The case of unrequited love

13 - A friendly rival!

The next morning, when Anu went to the office, she saw the room being empty. Karthik would always be on time but to her surprise he was not there.

For the first two hours she thought he might get late but beyond that she couldn't convince herself with any excuses.

Taking a day off is normal and accepted but a day off right after dealing with most unexpected things in the most unexpected way, kind of made her have suspicious thoughts.

The first thing she could do was, calling him but he didn't pick the call making things even more complicated.

During her break, she was wondering why Karthik was avoiding her which was too unprofessional to do and she was so sure Karthik would not do something like that, no matter what!

A great disappointment from her student decided the mood for the day.

Having all these thoughts she stepped out of her room to get some fresh air and that is when she saw Rajesh having a break too, holding a cup.

Figuring out that only Rajesh can clear her doubts, Anu made her way to the balcony he was standing near.

"Admiring the beauty of nature?" She started off the talk with a pleasant question.

Rajesh turned back to see the owner of this voice. As he did, a small smile escaped from him which was suppressed in no time.

"Uhum, Calculating the probabilities of survival if I push someone off of the rail," he came up with a sarcastic answer.

Trying to have a conversation with him or thinking of spending her break with him was a sin itself! "I must be stupid to assume that I can have a pleasant talk with you," Anu reconsidered her thoughts.

A loud laugh was his reaction to her regretting her decisions.

While she was leaving, he caught her wrist. "I am sorry," he apologized, trying his best to hold his laughter.

Anu somehow convinced herself and let things slide off for this time. She walked back again and leaned against the wall, resting her hands on the cold, steel handrail.

"Coffee?" he asked her to which she nodded her head, turning him down politely.

It was just a moment of silence for a while. Anu could hear the sounds of slurps near her left ear.

She took the chance and asked him about this brother. "Why didn't Karthik come?"

"Oh, he is on a break for - for a couple of days I guess. Wait, didn't he inform you?" Rajesh was surprised to acknowledge that Anu was not aware of Karthik's leave.

She nodded her head horizontally, being confused if she could answer him.

"I guess, he informed Lavanya Ma'am or Keerthana Ma'am," she said, assuring that he didn't take an uninformed leave to put him at ease so that he won't end up scolding his younger brother.

"Oh," Rajesh bobbed his head.

Anu was confused if she could ask him the reason for his leave. In the meantime, Rajesh finished drinking his coffee.

When he was gulping the last sip, "Is he sick?" Anu asked.

"I don't know. I mean, when I asked him he said that he was mentally disturbed. So... I didn't ask any further questions," he gave her enough information.

Rajesh looked at his watch and said, "I am done with my breaktime".

Moving back from the rail, walking towards the door, "It was definitely not a good time to spend my break with you, Darling," he left a bitter comment while walking out. It didn't surprise Anu at all because this is the least she could expect from him.