Akira went to bed, but her heart was all restless. Unable to understand what was going on, she kept tossing and turning in her bed. She knew that Raymond would be having some solid reason behind doing all this but still it made her uncomfortable. It was such a huge step for her for she was still in her early twenties. Although she knew that it was temporary, still it was a big deal for her.

She kept mumbling to herself on the bed and then somehow she fell asleep.

---

The next morning when she woke up, she found one message from Vikram.

"Hey, I gotta go to Sweden for an urgent meeting. So will see you after two days".

"Don't miss me too much ok !!!" - Vikram

She instantly smiled after seeing his quirky message and then went to the washroom to get ready.

After reaching office she wanted to focus on the new work which was assigned to her by her mentor, but somehow her head was somewhere else. She was still thinking about the papers which she had signed yesterday. The same messenger boy came to collect it as well, but he didn't give her anything else. She was expecting some explanation from Raymond, but she got none. She kept opening and closing her blog but there was no hint from his side. There were so many questions building inside her, but there was no way to quench that thirst.

She was lost in her thoughts when suddenly the HR came to her desk and tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey, Akira !!!"

"Hi".

"Actually Vikram wanted me to give you the official invite card for the Tech Gala that is happening this Sunday. He told me you were his Plus One, so here you go", she said and handed the invitation card to Akira.

"Thanks, um... well not to be nosy, but as this would be my first time, can you just tell me how huge this thing would be? I mean in terms of number of people and stuff like that?", Akira asked politely.

The HR gently smiled and then said,

"The entire gaming and graphics fraternity would be there and I know that for sure because we are one of the prime funders for this conclave".

"So you mean to say all the gaming and graphic design companies have been invited to this conclave?"

"Yes, pretty much !!!"

"As in like all companies? Including startups?", Akira asked again curiosly.

"Yes, all the companies have been sent the invite. See this list here, it's huge", she said and flipped page after page showing Akira the hundreds of entries of people invited from different companies from the file that she was holding.

"Umm... if it's ok, then may I see the guest list?", Akira requested.

"Sure thing. Go ahead", she said and gave the file to Akira.

She scanned through the list and then suddenly her eyes locked into one name "Raymond Walker" and a smile etched on her face instantly.

She was excited to go the first gala with Vikram, but now her excitement multiplied manifold to see his name there. She couldn't control her excitement and excused herself and went back to her seat immediately.

She wanted to scream out loud just by knowing the fact that she could see him there.

She opened her blog post and wrote.

"Someone had once told me that even if I want to eat ice cream at 2 a.m. in the morning then I can call him. I just hope that the deal is still valid for today. Maybe my window will still be open". - Akira

Then she waited for more than 10 minutes for a reply but there was none. She knew that he might be busy but somehow her tiny heart expected him to reply as soon as possible. The latency was becoming unbearable for her.

Half an hour later when she heard the ping sound, she knew that her prayers have been heard.

"Cookies do crumble" @RodeoMaverick

She was so excited just to see his message that she could have just run around the whole place. But somehow she managed to tone it down and finished her work and went home.

She came inside her bedroom after dinner and went to her dresser to change her clothes. She remembered exactly where all his hands had explored her body and shied away from wearing anything short. After much thinking, she settled on a track pant and a loose t-shirt.

She then lied on her bed and started reading the Paulo Coelho book, which was yet to be finished. She was so nervous yet excited because it was for the first time that she was about to meet him in a well-arranged setup.

The anticipation and wait were killing her.

She was checking her watch every now and then.

Every minute was passing slowly like an hour for her.

Around 1:30 am, a message popped on her laptop screen.

"Cookies are packed and ready. The parcel is arriving soon" @RodeoMaverick

Akira read the message and jumped in excitement. She rushed to the washroom and brushed her teeth again. She was blushing continuously in anticipation of a kiss from him. She was so shy that she couldn't look at herself in the mirror.

Then she combed her hair all neatly and applied that strawberry lip-gloss that he had liked the last time. Then she went back to the dresser area and after much predicament, she changed into a satin shorts and a matching camisole.

She tied her hair up in a knot and left a few strands falling here and there. She looked really ethereal. She wanted to look nice but didn't want him to think that she was trying to look nice at the same time. Well, girls are complicated that way. Aren't they?

Then she went back to her bed and started flipping the pages of the book. She was looking at the words, the font but her mind was not reading anything. All that her heart wanted was for him to arrive as quickly as possible. She wanted to tell him that she was also going for the gala. She wanted him to see her in that nice maroon dress that she had got specifically for that Gala Night,

A couple of minutes later, she heard a soft knock on her window pane.

Her heart knew it was him.

She ran to the window pane and saw him waiting outside with a box of Cookie Crumble ice-cream in his hands.

He then came inside and looked into her eyes and asked,

"So were you really craving for ice cream or something else?"

Akira heard him but she couldn't lift her eyes up.