A matter of luck

“Bhai sahib, woh toh bolna ka daam hai... Dena ka bolo na” I argued...
“Kya madam... Apun ko to siraf dus rupya milta hai upar ka... Woh bhee aap chheen loge, toh apun khayega kya?” he argued...
“Main dedh sau ke upar ek rupya nahi doongi...” I shoved Angela’s hand off my shoulder... “Wait na... I’ll get if for less than 200... Just be patient” I whispered to her...
“Theek hain madam... Na aapka, naa mera... Ek sau assi mein final kar do...”
“Nahi nahi... 160 mein fix kar do... Chalo done done...” I shoved some folded notes into his hand... And I snatched the bag out of his hand... “Thank you, bhaiya... Dekhna... Main apne saare friends ko boolongi aapke dukaan pe aane ko...”
Angela giggled... “So who are all these ‘saare friends’ you told the poor guy about??”, she teased...
“Yaar you know me na...” I replied... “I can’t resist it when I see a good pair of slippers...”
“Yeah yeah!! I know...” she smiled...
“Alrite...” I said and jumped across the divider along with her...
“Alritee then... Shall we make a move??” Angy asked... “Sure...” I replied... “Do you want me to drop you anywhere??” I asked...
“Nopes... Am fine... It will be out of the way for you...” she replied...
“Cool... See ya at the shack then... 11:00 pm sharp... Don’t be late...” I yelled, as I crossed the road to get to where I had parked my car...
“Taxi...” I heard her yell, as I turned around to hunt for my car... All the little lanes in Colaba looked the same... I could never seem to remember where I had parked my car...
I found my darling car at last... There it stood, in all its glory, parked next to the silver Ikon...
I walked over to my car... Many women would have shuddered at the thought of driving a car of this size... But not me... I was a confident driver... Moreover, I would never drive after drinking... I stepped into my Honda CRV... I had been driving this set of wheels for the last 3 months now...
I pulled into the parking lot of Oceanic View Apartments, Cuffe Parade...
I entered the elevator... “Good afternoon, Mrs. Arora...” I smiled and greeted her...
“Good afternoon, Jo... Went out shopping, eh??” she asked, gesturing at the bags I was carrying in my hand...
“Yes... Girlie time out... I met up with a college friend; and we hit Colaba Causeway... Oh this is me...” I said, stepping out of the elevator... “Want to join me for a cup of coffee?”
“Ummm... I guess I could... Bittu is at school and Sanjay isn’t at home...” she said, as she stepped out of the elevator with me... “Let me help you” she offered, as she took some of the bags from my hand... I juggled with the keys and managed to get the door open...
“Home sweet home...” I proclaimed as I entered the house... “Please make yourself comfortable...”
I entered the kitchen and opened the fridge to fetch the milk...
“By the way Mrs. Arora, I have some exquisite red wine on me... Would you prefer that to the coffee?” I asked out loud...
“Sounds better...” she replied...
I brought out the glasses... As I poured out the wine, Mrs.Arora asked “So how’s the magazine doing???”
“Oh it’s doing great... We seem to have outdone most of the established names in the same category... And we’re just 4 months old... Let’s see how we do in the next coming months... ” I said while I offered her the glass...
“Lovely set of wine glasses you have there... I love your taste, Jo...” she said... “So what’s it like to own a magazine???”
“It’s a wonderful experience for someone like me; who never thought it would be possible to run something of my own...” I replied...
“To a new friendship” she toasted, as she raised her glass... “To a new friendship” I echoed...
“Let me see what it is that you shopped for today?” she asked...
I brought out the bags... We started skimming through the myriad of items I had picked up...
A multi-coloured dhoti...
A purple tank top to go with it...
A brown and black pashmina shawl...
A rustic looking hand held mirror...
A pair of purple slippers...
Pair of pink-silver slip-ons...
Couple of short asymmetrical geometrical patterned skirts...
Pair of wooden paduka-style slippers...
“Oh, these are fab, Jo... How much did you get them for?” she was almost squealing with excitement, as she held up the wooden pair of slippers...
“Guess...” I teased her on...
“I don’t know... Tell me...” she sounded impatient...
“A mere 150 Indian Rupees...” I said with pride...
“Dammit... How do you know so much about these tiny little places?? I can’t bargain to save my life...” she chuckled... “I should come shopping with you next time... What say, Jo??”
“You’re more than welcome...” I replied...


Dressed in a pair of pink and green shorts, with a tee that read ‘My friend went to London, and all I got was this Stupid Tee Shirt’; I sat down on the swing in the balcony... I was enjoying the summer breeze that was blowing... ‘The joys of being on the 23rd floor of the building’, I thought to myself...
Strange, how things change overnight...
Not even in my wildest dreams had I thought of staying a house in this part of the city... And now, not only did I stay here, but I owned a 4 BHK... That translated into 5.5 crores worth of property in Indian currency... Phew!!!
And guess what!!! I also had enough money left to comfortably buy 3 more apartments like this one...
The door bell rang, disrupting my thoughts...
“Hey honey...” I kissed him lightly on the cheeks as he walked into the house...
I took his jacket for him... I hung the jacket up on the stand and turned to face him...
“I need to take a shower... You wanna join me?” he teased...
“Shameless fool... Freshen up... In the meanwhile I’ll whip up something for you to eat...” I said, as I gave him a playful push towards the bedroom...
“Joooooooo... Gimme my towel please...” he yelled from the bathroom...
After living under the same roof with Sam for the last 5 months, I was sure that all men in the world were incapable of functioning smoothly without a woman around... If the world was a place without women, you would have had one set of very filthy unkempt men, happily scratching their crotches with one hand, holding beer with the other; and belching as they argued over the recent cricket/soccer match...
But that’s not to say we women are any different... If there were no men in the world, we would have really happy, content, overweight women with bars of chocolates in both hands... Grinning away to glory...
I chuckled at the thought...
“Coming...” I yelled, as I went to hunt for a fresh new towel... I had given the house-help an off today... I had a holiday from work... And Sam was also going to be home soon... I wanted some time alone with him... “Here...” I said, as I placed the towel on his outstretched hand; he bent over and gave me one of those ridiculously cute smiles of his... That was one of the primary reasons why I had fallen in love with this man...
Sam and I went to the same college for five years... During our junior college years, I had seen Sam, but he had never even noticed me...
Sam was really popular in college... I was just another noob, getting used to the Mumbai style of life... I had come down from Hyderabad... And was still not accustomed to the way of life here... But one thing that I was darn sure about was dancing...
That’s how we first met...
Sam and I were paired together for an inter-collegiate dance competition... He wasn’t sure if he was okay with being paired with a ‘nobody’... But I guess all that changed when he saw me...
It wasn’t long before the entire college knew of our little blossoming love story... Samarth Veersingh Rathore and Joanna Daniel Machado had become ‘Jo n Sam’... People could hardly take one name without the other...
After graduation, I went on to work with a leading lifestyle magazine... I always wanted to write... And this job let me do exactly that...
Sam, however, went off to training school... He wanted to join the merchant navy; just like his dad...
When he left for training school, Angy and others told me that it wouldn’t be long before we both moved on to greener pastures... But somehow, that didn’t happen...
We continued into a committed long-distance relationship... Even after he left to go on board, we were still as much in love as we had been 4 years back...
But after a sheer matter of luck, things had changed overnight for us... It had been 7 months since the incident...
TO BE CONTINUED>>>>>