Love Finds a Way !!!

Chapter 57

Dhruv didn't know what he would have done had Kanak not answered his call and accepted his invite to meet him. He stopped his car outside the entrance of the coffee house he had asked her to come at. And handed over the keys to the valet. He went inside and found her sitting in one of the booths. She stood up as she saw him walk up to her and smiled tentatively. He smiled too. She was the most reasonable person he had ever met. Probably the most sane too. And he wondered why Palak was nothing like her sister. She wore a beautiful sea green top and jeans. And her hair was left open. She was pretty in her own way. Of course he had eyes for only one person and it was his wife.

"Hey," he said with a smile as he stood next to her then hugged her. She was after all his sister-in-law. She seemed a bit taken aback but she soon got over it.

"Hi," she replied a bit shyly.

He gestured for her to sit and she did. Then sat down opposite to her.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet me here," he said charmingly, "you did save me a long drive to your home," he told her lightly.

Kanak smiled but didn't say anything.

"Did you order anything?" Dhruv asked.

"No," Kanak replied, "I walked in just five minutes before you did," she said casually.

"Good," Dhruv said and opened the menu card.

Kanak watched him go through the list. He was wearing a deep brown jacket and light brown trousers with a cream shirt and black tie. It was an expensive piece. She could see the cut, the design, the fabric. He was a good looking chap. He had called her just before lunch today and asked her if she could meet him for coffee. And she had agreed. He had sounded tense over the phone. He still looked tense. His shoulders stiff. His forehead had a slight frown too. She hoped all was well. She had met Palak yesterday. And today she was here to meet Dhruv. Clearly, there was a problem. Maybe Palak hadn't spoken to him about their conversation yesterday. Or maybe she had. She would know more once Dhruv would start talking.

"Cappuccino," Dhruv asked and she nodded her assent, "anything to eat?" he asked again.

"No thanks," she responded.

He turned and a server appeared. He ordered an Irish coffee for himself and a cappuccino for her. The second he left Dhruv returned his focus on Kanak.

"How have you been?" Dhruv asked politely.

"Good," Kanak answered.

"I heard the buzz about you being fired a few days back," he said casually.

Kanak didn't know how much he knew about that. Or if Aarav had spoken to him or he had casually heard about it at office? So she decided to play it safe.

"Guess, I am getting used to being fired now," she said lightly with a smile, "you need advice anytime, call me," she told him.

"How are you faring?" Dhruv asked with a smile.

"Have never been better," Kanak responded. It was true.

Dhruv laughed at that. And Kanak smiled too. She had become a bit less conscious of how she spoke these days. And she felt good about it. The witty replies were becoming easy.

"That was a good one," he said as he contained his laughter.

"How is marriage treating you?" Kanak asked keeping her tone light. She had an intuition he wanted to talk to her about Palak. They didn't have anything else that was common. And if Palak hadn't made an effort to call her these past weeks neither had he. So the sudden phone call and visit had to be related to Palak. And she didn't want to waste time over chitchat. She gave him an opening wondering if he would feel awkward about taking up the topic with her.