"It is really good to have you back Kavya, we missed you." As soon as Gaurav said those words, I heard Maya speak.

"He missed you." Maya said in a faint voice and tried to cover it up with a cough. The two of us turned to face her. I was not sure if Gaurav had heard her.

"Did you say something Maya?"

"Nothing Gaurav, I wanted to say you are right."

"All right then, get back to work."

"Sure." Maya said. As I turned to leave, Gaurav spoke.

"Not you Kavya, I need to discuss something with you."

"I'll see you later." Maya said to me before she left his cabin.

"Yes Gaurav."

He wanted to talk about the new cases he had taken up during my leave. I was relieved when he started talking. When he had asked me to stay behind, I thought maybe the speculations of the people around me were coming true and he would want to say something regarding that.

I met the usual gang for lunch.

"I hate you. I really totally absolutely hate you." Shreya told me.

"What?"

"Nothing to worry about, it is just that Maya told her Gaurav missed you." Neha explained.

"He never said I missed you, he said we missed you. That was because I wasn't there to attend the cases."

"And I didn't get a chance to ask you earlier, what did he want to tell you in private?" Maya asked before taking a bite of her food.

"He just wanted to brief me on the new cases we got in the two weeks I was absent."

"You think we would really believe that?" Shreya muttered. Was she seriously angry with me? She couldn't be right? That would be ridiculous.

"Believe me, I am telling the truth. Why would I lie?"

"You are a lawyer, you lie for a living."

"This is getting really weird guys. There is nothing going on between the two of us. You cannot be serious. I am fed up explaining this to you."

I hadn't realized my tone had become higher and I was now standing. Our table was attracting a lot of attention.

"Kavya, don't get so riled up, just sit down first. It is just that we love to pull your leg." Neha tried to calm me down.

"And I am not mad at you. Have a look at this." She said holding up her hand. There was a huge diamond ring on her finger.

"You are engaged?"

"Yep."

"I wanted to tell you in person. It happened last Sunday."

"To whom?"

" His  name is Sidharth. We were childhood friends. They shifted to London when we were in college. They recently came back and he expressed an interest to marry me. My parents were happy with the proposal, they asked me and I said yes. I mean he is a good guy."

"An arranged marriage?"

"Yeah, I couldn't believe too when she told me." Neha said.

"Even after being engaged you were mad at me because your crush probably liked me?"

"That was just our way of punishing you for ditching us for two weeks."

"Yeah she deserves punishment for taking a leave for two weeks." It was Gaurav. When did he come? Most importantly, how much did he hear?

"Hey Gaurav, didn't see you there." Neha said.

"Oh I just came in, so what punishment did you give her?" he asked.

So, he might not have heard much.

"Just some internal stuff, you wouldn't know about." Shreya said.

She gets engaged and gets the guts to talk to him? That is nice.

"So Kavya, Shyam is sending over one of his employees today around five. I would like  you to be there for the meeting."

"Sure Gaurav."

"Thank you," He said and turned to face the others, "okay then ladies enjoy your meal. See you later."

No one mentioned him again and the rest of lunch went peacefully.

There were no cases scheduled for the day, so I carried on with the paper-works of the new cases KR had taken up.

"Kavya, Gaurav wants you in his cabin. The employee from ArcTech is here." Maya said coming into my cabin.

"Okay, let me just get my notepad."

I was about to enter his cabin when I heard him speak.

"It is very nice to meet you Mr. Rathore." It was Amit. What was he doing here? How could he be the employee from ArcTech?

I couldn't attend this meeting. Call me a coward, but no; I was not ready to face him. Not after everything I had heard from his neighbours.

"It is always a pleasure representing ArcTech." Gaurav said. He hadn't seen me, so I hid behind the wall.

"You do seem familiar though." Amit said.

"So do you. We might have seen each other at the party."

Oh yes, the two of them had seen each other that day. That was why I had to run for the first time.

"What is taking her so long?" I heard Gaurav say.

"Is someone else attending this meeting?"

"Yeah, Kavya. She helps me with ArcTech cases."

I couldn't go in. I ran to Maya.

"Amit, he is my ex-husband, the guy who is with Gaurav."

"Oh no."

"What do I do now? I can't go in and face him."

"Tell Gaurav."

"No."

"Come on. He is going to come looking for you. He already knows you are divorced. He'll understand."

I took out my phone and called him.

"Kavya, why aren't you here?"

"I am sorry Gaurav, I didn't get a chance to tell you. I was not feeling well so I left. I forgot about the meeting. Maya just called me because she couldn't find me in the office. I am really sorry."

"You are not well? It is all right then. Take rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thank you Gaurav, I am really sorry."

"No problems. Take care."

He had believed me. Maya was not okay with the fact that I had lied to Gaurav, but she didn't press the matter further.

"I should leave before he comes out." I said and she agreed. I assembled my things as fast as I could and escaped from the reality.