"Meera!" Eleanor looks at me and gives a smile.
"Hi." My eyes drop on the little chum sitting on the bed and staring at me with her round green eyes.
"She is your daughter?" I ask
"Yeah." Eleanor turns towards the little chum and smiles at her.
"What's her name?"
"Pearl." Eleanor replies
I walk towards the bed and sit close to Pearl.
She keeps staring at me with a finger on her mouth.
"Hello,buddy. You're so pretty. " I say with a smile. She doesn't respond back but just keeps sucking her finger and looks at the bed.
" I love your cheeks. Can I have them?" I forward my hand to touch her cheeks and press them lightly. She is so cute.
"Okay,baby. Let's get you to sleep." Eleanor pulls Pearl in her arms and
"How many hours more?" I whisper in Lai's ear."A few minutes more. Mom is finishing." She whispers back with her eyes close and hands joined in prayer.I sigh and close my eyes again and do not dare to move from my praying position.I hear the bell ring. It is definitely aunty ringing the holly bell over the idols of our Hindu Gods.I feel someone poke my right arm,so I open my eyes and find aunty standing in front of me with her hands forwarded towards me. I understand what she means and I fold my palms ,one over the other to review the sweet. It's called 'prashad' in our place.I pour it in my mouth and jerk off the excess,not forgetting to touch the sweet on my forehead before I gulp it in. Well,I was taught all of it in India. Puja was more common there. My dad used to do it regularly. While me and Sonia tried to disturb him. Stran
"What did she say?""Have to go on another date with Dhruv and then I am eligible to ask for the month's salary." I say to Lai."That's good. Don't wait for it. Ask Dhruv whether he is interested to go on a second date." Lai says in excitement."Eleanor told the day of my last date that I was supposed to go on a date this Sunday with him.""Oh. That's the end of this week. " Lai's face drops."I will bargain for another day from Udipi. But the money is important. I need to go on this date." I say."Okay. But today is already Thursday. Shouldn't you be informed about when and where your next date will be?""Not really. Eleanor sometimes informs me about my date quite late. Like the day before the date. But it didn't cause any problem." I reply to Lai's question.Lai loo
I open the bathroom door and walk out.Lai looks at me and runs to hug me."I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said you like that. I know how much you are stressed about all this. Don't worry, everything will be fine."she says while caressing my back.I break the hug and look at her."Yes,it will be. And I don't need to care about what Dhruv thinks about me. He is not the best guy to judge me. And even if he does,why does it matter to me?" I explained to her."Yeah. You are right. But what about the date? Did he agree?" Lai asks in concern."Yes he did. I'm going to meet his family this Sunday." I confirm."That's great! Then you will be able to get the money!" Lai exclaims in happiness."Yeah. But before that,I have to ask for a day or two from Udipi. Dhruv definite
Dhruv's POV"What happened to the sales this month?" I ask sternly, looking at Samuel who is trying to avoid my gaze.Well, he should. He laid eyes on what's mine. I have to give him a taste of what happens when you mess with Dhruv Saxena."I didn't prepare the report. You said that you wanted the report ne-" I raise my hands to interrupt. His vicious face is increasing my temper."I don't have a room for your excuses Mr. Rodrick! It is either done or it is not." I look straight at him."It's not done." He says in a low voice.I smirk internally. Good."Well then in that case, I don't think you need to be a part of this project anymore." I see him look up at me with shock evident in his face."But-" he turns around at the other members who do not say a word. They surely would not.
The car parks in front of Eleanor's office. I hop out of the car, thanking David and walk towards the entrance.The day is sunny,the sky being super clear and there's a light breeze blowing the trees and my rebellious hair strands.What I discovered a few days ago was definitely scary. That's why I thought to talk to Eleanor about it before I prepare myself for the worse. Meeting the Saxena's.I walk inside the elevator,more like jumping inside. I feel good today. Maybe it's the weather. A few days ago, I was weeping about my reputation in front of Dhruv. But then,why should I worry about someone who's not worth the attention? And I will not be responsible for what people think about me. Because they didn't see my struggle or my problems. I do.I walk out of the elevator, singing Shape of You in my head."Eleanor?" I knock on the door and cal
"Do you think that the cab driver heard us?" Lai whispers I'm my ear."I'm not sure. But I did notice him looking at us when you said about Saxena's." I shrug.We walk up the stairs towards the entrance of the mall. Unlike any other day, it is full with people here and there. Since it's the weekend.We walk past the security check and enter the air conditioned first floor."I just love the smell of all those costly products and makeup and stuff." Lai inhales deeply.I scoff in return. Why does everyone have to terrorize with the idea of makeup. Well, as a matter of fact, Lai here is just the opposite of me. She loves makeup!"Let's take an escalator." I run forward, putting Lai in shock."Hey! Wait for me!" She runs me.I giggle and run towards the escalator. I love escalators. Wh
Where am I? I ask myself, looking around the vast hall. It looked royal. With huge white marble pillars and red curtains on the gold plated windows.Sunlight passed through the open windows, lighting up the hall."Welcome." I hear a lady's voice from behind.I turn around to come face to face with a silhouette. Strange. Her face is blurry. It's only her body that I can see. What the fuck?"You have come at the right time." She says in a high etiquette but grave way. If that even makes sense. More or less,her appearance screams danger."Where am I? Who are you?" I ask.The lady starts laughing as if I told her a joke."You ask me who I am after playing with the mind of my son?" She asks in a sarcastic tone.I get it. She is Dhruv's mother. 
"No, it's too tight." I say and the girl doing my blouse knots eases it up a bit allowing me to breathe."Thank you."She nods her head and leaves me in front of the mirror. I didn't know that Eleanor had prepared an entire team to help me wear the saree. She thinks it's a difficult attire to wear as it's traditional. The great Eleanor got scared of a simple saree. The thought only makes me laugh my heart out.I stand in front of a long mirror and stare at my reflection. The team has done a good job on the saree as well as fixing my face.This time, I told Eleanor that it needs to look natural. She suggested that I go with a no-makeup makeup look. Seriously? I don't know these bullshit things exist. Makeup is makeup. If you apply it on your face,it will show anyway. How stupid is that? The whole equation can be solved by just not applying any makeup at all.