EDITED CHAPTER#8

Mihir was great at what he did. Not only did he manage to give us a detailed explanation of exactly how our three months would be spent, but also helped us get accustomed to the office staff by introducing us to the core members that we would be working with.

And I will admit; I loved the whole time. So much so that by the end of the day, I found myself purposefully slowing down my walking pace so that I could strike a conversation with him.

I clutched the strap of my purse, fidgeting with the work schedule that we'd been given and pretended to read it with utmost care.

"Hey." He had seen me, and he had called. I found my lips curled into a smile reflexively.

I turned around, putting on a bewildered face,

"Oh hi!"

He flashed me a smile and jogged up to me,

"You in a rush?" he asked.

And though I was not the kind of girl who'd been flirted with or hit on a lot of times, I knew what was coming next. The shyness in his earlier confident smile and the nervous look in his eyes were the testimony to my guess.

My mind blanked out instantly.

He was going to ask me out.

And I was not ready to say yes. Not when I was so hung up on Aakash.

Not when I knew he was my boss.

"Oh. Yeah, I kind of have an errand to run." I was surprised to hear the conviction in my tone, almost as if I really were going to run an errand.

He was walking with me towards the elevator and was quick to respond, "I see."

A silence crept in the air next, and I wondered if I had come across as too harsh to him. Apart from not wanting to hurt his feelings, I wanted to make sure I hadn't riled up my senior for that would lead to a bumpy start to my designing career.

When the elevator reached our floor, we quietly entered and I watched as he selected the ground floor for us.

"Just uh..." he cleared his throat next, "...just putting this out there. I'm only your temporary boss." At this, he turned to gaze at me.

"As in?" I asked.

"As in, if you manage to land yourself a job here after this training, you will be reporting directly to the Design Head. So, Dev is your boss in the literal sense of it."

I tucked a stray chunk of hair behind the curve of my ear awkwardly, now realizing the reason behind his sudden explanation of the organizational hierarchy of SENSES.

He wanted to make sure I wasn't hesitating with going out on a date with him just because of his seniority.

"I...I see."

But where things had seemed flattering at first, now they felt rushed and too forward for comfort.

How were men so fast? Like seriously, how much did he even know me to get to the point of asking me out like this?

The very next second however, a weird, feminine instinct kicked in and I realized I was certain that Mihir was a decent man. He didn't mean any harm. 

I sighed. What was I to do with his decency if I was just not ready for the kind of an exchange he seemed to want to indulge in?

A thousand thoughts raced through my head all at once.

Mihir had been very nice to me, and he didn't seem like the inappropriate kind.

A small part of me; albeit a really small one; seemed to want to give it a shot. If I didn't start doing normal things like letting other people in, how would I possibly move on? Aakash hadn't reached out, and he was leaving. That was a closed door now, I had to accept it.

Mihir said nothing the next couple of minutes in the elevator, and I tried to look relaxed and scrolled through my phone aimlessly.

We walked out to the parking lot and I watched as within a couple of seconds, the last few rays of the sun hid behind the horizon. The sky began to grow pitch dark. I dug into my purse bringing the car keys out.

"Can I drop you somewhere?" I found myself ask.

Mihir looked surprised, "That's...thoughtful of you, but I...think I should carry on."

"You'll be taking a train?" I asked; ignoring his response and getting a feeling that he did not belong to the town side of the city.

He nodded lightly, glancing at his watch. Bingo.

"Where do you stay?" was my next question.

"Andheri."

"Come on in." I called out, walking towards my car.

"Aditi, I'll manage-"

"-and I said come; Mihir."

"But I'll be taking a local train-"

"-and I'll drop you to the Churchgate Station...." I insisted, as he opened his mouth to say something but then shut it, "It's on my way."

"Okay." he replied at last.

We seated ourselves in my car and I revved the engine to life, driving out of the office compound. The car seemed to have filled up with a weird fragrance of caffeine mixed with a men's cologne. There was something rather soothing about the fragrance, something I knew I would attribute to Mihir forever in the future.

I gulped to myself nervously, as I made up my mind.

"You'd asked if I was in a rush." I started quietly.

He glanced my way momentarily, "I think you know why I did." Words spoken in earnest. "I don't want to come across as too forward or anything, but um, irrespective of the whole work situation we are in, I would like to take you out some time."

Well, full marks for collected thoughts. Maybe Aakash could learn a thing or two from this man.

"Oh." I found myself reply. "I'm not sure about this, but uh, I'm free on Friday."

When he smiled, it reached his eyes. He was one of those people with awfully benevolent smiles, the kind that made you feel safe and comfortable.

"Friday then." He said.

I nodded, and then after a pause, "But there's a problem."

"What?"

"I hate coffee."

An amused smile played at his lips as he queried, "How did you know I was going to take you for coffee?"

"You smell like a caffeine addict."

He laughed, "Does that bother you?"

"If it does, it will be very hypocritical of me."

He folded his arms before his chest, now clearly intrigued, "And why is that?"

"I love tea. All sorts of it."

"That doesn't make you a caffeine addict now, does it?"

I shook my head. "Before brewing, tea leaves actually have more caffeine than coffee beans. So yes, it kind of does make me a caffeine addict too."

Mihir grinned, something gentle and steady about his gaze. "That was some interesting trivia right there."

I shrugged.

"I know exactly where to take you."

I returned his smile with one of my own and we both reveled in the silence that consumed the air thereafter, until, "So GenEx paid you a lot huh?"

It was my turn to look amused, "What makes you say that?"

He patted the dashboard of the car animatedly, exclaiming, "A Volkswagen Vento. With the rent and the EMI, I don't think it would leave much of my salary for food!"

I grinned at the honesty of his statement, "It's my Father's car."

"Oh." He almost whispered, "...so you're a Mumbaikar?"

"Aren't you too?"

"Yes but by birth I mean."

I nodded in response.

"And you?" I asked, changing gears.

"I'm from Chandigarh, well a small town in the outskirts of Chandigarh."

I nodded at that.

"...my entire family lives there. I came here for my bachelors." He continued.

"So you've rented an apartment I'm guessing."

"Yes. Two other guys stay with me. They were lucky to have their offices close enough."

I gave him a short, sympathetic glance at that as we neared the station and I halted the car in front of the last red light before we reached our destination.

"Hey don't feel sorry for me! I assure you, none of them work for a company like SENSES." He beamed and I could clearly see just how proud he was of his job.

I smiled, pulling up in front of the station entrance.

"Thanks for the lift." He said, stepping out of the car.

"No problem."

But right when he shut the door to leave I ended up blurting,

"-Mihir-"

"-yeah?" he turned immediately.

"Uh...um...do you..." I stuttered vehemently at which; I took a pause; followed by a deep breath and continued, "Do you mind texting me once you reach?"

He looked at me questioningly.

"I mean...as in let me know that you've reached safely."

The smile on his face first changed from surprised to pleased and finally he gave a very shy grin nodding.

"I just feel responsible when I drop somebody you know..." I justified again.

"You don't need to explain. I'll text you. Thanks once again." He said and giving me his trademark goodbye salute walked into the station.

***

A/N

Eeeeeeep. First chapter with a proper Mihir moment! I hope it came out well. And I'm sorry that this chapter is not as long as I have been writing normally.

Let me know how you guys liked it.

And don't forget to vote, comment and share! :)

~kimayaa a.k.a. Ankita