"When is your birthday?" I whispered to my MAN.

"29/09" he replied in numbers.

"And mine is - 29/04" I completed.

It was evening, as we were sitting on the chairs on the terrace of our office.

"That's great guys!"

"By the way - what are your respective plans?" Rohit questioned all of us, as we sat with our respective high-tea drinks on the chairs placed on the terrace.

Lately, Kabir entered as he got my filter coffee along with his black coffee - where I sat beside the MAN of the office.

"Plans as in....? Shreya questioned.

"PLANS yaar - Shaadi ke plans" Anand continued.

"All of us are more than 26 or 27"

"Aur ab, I am sure - hum sab ke ghar walon ne humse kahan toh honga hi..."

Right - all of us, murmured.

For the next 60 seconds, there was an awkward silence, because none of us - had guaranteed answer to this question.

"Haan yaar..."

"Baat toh sahi hain." It was Abhi who initiated the conversation this time.

"Meri mom bhi bohat time se bol rahi hain - toh I think, iss saal toh shayad, shaadi karni hi padegi" he scratched his head, in style - as we all started laughing.

"Not bad Abhimanyu - tu itne jaldi bada ho gaya.

Shabash mere Sher" Kabir patted on his back, as he giggled.

"The same situation at my home.

Dad ne bhi bohat baar bola hain - toh let's see.

Koi mil gaya, toh acha hain!" Shreya gave her opinion.

Many of my colleagues, had more or less the same answer, when suddenly Kabir asked -

"Ayesha...tera kya plan hain?" suddenly, all the people present there were totally quiet and they stared at me.

"Guys...don't stare at me.

Main sharma jaungi!" I commented, as they hooted.

"But still...what is your plan?" this time, the MAN of the office asked, and I was not expecting this question from him.

I took a sip of my coffee - and spoke -

"Ahhh...aisa koi fix plan nahi hain - but still, ghar walon ne toh bola hain."

"Shayad...iss saal mein"

"At least, rishta toh fix ho hi jayega!" I expressed my condition.

"Toh tere dhyan mein hain koi ladka?" Sara questioned me.

I thought for a second and then answered -

"Kaash Sara Didi...kaash" I chuckled.

"Lekin humaari itni achi kismat toh nahi hain" I taunted -

"Humaari toh koi surprise birthday party, bhi plan nahi karta"

She was surprised as she amused and asked -

"Tujhe kaise pata...?"

"Wait...lemme guess -

Abhi ne bataya" she exclaimed with excitement as I smiled and nodded my head, while my MAN shook hands with me.

A warm handshake.

We continued talking for the next 15 minutes, when finally Shreya spoke -

"Let's go guys - it's time to wind up!"

We were just about to get up and walk back to our respective desks, before which, Abhimanyu stopped all of us - and exclaimed

"Guys...guys

Before we leave, one last question for the evening -"

This question from Abhi - seemed to be indeed intriguing and striking, and suddenly, all of us turned back - and stood in a circle.

Kabir whispered in my ears -"Aaj kal Abhi ko hua kya hain?"

"Thoda zyada hi open-up nahi ho gaya!" I laughed, while the others stared at him, as he asked the most capricious question of the evening -

"People...

Hum sab itne bade ho chuke hain, ki hum decisions khud le sakte hain.

Toh mujhe sirf itna puchna tha - ki tum mein se kitne logon ne apne liye - already kisi ko dhund ke rakha hain?"

This was unexpected.

Firstly, this question was insane and secondly - we never expected Mr. Mantri to ask this question.

"Abhi - tu thik toh hain na?" Rohit mockingly patted on his back.

"Haan bro - I just want to know - how independent and honest are the PEOPLE OF ONE OF THE BIGGEST COMPANIES OF INDIA - INFOSYS" he laid extreme stress on the last words and this was captivating.

For the next 10 seconds, many of us were shy or not ready to speak on this topic, I guess.

At the same time, some of us -did not want to reveal our secrets.

Meanwhile, Sara blushed all of a sudden, as she raised her cup of tea - high in the air and shouted -

"I HAVE FOUND ONE" all of us glared at her, and started laughing - as she herself giggled and said - "Abhi ko pata hi hain".

Abhimanyu already knew that Sara had a boyfriend - with whom, he had planned Sara's surprise birthday party.

This was the gist of my previous conversation with Sara.

"Chalo - now you guys" Sara pointed her fingers at all of us.

"Spill the beans and spill the secrets" she wanted us to reveal our true feelings about our crushes/infatuations.

Yet nobody answered.

"Acha chalo - don't reveal the names -

But...ahhh

Jisne bhi apne SPECIAL PERSON ko dhund liya hain...

Just complete your drinks in ONE SIP"

And we will get to know - your celebration"

This struck me hard - as I traumatized.

Some unexpected thoughts - rushed through the back door of my heart - and I had illusions of my worst memories.

My plan - my infatuation - my life - my estranged friend

I was upset as could feel the tear in my eyes, smothering my kajal - while I sniveled.

"Ayesha...." Shreya exclaimed, as all of them raised their respective cups/glasses - high up in the air - on the count of three - PERFORMED THE "ON THE ROCKS" ACTION.

The following people drank their entire drink in one sip -

Rohit - YES

Sara - YES

Anand - NO

Shreya - NO

Kabir - NO

Abhimanyu - YES

After all the six of them, spilled their unknown secrets - all of them stared at me - while I was still lost in my deep thoughts.

"Ayesha...."

"Are you ready to take the shot?" Kabir shouted excitedly.

"Huh..." I resumed back to my conscious state.

"Ahhh....guys....sorry"

"My glass is empty"

I dropped my glass on the floor abruptly, while the others still glared at me.

"Sorry guys - I need to leave" I was not sure - what happened to me, but I could definitely make out one thing - my action will have consequences.

Such consequences - which will definitely lead to misunderstandings.

That night,

I called my MAN.

Just as he picked up the phone, he suddenly exclaimed -

"Ayesha...what happened to you today?"

"Arre Abhi....give me some time yaar.

Tu aise chid kyu raha hain?" I argued, since I did not like his direct question.

"Oh okay....

Hi Ayesha" he mockingly spoke.

I declined the call.

First of all, I was irritated - with my deep thoughts and later, his words were increasing this irritation.

Later that night, neither had he called me back nor did I call him.

But I just knew one thing - I slept in agony - the pain of her dark truth.

The next day, when I entered the office - I could see Sara sitting behind Abhimanyu - and I could see that both of them were heartily talking to each other and giggling.

Just as I reached towards my place, Sara called out -

"Hey Ayesha, wassup!" she raised her arm for a shake.

I smiled happily at her greeting and shook hands -

Abhimanyu did not even greet me, so I myself raised my hand -

"Good Morning Abhi!"

"Morning Ayesha!"

He picked up his file, from Sara's desk and walked back to his table.

I was a little vexed at his attitude, but tried to ignore as we began with our work at the Infosys.

Later in the day, I was myself exasperated at my own contemplations and sooner or later, this led to my agitation - and nothing else.

Again in the afternoon, although I did not ask him to get one, still I EXPECTED that he would get my filter coffee for me - but he did not.

When I walked to his desk, since I wanted a file from him - he asked me to collect it from Sir's cabin and it was a little rude - I guessed.

Finally, while we were leaving, due to some of his actions - I couldn't control my emotions and exclaimed at my MAN -

"Yaar Abhi...tujhe kya lagta hain -

SIRF tere hi life mein problems ho sakte hain kya?" I glared at him angrily. To which, he replied -

"Nahi...aisa bilkul nahi hain"

"But mujhe SIRF itna pata hain - ki Ayesha ek aisi ladki hain -

Jiske problems mujhe ache nahi lagte!"

I AM JUST NOT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND - WHY DOESN'T HE ALLOW ME TO GET ANGRY ON HIM?

BECAUSE WHENEVER I AM INFURIATED AT MR.MANTRI, HIS WORDS ARE ROMANTIC ENOUGH -

Ki mera dil pighal jaata hain

I couldn't control my smile - and looking at me, he excitedly exclaimed -

"Yeh

Bas yeh hi" he pointed his finger towards my cheek.

"Yeh joh apni hasi ko chupa ke - tum gussa karne ki koshish karti ho na - yeh sabse zyada cute lagta hain!"

I blushed with my cheeks turning pink.

"Mr. Mantri -

Aapko nahi lagta, ki aaj kal, aap thode zyada hi NORMAL ban chuke ho" I stressed on the word - NORMAL.

"This is not fair Ayesha -

Pehle NORMAL nahi tha - toh tum khud bolti thi -

What is your DARK PAST?

What are you hiding?

Why are so unhappy?

Etc etc"

He folded his hands, and taking the support of the wall, leaned back and continue -

"Aur ab jab normal banne ki koshish kar raha hoon -

Tab tum kehti ho - ki

I am becoming over-NORMAL!"

There's no such word like - OVERNORMAL in English language, hence, I toned his spirits, held his folded wrists and spoke -

"Acha baba Sorry!" I pouted at him.

"It's just that - mujhe tujhse aisi NORMAL baatein karne ki aadat nahi hain!" I amused at him, since I was not habituated to see Mr. Mantri - smiling and giving his romantic comments.

"Ab aap batane ka kasht karonge -

Ki Aapko aaj dopahar mein hua kya tha?"

He questioned me.

"Ahhh..." I started to make a false story in my mind.

And since I am a very good writer, I am an exceptional person - when it comes to creating stories on the spot.

"Actually, pichle 2 to 3 weeks se - DAD is continuously saying - ki main summers mein kuch dino ke liye Indore aa jau.

He is saying ki, summers mein - mere liye kuch Ladke dekh lenge and then later on, jab year end mein mera 1 year complete ho jayenga INFOSYS mein -

Tab SHAADI" he carefully listened.

"Toh iss baat ke wajah se - I am a little irritated.

And plus, kal Rohit ne marriage plans ke baare mein pucha - aur phir tune pucha ki - have you found your SPECIAL PERSON?"

"So, all these talks - jumbled up in my head - and I got annoyed."

After carefully listening to my entire so-called story, he finally spoke -

"Hmmm...DAD joh bhi bol rahe hain - ekdum sahi hain"

I stared at him curiously, thinking about - what is he trying to say.

"Tum DAD ki baat maanlo - at least Tere one-year completion wali party toh organize nahi karna padega - paise bach jayenge" he started laughing loudly, while I hit him with my bag.

"Hahaha...very funny" I gave an annoying look. He continued-

"Acha...woh toh thik hain -

But please tum summers mein Indore toh chale hi jaana -

Tumhari birthday party ke paise bach jaayenge - waise bhi aaj kal kharcha bohat badh raha hain."

He spoke mockingly and laughed loudly, as my irritation level increased.

TO BE CONTINUED.