On the Run

Chapter 7: Real Intentions

Flashback continues...

I had been observing the girl for nearly a minute when I noticed that her phone was buzzing continuously. However, she seemed to be in a world of her own...should I go and tell her it's ringing? What if it's something important? Before I knew it, I found myself walking towards her table.

When I finally reached her table, I attempted to get her attention by speaking to her first. It was of no use! She just looked at me and continued to stare. Having no other choice, I started moving my hand in front of her face to bring her out of her trance.

She stood up rather abruptly and said, "Madhyam? Madhyam Singhania...? Hi, I'm Nandini Murthy."

I was about to introduce myself when I realised what had just happened. Did she just refer to me as 'Madhyam Singhania'? As in Mukesh Singhania's son Madhyam?

Who are you Ms. Nandini? Why are you meeting with him? I found myself contemplating all this and saw a rather confused look on her face.

Without thinking I replied, "Yes, Hi! I'm Madhyam."

If she was connected to the Singhanias in any way, I had to figure out exactly how...maybe it would come in handy. I decided to pretend to be Madhyam just to see where it led.

As soon as we sat down, I immediately asked her who she was. However, her answer dissatisfied me a great deal. She started talking about her educational qualifications and her professional achievements. Wait a second, was she applying for a job? What kind of a person interviews a candidate in a lounge? No, it couldn't be!

"Is this a job interview?"I asked, in order to confirm that it wasn't.

She seemed even more puzzled and answered in the negative. So, I was right! The meeting was of a personal nature. Was she on a dinner date with Madhyam? And she had never seen him before? How strange! At the same time, I began to envy him...why did a douchebag like him deserve somone as gorgeous as Nandini? That Madhyam was one lucky bastard!

When I finally reigned my thoughts in, I tried a different approach to make her talk. When I asked about her passion, she blurted out, "Stars, fireflies and music."

She then started to tell me the reason she loved stars so much. She had a beautiful sparkle in her eyes as she spoke about her childhood. I realised how different she was from others. She had experienced such tragedy at a young age but nothing seemed to dull her shine. When she completed her story, she seemed embarassed by what she had just revealed.

"I'm sorry,I didn't mean to burden you with my family history. It's probably too heavy a topic to discuss on a first date." She said.

At that moment my personal agenda, flew out the window! I found myself holding her hand in an attempt to comfort her.

"Hey, It's okay. I'm sorry about your parents. I'm sure they would have been very proud of you!" I said, smiling, meaning every word of it! I continued to stare at her for a few seconds. Suddenly, I realised what I was doing and immediately let go of her hand. Manik, why are you behaving like some love-struck teenager? Get the requisite information on the Singhanias and leave!

In an attempt to change the topic, I asked her, "So, you like music?"

When she told me about her fascination for music, I couldn't help but smile. Music was such an important part of my life. My band Fab Five had made a name for themselves in the world of progressive rock music and we were going to sign an album deal very soon...but now that I was a fugitive, would that be the case? I didn't know anymore.

When she asked me about my passion, I told her how important music was to me. I nearly revealed my identity...but controlled myself at the last moment! What was this girl doing to me? I'd never been so careless before!