Only Mine
Chapter 10: The Bridge of Words

I am different.

Yes you are.

The lines kept playing in a loop in both Sameer and Naina’s head, each wondering what they had meant by this conversation. How was he different for her? Why did she accept that he was different? Did that mean it was okay for him to touch her in any way he wanted but no one else could? Did that mean that she had willingly given him that freedom? Or was it just because he had saved her from falling so often? Maybe she felt safe with him. But him… what about him? Why did he keep on touching her? The questions kept clouding their mind, and they failed to answer each one of them. There was just something… something they couldn’t put their finger on.

Just yesterday St. Peters had played the final match of the tournament, and Sameer had kept waiting for Naina to come and wish him luck. He was usually calm and composed, but luckily or unluckily his mother had arrived just that morning along with her husband, saying they had some work in Ahmedabad, and his stepfather had left no stone unturned in dousing his morale. Nanu had tried to intervene, but the damage was done. Sameer was angry, agitated, and nervous. He couldn’t even handle the pep-talk to his team before the match, thankfully his friends filled in for him, and the team thought he was just stressed about the match performance. This match was being held in St. Peter’s grounds, and he knew the whole of PVKM would be there to support them. But, even though he had seen many students from PVKM, Naina was yet to be seen. He had no idea why he was waiting for her even… It wasn’t like he had never played a match without her sweet curd, but still… Today was different, just like she was different.

The roar from the stadium made him cringe as he knew it was time to step out, he couldn’t delay any longer, looked like she wasn’t going to come. What was the surprise there? After all, he had learnt early in his life to not have expectations. Yet he had dared to hope. Just as he was about to put on his helmet, given he was the opening batsman, there were sounds of rushing footsteps and he looked up to see Naina running towards him. His eyes narrowed, she looked somewhat disheveled, but still he felt as if his heart missed some beats. She was here… finally. As she came closer he saw there were scratch marks on her hands and knees, and he was horrified. What had happened? She panted, stopping in-front of him, and he dumped his cricket gear on the nearby bench, grabbing her arms as gently as he could.

“Naina”, he scanned her face, and messy hair, “what happened?”

She shook her head, trying to dismiss his worry, “nothing much, I fell down from cycle.”

“What!?” He shrieked, turning to make her sit on the bench, and crouched in-front of her, “how? Did you hurry to reach here? Where are you hurt? Tell me…” He looked so tensed, “no wait… I will take you to a doctor. No, no… I will get the doctor to come here. You wait…”

Naina was amazed to see his worry. She placed a hand over his shoulder, “shh Sameer… Calm down. I am alright. I rode over a nail, and the front tyre was punctured, so I fell down. Please relax… You have to play a match.”

He was distracted as he tried to check her hands, and mumbled, “what match?”

“Sameer!” Naina shook him until he looked at her face, “The final match… Don’t get distracted now. You have to win.”

He knew what she was talking about, yet he could only mutter, “you are hurt.”

She smiled, “just a little bit, but I swear it’s not painful. Listen to me now… You go out, play and win. Then we can talk and you can ask as many questions as you want. For now, just hear that roar outside… They are waiting for the match to start. Your team is waiting for their captain. You have to win it today.”

He smoothed a bit of hair from her forehead, feeling the oil on his hands, “I was waiting for you.”

“I know”, she replied, and removed her bag from her shoulders, pulling out a box. He smiled a bit knowing what it was, and as she opened the box, taking a spoonful of curd to feed him, he finally felt at peace since morning. She used her handkerchief to wipe the traces of curd from his lips, and said, “good luck. Go win it Sameer.”

He grinned, standing up and pulled on his gear. Just before he stepped out of the room, he paused and turned, “today… only for you.”

Naturally, St. Peters won the match as they had put up an impressive score on board for chasing, and their bowlers also performed well. Sameer’s undefeated 102 won him the man of the match. He turned towards the place where all teachers were sitting, and saw Nanu along with his mother and Mr. Somani. He bit his lip thinking for a moment, but even though he would usually go to Nanu if he was present for his match, today there was someone else he needed to go to. Glancing once more at Nanu, he turned away and sped inside the school, briefly stopping at the sports room. After a brief search, he found Naina in the garden, sitting on a bench, and he went to her. Sitting beside her, he gave her the man of the match trophy, and she grinned up at him.

He asked softly, “did you see the match?”

She lifted the trophy to see his name shining in the sun, “do you even have to ask?”

He shook his head, “no… how are you feeling now?” His eyes roved over her, he saw that she had probably washed her face, and combed her hair. Her hands and legs also looked clean now, but that only increased the glaring redness of the scratches. Lifting his hand he touched her arm, tracing the scratches, “it must be hurting.”

“A little”, she accepted, “I was late in leaving from home as Taiji felt I hadn’t applied enough oil in my hair.”

His eyes narrowed, “how much more oil is needed? I can already cook a week’s dinner with the amount on your head.”

Incredibly enough she laughed instead of being offended. “I would love to see you cooking”, she mused, “it must be so strange seeing a man inside the kitchen, trying to cook.”

He hummed, not confessing that he didn’t find a man in kitchen to be strange, rather he also knew how to cook a few items. His gaze moved to her legs, and he crouched on the ground again, reaching to touch her leg. She pulled her legs aside, “what are you doing?”

He frowned, “trying to check where you are hurt.”

“It’s nothing”, she insisted, “just small scratches. I will apply something when I reach home.”

He frowned at her, and pulled out a tube of ointment from his pocket, “apply now. I need to see.”

She took the tube, a confused expression on her face, “where did you get this from?”

“Sports room”, he answered, “now apply.”

After hesitating for some time she uncapped the antiseptic ointment, and gently applied it on her hands. “Legs too”, he commanded. She threw him an irritated glare, but that didn’t affect him at all, rather he gestured to her legs with his eyes. Exhaling in frustration she slowly rolled the white socks down to her ankles, and tugged her frock up to her knee, and started applying ointment on the scratches starting from her knee to wherever she could see any scratch. However, she was completely oblivious to Sameer’s condition, as he was now staring at her legs with wide-eyed fascination, and his throat felt so dry that he had to swallow.

Oh damn. What is this?

Naina… It was Naina… Not what… who… The girl with oily pigtails and socks till knees. His gaze fluttered upwards, yes, she still had oily hair… But then he looked down again, the view of her bare legs up close as he was still crouched on the ground. No socks till knees… Wait, but… he had asked her to apply ointment… Naturally, she couldn’t do that over her socks. Was that a mole on her shin? Can someone have a mole on legs? One moment he wished she would slow down so he could see more, and the next moment he wished she would speed up so that she became the normal Naina he knew.

Naina finished the assigned task, and looked up to find him almost frozen to the ground. She frowned wondering what he was up to.

Wait a minute… Is he… staring at your legs?

No way… That’s not possible. Sameer Maheshwari must have seen more bare legs than she could count. Why, all his classmates or rather every girl in his school had their socks rolled to their ankles. She had never seen him ogle at them. So what was he doing now? She looked down at her own legs, and tried to see what was it that he found so worth staring. After a moment, it clicked… of course… her wounds. He was not ogling, he was just concerned.

She called out to him, but he didn’t listen, and so she snapped her fingers in-front of his face. That caught his attention, and he glanced up in her eyes quickly.

Was that guilt? Uh no Naina… You are just reading more in the situation.

Still she tried to ascertain, “happy now? Saw all the wounds?”

Wounds? What wounds?

Oh yes… Her wounds. He couldn’t help but glance down again, but hastily shifted his gaze up north, trying to keep it limited to her eyes… her deep, whisky colored, hypnotic eyes… And her smooth cheeks… And how could her lips be so pink? He had this fleeting thought that pink is so her color, even though he had never seen her in pink. But the pretty pink lips were frowning now… Why? Was she not happy? No wait… she had asked something. What was it? Oh yes, the wounds… her wounds… she wanted to know if he had seen it all.

Oh yes he had… and more…

“Aah… ye…yes, I a…am okay”, he stammered.

Her brows quirked, “why are you stammering? Cat got your tongue?”

Naina’s teasing tone helped him come out of the strange haze he had gone into since past few minutes, and he chuckled, sticking his tongue out cheekily, showing her exactly where it was. She laughed at his antics, and he listened to the cheerful lilting sound, totally forgetting the world around him and even the fact that he hadn’t met Nanu yet.

None of them noticed a pair of jealous eyes observing the happenings from afar. When Sameer reached home, Nanu never asked him anything about his disappearance, and he too didn’t pay much attention to it, because he had bigger matters to think of. What had he been up to, gawking like that at her legs? But man… she had so much more than she showed. It was like he had discovered something that had been a hidden secret for centuries. He never found the reason behind his behavior, so this time he attributed it to the term coined by Naina – weird chemical disturbance. Naina on the other hand was still sure Sameer was staring at her legs just out of concern. However, sometime during the night when Sameer slept, he saw a dream of a girl dressed in something red, but his focus was on her bare legs with a black beaded anklet.

Today was the day when both the schools were finally going to complete all the preparations for the fair. Everything was almost ready… The fair was scheduled for tomorrow, starting from evening 4pm to 10pm. The St. Peters students would go to PVKM during break time and the second half was going to be devoted to all fair related things. However, that morning Sameer was surprised to see Naina walk in along with her teacher into St. Peters, and he grinned at her. She smiled back, and he saw them go towards the principal’s cabin.

As Shanti teacher talked to the St. Peters principal about a couple of things, Naina waited outside hoping Sameer would come over. But instead of him, it was Tanvi who came and sat beside her. Naina frowned, wondering what was she doing here, but didn’t ask anything. After some time Tanvi asked, “so…? I see you are more in our school than yours.”

Naina shrugged, “I guess being in each other’s schools holds true for all the students selected in the panel.” She stressed on selected as she knew from Munna and Pandit that Tanvi was dropped out.

Tanvi’s face flushed for a moment, but she continued in a slightly furious tone, “do you think that coming to our school daily, or pretending to be smart, or trying to butter up his grandfather is going to get you in Sameer’s good books? Do you really think he would be interested in you?” She scoffed, “I mean… look at you… I just feel pity for your condition. Oily hair, no makeup, no idea about fashion or how to carry yourself, unwaxed legs… Yuck! Forget Sameer… I guess even Suresh, our class nerd, wouldn’t look twice at you.”

Naina listened to her words and ignored everything except unwaxed legs. It felt like someone flicked a switch in her brain and she now understood why Sameer had been staring so much at her legs yesterday. It wasn’t the bare legs or the wounds; it was because her legs were unwaxed. It wasn’t an interested look or even a concerned gaze, but probably he was horrified at how unkempt she was. To be honest it caused a twinge inside her… She had never cared before, but this time she felt like wanting to tell him that she knew about waxing even if she hadn’t ever done it. She wanted to explain about the simple upbringing at her home. Lost in her own thoughts she almost forgot the annoying girl sitting beside her, until she heard a derisive snort. Trying to compose herself, she looked up, and smiled, “how… thoughtful of you to list down those points. But you know what; I am not really bothered about how you or that nerdy Suresh, or even Sameer finds my looks to be. I am not coming here, or talking to Sameer or his Nanu to achieve something… As hard as you might find it to believe, sometimes people do things without expecting anything. Anyways, from what I have seen in these few weeks, I guess you should be worried about how to make Sameer even the least bit interested in you. I mean… look at you… you have everything that you say is lacking in me, yet Sameer prefers to talk to me while treats you as if you were a pesky mosquito whom he can’t wait to swat.”

Tanvi’s face distorted in anger, and she almost growled, “Sameer is mine.”

Naina couldn’t help but laugh at the delusional girl in-front of her. Calming down, she stated, “you wouldn’t have said that if you really knew Sameer… He can be possessed by someone only if he wishes to be possessed. And looks and fashion won’t get through to his heart, genuineness and care would. Try that, and maybe he would spare a look for you.”

Tanvi began to say something, but by that time Shanti teacher came out, “Naina… let’s go back. Thank you so much for helping me bring over those leaflets.”

“Not a problem madam”, Naina replied and stood up to leave.

Back in PVKM, Naina kept wondering about how she had literally let him see her unwaxed legs. She sighed, not understanding why was she even paying so much attention to it. She had never bothered before. She always knew that her features weren’t exactly what people would term as beautiful, she didn’t have the looks that would make people stop and stare, she knew about fashion and makeup but she also knew that her being in her family she wouldn’t able to experiment and learn, she knew about waxing and other parlor treatments that girls got done but also knew she wouldn’t be able to do that now. She always had her hopes pinned on college when she thought she would have more freedom. The chances of having that freedom seemed more likely now that Phulla Bua Dadi had talked about allowing her to study in Mumbai for her graduation. It had been a surprise for her, but Phulla Bua Dadi had said that she had the caliber to get good scholarship, then why not aim high. Naturally, Tauji, Taiji and her father had strictly opposed to that, but Chachaji was truly considering the options to see what would be best for her. She also thought about what would she like to do, stay here with her family, or move to Mumbai towards what could hopefully be a better future. Ahmedabad meant studying with Preeti and Swati, staying with her family, a degree from Ahmedabad’s best college, and an early marriage. Mumbai meant staying away from family and friends, a degree from one of the top colleges in India, and freedom to explore life before she settled down. The choice was difficult but she knew she would have to choose one soon, or rather it would be chosen for her.

Meanwhile, the students of St. Peters were almost ready to leave, and Sameer rushed for a quick trip to the bathroom. As he walked out, wiping his hands on his handkerchief, someone grabbed his arm. Obviously it was Tanvi.

He jerked his arm back out of her hold, “what the heck Tanvi… Can’t you just stay away?”

She smiled, “oh c’mon Sameer… There is no need to be so angry. I am not like those PVKM students who would stick like leech.”

He let out a sarcastic laugh wondering if she really had no idea who was the leech here. Tanvi ignored his laugh and continued, “but what is wrong with you? I don’t understand how can you take so much interest in that PVKM girl. Have you ever looked at her properly? She looks so boring, like an old school maid… hair dipped in a tin of oil, no idea about fashion and latest trends, frumpy and naive, unwaxed legs… I really thought you had better taste than that.”

It was as if a fuse shot inside his head and the wires connecting his brain to his tongue shot circuited. He replied in a sharp tone, “mind your tongue Tanvi. Her name is Naina… And who are you to point out flaws in her? Have you looked at yourself? Pardon me… but even thinking of comparing Naina with you is like an insult to her. What did you say again? Frumpy and naive? Well… I believe the terms are simple and innocent, something which you neither are and nor would you ever understand. As for my taste in girls, you might as well keep in mind that you don’t suit my palette now and never would. So stuff a sock in your mouth and never dare to speak a word against Naina in front of me.”

Having delivered what he needed to say, he just left from there without waiting to see if she had anything more to add. God… she was such a pest… always buzzing around, annoying the hell out of him. He almost felt like grabbing a can of insecticide and spray it on her, maybe that would stop her buzzing. How dare she try to insult Naina? Who was she to judge Naina? So what if her hair was oily or legs unwaxed… she was still far better than Tanvi, and definitely a lot more interesting than any girl he had ever met.

Wait a minute Sameer… Unwaxed legs?

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowed, as he tried to recall what he had seen. Were her legs unwaxed? How had he not noticed that? In fact he still couldn’t remember… All he could recall was long, slim, shapely legs with creamy smooth skin and that distracting mole on her shin. He chuckled… Tanvi was surely wrong… Naina didn’t have unwaxed legs. If she did, he would have noticed for sure. He cannot miss such a glaring thing. Yep… all was normal. Surely, Tanvi was just trying to instigate him, and anyways how would she know if Naina had unwaxed legs or not, she hadn’t seen them… but he had… oh yes, he had…

They reached PVKM, and found most of the students busy in eating. He found Naina with her tiffin box, sitting with Swati and rushed up to her. She was having aloo paratha, that too rolled up, just like he preferred. He glared at her, “don’t tell me you are eating without me!” She gave him a wide-eyed innocent look, followed by a sweet smile, and that was all it took for him to melt and forget his annoyance.

Pathetic Sameer…

He ignored the inner voice or whatever it was as he plonked down beside her, and grabbed her hand, taking a bite out of the aloo paratha. His eyes closed immediately, “mmm… it is so delicious. You cooked again?”

To his astonishment, she blushed a bit, “yes… I am learning.”

He wanted to tease her for the blush, but avoided it as there were many students nearby. However, it didn’t occur to him that Naina had brought more than one paratha this time, which meant she had brought for him too. And also, he didn’t put in the effort of eating with his own hands, rather kept biting from the roll in her hand. Even when she rolled the second paratha, and stopped eating after the first two bites, he didn’t take it himself; he just held her hand and kept eating. And surprisingly Naina let him do that without a single objection as she kept chatting with Swati. While eating, he let his eyes stray to her legs which were again covered in socks and her frock covered her knees. There was just an inch of bare skin to see, and he stared, trying to check if she had waxed or not, but that patch of skin was devoid of any hair, so he concluded she had waxed and Tanvi was just spouting nonsense as usual.

After break they moved to the activity hall, finalizing the decoration items that needed to be used tomorrow, the banners that needed to be put up, the boxes for collecting payments and any additional donations that might come their way. Pandit asked Naina something about the color coordination of ribbons, and she helped him. As Pandit moved away, Kamya came over to her and muttered, “he is cute, isn’t he?”

Naina sorted a few leaflets and distractedly asked, “who? Sameer?”

Kamya giggled, “no… I am talking about Pandit.”

Naina dropped the leaflets and looked up in surprise, “Pan…Pandit?? What… Are you alright? I thought you liked Sameer.”

Kamya sighed, picking up the leaflets, “no Naina… I mean I still find Sameer to be extremely handsome… But…”

“But…?” Naina enquired delicately.

Kamya kept the leaflets on table, “but… the only girl he ever looks at with interest is you. I don’t think he would look at me or at any other girl while you are there.”

Naina was shocked, “no… there’s nothing like that. I mean…”

“It’s okay Naina”, Kamya interrupted, “you might be way smarter than me but when it comes to boys I know much more than you.” She grinned and left from there, leaving Naina in a state of shock. Uncertain about what Kamya meant, she looked at Sameer. He was sitting on a table, his one leg on floor, while the other dangled loosely; busy talking with Mansi about something. Just by chance he glanced at Naina, and found her staring at him with a strange expression. He winked at her, and continued talking with Mansi.

Did he just wink at you?

Yes… So? It was normal… nothing unusual. But then what was Kamya talking about? For sure she was mistaken. Look at him now; he was so occupied in talking with Mansi… She saw Mansi hit him on the arm for something, and Sameer held her hand to deflect the hit.

Just like he had done to you.

Something churned inside her that made her feel uneasy and for some reason she felt like moving out from the hall, where she wouldn’t have to see Sameer with another girl. Trying to get a handle on her thoughts, she walked out, not quite understanding the emotions inside her.

Sameer frowned as he saw Naina leave the hall, and stood up intending to follow. Mansi asked, “going to Naina?”

He looked around, “uh… no.”

“Don’t lie”, she instructed, “these days all you look at is her. I know you since five years Sameer… I like Naina, she is perfect.”

Sameer wondered what Mansi was trying to say, but at that moment he didn’t pay much attention to her, as his mind was clouded with Naina’s worried face. “I am just going to the bathroom”, he muttered and left from there ignoring Mansi’s knowing giggles.

He found Naina near the water taps in the courtyard, and recalled the first proper conversation they had had. She was leaning on the cemented bank using her hands, moving to her he covered her hand with his, and felt her jerk. She looked at their hands for some time, he didn’t move, wondering what was disturbing her. Suddenly she tried to remove her hand, and he grabbed on tight, softly asking, “Naina… what’s wrong?”

She hesitated for a moment before looking up at him, the confusion still evident in her eyes. He waited patiently until she whispered, “Sameer…”

He lifted his other hand to cup her cheek, “yes, what is it? Tell me Naina.”

However before she could say something there was another voice which called his name, and they both looked towards the source, surprised to see Nanu.

Nanu watched the scene before him, their hands interlinked, Sameer’s one hand on Naina’s cheek, and hope bloomed inside him. It made him happy that they didn’t jump apart as if they were committing a crime. Even though Sameer stopped touching her face, their hands remained interlinked as they faced him. Nanu tried to control his smile. Naina suddenly glanced down at their hands and tugged to free herself, but her movement made Sameer look at her with irritation as if he didn’t like it. She looked flustered, “Sameer leave my hand… Nanu…”

His eyes widened as he realized that Nanu was seeing them, and he let her hand go. “I will be back”, he muttered and moved towards Nanu.

Naina saw them talking and calmed down a bit, it didn’t look as if Nanu was angry. She turned to go back to the activity hall, but as she reached the corridor, raised voices stopped her and after a brief internal debate she listened intently. They were talking about office, something about how Nanu’s friend was gushing about preparing Sameer to take over from Nanu after college. It was all confusing. But she heard Sameer almost yelling about how Nanu didn’t understand him, and his need to prove himself out in the world. Naina peeked from behind the pillar to see Sameer storm off leaving a dejected looking Nanu behind.

She thought if she should talk to Nanu, but before she could decide he turned and left. She couldn’t do anything, but his sad eyes didn’t leave her, and determined she went in search of Sameer. It didn’t take her long to find him; he was pacing like an impatient bull in one of the empty classrooms. She went inside, “Sameer… I need to talk to you.”

He glared at her, moving to leave, “I am not in a mood Naina.”

“Yes, that was evident from the way you talked to Nanu”, she quickly said, knowing it would stop him. And it did. He whirled to face her, “you eavesdropped!”

She replied, “there’s a difference between eavesdropping and overhearing… I overheard. And you were being rude to your Nanu.”
Sameer scoffed, “and you are what… a saint who has come to punish me for my deeds?”

She didn’t falter with his attitude, “saints don’t punish, they make you repent… but my point is… Why do you think family business is easy?”

His eyes narrowed, “I don’t want to listen”, and started heading back out of class.

She rushed to block his path, “I am not letting you go until you hear me out.”

Sameer glared at her, a muscle clenching in his jaw, and then flung his arms in frustration, “gahh… spit it out. I can never be rude to girls.”

She was amused, “really? That’s a first.”

He was irked, “What? Have I ever been rude to you?”

“You mean apart from the time you yelled at me for no reason?” She queried with a smile

He groaned, “are you ever going to forget that?”

“No, I will keep reminding you about it forever”, she grinned.

He immediately blurted, “we are not going to be together forever.”

Her heart thumped, but she ignored it, “good point… then I will remind you till the time you tell me the reason behind it.”

He smirked, “what if I never tell you that?”

She shrugged, “then I will keep reminding you till the time we see each other… And now hush up… Talk about what we are here for.”

“I don’t want to be here”, he countered, “you have stopped me, so you talk, I listen and we are done.”

She sighed and asked again, “why do you think joining family business is easy?”

He tried to avoid, “this really doesn’t concern you Naina… You are interfering.”

“I know I am”, she accepted with grace, “but I respect your Nanu a lot for what he has done for my school… And I didn’t like the way you talked to him.”

He sighed in defeat, finally sharing, “he wants me to join the family business as soon as I finish graduation… And I don’t want that.” Moving towards one of the desks, he slid in, sitting backwards with his legs on the desk behind.

She seemed to be thinking as she sat on the adjacent bench, and it was moment before she said, “your Nanu seems pretty sensible to me. He wouldn’t make you do something you don’t want or like… so why don’t you tell him that you are not interested in family business?”

“I never said I wasn’t”, he replied.

She queried, “so what is the problem here… You don’t like what your family business is? Or you want to do something else?”

He shook his head, “I know that someday I have to take it from Nanu, I have always known it… And I want to do it.”

She asked again, “do you like it? It’s textiles… isn’t it?”

He smiled a bit, “yes… I have heard from Nanu about the business, I read all the brochures every year; I have read every article that was ever published about it. I haven’t been to the office a lot, but I have liked whatever trips I have made… I even know our business, not everything, but somewhat… I have even tried to know the processes. But that all ground work… what I really like and I know I am going to do is what Nanu does… I love it… the thrill of cracking a new deal, the rush of getting new clients, the challenge of solving business problems, the satisfaction of a good quarter to year ending, the speech Nanu gives every year at the annual event… I have always dreamed that one day I would be on that stage and Nanu would beam with pride at me.”

She observed his expressions and realized that he was honest. “You do love it”, she murmured.

He looked at her, “I already told you that I did.”

She nodded, “yes, but seeing you speak about it helps.”

He frowned, “shouldn’t it be hearing me speak?”

“No”, she smiled, “I really meant seeing you speak. When you are doing something or talk about something you love your expressions are different.”

“As in…?”, he queried with interest.

She shook her head, “doesn’t matter… we are going off track again… so now my question is if you love it so much, then why are you delaying the time you can start working on it?”

“Because…”, he tried to explain, “I want to prove myself… that business is already set up, there’s nothing I can do to prove my worth.”

She couldn’t understand, “and why do you think so? Setting up a business is different, and maintaining it at its current position and making it grow is also a challenge.”

“But am I worth it?” He argued, “I want to earn that chair.”

She was perplexed, “I don’t understand… how can you think that you don’t have to work to prove yourself?”

He was exasperated, “you really don’t understand Naina… Nanu would just step aside and give me that position.”

She replied, “then talk to him about it… Saying that you don’t want to join the business is not a solution, talk to him about what you want to do… Form a plan… Ask him to let you begin at the ground level… Take a year or two, work as an employee and then take up the reigns.”

“But that won’t work… I would still be Sameer Maheshwari, the heir of the company”, he countered.

Naina sighed, “I think, just like your looks, you are giving much too importance to your lineage.”

His eyes narrowed, “what do you mean?”

“I mean that not every girl on this planet is going to like you just because of your face… and just like that not everyone is going to respect you just because you are related to the chairman.” She took a deep breath and continued, “respect is not something that is wrapped in a golden paper and gifted to you… You will have to work hard to earn it… Trust me on this; the people working in that company have so much more experience of real world as compared to you that you will be certified as a kid when you join, not as a boss or even boss’s relative. And… if you are still so hell bent on getting actual experience, then why don’t you work part time in college?”

He scowled, “part time?”

She nodded, “yes, there are so many ads these days about part time office assistants.”

“You mean clerk?” He looked shocked, “I am not going to spend my time shuffling about files from one desk to another.”

Naina frowned at him, “if you want to prove your worth nothing should be beneath you… Being an office assistant is not just about shuffling files, it will also teach you to stay calm and for once you will be under someone, following someone’s orders… that would make you stop throwing around that authority of yours.”

He was indignant, “hey… I am naturally like that… And when I will be the chairman I have to give orders… So… do you mean that to learn to give orders, I need to know how to take orders?”

She smiled, trying to explain in a soft tone, “no Sameer… But you need to understand the perspective of the person who is giving orders and also who is going to follow the orders… The way I see it, there are only two ways to grow in life… First, you grow along with others, which is what your Nanu did when he started to set up his company… Second, you grow by experience of growing up, which is what you need to do.” When he looked confused, she added, “its simple Sameer… to win a boating race, you don’t just need to know how to paddle, but you also need to learn how gauge the depth and flow of the river.”

He thought for a minute, and then said, “but… office assistant… it’s too easy.”

She held his gaze, “No… it is too difficult… and you know it.”

After a few minutes he let out his insecurity, his expressions vulnerable, “what if after doing all this I am still not worthy enough of that chair? What if I still don’t learn? What if it is so difficult that I can’t do it?”

Naina knew he needed assurance; she was treading on a delicate situation. But she also knew that just telling Sameer he could do it won’t work. She needed to make him understand, “it is difficult… but not that difficult… especially if you think of it as a challenge. And the Sameer I know cannot resist a challenge.”

He stared at her and chuckled, “somehow you always know how to get through me… don’t you?”

Knowing she had succeeded, she smugly said, “one of my many talents… so… what are you going to do?”

“I need to think Naina”, he said, “but for a start… I will talk to Nanu.”

She smiled and stood up to leave. His eyes followed her, and she paused at the door, turning to look back at him, “Sameer… while you are at it, try and say sorry.”

He took a deep breath and smiled, “yes madam… And thank you.”

While they spent the remaining afternoon busy in all preparations for the fair, somehow their heart kept thumping with the knowledge that today they had shared something extremely personal. She had interfered in his personal matter, and he had had let her see his vulnerability. While Naina felt happy that he considered their unnamed relationship worthy enough to share such details, Sameer couldn’t stop sneaking looks at her amazed at the way she had handled not just his concern but his insecurity as well. She hadn’t made fun of him, or ignored the matter saying of course he had business in his blood so he would succeed. Instead, she had tried to explain to him, address his anxieties and show him some path to reach his goal. He didn’t know if it was the right path or wrong, but at least there was something in front of him as compared to the hazy wall he was always faced it whenever he thought of his future goal. Their conversation today had formed a bridge of words connecting them forever.