Free The Promise by Nikita Singh Page B

had had company, other than professional, of a girl for lunch. He grudgingly admitted that he had liked it. It was something he could easily get used to. But he did not wish to. He had learnt all his lessons the hard way, and he did not cherish the thought of learning them again.

    He felt something different about Shambhavi. She was twenty-three and had achieved more than an average girl her age does, especially given her laidback attitude towards everything. She was carefree, followed her dreams and did whatever she felt like, with no pressure of the world. But when she was working, she got absorbed in it completely and an extraordinary spark shone in her eyes. He felt drawn to her. They connected at a deeper level-a bond that was shared because of their mutual love for art. He was a very observant person, always the one for details, but he had not got to know so much about her from sheer observation. Google had helped, just like she had told him it does. But most of it was still an observation.

 

    Love is like a fresh breeze, to the stifled. No wonder he found it impossible to resist.
    hat was that?' Shambhavi questioned, a bewildered look on her face and her hair looking equally wild. It only added colour to her cheeks and made her look more adorable. Arjun guessed it was because she travelled in her car, with the windows pulled down, in the hot summer day; it was the middle of July. He knew her car's air conditioner was not working; he remembered her ranting about it on their way back, after lunch the previous day.
    'I'm sorry? Can I help you?' he asked, trying to put as less emotion as possible in his tone.
    'What is this all about?' Shambhavi repeated, this time, shoving a small card in his face, which read,

    Arjun read the note and asked, 'I believe that was the note attached to the flowers I sent you?'

    'What do you mean you believe? You sent them, right? Don't you know?' Shambhavi's tone started getting more and more animated.
    'Technically ... Faisal sent them, from me,' Arjun dared.
    'Don't you get into all that, mister. Do you not know that sending a girl flowers raises expectations? Especially if it is after a first date? How could you do that to me? If you did not want to continue, fair and good, you should have just told me. Why the huge bouquet of flowers? And the box of chocolates?'
    'I just thought it was a decent thing to do.'
    'Really? That was your idea of putting me down easy? Guess what-it's your loss. I'll get thousands like you, you won't get a girl like me,' Shambhavi said, and with that, she turned to leave. 'I have left the flowers and the chocolates at the reception, you can have this card,' she threw it in the paper basket by his door.
    'Shambhavi-' Arjun tried to stop her, but she cut him off.
    'Yes, Mr Datta?'
    'Nothing,' he said, noticing that they were no longer on first name terms.
    'Good. Let's meet at 12:30 pm like planned, then?'
    'Sure.'
    As she walked out of his office, he glanced at his watch. 12:30 pm was exactly eight minutes away. She did not need to be so overtly theatrical about it. But that was who she was, gregarious drama and all. He was just relieved that it was over.

    When Arjun made it to the factory's east end-which was where they kept the first Arjun-made prototypes of all the pieces he had ever made-he saw that Shambhavi and her colleague Tutul were already there, along with Faisal.

    To his great relief, Shambhavi did not mention their interaction, or the date the previous day or anything personal at all during the entire time they took to tour the area and select items from it. In fact, she acted like nothing was off, as if nothing out of ordinary had happened. It felt like she had already moved on, like it had not affected her in the least.
    For some reason, Arjun did not like the feeling. Maybe because he was still a little disturbed inside, and she seemed to have forgotten all about it. And it had been just eight minutes.
    'This is it, I guess?' Shambhavi