25

Months of restraint thickened the air of the Raizada office . Arnav was the kind of man novelists gushed about. A man who wore mystery like a second skin and intensity like his coat.

Soon after his heated discussion with Aman, he had doubled down upon himself. He was far too old for her. Of course he was. He had locked his thoughts up and thrown the key into the deepest crevices of his mind. Somewhere where they wouldn't hurt Miss Gupta.

With any other woman, he would have not wasted a moment once his interest was piqued . But with her? Something within him held him back.

But whatever it was, it wasn't strong enough.

Because he found himself reading everything she wrote. Incessantly.

College websites, previous essay entries, her resume and anything else he could get his hands on. He fed himself with her words. But his inexplicable attraction to her refused to be tamed.

Was it simply lust which drove him out of his damn mind? He didn't think so. He didn't want to believe it.

The memory of her in that white dress didn't fade. It transformed into a fantasy. A fantasy so forbidden that he punished himself by restraining himself to feasting upon just her words, and not her , like he really wanted to.

But he betrayed his own imprisonment every night. He dreamt of her entangled in his sheets. Her tresses ,caressed by his bare hands. The clinginess ,he wished in the deepest throes of his sleep , for her to have for him.

He was edging towards insanity. And he didn't even know her beyond her name and her skills of the written word.

What Arnav believed in firmly was that he just needed to stay away. Time will fade away his infatuation and heal his obsession.

His phone lightened up with a text, breaking his spiralling thoughts.

Akash: Bhai, can we meet for lunch?

---

Fiddling with the napkins on the table, Akash let out a breath, looking unlike his usual steady self.

"Out with it" , Arnav smiled, pushing back his sleeves till his elbows.

"I am in love , bhai", Akash settled back against his chair.

At that, Arnav raised a brow."Who is it?"

"Payal Gupta. She is an engineer, works at Quicknac. Dadi knows her family and-she is...I met her when I went with Naina to the Lucknow art bazaar. It just-she is.."

"I get it", Arnav chuckled looking at his brother, who was now all flustered."I am very happy for you, Akash. About time, I say because mami was about to organise a Swayamvara for you"

Akash laughed."You'll be pleased to know that ma moves on at the speed of lightning. Her eyes are all on you now"

Arnav rolled his eyes, "I am pretty sure that she has given up. Anyway, when is the wedding? Aman will be dying to host a buck's night"

"Soon bhai, soon", Akash grinned.

---

Slipping the unbuttoned shirt away , Arnav settled down against the olive green chaise with a sigh of relief. It had been an extremely taxing day. In addition to work, mami had called him with an offer of dinner with an industrialist's daughter, dismissing his disinterest with glee.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he fervently willed himself to not drift to thoughts of her. He had enough for one day.

His phone blared, Aman's name beaming across it.With a curse, Arnav picked it up.

"What now?"

"Akash is getting married"

"I know", Arnav suppressed the urge to click the phone shut.

"Did you know how small the world is?"

"Aman. Cut the crap"

"Her sister is the girl you are pining for"

No.No. This wasn't happening to him. No.

Earth shifted, icebergs trembled, ocean floors shook and Aman Sinha laughed. After all, it wasn't everyday that ASR realised the universe's mysterious ways of working against him.

The click signalled that Aman had left him to his misery.

Was it really a misery? Now he was forced to rethink. He needed to patch up a solution. For his sake. And most definitely, hers.

-----

Author's note:

Thoughts?