04

Chapter 3

Arjun was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that he had reached his office . He parked his car smoothly and got out of it . As he stepped out , he was welcomed with the gust of cold wind and earthy smell .

He began walking towards his office building , as he entered , the tiled floor was clean , the smell of paper and wood lingered in the air , the faint murmur of colleagues was echoed from the corners . Some were gossiping, some were discussing and some were laughing.

Arjun quietly walked toward his table and sat down on the chair and he was greeted with the usual site of pending files and paper scattered over his table. A long sigh escaped his lips.

A few moments later a pune came with a warm cup of tea , placed it on the table gently and greeted Arjun " Good morning sir " and Arjun returned the gesture back.

As he was busy reading the files , from the side table he heard Mr. Gupta's voice " how is life going Arjun?" . Arjun looked up from the file he was reading and replied with a small smile " It's good."

Mr. Gupta was Arjun's senior, a good man in his early fifties. Always good to Arjun and everyone around.

" You look tired ." Mr. Gupta further added seeing dark circles under his eyes , slightly bent posture and tight skin.

"  Just work nothing else " Arjun said politely . Mr. Gupta didn't speak further just nodded ,a knowing  glint  in his eyes. After a long pause he said again while adjusting his spectacles  "you have settled quite well here ."

Arjun just said yes with gratitude, letting the silence fill space.

After that both of them said nothing and got busy in their work as at ten am they have to leave for a nearby village named Govindgarh for health and sanitation inspection.

The whole staff was busy with the preparation like, keeping necessary equipments and tools , files and documents, reports , sample kits , recorders and many other things.

After they were done with the preparation , the whole team kept their luggage in the trunk of the car and left for the village.

In the car , Arjun was sitting in the passenger seat and his colleagues were sitting in the back seat . They all were chatting and laughing on something. But Arjun was quiet , only speaking when necessary or asked something.

He was not being rude , not over sharing just being there .

He was doing nothing in particular but just staring out of the window, admiring the calm mountains and green trees.

He was not a talkative person , never was , rather he likes to keep his feelings to himself. 

He was just admiring the view,Nature always fascinated him , it gave time to process his thoughts , providing mental clarity and escape from everything.

Arjun closed his eyes , his heart was content and mind was clear.

Nearly after two hours they reached the village Govindgarh. The village was beautiful with it's green trees , cloudy weather and waterfalls.

The car stopped at the tea corner, Arjun and his colleagues stepped out of the car to relax for some time before starting their work.

Arjun was sitting on the bench sipping his tea while the others were busy clicking pictures and some were discussing work.

Arjun was just gazing here and there , watching kids playing , old men sitting below the tree talking and women doing domestic chores.

After finishing their tea all got up to leave and Arjun went to pay the bill .After paying the bill just as he turned to leave he collided with someone.

He stepped back and looked down to see a girl , barely reaching his shoulder, wincing while clutching her forehead .

Arjun stepped back a little and apologised to her causing her hands to fall down making her big kohl lined eyes visible.

She apologized to Arjun too , nodded her head once and then left , fluttering her dupatta behind.

After that Arjun went towards his car but his head turned once again in her direction watching her disappear in the house behind the tea shop.

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Arjun and his team were busy with their work , their work involved  people hygiene ,sanitization practices , safe use of chemicals in the crops , pest control and ensuring overall facilities and cleanliness of the area .

They were spreading awareness among people about some diseases and its prevention and cure.

The work drained them all , in the evening after their hectic day , they returned to their guest house which had been arranged for them .

Arjun came to his room after the long day , switched on the light and sat on the bed while drinking water . After that he went inside the bathroom to take a shower.

After some time he came out of the bathroom and wore his night clothes and went downstairs to have dinner.

The dinner was a simple meal of dal , roti , rice and curry . He ate with his team while chatting and discussing work.

After dinner he came back to his room and video called his mother to check on Aarav. He had never been away from Aarav for this long. He was missing Aarav and his soft coos.

His mother picked up the call and smiled seeing him and asked him if he had dinner or not.

After that she turned the camera towards Aarav who was laying on the bed , kicking his chubby legs and arm in the air while sucking on this thumb softly.

As soon as he saw Arjun , the baby squealed in delight and Arjun's heart melted . The baby was more attached to him than anyone else in the family and same goes for Arjun.

The baby's wide eyes twinkled and he  started cooing softly as if telling Arjun that he missed him. And Arjun smiled not the fake one he wore in front of the world but a truer and warm one.

After talking for some more time he  ended the call and went towards balcony to get some fresh air .

This was life and he didn't needed anything more , he was content.He thought.

After some time he came back to the room and slept .

But he didn't know that a long day was waiting ahead .

With something he thought wasn't needed.

______

Thank you

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