topic do we choose... do you wanna play Grammar and be a Grammarian?', she flashed her brows.
'Do I look like I care?'
'Game on. Now play'
'Wait, who's this Steve Patrick from United Kingdom?'
'Just. Play'

In no time, I got trapped too into the whirlpool of winning streaks against randomness players. Game after game, the excitement and energy only surged. 10 minutes into the game and I was in level 7. I always loved anything got to do with 7. 'Oh Level 7! This'll be interesting', I smiled to her.
'Waiting for a response... ', and my phone began ringing.

It was an unknown number, but it began with +65.
Truecaller flashed 'Varsha Kapoor, Singapore'.

I literally sprang up from the sofa with the phone in my hands. Hands trembling, heart pounding, eyes unsettling.
'It's Varsha...', I told Tanya aghast.
'What? How did she get your number?', she echoed my thoughts.
The ring faded away in a few moments. I stood still not knowing how to cope with anything.
Varun came over to the hall sensing the uncanny silence between the two claptrap clowns.

'What's up? How're the sources of noise noiseless?', he tried to ease the tension.
But in vain.
'It's Varsha, she's...' and the phone began ringing again.
'Calling...', I tried completing my sentence.
Varun looked at me. 'Pick it up, now!'
'What? Have you lost...'
'Pick it up, damn it!'
I kept staring at him like he had me at gunpoint.
'Okay, you aren't going to end this right. I'll talk to her!', he yanked away the phone.
'Varun NO...'