Saving money
Nina started to see different clothes. She was choosing them carefully. She began to sense that she needed to think carefully. She had to understand what those person's like. She knew that it was not easy for her. She had to do it since her Boss told her. She was working for company and they had to purchase Diwali gifts until now they used to give show pieces but this time her Boss started new boutique. His wife was running it so she suggested that she could design clothes for staff as holiday gifts. For special staff she would design special clothes for normal staff they would select one design. But it was still not decided what would be perfect a Punjabi dress material or a saree. She was so confused. She didn't want to be involved in this mess. But she clearly didn't have much option. Her Boss insisted. Her Boss was always nice and helpful man. He never bullied her. He always managed to do things in friendly way. He handled entire office in nice way. When Nina was new comer, she did many mistakes. But her Boss always helped her. She couldn't say no to him. His wife was personally taking this responsibility. She was designing all so it seemed wrong if Nina rejected that small help which she asked. Nina decided to do it. But now after entering in boutique she began to regret her decision. It didn't seem right. She didn't understand which cloth would be perfect for which person. Soon she began to image her colleagues with those dresses. She started to choose as per her imagination. She began to remember. There was Mrs. Sharma who always boosted about culture. She decided that saree would be great for her. She wanted to give everyone something they like. Slowly she began to feel confident and started choosing. It was so easy. Then she started instructing her Boss's wife. She began to feel so happy. Soon she started to feel that everything would be fine. She began to show everything. She was so confident. She felt that everyone would be proud of her. She had done such a great job. She worked on that day. She was totally sure about herself. After doing all finally her Boss's wife Ritika smiled and said " You done so much for me so it's time that I must do something for you. So I will do a dress for you. And it will be surprise." She smiled. Nina was confused. Her last Boss was not like that. Her Boss was harsh. He always kept taunting. But her present Boss was so nice. Then her mobile rang. It was her mother-in-law. She saw time. Her son Pankaj must be screaming for her. She was late on that day. " Madam can I go?" Ritika looked at her watch and said " My God we are so late. You can go home. In fact you need to hurry up." Nina smiled. She went out and took call. " Mom don't worry I am coming." Her Mother-in-law was clearly sounded upset on phone. " You are too late." " I know Mom it's my mistake. I forgot to tell you that I need to do some extra work." " Okay..okay. Come soon." " Yes Mom." Then her traveling started. It went ahead in usual speed. She knew that nothing was going to make it fast. It was so frustrating. Her son was waiting for her and she was stuck in traffic. She called her mother-in-law. " Give phone to Pankaj." Her mother-in-law did it immediately. She could clearly hear Pankaj's voice. She began to talk with him. He started to tell her that she must come soon. Sometimes she wished only if she could stay with him. But she couldn't. They had to clear their housing loan even after it they needed money. It was not easy to complete demands. " Don't worry Baby I am coming." She kept talking but then in that crowd she couldn't use it for long time. Other people in bus started complaining. She needed to travel by bus. Sometimes she get seat but many times she didn't. Today she was not that lucky. Finally she reached home. Pankaj ran in her arms. She hugged him. Her mother-in-law " You worked so hard today I hope you get bonus for it." Nina didn't say anything. She knew offer of new dress was useless in her mother-in-law's eyes. She felt that Nina should wear just two dresses. Nina didn't feel that way. She wanted to get dressed just like her friends. She wanted to enjoy her life. But after looking at Pankaj's face she felt that it was selfish. Her son must became her priority. She began to feel so guilty for desiring that dress. She began to think that she might needed to inquire about bonus. She was not as settled as others who were discussing about dresses. Nina " I don't know proper amount. I will ask tomorrow." " You have to ask tomorrow. Don't waste your time. You must keep asking for amount while doing work." Nina nodded. Then her Mother-in-law took Pankaj in her arms and told her " Go and wash your hands and legs then you have to cook. With Pankaj I can't cook." She nodded and went in bathroom. She was so irritated. She had to start her work immediately. Her mother-in-law never help her with it. She made it clear that even doing working in office she had to cook lunch and dinner. Her mother-in-law just took job of taking care of Pankaj. Nina was reminded again and again that she must be grateful for it and she was. So she started cooking in kitchen after cleaning hands and feet.
Nina started cooking dinner. But before it she took out that instant food which she stored for her. She knew that she needed energy after coming from office. She also knew her mother-in-law didn't want to help in cooking so she was not going to come in kitchen so it was perfect time for her snacks so she opened packet of cookies and began to eat them in hurry since she was hungry. She knew no one care for her. They just wanted their food to be cooked. She was not slim but that didn't mean she didn't need to eat. She also needed to eat otherwise she began to feel uneasy in her head. She needed to feel okay to take care of her son and go back to office next day. She took out pack of chocolate cookies and started eating it. She just loved chocolate. She knew that she must eat in limit. But when that chocolate favour reached to her lips she started to enjoy it, she began to sense heaven was under her feet. She felt so relaxed. She knew that she had to eat those cookies. Then after eating two she felt relaxed. She started cooking dinner. She began to do it in best way. Her husband Tushar would come home soon. She needed to prepare snacks and tea for him too. Tushar didn't insist on it. But she was feeling hungry too so she decided little bit of home made snacks would be great. She always felt that it was strange when she was cooking Pankaj always remained quiet. She never understood how did her mother-in-law managed it. But when she started cooking until she didn't finish it, Pankaj remained quiet. She was curious but she never went out to solve mystery since she knew that as soon as she went outside and if Pankaj saw her whatever was charming him would surely lost charm. She kept cooking that smell was so tempting. She didn't want to cook something like diet food. She knew that it was important but she needed to relax too. She knew that she had maintain her weight. She looked in plate. She could see her reflection. She was little bit fat. She looked at herself. She was always little healthy but she was never this fat. She needed to do diet. But then she suddenly saw potatos in basket. She began to think about potato chips. They were so tempting. She began to decide what should be better fried plain and masala chips. Then she started to cook them and then suddenly Pankaj entered. Pankaj " Mom I want it." She was so happy. Her son was laughed. She fall in love with his innocent smile again. She couldn't say no to her son when he wanted to eat something. She slowly started cooking chips. Then she started to cook and keep them on plate. She needed to cool it before giving it to her son. She started cooling it. Then she kept it on plate. Pankaj started eating it immediately. She felt that she took good decision. She smiled and started cooking more chips. Her entire household was happy about chips and they felt that she should cook them. Her mother-in-law " You did nice idea. Your every day snacks according to diet didn't taste nice. Pankaj didn't even eat them." Tushar " But Mom they are healthy. We can't eat fried chips every day." " Then may be we should bring microwave?" " Now don't waste money like that. I take care of Pankaj and let you go to office not for microwave. I want secure future for Pankaj so we must repay loan." Nina was upset but she knew her mother-in-law was telling true before repaying loan they should not waste money. Nina " I feel little oil didn't harm us that much." Her mother-in-law " True and wastage of money can do lot more harm." She nodded. But Tushar was not convinced. Tushar " I don't like this. This type of food was not even healthy for Pankaj. He needed to become healthy not just fat." " Come on you have eaten lots of stuff like this in childhood." " Yes but I was not coach potato like him. I used play around. I use to climb on trees. And use to eat fruits from those trees. It was so nice." He began to enjoy telling it managed to many potato chips while talking. In fact he lost count of them. Nina & her mother-in-law started laughing. Pankaj started screaming " Dad I want to climb on tree too!! Teach me." Nina started laughing loudly. Nina " And from where you get that tree? We have few coconut trees and your Dad can't climb on them." " But there is another tree in corner!!" " That tree near street? Are you out of mind?!! This way all people will see me climbing on tree like monkey. Few will call Police remaining will call your Mom and gave her number of psychiatrist to lock me in mental hospital." Every one started laughing except Pankaj who started crying loudly. Then Nina controlled herself and said " Come on honey you need to understand." " Fine I will plant seed and then water it when it will grow I will climb on it." Every one wanted to laugh but Nina pointed looked at them so they controlled. Then Tushar nodded and said " I will teach you all on Sunday." Pankaj jumped with joy and asked " What? How to climb on tree?" " No how to grow a tree." Now no one able to control smile and they all started laughing.
Nina was happy with family. They had attitude to adjust with all. She knew that her mother-in-law never show willingness to cooking. But she generally didn't even criticize her cooking. She just hated wasting money. Nina didn't blame her mother-in-law for this thinking. They needed to save money. She knew that paying loan was important. She did all her house work while Tushar was taking care of Pankaj. Her mother-in-law was watching TV now. She started to do all. She kept maid but not cook so she had to go office after cooking lunch. She knew that her every day was getting more and more exhausting than last day. But she knew that she didn't have option. When she completed her work and came back to her room every one was sleeping peacefully. Nina felt so sad. Now a days she hardly get time to chat with Tushar. It was so frustrating. When she came to bedroom, every one was asleep. She went to sleep too. Her entire day was full of work without fun. She was feeling so upset. Then she suddenly remembered taste of chocolate which Tushar bought for her. She kept them hidden. They were costly so she kept them away from her mother-in-law. She knew that her mother-in-law would create drama. She decided that she might just eat one. She slowly went in her kitchen. She knew that it was wrong still she ate one chocolate. She went back with it's taste on mouth. She didn't sense when she fall asleep. When she was woke up, she was fresh once again. She knew that she was taking risk on her teeth so she decided that after this she would not eat chocolate at night. She would eat during day. She could brush her teeth every time after eating. She did all and then she went in office. Today she sensed that something was abnormal in office. As soon as she entered a hush fell on every thing, as if they were discussing her. She was so upset. She always hated when people started talking with behind her back. She wanted them to say it straight. But when she came they all just looked at her then they started pretending she was not existed for them. She felt so scared. Then she started working on computer. She was so upset. She began to feel fear in heart. She didn't want to talk with anyone. She wanted to use headphones of mobile but she knew that Boss didn't like it. She started concentrating on her work but then slowly they started coming towards table one by one. She hated it but she had to smile. She felt as if group of people coming to attack her. Then Sadhana spoke " So?!! Yesterday you went to help Madam?" She nodded shyly. " So you choose dresses for everybody?" She nodded. Other colleague " But how did you guess?" She felt so confused. " She didn't even chat much. How could she guess what we want? Impossible?!! Madam choose wrong person" " And now we get wrong gifts!!" She felt so sad. " I tried my best." " But you should have told nicely that you don't know our choices!! Now we get those gifts which we don't like." She began to feel so guilty. " But I can't say no to Boss!!" " And what about your gift who decided it?" " Madam kept it as surprise." " Wow so you are getting surprise gift for lying." She was so upset. " I don't lie!" " You don't know about our choices still you guessed then don't you feel it is lying?" She began to feel so upset. Tears started to appear in her eyes. " Are you crying?" "No..no!!" " I hope not. Don't start that drama now." She was so scared. She was not intended to cry but tear was coming out of her eyes. It was shocking for her. She just stood up and ran to rest room. Then she started to shiver. She didn't want to over react. But she was over reacting. She knew that they were going to call her drama queen. She looked at her face in mirror. She was clearly looking like woman on verge of nervous break down. She saw her eyes were full of tears. She could clearly see dark circles under them. She started to smile. But it was not genuine. She knew that it was fake. She took deep breath. Then she tried to smile but nothing seemed to be working. She was so upset. She started to feel so distrubed. She took deep breath. She had to go out but she was not looking normal. Finally she made her best attempt. She started to look okay. Then she came out. Her Boss was standing before her. He looked at her face and immediately asked " What happened?" She didn't understand what she supposed to do. She started controlling her tears again. When another colleague called Boss. She ran to her table and started working. She was so scared. She could sense that they were pretending to be nice before Boss but she could see their anger. She sensed that she was not made for this job. But she knew that she felt same way when she quit last job. She couldn't keep quitting job every day. She took deep breath and decided to keep working.
As soon as Boss went inside, entire staff started discussing about Nina. " This woman is much pain in neck. Nothing but burden on earth!!"" Yes but we can't get rid of her. This is disturbing. Since she came in office, she was Boss's favourite. He kept giving everything to her." " What do you feel? They are having affair?!!" Every one started laughing. " Nonsense her husband might cheat her but she is so weak that she will not dare to complaint. She is not brave enough to have affair. " "What is so brave about having affair?" Mrs. Sharma said this with such a anger that every one suspected that her husband might be having affair. Few people just loved irritating people so other fellow started " It is brave. Moving with other person behind back of your spouse. World is always alert about it." " Tomorrow you will say even murder is great." That fellow gave strange cunning smile and said " It is if you don't get caught." Every one laughed. But Mrs. Sharma felt disgusted so she went back to her work. Then they went back to work. Nina started to shiver with fear. She was so scared. She didn't want to work here. She started to think way to escape. But she knew that Tushar had warned her when last time she left job that it should not repeat. She remembered Tushar's tense face when he said " I know you hated doing job. You wanted to become housewife and take care of kids. I agreed to it. But then suddenly everything shattered." She didn't let him speak further she knew all. She just said " Don't worry I will remain stuck to second job." She knew that it was hard for him to discribe all for him. In beginning they had big house and every thing then one day they received call from her father-in-law's office. They told him that he was admitted to hospital. She still shivered when she remembered it. She was pregnant at that time. Her mother-in-law called her parents. She sent her in her parent's house. She was so scared. She kept waiting for them. Her blood pressure increased. She told to take bed rest. She was so scared. Finally Tushar came to meet her. He was alone. She was confused why her mother-in-law had not with her. She asked " Your Dad is healthy now?" He just looked out of window. She understood all. She started crying. But Tushar told her " You must stay strong for baby." After looking at his face she sensed that it was not over. "What happened?" He gave sad smile and said " We lost our house." " What?" She asked in shock then she felt pain in stomach. She slept and started praying. Slowly she started to relax. She was so scared. Her Mom came near her and started giving confidence. She managed to relax. She touched his hand and said " Don't worry we will manage." After that she never asked for cause. She just kept going ahead but then slowly she understood that someone cheated her father-in-law. They lost all and he died out of shock. Pankaj never able to see his grandfather or big house. He just saw small house. Many times she wished to forget her past too. It was just painful. But her mother-in-law managed to cope a lot better. She was strong woman but she developed strange obsession for money but she couldn't blame her. Everything was so wrong but due to her savings they managed to get this house. She managed few installments. Then Tushar started paying with salary since in beginning he needed it for household expenses. It was so hard. Then Pankaj became little bit big. She started job too. She was not interested in working. But she didn't have option. She was upset now. She was treated in worst way in this office. She kept working entire time without looking up. She didn't even join others in canteen. She just kept eat her tiffin. She was so upset. Her Boss seemed to notice it. He came near her " Why don't you join them?" She shivered. She didn't want to join them. " Actually I was reading book." Boss " I can see it. But you are new and you must join them." She didn't have much option. She took tiffin and went to join them. She sat with smile but every one looked at her with anger and rudness. In last office just her Boss was rude. In this job only her Boss was okay. She sat there and began to regret quitting her first job. She suddenly remembered chocolate which she kept in her purse. She took it out and began to eat it. She didn't even sense that she managed to eat entire bar of chocolate in few seconds. Every one looked at her in strange way. But no one commented. She went home on usual time. She went in kitchen and once again she started eating chocolate cookies. She finished half pack then she cooked diet food. She already managed to eat snacks. She was so happy. Then when they came on table, she made some fried nuggets for Pankaj and diet food for Tushar. He smiled and began to eat it.
After that Nina's every day became burden. Her colleagues were boycotting her. She felt so hurt and confused. She started to keep lots of chocolate bars with her. She was feeling so relieved when she ate it. Tushar was watching her weight gain daily. He started to sense even her skin began to show effects. He didn't understood cause. One day when she entered in office, one colleague came to her " What's wrong with your skin?" "Nothing." " We can clearly see red rash. It is so horrible!! How could you survive it?" " It must be due to those chocolates. You keep them eating." Then suddenly Boss came with gifts. She totally forgot it was day for gift distribution. She shivered with fear. She sat in corner as Boss distributed gifts. She knew that everything was going to turn in wrong way. She saw every one was opening gift. Few smiled but many made faces. One colleague " And what is special gift of Nina?" Boss smiled and gave it to her. " It is special dress my wife created for her." She took it and opened it. It was really beautiful. " This is beautiful. But will it fit to her?" Her Boss's looked confused. He didn't sense how could Nina manage so much weight gain. Boss " You have to give measurement again. But I don't know if she could increase size but she could make new one." She just took it and said " I will manage." Boss " Now you all can go home and enjoy holidays." They all clapped. Then Boss went in cabin. They all started talking. " She did it all intentionally. She took nice dress and gave us worst dresses." " And she is paying for her sin." She couldn't control her tears. She had heard enough. She took her purse and ran away. She went out and started eating chocolate. It was not enough. She bought more from shop. She kept eating more and more. She felt that it was not helping. But it didn't work. Finally her stomach rebeled. She vomited on road. Many people gave her disgusting look. One said " Go near gutter when people sense that we need to keep our country clean. It is horrible when you vomit like that on road." She was so scared and afraid. She started crying loudly. Another couple came near her and one college student came too. They started to tell her to relax. " Don't worry. We will take you to Doctor." College student stopped Auto. That couple entered in Auto with her. She started fainting by then. It was shocking for Tushar when he took call of his wife and unknown man talked. He took deep breath. He started consoling his heart with hope that she had forgotten mobile. But he knew that it was not truth. He was seeing every day she was destroying her health daily. So when that person told him that she was sick and they were taking her to hospital. He assumed that it was her Boss. He took address and called his Mom that they were going to be late. " Where are you going? I hope don't waste money." He took deep breath and said " She is in hospital." He heard her deep breath. She was controlling her tears. Then she said with self control " Call me when Doctor tell you something. I will call her parents." He told her about hospital. He was so upset during entire journey. Incidence of his father's death kept in his mind. He started to feel relaxed when he entered in hospital. When he entered, he called again. Immediately a man came running towards him. That man " Are you her husband?" He nodded. That man's wife " Do you have pictures?" He nodded and showed pictures. " Thank God. We don't know what we supposed to do? We were planning to call Police. We found her on road." " Road? " He was so shocked. " We are leaving now." They pointed towards Doctor and vanished. Doctor " Her blood pressure was high. She was eating too much chocolate. We need to do tests to find side-effects on health. But what was her tension? Trust me. She needed psychiatrist. He nodded. He knew how much she suffered. Then he went in her room. She was taking rest. Doctor " We keep her here for two days to control her blood pressure and sugar." He nodded. Then another Doctor came to him. He asked " Will you tell me her story?" He started crying. Then he slowly told her entire story. " It was my mistake. I force her to work there." " No. It happened because of her old stress. She needed treatment. But what about money? Can you manage?" He nodded. " We want her to be cured." Psychiatrist patted on shoulder. Psychiatrist took him inside room. She was sleeping peacefully. " Her colleagues were harassing her. No doubt. But we can't remove evil. We need to learn to fight it and I will taught it to her. She didn't understand how to handle stress so she began to eat chocolate and it became obssessive compulsive disorder. But when big trouble entered, it was useless. Don't worry. She will be fine." He nodded. Tushar felt so nice by just talking. He felt such relaxed first time after his father's death so he took appointment. He decided that wasting money on health was wise than dying.
The End
Nina started to see different clothes. She was choosing them carefully. She began to sense that she needed to think carefully. She had to understand what those person's like. She knew that it was not easy for her. She had to do it since her Boss told her. She was working for company and they had to purchase Diwali gifts until now they used to give show pieces but this time her Boss started new boutique. His wife was running it so she suggested that she could design clothes for staff as holiday gifts. For special staff she would design special clothes for normal staff they would select one design. But it was still not decided what would be perfect a Punjabi dress material or a saree. She was so confused. She didn't want to be involved in this mess. But she clearly didn't have much option. Her Boss insisted. Her Boss was always nice and helpful man. He never bullied her. He always managed to do things in friendly way. He handled entire office in nice way. When Nina was new comer, she did many mistakes. But her Boss always helped her. She couldn't say no to him. His wife was personally taking this responsibility. She was designing all so it seemed wrong if Nina rejected that small help which she asked. Nina decided to do it. But now after entering in boutique she began to regret her decision. It didn't seem right. She didn't understand which cloth would be perfect for which person. Soon she began to image her colleagues with those dresses. She started to choose as per her imagination. She began to remember. There was Mrs. Sharma who always boosted about culture. She decided that saree would be great for her. She wanted to give everyone something they like. Slowly she began to feel confident and started choosing. It was so easy. Then she started instructing her Boss's wife. She began to feel so happy. Soon she started to feel that everything would be fine. She began to show everything. She was so confident. She felt that everyone would be proud of her. She had done such a great job. She worked on that day. She was totally sure about herself. After doing all finally her Boss's wife Ritika smiled and said " You done so much for me so it's time that I must do something for you. So I will do a dress for you. And it will be surprise." She smiled. Nina was confused. Her last Boss was not like that. Her Boss was harsh. He always kept taunting. But her present Boss was so nice. Then her mobile rang. It was her mother-in-law. She saw time. Her son Pankaj must be screaming for her. She was late on that day. " Madam can I go?" Ritika looked at her watch and said " My God we are so late. You can go home. In fact you need to hurry up." Nina smiled. She went out and took call. " Mom don't worry I am coming." Her Mother-in-law was clearly sounded upset on phone. " You are too late." " I know Mom it's my mistake. I forgot to tell you that I need to do some extra work." " Okay..okay. Come soon." " Yes Mom." Then her traveling started. It went ahead in usual speed. She knew that nothing was going to make it fast. It was so frustrating. Her son was waiting for her and she was stuck in traffic. She called her mother-in-law. " Give phone to Pankaj." Her mother-in-law did it immediately. She could clearly hear Pankaj's voice. She began to talk with him. He started to tell her that she must come soon. Sometimes she wished only if she could stay with him. But she couldn't. They had to clear their housing loan even after it they needed money. It was not easy to complete demands. " Don't worry Baby I am coming." She kept talking but then in that crowd she couldn't use it for long time. Other people in bus started complaining. She needed to travel by bus. Sometimes she get seat but many times she didn't. Today she was not that lucky. Finally she reached home. Pankaj ran in her arms. She hugged him. Her mother-in-law " You worked so hard today I hope you get bonus for it." Nina didn't say anything. She knew offer of new dress was useless in her mother-in-law's eyes. She felt that Nina should wear just two dresses. Nina didn't feel that way. She wanted to get dressed just like her friends. She wanted to enjoy her life. But after looking at Pankaj's face she felt that it was selfish. Her son must became her priority. She began to feel so guilty for desiring that dress. She began to think that she might needed to inquire about bonus. She was not as settled as others who were discussing about dresses. Nina " I don't know proper amount. I will ask tomorrow." " You have to ask tomorrow. Don't waste your time. You must keep asking for amount while doing work." Nina nodded. Then her Mother-in-law took Pankaj in her arms and told her " Go and wash your hands and legs then you have to cook. With Pankaj I can't cook." She nodded and went in bathroom. She was so irritated. She had to start her work immediately. Her mother-in-law never help her with it. She made it clear that even doing working in office she had to cook lunch and dinner. Her mother-in-law just took job of taking care of Pankaj. Nina was reminded again and again that she must be grateful for it and she was. So she started cooking in kitchen after cleaning hands and feet.
Nina started cooking dinner. But before it she took out that instant food which she stored for her. She knew that she needed energy after coming from office. She also knew her mother-in-law didn't want to help in cooking so she was not going to come in kitchen so it was perfect time for her snacks so she opened packet of cookies and began to eat them in hurry since she was hungry. She knew no one care for her. They just wanted their food to be cooked. She was not slim but that didn't mean she didn't need to eat. She also needed to eat otherwise she began to feel uneasy in her head. She needed to feel okay to take care of her son and go back to office next day. She took out pack of chocolate cookies and started eating it. She just loved chocolate. She knew that she must eat in limit. But when that chocolate favour reached to her lips she started to enjoy it, she began to sense heaven was under her feet. She felt so relaxed. She knew that she had to eat those cookies. Then after eating two she felt relaxed. She started cooking dinner. She began to do it in best way. Her husband Tushar would come home soon. She needed to prepare snacks and tea for him too. Tushar didn't insist on it. But she was feeling hungry too so she decided little bit of home made snacks would be great. She always felt that it was strange when she was cooking Pankaj always remained quiet. She never understood how did her mother-in-law managed it. But when she started cooking until she didn't finish it, Pankaj remained quiet. She was curious but she never went out to solve mystery since she knew that as soon as she went outside and if Pankaj saw her whatever was charming him would surely lost charm. She kept cooking that smell was so tempting. She didn't want to cook something like diet food. She knew that it was important but she needed to relax too. She knew that she had maintain her weight. She looked in plate. She could see her reflection. She was little bit fat. She looked at herself. She was always little healthy but she was never this fat. She needed to do diet. But then she suddenly saw potatos in basket. She began to think about potato chips. They were so tempting. She began to decide what should be better fried plain and masala chips. Then she started to cook them and then suddenly Pankaj entered. Pankaj " Mom I want it." She was so happy. Her son was laughed. She fall in love with his innocent smile again. She couldn't say no to her son when he wanted to eat something. She slowly started cooking chips. Then she started to cook and keep them on plate. She needed to cool it before giving it to her son. She started cooling it. Then she kept it on plate. Pankaj started eating it immediately. She felt that she took good decision. She smiled and started cooking more chips. Her entire household was happy about chips and they felt that she should cook them. Her mother-in-law " You did nice idea. Your every day snacks according to diet didn't taste nice. Pankaj didn't even eat them." Tushar " But Mom they are healthy. We can't eat fried chips every day." " Then may be we should bring microwave?" " Now don't waste money like that. I take care of Pankaj and let you go to office not for microwave. I want secure future for Pankaj so we must repay loan." Nina was upset but she knew her mother-in-law was telling true before repaying loan they should not waste money. Nina " I feel little oil didn't harm us that much." Her mother-in-law " True and wastage of money can do lot more harm." She nodded. But Tushar was not convinced. Tushar " I don't like this. This type of food was not even healthy for Pankaj. He needed to become healthy not just fat." " Come on you have eaten lots of stuff like this in childhood." " Yes but I was not coach potato like him. I used play around. I use to climb on trees. And use to eat fruits from those trees. It was so nice." He began to enjoy telling it managed to many potato chips while talking. In fact he lost count of them. Nina & her mother-in-law started laughing. Pankaj started screaming " Dad I want to climb on tree too!! Teach me." Nina started laughing loudly. Nina " And from where you get that tree? We have few coconut trees and your Dad can't climb on them." " But there is another tree in corner!!" " That tree near street? Are you out of mind?!! This way all people will see me climbing on tree like monkey. Few will call Police remaining will call your Mom and gave her number of psychiatrist to lock me in mental hospital." Every one started laughing except Pankaj who started crying loudly. Then Nina controlled herself and said " Come on honey you need to understand." " Fine I will plant seed and then water it when it will grow I will climb on it." Every one wanted to laugh but Nina pointed looked at them so they controlled. Then Tushar nodded and said " I will teach you all on Sunday." Pankaj jumped with joy and asked " What? How to climb on tree?" " No how to grow a tree." Now no one able to control smile and they all started laughing.
Nina was happy with family. They had attitude to adjust with all. She knew that her mother-in-law never show willingness to cooking. But she generally didn't even criticize her cooking. She just hated wasting money. Nina didn't blame her mother-in-law for this thinking. They needed to save money. She knew that paying loan was important. She did all her house work while Tushar was taking care of Pankaj. Her mother-in-law was watching TV now. She started to do all. She kept maid but not cook so she had to go office after cooking lunch. She knew that her every day was getting more and more exhausting than last day. But she knew that she didn't have option. When she completed her work and came back to her room every one was sleeping peacefully. Nina felt so sad. Now a days she hardly get time to chat with Tushar. It was so frustrating. When she came to bedroom, every one was asleep. She went to sleep too. Her entire day was full of work without fun. She was feeling so upset. Then she suddenly remembered taste of chocolate which Tushar bought for her. She kept them hidden. They were costly so she kept them away from her mother-in-law. She knew that her mother-in-law would create drama. She decided that she might just eat one. She slowly went in her kitchen. She knew that it was wrong still she ate one chocolate. She went back with it's taste on mouth. She didn't sense when she fall asleep. When she was woke up, she was fresh once again. She knew that she was taking risk on her teeth so she decided that after this she would not eat chocolate at night. She would eat during day. She could brush her teeth every time after eating. She did all and then she went in office. Today she sensed that something was abnormal in office. As soon as she entered a hush fell on every thing, as if they were discussing her. She was so upset. She always hated when people started talking with behind her back. She wanted them to say it straight. But when she came they all just looked at her then they started pretending she was not existed for them. She felt so scared. Then she started working on computer. She was so upset. She began to feel fear in heart. She didn't want to talk with anyone. She wanted to use headphones of mobile but she knew that Boss didn't like it. She started concentrating on her work but then slowly they started coming towards table one by one. She hated it but she had to smile. She felt as if group of people coming to attack her. Then Sadhana spoke " So?!! Yesterday you went to help Madam?" She nodded shyly. " So you choose dresses for everybody?" She nodded. Other colleague " But how did you guess?" She felt so confused. " She didn't even chat much. How could she guess what we want? Impossible?!! Madam choose wrong person" " And now we get wrong gifts!!" She felt so sad. " I tried my best." " But you should have told nicely that you don't know our choices!! Now we get those gifts which we don't like." She began to feel so guilty. " But I can't say no to Boss!!" " And what about your gift who decided it?" " Madam kept it as surprise." " Wow so you are getting surprise gift for lying." She was so upset. " I don't lie!" " You don't know about our choices still you guessed then don't you feel it is lying?" She began to feel so upset. Tears started to appear in her eyes. " Are you crying?" "No..no!!" " I hope not. Don't start that drama now." She was so scared. She was not intended to cry but tear was coming out of her eyes. It was shocking for her. She just stood up and ran to rest room. Then she started to shiver. She didn't want to over react. But she was over reacting. She knew that they were going to call her drama queen. She looked at her face in mirror. She was clearly looking like woman on verge of nervous break down. She saw her eyes were full of tears. She could clearly see dark circles under them. She started to smile. But it was not genuine. She knew that it was fake. She took deep breath. Then she tried to smile but nothing seemed to be working. She was so upset. She started to feel so distrubed. She took deep breath. She had to go out but she was not looking normal. Finally she made her best attempt. She started to look okay. Then she came out. Her Boss was standing before her. He looked at her face and immediately asked " What happened?" She didn't understand what she supposed to do. She started controlling her tears again. When another colleague called Boss. She ran to her table and started working. She was so scared. She could sense that they were pretending to be nice before Boss but she could see their anger. She sensed that she was not made for this job. But she knew that she felt same way when she quit last job. She couldn't keep quitting job every day. She took deep breath and decided to keep working.
As soon as Boss went inside, entire staff started discussing about Nina. " This woman is much pain in neck. Nothing but burden on earth!!"" Yes but we can't get rid of her. This is disturbing. Since she came in office, she was Boss's favourite. He kept giving everything to her." " What do you feel? They are having affair?!!" Every one started laughing. " Nonsense her husband might cheat her but she is so weak that she will not dare to complaint. She is not brave enough to have affair. " "What is so brave about having affair?" Mrs. Sharma said this with such a anger that every one suspected that her husband might be having affair. Few people just loved irritating people so other fellow started " It is brave. Moving with other person behind back of your spouse. World is always alert about it." " Tomorrow you will say even murder is great." That fellow gave strange cunning smile and said " It is if you don't get caught." Every one laughed. But Mrs. Sharma felt disgusted so she went back to her work. Then they went back to work. Nina started to shiver with fear. She was so scared. She didn't want to work here. She started to think way to escape. But she knew that Tushar had warned her when last time she left job that it should not repeat. She remembered Tushar's tense face when he said " I know you hated doing job. You wanted to become housewife and take care of kids. I agreed to it. But then suddenly everything shattered." She didn't let him speak further she knew all. She just said " Don't worry I will remain stuck to second job." She knew that it was hard for him to discribe all for him. In beginning they had big house and every thing then one day they received call from her father-in-law's office. They told him that he was admitted to hospital. She still shivered when she remembered it. She was pregnant at that time. Her mother-in-law called her parents. She sent her in her parent's house. She was so scared. She kept waiting for them. Her blood pressure increased. She told to take bed rest. She was so scared. Finally Tushar came to meet her. He was alone. She was confused why her mother-in-law had not with her. She asked " Your Dad is healthy now?" He just looked out of window. She understood all. She started crying. But Tushar told her " You must stay strong for baby." After looking at his face she sensed that it was not over. "What happened?" He gave sad smile and said " We lost our house." " What?" She asked in shock then she felt pain in stomach. She slept and started praying. Slowly she started to relax. She was so scared. Her Mom came near her and started giving confidence. She managed to relax. She touched his hand and said " Don't worry we will manage." After that she never asked for cause. She just kept going ahead but then slowly she understood that someone cheated her father-in-law. They lost all and he died out of shock. Pankaj never able to see his grandfather or big house. He just saw small house. Many times she wished to forget her past too. It was just painful. But her mother-in-law managed to cope a lot better. She was strong woman but she developed strange obsession for money but she couldn't blame her. Everything was so wrong but due to her savings they managed to get this house. She managed few installments. Then Tushar started paying with salary since in beginning he needed it for household expenses. It was so hard. Then Pankaj became little bit big. She started job too. She was not interested in working. But she didn't have option. She was upset now. She was treated in worst way in this office. She kept working entire time without looking up. She didn't even join others in canteen. She just kept eat her tiffin. She was so upset. Her Boss seemed to notice it. He came near her " Why don't you join them?" She shivered. She didn't want to join them. " Actually I was reading book." Boss " I can see it. But you are new and you must join them." She didn't have much option. She took tiffin and went to join them. She sat with smile but every one looked at her with anger and rudness. In last office just her Boss was rude. In this job only her Boss was okay. She sat there and began to regret quitting her first job. She suddenly remembered chocolate which she kept in her purse. She took it out and began to eat it. She didn't even sense that she managed to eat entire bar of chocolate in few seconds. Every one looked at her in strange way. But no one commented. She went home on usual time. She went in kitchen and once again she started eating chocolate cookies. She finished half pack then she cooked diet food. She already managed to eat snacks. She was so happy. Then when they came on table, she made some fried nuggets for Pankaj and diet food for Tushar. He smiled and began to eat it.
After that Nina's every day became burden. Her colleagues were boycotting her. She felt so hurt and confused. She started to keep lots of chocolate bars with her. She was feeling so relieved when she ate it. Tushar was watching her weight gain daily. He started to sense even her skin began to show effects. He didn't understood cause. One day when she entered in office, one colleague came to her " What's wrong with your skin?" "Nothing." " We can clearly see red rash. It is so horrible!! How could you survive it?" " It must be due to those chocolates. You keep them eating." Then suddenly Boss came with gifts. She totally forgot it was day for gift distribution. She shivered with fear. She sat in corner as Boss distributed gifts. She knew that everything was going to turn in wrong way. She saw every one was opening gift. Few smiled but many made faces. One colleague " And what is special gift of Nina?" Boss smiled and gave it to her. " It is special dress my wife created for her." She took it and opened it. It was really beautiful. " This is beautiful. But will it fit to her?" Her Boss's looked confused. He didn't sense how could Nina manage so much weight gain. Boss " You have to give measurement again. But I don't know if she could increase size but she could make new one." She just took it and said " I will manage." Boss " Now you all can go home and enjoy holidays." They all clapped. Then Boss went in cabin. They all started talking. " She did it all intentionally. She took nice dress and gave us worst dresses." " And she is paying for her sin." She couldn't control her tears. She had heard enough. She took her purse and ran away. She went out and started eating chocolate. It was not enough. She bought more from shop. She kept eating more and more. She felt that it was not helping. But it didn't work. Finally her stomach rebeled. She vomited on road. Many people gave her disgusting look. One said " Go near gutter when people sense that we need to keep our country clean. It is horrible when you vomit like that on road." She was so scared and afraid. She started crying loudly. Another couple came near her and one college student came too. They started to tell her to relax. " Don't worry. We will take you to Doctor." College student stopped Auto. That couple entered in Auto with her. She started fainting by then. It was shocking for Tushar when he took call of his wife and unknown man talked. He took deep breath. He started consoling his heart with hope that she had forgotten mobile. But he knew that it was not truth. He was seeing every day she was destroying her health daily. So when that person told him that she was sick and they were taking her to hospital. He assumed that it was her Boss. He took address and called his Mom that they were going to be late. " Where are you going? I hope don't waste money." He took deep breath and said " She is in hospital." He heard her deep breath. She was controlling her tears. Then she said with self control " Call me when Doctor tell you something. I will call her parents." He told her about hospital. He was so upset during entire journey. Incidence of his father's death kept in his mind. He started to feel relaxed when he entered in hospital. When he entered, he called again. Immediately a man came running towards him. That man " Are you her husband?" He nodded. That man's wife " Do you have pictures?" He nodded and showed pictures. " Thank God. We don't know what we supposed to do? We were planning to call Police. We found her on road." " Road? " He was so shocked. " We are leaving now." They pointed towards Doctor and vanished. Doctor " Her blood pressure was high. She was eating too much chocolate. We need to do tests to find side-effects on health. But what was her tension? Trust me. She needed psychiatrist. He nodded. He knew how much she suffered. Then he went in her room. She was taking rest. Doctor " We keep her here for two days to control her blood pressure and sugar." He nodded. Then another Doctor came to him. He asked " Will you tell me her story?" He started crying. Then he slowly told her entire story. " It was my mistake. I force her to work there." " No. It happened because of her old stress. She needed treatment. But what about money? Can you manage?" He nodded. " We want her to be cured." Psychiatrist patted on shoulder. Psychiatrist took him inside room. She was sleeping peacefully. " Her colleagues were harassing her. No doubt. But we can't remove evil. We need to learn to fight it and I will taught it to her. She didn't understand how to handle stress so she began to eat chocolate and it became obssessive compulsive disorder. But when big trouble entered, it was useless. Don't worry. She will be fine." He nodded. Tushar felt so nice by just talking. He felt such relaxed first time after his father's death so he took appointment. He decided that wasting money on health was wise than dying.
The End
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