The Lone Way 2
Part 2
Part 2- You might have read that while in Kashmir Renu and her son Shaurya met a young man who helped them . Now read further ….
A few months after Sany’s encounter with Renu in Kashmir , one day Renu left her son at the day care cum school . Then she withdrew money from the ATM and went to the petrol pump. After paying for the petrol, she inadvertently left her bag on the roof of her car. Incidentally, Sanjay came just behind to get petrol . Neither Sanjay nor Renu could notice each other but Sanjay jumped out of his car and grabbed the bag a second before Renu drove out of the fuel pump . Sanjay thought he had enough petrol for the day .He didn’t even bother to fill petrol and raced after her car .
After going a short distance, Renu stopped at a red signal at a crossing. A man on a scooter stopped near her car. Then he repeatedly tapped on the window and signaled to roll down the window.
His entire face was covered with a helmet. At first Renu got very upset but by the time she was able to open half the window, the man bent down and took out the bag from the scooter's basket and gave it to Renu. By then the signal had turned green and the vehicles behind were honking. Renu had to move the car forward and she could not even thank the man.
Renu parked her car in the office ‘s parking lot and first opened her bag. She had to pay the last installment of her new apartment to get the keys to the flat. She had withdrawn Rs 50,000 from two ATMs. The money and the cell phone were all safe and intact. She breathed a sigh of relief and entered her office. There was a walk-in interview in her office on that day. Sanjay asked the receptionist where he should report for the interview, the receptionist told him to go and give his resume to Renu Mathur and pointed towards Renu's cabin.
Renu was reading some files with her head down. Sanjay saw the same bag on Renu's table. Then he went closer and said, "Good morning madam, here is my resume for my interview .."
As soon as Renu raised her head, both of them kept looking at each other for quite some time. Then Renu said, "Sanjay, you! You have an interview in our office ? "
Sanjay said, "Yes. And is this bag yours?"
Renu laughed and said, "Why are you suspicious? It must be my bag if it’s on my table, right?"
Sanjay also smiled and said, "I had given a similar bag to a lady at the traffic signal. It was you. You too had opened the window only half way and due to some hurry, I could not recognize you . Am I right ? "
Renu said, "Hey, was that you? My God, you have done so many favors to me, and I haven't even thanked you properly."
"There's no hurry. Let it all be deposited in a fixed deposit. I'll get it back with handsome interest sooner ," Sanjay said, laughing.
By then the pantry man brought tea. Renu asked Sanjay to have tea and said, "I will give your file to the GM in two minutes."
Returning back to her chair , Renu said, "It seems your turn will come only after lunch. You can have lunch with me in the canteen. You can sit here. I will also give you some tips. There is only one post, but looking at your resume, it seems you are the most suitable candidate for this post. However, it depends on the board. Wish you best of luck."
Sanjay sat with Renu for a while. They talked for a while, then Sanjay stood up and said, "Okay, now I will also wait outside. It will not be right to stay longer with you here."
Both of them had lunch together. After lunch he sat on a sofa in the lobby facing Renu . Soon Sanjay was called to face the interview. After the interview he went to meet Renu. Renu told him that the result of the interview would be known by this evening itself. After some time the GM's PA came and said, "Madam, sir has said that you will issue Sanjay's offer letter before he leaves. You may have to wait for some time today because today is Friday. If it does not happen today then Monday is also a closed holiday."
Renu congratulated Sanjay. But Sanjay noticed that Renu looked a bit worried. When he asked her, Why do you seem worried ? “
She said, "I have to pick up Shaurya from day care. They close by 6 P.M."
Sanjay said, "You should tell your husband. He will pick up the kid today."
On this she became more sad and said, " You know I am a widow."
Sanjay also felt sad after hearing this. He said, " Sorry, I did not know. But if you say so, I will pick up Shaurya and bring him here."
"How many times will you favor me?"
"It seems you don't trust me."
"Why are you embarrassing me?" Renu said, writing a letter to the day care and asking them to allow Sanjay to pick up Shaurya .
Before he left further Renu said “ After you pick up Shaurya please wait for me in the children park facing our office . I will call you as soon as I leave the office. By that time I would have your offer letter signed by my boss .I will also give you your offer letter."
After this, Renu informed the day care over the phone also.
Sanjay was in the park with Shaurya. He bought chocolate and ice cream for the child. When Renu reached the park, she saw Shaurya on the swing with Sanjay and then she remembered Vasu. He also used to swing on the swing with her son.
Renu took the offer letter from her bag , gave it to Sanjay and said, "And don’t I deserve a big treat on this occasion .."
Sanjay said, " Sure .Let's go to the park cafeteria now."
Renu picked up Shaurya in her lap and both of them went to the cafeteria. After some snacks and coffee, Renu said, " Come on, you will have dinner at my place today."
Shaurya felt as the happiest man to hear this. Renu reached home and started working in the kitchen. Shaurya was playing with Sanjay. During the conversation, Renu said that she would be shifting to a new flat next weekend.
Sanjay had joined his new job. He used to meet Renu often and sometimes even had lunch together. On Friday, Sanjay said, "Are you shifting to a new flat tomorrow?"
Renu said, "No, I have called the packers tomorrow for packing. I will move on Sunday."
"Okay, if you say so, I will come tomorrow morning too. I will try to help as much as I can."
On Saturday morning, when Sanjay reached Renu's house with chocolates and sweets, she said, "Don't bring sweets and chocolates every day."
"I don't bring it every day. This is the first time I've brought it after joining the job, so I bought it for Shaurya."
Then both of them drank coffee together. After this, both of them got all the stuff packed with the help of the packer. When they got free by afternoon, they had lunch together. Now there was hardly any work at home, so both of them started talking. During the conversation, Renu said to Sanjay, "You have not told me anything about yourself yet."
Sanjay laughed and said, "I had already given you my resume."
"I am talking about your family and personal life."
"I don't know myself, so what can I say?"
"Stop joking, I am asking seriously."
Sanjay smiled again and said, "I am not joking either. Ever since I came to my senses, I grew up in an orphanage. A kind businessman educated me till graduation at his own expense. Then he kept me in his small company for two years. Later, his son asked me to look for a job somewhere else. Yes, the orphanage people had told the businessman that I belong to a backward caste. I don't know anything more than this.While I have no one in this world I consider the whole world as my own."
Even after saying all this, there was no sadness on Sanjay's face, rather he was sitting and playing with Shaurya.
Renu held his hand and lifted him up and said, "Let's go out for a walk for a while, then I will prepare dinner."
Sanjay said, "No, you won't cook dinner today. Let's go to 'Chutney's' restaurant. I'll call and book it right now. It's very crowded there on weekends. Let's enjoy South Indian food today."
After a short stroll, they arrived at Chutney's in Renu's car. After a short wait, they found a table. Chutney's serves six special chutneys with dosas. By the time they returned home after dinner, it was 10 o'clock at night. Then Sanjay found his scooter’s rear wheel was punctured.
Renu said "Stay here. You must be very tired also . You can change the wheel in the morning."
Contd. ( in next concluding part 3 )
