He absentmindedly dialed the number and while waiting for the call to be answered, drifted off into the nebulous future. As the founder of a start-up, he was finding out the true meaning of the word ‘hustle’ and every sale he made gave him enough courage to fight one more day. “Hello”- the contralto voice at the other end shook him out of his stupor. The prospective client’s voice that a huskiness, a sensuousness that melted into his ears and went down to his stomach and beyond. He found himself imagining the face behind that sexy voice and almost forgot what he'd called her for. He wanted to sell his organic soaps to her.
He gathered himself quickly and blurted out, “Mrs. Angelina”?
“Yes”, came the reply.
“Good afternoon Ma'am, My name is Veeral. Mrs. Henna Desai gave me your number”. He paused, waiting for the prospective client to acknowledge Mrs. Desai’s mention.
“Mrs. Desai from Cuffe Parade”?, came the query.
“Yes ma'am”, he replied.
“Henna is a good friend. Tell me Mr. Veeral, how can I help you”?, Mrs. Angelina asked
He had the hardest time keeping his concentration; her voice was doing things to him.
“Ma'am, we manufacture home-made orgas..., I mean organic, soaps and shampoo bars among other products. Mrs. Desai is a regular client and she gave me your reference. He said you'd be interested in a good product”, Veeral managed to keep his focus on the job long enough to say that. He just hoped that she hadn't caught the slip of his tongue. He had nearly said “orgasmic soaps”!!
There was a pause and finally Angelina replied, “Of course. Can you come in tomorrow morning at 10, Mr. Veeral? I have some free time then”
“Yes ma'am! I’ll be there”. He replied
After noting down her address and saying formal goodbyes, Veeral hung up the phone and got on with some other calls. He made the calls but his mind was elsewhere. He could not get that sexy voice out of his head. He could almost hear Angelina say “Hello”.
Angelina put down the phone and chuckled. She had caught that slip of the tongue but managed to not react. These boys had nothing but sex on their minds, she mused. She probably would have said no, had it not been for Henna’s reference.
Angelina heard the doorbell and the maid opening the kitchen door. She heard some muffled conversation and a man’s voice. She looked down at her watch; it showed 9:55AM. Just then the maid came in and told her that a Veer-something was at the door and was saying that he had an appointment with Angelina.
“Oh yes! The orgasmic soap guy”!! she remembered, and smiled faintly.
She walked to the living room expecting to see a callow 20 something boy and was instead greeted by the sight of a guy who could've been on the wrong side of thirties.
“Ma'am, apologies for addressing you by your first name but I forgot to take your last name from Mrs. Desai”
“That's alright. My mother in law is the oldest. She is addressed by our family name. You can call me Angelina”.
As they sat down across a small table and he explained his soaps, shampoos and creams to her, Veeral could not help but look at her. She was even more beautiful than he had imagined her to be. She had clear, flawless skin and poker straight shoulder length hair that framed her beautiful face and accentuated her delicate features. Every time he looked into her eyes, it took an effort of will to look away from her hypnotic eyes. When she leaned forward to take the bottle of cream from his hand, he caught a whiff of her perfume. It had musky, earthy tones, with perhaps a faint hint of bergamot. For some reason, he felt that the fragrance fit her persona to the T.
While reading the ingredient list on a product, Angelina was disturbed by the ringing of her cell. She saw the name on the display, smiled, mouthed an “excuse me” at Veeral and leaned back to take the call.
Veeral welcomed the chance to look at her while she was distracted. She had long artistic fingers and he could visualise her moulding clay into pretty vessels or perhaps making a lovely painting. Rather inappropriately, he found himself wondering how those long fingers would feel against his skin. She was wearing an elegant white kurta with grey Lycra tights. The top button of her kurta was open and he could see just a hint of her cleavage. Her Lycra tights let him know that here was a woman who kept herself in excellent shape. Angelina was a beautiful, sexy woman with a voice that could test the virtue of a saint. In spite of his best efforts to keep himself focussed on the job, Veeral found himself getting aroused. He prayed that his rather comfortable jeans would help him avoid any embarrassment. He'd already nearly made an orgasmic blunder yesterday and didn't want her to think that he was a lecher.
Fortunately for him, Angelina got off the phone and turning to him, asked a question. In responding to her, he lost himself in a passionate explanation of how he sourced all his material from the best places across India and how he made the products. He could see that she was really listening to him. Thank God for genuine people, he thought.
Angelina looked at the man across her and revised her initial opinion. This guy wasn't a hack salesman; he believed in what he was doing, and did it passionately. He wasn't that bad looking either, and yes, she had seen him check her out. However, she was used to the attention and he hadn't stared rudely, but very discreetly.
Just then, her son walked in. He nodded at Veeral, walked across to his mom, hugged her and said, “Bye mom! I am off to college”
She kissed her son and off her went.
Veeral could not believe that this woman had a college going son!! She looked not a day over 30, maybe 33!! Angelina caught the flabbergasted look on his face and asked him, “Anything wrong, Veeral”?
“Ma'am, is he your son”, he asked, with added emphasis on “your”. He could not believe that her son could be a college going boy.
“Yes, my eldest”. He is pursuing his Engineering”
“Ma'am”, Veeral said, “you don't need my products. Please tell me how you keep yourself looking so young”?
Angelina leaned back in her sofa and laughed heartily.
Thank you for the compliment. You are as gallant as the French are””, Angelina replied with a smile
“It must be the French toast that I had for breakfast”, Veeral replied.
Angelina went off into another burst of laughter. This guy is very funny, she thought.
He was also a flirt but he seemed like a good guy.
After she was finished laughing, she replied, “I just live in my terms. No stress and no hidden agendas. I guess that's it”
“Wow”, he replied. “I still cannot believe it”, he said and shook his head as if it clear it.
“
Angelina changed the topic and asked him if this was a full time vocation.Veeral replied that he had a full time job but did this part time, during his free time, as it was his passion. She decided in that moment that she liked this guy. He seemed passionate, hard working and grounded. And such people ranked high on her list.
She bought a lot of the stuff because she believed that Veeral was honest in his intent. Angelina asked him for his card. He took one out of his wallet and handed it over. As she looked at the card, she said, “Your name is spelled Viral”?
Yes ma'am, my parents couldn't tell the difference between Viral and Veeral. They called me Veeral but spelt my name Viral. I guess it's a good thing because nowadays people try their hardest to go viral, and here i am, Viral since birth”, he replied with a self-deprecating grin.
Angelina could not resist laughing again.
“Check. This guy is funny too”, Angelina mused.
“Ma’am, please let do provide feedback. It’ll help us get better”.
“Who’s us”
“Ma’am, I and my equipment! I am the CEO, the salesperson and the office boy
Of this venture”.with that sentence, he’d done it again- shown his sense of humour and a good work ethic.
As he walked out, Angelina looked pensive. It felt good to be around people who were full of passion. And all the more better if those people had a good sense of humor.
Riding back to his regular 12-9 job, Veeral could not stop thinking of her. She was wow!! He prayed to all the Gods that he could get to see Angelina again, and again, and again. He ruefully wondered if he was developing a crush on her; or was it lust at first sight? He couldn't decide.
The old Bond saying came to his mind- Some love is pure, some love is rust but the purest love is lust.
Comments
Post a Comment