To Love Or Not To Love| A FEATURED STORY

Chapter 7

Anya contemplated on her dress. She didn't want to dress to impress, and she didn't want it to be casual either. She wore block-printed ethnic pink palazzos with a plain off-white top, accessorised with simple silver jewellery and wore her ballerina flats. It was both conservative and modern. She was a tall woman, about five feet nine inches and felt comfortable in flats as she towered over most of her colleagues in the office. But Ajay was much taller. She guessed, he was more than six feet tall.

She locked her apartment by 12.25 p.m. and entered the narrow lobby at the apartment entrance. At precisely 12.30 p.m. Ajay's Ford Ecosport made an appearance. She was still amazed at his choice of a car. He did not opt for a very pricey vehicle given he had a six-digit salary which might sooner than later turn to be a seven-digit one.

He got out of the car dressed in well-fitted jeans and a crisp, casual shirt, paired it with his Gucci watch, and aviators. His casual look struck her. She was somehow in the impression that he would even sleep in his suits and was born to wear those. An admiring smile crept on her painted red lips.

"Hi, Mr Mullapudi. You look so different in this, in a very nice way. I thought you were born in suits. Very much unexpected," her honest observation brought a genuine smile to his face, which had an unlikely effect on her altogether. She was captivated by his smile. She felt special to have seen it.

"And, I'm completely impressed by your punctuality. I thought I need to wait here for a couple of hours before you make an appearance."

She quirked a brow at his comment, "Not all women are the same, Mr Mullapudi."

"Yes, I agree. So shall we go? And it is Ajay to you," he led her to his car and opened it for her. As she adjusted her seat, he gently closed the door and moved to the driver's side.

Once they were buckled and moving, Anya's curiosity got better of her, "I can't bear this suspense, so where are we going Mr Mullapudi?"

"Patience Anya. We'll be there shortly," he chided.

"Impatience is my middle name, and I hate surprises. Please tell me," she pestered, yet again not gaining any reply from him. It was as though he had turned deaf to her plea.

After a few more tries, she gave up and looked out the window to know which way they were travelling. She couldn't make out head or tail of her route. She tried to draw out her cell phone to get the location, but Ajay interrupted, "Did I tell you that you look lovely today?"

"No...." she dragged out the reply narrowing her eyes on him.

"You look very lovely today. Not that you didn't look better yesterday," he said lamely.

"Thank you?"

She sensed he was trying to distract her and wanted to see how long he would keep up this pretense.

"Anya, it's Ajay!"

"I don't think we are that far gone in whatever this is, to address you like that," she reasoned.

"I'll stick to Ms.Rao then?"

"That's truly your choice Mr Mullapudi. Since you are already calling me Anya, don't you think it's simpler to stick by it?"

He couldn't deny her side of the argument and nodded in acquiescence. Now he was clueless on how to proceed further with their conversation.

"Did you watch last night's Cricket match? India Vs Pakistan? Asia Cup?"

"Mr Mullapudi! I was in that pub with you almost all night and reached my place at 1 a.m. By then, the match was pretty much over. We discussed it last night in our ride back home."