14. When they met
London:
Sofia came to London. She knew the English language well and hence she faced no issues while roaming in the city. She stayed in the hotel for a few days.
Then she applied for a chef job with the help of local newspapers however, there was tough competition for the job everywhere.
London was a very expensive city and she had to get a job soon otherwise all her money would run out. She finally settled for a waitress job in an Indian Restaurant and bar, in London, called "Fairly Spicy".
She had heard and was fascinated a lot about Indian culture and cuisine as a chef.
One day at a table, two male customers were sitting waiting for someone to come and take orders for their dinner. They were already done with their choice of food items.
As they were about to get uncomfortable, Sofia sensed that and quickly went to them and said, "Sir, yes please! Sorry for the delay. May I know your order?"
"Please get us two paneer tikka masala and flying eagle red wine. We will order our main course later!", Akshay said to Sofia.
She took the order on her digital device and went away. She was looking stunning in her waiter uniform which was a white shirt with a black tie and a black skirt. All her womanly curves looked prominent in that dress.
Akshay couldn't remove his eyes from her.
Raghav, his colleague waved his hand in front of his eyes when Akshay was back to present and smiled.
Raghav said, "What man? what happened? Mesmerized by her?"
"So much!", Akshay said and sighed.
And then his phone rang, "Hello dear!"
Raghav asked by gesture, "Is it Bhabhi?"
Akshay confirmed with his eyes, answered the call and spoke further, "Yes, yes. I came out for dinner with my colleague!"
"What time will you go home?"
"But why dear?"
"Arpit and Rohini want to have a VDO call with you. Arpit wants to hear a story from you and then only he will sleep!"
"Will catch the next train immediately after dinner and will call you after that, okay?" while saying this, his eyes were still on the glimpses of Sofia he was getting whenever she was moving here and there walking through customers.
Sofia easily noticed that he was looking at her.
"Okay, waiting for you. Bye!", Richa said and cut the call.
Akshay stayed in a rented home at Slough, a suburb of London that was about 1 hour from London by train.
Though Akshay yet couldn't gather the courage to talk to Sofia, his frequent visits for dinner to the "Fairly Spicy" restaurant worried Raghav.
One reason for worry was that Akshay's inclination toward her was making him a little reckless towards work and the second reason was Raghav knew Akshay and his family. He liked Akshay's kids.
Both were very lovable and clever.
Raghav after a breakup with his only girlfriend, suffered a lot.
He was a homely man wanting a family, like the Akshay's, and knew the value of having a family.
He dreamt of a similar family, but the dream couldn't complete. His girlfriend chose a career over him and went to Paris to pursue her fashion designing and modelling career.
Then Raghav immersed himself so much in work that he could suppress the haunting memories of his girlfriend.
Raghav knew that a person realizes the true value of any relationship only when the person goes away from life!