Some Short Tales

The Brick of Love

WHACK

"Damn" - exclaimed Aditya, aloud, agitated and extremely annoyed with the present predicament. He got down from his Honda City, to have a look at the damage that had been done. The red metallic paint of the bonnet had been scrapped off, at least a one fourth part of it, as Aditya speculated.

"And, there's this dent to add to the already ruined color", groaned Aditya. He was not known to have a good temper, if anything. His parents often wondered how this temper of his never interfered with his profession. Aditya was a doctor - a renowned pediatrician at that, with all cranky little kids surrounding him most of the times. But then, Aditya and Dr. Aditya were almost like two different people. Dr. Aditya had the reputation of being the most favourite of all the kids who visited him - after all, which little kid would not like a chocolate each time he or she would visit the doctor.

Presently, Aditya was exasperated and was hoping to find some answers. He saw the culprit, a tiny chunk of brick, lying near the tyre.

'You little devil', he thought, perplexed by the fact that such a small piece of brick should cause this extent of damage.

"Oh goodness", he heard an almost dramatic, yet, sincere shriek, making him crawl out of his chain of thoughts. There stood in front of him in her full glory, his neighbour Ms. Joshi, just like how he knew her. She looked as if she had been desperately trying to catch her breath.

'Makes sense, considering the fact that she might have come racing the stairs from the seventh floor. Stupid woman! Should have used the lift. Anyway, why is she looking guiltily at my car', Aditya had once again drowned in his stream of thoughts which had now assumed the form of some perceptions.

His chain of thoughts was broken by Sameera's now shaken voice, which usually was very firm and confident. That was absolutely essential considering her profession. She was the head of the Marketing Department in a reputed MNC. Her persona oozed similar confidence. And yet, here she stood guiltily, as she had already grasped the gravity of the situation.

"I sincerely apologize Dr. Batra. There's some ongoing renovation work in my kitchen. I had instructed the workers to be careful, but, it seems that my advice had been overlooked upon. This should not have happened with your car, I mean this bonnet is scrapped off and oh goodness, not just with your car, anyone else's car as a matter of fact, or with anyone else. Oh dear, what if it had been a person", she continued to ramble, her eyes widening at the intensity of the last words that had passed her mouth.

"I am sorry Dr. Batra", she continued, "I promise I will look into this, and please let me look into the damage that has been done, I will take your car to the garage where I regularly go, and this will be all sorted out. Yes, I also have an amicable acquaintance with the owner, so, I see no doubt in this car being returned to its previous glory."

All the while she had been rambling nervously and breathlessly, Aditya continued to watch her with an amused expression on his face.

'What has gotten into this confident woman. She is exclaiming as though I have caught her in the midst of a crime', he wondered, the corners of his mouth twitching up to form the slightest smile. Aditya had never been the one to laugh heartily, frequently.

'I need to stop her', he thought glancing over yet again at Sameera's blabbering self.

"Ms. Joshi, it is alright", he said softly, but, to no avail. Sameera kept on explaining what all the garage owner could do to restore the bonnet. Aditya had already fallen out of the comprehensible phase of her words.

"Ms. Joshi, I said, it is alright", he said softly, yet, this time, in a higher tone and more firmly. This seemed to work, as, Sameera eventually stopped speaking and looked at him.