"Show me the pictures of your article," asked Anamika, while she walked ahead of me towards her office. It was a clear morning. At about two minutes to ten, we entered her bastion.

I opened my iPad and held out to her as soon as she sat down in her high-backed white chair.

She flipped through it, satisfied, handed them over. "Use the second and fifth one. Also, check with the editor team on the article."

"All right."

"Who was the photographer?" she asked looking at her laptop with a casual note.

She raised her brow in acknowledgment when I told her it was Kushal. She murmured he being good at his job but should try different setups. I was astonished seeing her so observant of her staff without them knowing. Maybe that was the key to being a good leader.

"We can go ahead with the article for next month issue and see how people responds to it. Then we can decide its future," she continued typing on her MacBook with manicured fingers. "And about the dress, we can go in the evening to my sister's boutique on Worli Street. Apparently, she is too busy with upcoming fashion week."

I nodded as she sighed to herself. Before she could give me other work, my phone buzzed in my hand. I shot a glimpse at the familiar number before hitting the cut button. Why were they calling me? They didn't call as often as they were doing now. Somewhere in the corner of my mind, a thought struck. Were they okay? Ill? Or hurt?

"Sara?" a voice was heard from a long distance.

Quickly I came back at the place. Anamika regarded me with scrutiny.

"Never phase out in front of me. You get that?" she admonished in a harsh tone. "Now get back to Joyce before you are needed again."

With a short nod, I retracted my steps towards the exit. Sitting on the empty chair beside Joyce, who was busy dealing with a stream of phone calls, not giving me any attention, I thought just for a second, calling my father back or at least text, wanting to be assured of their well-being. Not that it meant to be in talking terms with each other. It just that I wanted them living their life peacefully come what may.

But I swallowed my urge when I saw texts sent from Kush. I found a lot of banter with smiley faces crowding my chat box. And it made me smile foolishly.

In another second, I saw another text pinged on the phone.

Hey, got a sec?

It was from Siddharth. Without delaying another second, I replied.

As a matter of fact, I do. Shoot.

I was appreciating my ability to be non-approachable when his reply came in an unexpected manner.

Sid stood there in front of me, knocking on the desk, wearing a smile that stopped the time.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed standing abruptly. Meanwhile, Joyce too stopped talking on her phone and stood gawking him, with astonishment written on her face.

"What are you doing here, Sid?" asked she, keeping a palm on the receiver of the phone. I looked to and fro, completely confused.

"Hi, Joyce," he smiled and she blushed scarlet red with a goofy grin spreading across her tight cheeks.

"Sir, I need to call you back," with that she kept the phone, probably hanging the other person on the phone in a middle, stepping from her desk to stand in front of him. The body language she executed was obvious, that I was assured of her feelings right away. She straightened the creases of her lime green formal skirt and batted her eyelashes, playing with a lone strand of her hair from her bun.

While it was taking place, I managed to sit back down on my chair and let the scene unfold in front of my eyes. As it was both, intriguing and discerning.

"I had a great time last night. I did not expect you to call on me so soon," she told in an undertone, with her eyes dilated with the clear attraction she felt towards him.

"Oh. It's not the only reason I came here, dear. You flatter yourself way too much," he said while letting his hand fixed inside his pant pockets.

"Oh, Sid! You are such a flirt!" she completely ignored what he so ineffectively suggested and giggled noisily.

"Well. What can I say? I carry inherent charm wherever I go," he smiled and turned towards me. "Excuse me Joyce, but I want to have a word with Miss Sara."

There was probably seconds when we looked at each other awkwardly.

"Of course," said Joyce finally and moved away, getting back to her desk. Sid motioned me towards the empty room before Anamika's office.

I followed him wordlessly with a wonder to myself that he attracted a lot of women just like that. And in which senses I kissed him, without thinking any of this first. Was I been one of those girls?

"Hey!" I almost collided with him once again as I didn't realize him stopping in front of me.

There he held me pressing his both hands on my arms, I looked his grey orbs, again felt my breath quicken and my senses alert with his strong touch. When he demonstrated the same kind of wonder seeing my face so close to his, and then moving the gaze to my lips. I would have lost in the moment of another chemistry or hormones ridden emotions, I cleared my throat and straightened myself. He let go and stood there with continuing wonder.

"I..." he began.

I raised my brow in question.

He looked away what looked like forming his mind over something. "I am just wondering who you are going with on the gala this weekend."

"Of course my boss," I blurted, confused.

"I mean, who would be your date?" he prompted.

"I don't know. I am taking Tanya and Kush with me and I am hoping your friend, Rishi comes back to India in time. As I am thinking of inviting him too." I said with hands on my hips. Still not understanding his reason to come down here. Well, probably I concluded that it had to do with Joyce. Clearly, they were dating.

"Okay," he paused to run his hands through his hair. "So...You are available."

I looked at his handsome features with disbelief. I couldn't know or assume what he was trying to suggest.

"It would mean a lot to me if you come with me to my date," he said, holding his breath while gauging my reaction.

"I don't understand," I murmured. "I will be engaged with Anamika. And she will not leave me even for a second. So I don't see a point."

"The point is, she will not be requiring you for the whole evening. And everybody comes with their partners. I am sure you will find my company very pleasant. Besides, I want to introduce you to somebody important to me."

"Don't talk in riddles Sid!" I retorted, not believing a word he was saying. The man was just flirting with the other secretary of my boss. What did he take me for?

"Come with me," he requested in a clear tone.

"I seriously don't understand you. Who are you? Yes, I think we are beginning to tolerate each other. Maybe even befriending each other. But you know perfectly well, that this thing between us has no meaning. What are you trying to accomplish by asking me?"

The veins on his face stood up, probably from the anger or blunt reply I was giving him. "I am not accomplishing anything. It is my pure wish you to take you this event and be with you the whole evening. You should try and accept the obvious attraction between us. You simply ignore the fact that we have something. Even if I am not the kind of a man, you want to be with." He said all that in one breath, with a passion I never heard before.

"Yes. That is obvious. You just went out with Joyce. Now, you are asking me. What's with that?" I responded without thinking a bit about what I was saying.

"You think you can read people, that you judge them well. Let me break a news to you, you are incapable of reading people. You are highly prejudiced and once you put the person in a bracket, you are done with them. And I know you are the one who got affected by this, by your impossible nature!" With that he walked off, leaving me to dwell on the things he said.

What was with him today? Why all of a sudden he was showing interest in me? It was true, though, that he was coming on to me strong, benefiting from my hormones whenever he was around. But I never thought of him being this serious. It was perhaps the first time since I saw him grim.

When I got back to Joyce, she observed me narrowing her eyes, asked me how did I know him. I told her from the meetings with JP house. She looked positively revealed before getting back at her work. The back question was on my tongue, but it took a considerable effort not to blurt it out.

The rest of the day proceeded with a cloud of grimness hanging above me. It hurt me to think that Siddharth would say something so harsh about me. Though what he meant was, I misjudged him, misjudged us being together. But he was a mystery for me. In the party at Viraj's apartment, I got to know him a little. The way he cared for me that time, making me appear strong in front of Viraj, made me like him as a genuine friend. But he being serious in a relationship seemed farfetched, especially with a girl like me. I hated to admit that he would get somebody like Anamika or with a similar rank and royalty as his girlfriend or probable wife, whenever he would decide to get serious and settle, which was not in the immediate future.

I couldn't even relish the exquisite silver metallic well-fitted gown, I got to select from Avni Vora's store. With a few tweaking it fit me well. On the other hand, Anamika chose herself fearless red gown, which flowed on the back. She looked nothing less of a powerful woman in the publishing industry. When all this was going on, I couldn't wait to get home and talk to Tanya about what happened with Sid. Maybe, she would give me insights and assure me that Sid was overacting without any reason.

However, when I got home, past nine, I saw Kush opening the door for me with a tentative smile on his face. Tanya stood beside him with a concerned look. My curiosity was satisfied as soon as my gaze fell on the couch. I almost didn't believe what I was witnessing. My parents were here in the house.

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