Stay With Me

CHAPTER 8: BLIND FAITH

ONE YEAR LATER

Akanksha:
"Anna! Anni! Breakfast ready! Seekram vaanga keela." I called out.
(Brother! Sister-in-law! Breakfast is ready. Come down quickly!)

"Akshu I'm getting late. Can you pack my breakfast?" Anna asked as he rushed down with a bag in his arm and tying his watch on his wrist.

"You should start getting up early. You should have breakfast on time, not as your lunch." I complained.

"Sorry Akshu, but I had to stay up all night to finish my work." He said with his apologetic face.

"Seri Seri. Edho. Go now." I said as I handed him his packed breakfast.
(Okay, okay. Whatever. Go now.)

"By the way, where's anni?" I asked as I looked around searching for her.

"Ah she's still asleep." He replied with a smile.

"Okay bye." He said waving at me and left.

I really had to rush. I couldn't wait till Anni came down. I put her upma in a casserole and left for work.

Ananya smiled at me when she saw me. She was doing someone's haircut. I signaled her to focus at her work and left to attend my client.

At lunch break, I saw Ananya giggling at her phone.

"What's the matter? You dating someone?" I asked. She giggled only if it were about a guy. I knew that much.

"Nah. I was checking out a few guys for you." She replied with a smile.

"Seriously? I think you're well aware that I'm not intere--"

"Then how do you have a type?" She asked cutting in.

"When did I tell you that I had a type?" I asked cluelessly. I never told her that.

"Don't you remember? You told that you were into older guys but not older than your brother to Dhruv Kapoor last year." She told.

I suddenly remembered the conversation we had. I completely forgot about it. I did think of Dhruv from time to time. I was awestruck when he asked for my number.

DHRUV KAPOOR asked for MY number! Like how cool was that? I didn't expect him to be so impressed by my work.

Even though I gave him my number, he hadn't called me throughout the year. He probably didn't think of me. I went back to Ananya's conversation.

"Okay, yeah. I do have a type. So? Did I ever tell that I'm interested in dating?" I asked with a slight irritation and frown on my face.

"You should date. Look at this guy. He's three years older." She said as she showed a picture of a guy from her phone.

"He's short." I said. She wasn't gonna let me go easily.

"So you like taller guys? How about this guy?" She said showing another picture.

"He has a beard." I answered with no interest. I was fed up.

I kept coming up with lame excuses to all the pictures of the guys she showed.

On the background, I wondered what Dhruv would be doing now.

Dhruv:
Even after a year, I still thought of Akanksha. I couldn't get her out of my mind. Though I had her number, I was hesitant to call without reason. I tried to look for a few opportunities for her but I didn't really get any.