“This is true for a lot of parents in the world but not for me. My father is a business man like you are Mr. Sehgal. I belong to a family of businessmen. Mere papa mere liye bhi yahi chahte the. But when I told him what I wanted to do, he supported me. Because I wanted that and I was happy about that. That’s how love is and should be. Jo log apne loved ones ki khushi mai khush nhi ho skte, they don’t actually love. They control in the pretext of love.”

(My father had also wanted this….The people who cannot be happy in their loved ones happiness, they don’t actually love.)

Her words hit deep. But Atharva carried years of pain and hurt. 

“Kehna aur krna do alag alag cheezein hoti hai.”

(Saying and doing are two different things.)

“Aap itna against kyu hai pyaar ke?”

(Why are you so against love?)

“Because it’s stupid and a waste of time!”

Priya paused. Looked at him. And smiled.

“I’ll see you eat your own words when you fall in love, Mr. Sehgal.”

Atharva chuckled in disbelief and declared.

“You’ll never see it happen, because I will never fall in love.”

He said stressing on ‘never’. Priya smiled and nodded.

“We’ll see. The universe has a unique way of making us eat our own words, Mr. Sehgal. Never say never.”

He dismissed her statement and chuckled. She raised her eyebrow as if saying that he would lose.

Another week passed by. Now that he was getting proper sleep and nutrition, Atharva felt a bit relaxed. The chest pain still came sometimes and freaked him out.

The next Sunday, Priya, like the last time, came into his office. He sighed seeing the grin on her face and knew she had something planned for the day too.

“What now?”

“Amusement park!”

She squealed happily, making Atharva look at her with a deadpan.

“Seriously? What are you? 5 years old?”

“Amusement parks are for adults also. And we’re going! Come on, Mr. Sehgal. No time to waste.”

She clapped her hands and motioned him to hurry up. He sighed and dusted his suit as he got up.

“Chaliye madam.”

(Come on madam.)

“Aise? Jaake kuch achha sa pehen kr aaiye.”

(Like this? Go and wear something nice.)

Atharva looked at his attire. He was wearing a formal business suit.

“Isme kya problem hai?”

(What is the problem in this?)

“Ye picnic appropriate nhi hai.”

(These are not picnic appropriate.)

“Picnic appropriate?”

Atharva repeated and stared at her in disbelief when she nodded.

“Go and wear something casual. And please don’t tell me aapke paas casuals nhi hai.”

(And please don’t tell me you don’t have casuals.)

Atharva opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it and closed it shut. He moved out of the office, towards his room and Priya smiled. 

Atharva came back dressed in a casual white T-shirt and black pants. He looked at her for approval and she showed him a thumbs up.

Atharva looked at the gigantic wheel in front of him and then at the grinning woman beside him.

“You’re supposed to reduce my chances of heart disease risk, not give me a heart attack.”

“Arre heart attack kyu aayega? Aapka height se darr lagta hai kya?”

(Why will you get heart attack? Are you scared of heights?)

“Nhi but…I’ve never sat on one before.”

He admitted in a small voice. Priya gasped.

“Kya? Kaise? Kyu? Kisliye? Phir toh aaj aapko baithna hi padega. Chalo! Let’s go!”

(What? How? Why? For what? Then you have to sit today. Come on! Let’s go!)

She dragged Atharva and they enjoyed the ride together. She even clicked pictures for his memories. Atharva was soon enjoying himself. He didn’t tell her that it was his first time coming to an amusement park.

It had been almost three weeks since he started his sessions with Priya but Atharva was sure that he was addicted. The peace and the relief that came with her felt immense.

It was a Sunday and Atharva was secretly waiting for Priya to come barging into his office to take him to another outing.

He didn’t have to wait for too long because the door to his office was opened with a force of energy. Atharva immediately looked into his screen, pretending as if he didn’t care.

“Good morning, Mr. Sehgal!”

“Aaj kaha time waste krogi mera?”

(Where will you waste my time today?)

“Sure! Let’s pretend you don’t actually enjoy those outings.”

Priya nodded with a smirk and Atharva avoided eye contact as the tips of his ears turned pink.

“Please! Whatever it is, let’s just get done with it so that I can get back to my work.”

Priya rolled her eyes but slowly suggested.

“Mai soch rhi thi…aaj aapke family ke saath time spend krte hai. Spending time with family is one of the most important parts of relaxing sometimes.”

(I was thinking…let’s spend time with your family today.)

Priya noticed the immediate change in his demeanour.

“No!”

“But Mr. Sehgal-”

“I said no.”

“I was just-”

She started to apologize but he cut her off again.

“Stop interfering in my personal life. Ms. Ahuja. Aapko yaha aapki services ke liye bulaya hai. Do your work! You don’t know anything about my relationship with my family and so it would be better that you stay out of it.”

(You are called here for your services.)

His words hit hard but she nodded. She knew she shouldn’t have overstepped but he could have been a little polite. It wasn’t like she was forcing him or anything.

“Got it, Mr. Sehgal. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have overstepped.”

Atharva nodded and focused back on the screen. His mood was ruined and he wasn’t able to concentrate.

“Umm…aaj ke liye jo plan kia hai…chale?”

(Umm…what I’ve planned for today…let’s go?)

“Not interested.”

His tone was clipped and harsh. Priya sighed and closed her eyes.

“Mr. Sehgal. I’m doing my job now. Please let me.”

He stared at his screen for one complete minute before getting up.

“Quick! I have to come back and complete my work.”

Priya nodded and started asking him to change but he was quick.

“I’m not changing. Chalna hai toh aise chalo.”

(We’ll go like this.)

Priya nodded and didn’t argue. She had realised that his family and parents were a sore topic.

When Priya gave the address to the driver, Atharva looked at her in disbelief.

“Pehle amusement park, ab district park. Hum bache hai kya?”

(First amusement park, now district park. Are we kids?)

“Thoda stress kam krne ke liye kuch time ke liye bache ban skte hai. Ek wahi toh umar hoti hai, jab kisi cheez ki tension nhi hoti.”

(We can be kids for some time to relieve stress. That is the only age, when there is no tension.)

Priya smiled and explained while Atharva just looked at her. He realised that he was too harsh earlier.

“I…ummm…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.”

“It’s ok, Mr. Sehgal. I understand. In fact, galti meri hai. I shouldn’t have overstepped.”

(In fact, I was at fault.)

She said sincerely and Atharva looked at her for a moment, trying to decipher what she was and nodded.