Chapter 3: The Proposal
"Here, these are groceries for this week.", Santosh said as he handed out the bag to Heena. Heena took the bag and walked over to the kitchen.
Santosh went over and sat beside Shilpi at the dining table. He looked at her in hopes of initiating a conversation, but Shilpi looked drowned in the sea of thoughts, so Santosh decided against it.
Santosh started working at East Coast Constructions at the age of nineteen and in three years, he rose to the rank of Project Inspector. Seemapur was his first visit as a Project Inspector. Here he was responsible for examining and reporting the progress of the railway station that was being built nearby the newfound coal mine.
It had been three weeks since Santosh started staying with the duo. He went out early in the morning for work and came before the moonlit. He usually brought something with him on the way, on Saturdays it was groceries and on the other days, it could have been anything like the small dining table he brought the other day. Although he got it out of goodwill, Heena decided against it. She paid half of its price with the money she had saved last month and promised to pay the rest before he left.
Seemapur visit brought Santosh fortuitous happiness. He met two beautiful yet kind ladies who let her stay at their place even though they were strangers to him. He ate, slept and laughed with them. Shilpi occasionally talked to him about her and Heena's grind through life. She also told him about Heena's twelfth birthday and how the latter still carries the rag doll with her when she goes to sleep. Heena repudiated every time and ran to the Kitchen with her face red out of embarrassment as Santosh and Shilpi cracked up. He was having the time of his life.
"So, how is your work going on, any progress?", Heena asked as she served the food for everyone. "Oh! It, it…, it is almost completed. It would only take me a week or so to prepare the report. After that, I won't be causing more trouble to you.", Santosh explained with a hesitant tone followed by pseudo laughter. The mood went downhill in the dining room. Nobody's face looked happy after hearing that.
"Really! Good for you.", Heena tried to lift the mood a bit, "You will see your family after one whole month." It wasn't her fault, Santosh never told them, every time they asked about his family he brushed off the topic.
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he gulped the bite. "They died! They died in a car accident when I was twenty.", he couldn't speak any more as he sobbed. Shilpi embosomed Santosh as he broke down. Heena felt peccant for unintentionally plucking the wrong nerve at the wrong time. She sympathized with Santosh and tried to console him, but her guilt only grew.
Shilpi took Santosh to his room and laid down his bed for him. Heena too left for bed, leaving the dishes on the table. None of the three ate that night.
The next day, Santosh went to work early without saying a word to anyone. Heena too went out to work after completing her routine jobs. As always, Shilpi was left all alone at home.
Heena was twenty-two years old and in a few months, she would turn twenty-three. Shilpi was getting old and feeble day by day. Heena had come of age, still she didn't have any friends nor did she ever go on any dates. Girls her age were getting married. Shilpi feared that someday she might die and leave Heena all alone.
Shilpi thought about it for the whole night. Santosh had left a good impression on her. She thought of talking about it to Santosh, as he too did not have anyone to care for him. Also, Heena had become quite familiar with him, and they acted quite like good friends. So it might just turn out to be the best solution to Shilpi's problems.
Time passed and evening came, none of the two returned home. Shilpi was getting worried about them. A few more hours passed. The moon lit bright, Shilpi started having a panic attack. Suddenly, both of them showed up at the door simultaneously. Their faces were red out of embarrassment as they tried to hide it from each other. A bouquet of red roses rested in Heena's hands.
Although the situation was evident, due to her anxiety Shilpi didn't understand what went down. Heena ran off to her bedroom without uttering a word. "What happened and why are you two coming this late and that too together?", Shilpi asked out of frustration.
"I proposed to her.", Santosh replied in a faint voice. Shilpi was stunned. She never thought that Santosh could pull that off. She always thought of Santosh as a frail young boy whom even Heena could bully.
But Shilpi wasn't angry with what Santosh did. After all, Santosh made her job easier. "And what did she say?", Shilpi asked out of excitement. Santosh was about to answer her but Shilpi stopped him, "Wait, first let's sit on the couch.".
They both sat on the couch and then Shilpi calmed down her nerves and asked, "Now tell me what happened from the start?" Although he was nervous and shy at first, nevertheless he started narrating the whole events in their chronology.
Santosh liked Heena since the day he first met her. Heena's beauty was second to none, so that was a given, but what stole Santosh's heart was her attitude. Her straightforward attitude and imposing tone acted as the catalyst in turning what earlier was mere attraction into passionate love.
Santosh always wanted to confess his love to her, but couldn't bring himself to do it. But what happened last night made Santosh realize that if he does not make a move, he would be regretting the rest of his life.
Therefore, he went out early for work. He completed all his important tasks as quickly as possible and took off an hour before usual. He went out to the market and bought the most beautiful bouquet he could find at the flower shop. Then he went straight to the company where Heena was employed. By the time he reached there, Heena was walking out of the gate.
Santosh hid his bouquet in his bag and went to Heena, "Hello! Hi…, I mean-", Santosh was unable to muster his courage in front of the lot of people coming out of the gate along with Heena. "How dare you even think of me like that, If you don't get lost right away I will scream and then all these people will show you what hell is like.", was how Santosh predicted to be the case if the things went south, so he decided to propose her on the way home.
"Hey, I didn't know you were in the area. Anything special today?", Heena asked in a casual tone, but what Santosh heard in his mind was a menacing voice.
"No! No, I just got free early today, so I thought why don't we go home together.", Santosh replied in a tense voice.
"So Romantic! You are not having any naughty thoughts, are you?", Heena asked him with a menacing look and serious tone.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Devesh_Goyalji
Devesh_Goyalji Anecdotes:
1. East Coast Company is a symbolic representation of East India Company, which had HQ in Bengal which is in east of India.
2. British usually developed railways near natural resources for easy export to England through better connectivity with ports.
3. The name Santosh means Satisfaction and Basu is a upper caste surname in Bengal.
Thanks for reading.
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