12/11/2019 - Tuesday- Chennai

Shiva's P. O. V :

I was in my office looking at the office account at Facebook.

The followers count has been frozen for the past three months. No improvement.

My last client fucked me up ,by getting the plan and escaping without paying.

Hari had a small finance company to support the income from this office. Karthick would come here time to time to check on us, He has opened his own materials shop. We also had one draftsman.The two interns were freshers. We had a pune Anna.

And paying them every month was my biggest struggle.

I took out money from my personal account to pay the interns.

" Dude, start working on that Hema project. You are wasting your time! " Hari said.

The new intern at the corner smirked lightly behind his screen.

The more I thought about my issues, I more tired I was. I needed a break.

I shook my head and something crossed my mind.

" Is Aparna really close to Shwetha? " I asked Hari.

" Yeah " He said.

I quickly opened Shwetha's account in facebook and ran over her friends list.

" You are a shameful creature " Hari said.

" Shut the fuck up " I said as I found the profile I was looking for.

" Your Anni decently would have given Aparna's number! " Hari said.

" I really didn't feel like getting her number. But I can't stop thinking now " I said.

I don't usually spill my secrets easily, but with Anni, I felt so much liberated. She gave me the space I needed, and I didn't know why I told everything.

" Aparna Khatri "

The profile opened up with a picture of her, turned back, meditating sitting on a beach.

" Friends call me Appy.

Architect by profession,

Artist by heart "

Her account was private and I could see nothing else.

I took a long breadth and clicked the friend request.

" As if she would accept a request from a stranger. " Hari said.

I hit on the back of his head and closed the page.

After an hour, I was working in AutoCAD when the notification popped on my screen.

" Aparna Khatri accepted your request. You are friends now"

I was surprised and called Hari to look at the message.

I instantly opened her profile and started scrolling down her feed.

It was filled with pictures that she took with her friends in college, parties, forests and beaches.

Her life seemed more interesting than my project drawing.

She graduated by 2018 . She must be two years younger than me.

Then a photo caught my eyes, it was on her sister's wedding. She was standing near my brother and Anni. They all looked happy. They were at some temple.

" They do look like twins. I can totally understand why you were confused. " Hari said from my behind.

" Don't peep " I said and shooed him away.

As I scrolled down, I saw another pic of her turned back, her hair tied into a bun above her head, revealing the tattoo on the back of her neck.

The tattoo had a group of birds flying together. And the word " Free bird " Was written above them.

My phone rang and brought my attention back to reality.

It was Anjali. She has been trying to talk to me from the morning.

She might start another drama. I cursed myself and picked up the call.

" I am sorry, Shiva. " She said.

" Mmm " I said.

" Talk to me " She said.

" I am at work. " I said.

" Okay, I just called to remind you that, we are supposed to go for dress shopping this Friday. " She said.

" I can't take leave from my office on Friday , I took leave yesterday " I said.

" Look, if I say anything you would take it in the wrong way. " She said.

" You are going to buy what you like. There is no use for me . " I said.

" Please, come with us. I need you to select my engagement saree. I am leaving to Theni this weekend. " She said.

" Okay, I'll come " I said, as if I had another option.

" Good. Take care , bye " She said and cut the call.

I brought my eyes back to the pic on my screen.

I logged out of Facebook and closed the browser. This was my reality. Aparna would always remain the dream I can't touch.

" Hey, don't loose hope " Hari said.

" I didn't have anything, to loose it now " I said and went back to my cad drawing.

The office landline rang and I picked up the call.

" Shiva and associates " I said. Hari was looking at me.

" It's Hema here " A lady spoke from the other side.

I signalled Hari that it's the makeup lady. He mouthed " Oh shit! ".

" Yes ma'am, it's Shiva here. We are currently working on the plan for your beauty parlor. We would send you the finished plan within two days. " I said.

" That won't be necessary " She said.

I was confused.

" Why ma'am? " I asked her.

" We have got the plan and interior design from another firm" She said.

I was breathing out and I was sure that people could see steam coming out of my nose and ears. I recollected my posture and talked to her.

" Okay ma'am, but you are supposed to pay us for the plan we worked out for you " I said.

" Why should I? I didn't get the plan from you. " She said in a sarcastic tone.

Hari was beside me trying to calm me down.

" Then what about the work that we did? Is it a play for you? That you can keep changing the engineer whenever you like? " I asked her ,getting up from my seat.

" Hello, that's my interest. You asked 10,000 for the plan. I got a more efficient one at 4,000. It's not like I gave a written document to you, even now I took effort to inform you. You should be thankful " She said.

" You fat ass bitch! How dare you! I curse you to run into a loss! " I shouted in the phone and she hanged up the call.

" Thankful my ass! " I shouted to Hari.

He was holding me down.

The interns looked at me shocked. I rushed to the backside of the office and shut the door loudly.

I was tapping my fingers tensed. After few minutes I sat down on a chair and closed my eyes.

Hari came in slowly.

" Don't try to console me " I told him.

He sat near me silently.

" It's okay " He said.

" This is not how I imagined my career to be. I can digest failures but what about these fucking frauds! " I said as a small tear escaped my eye.

Hari patted my shoulders and helped me to stand up.

" Let's cross through this, our time is near. We just need to wait. Time will answer our efforts." He said.

" That's what I don't have! Time! " I said.

" Anything can happen in three months Shiva! " He said.

I smiled sarcastically at him and walked back into the office.

By afternoon, a message popped on my phone. It was a notification from Facebook.

" Hi! " A single message from Aparna.

My heartbeat stopped and I was completely petrified.

" Hari! " I screamed at him and he rushed to my place.

I showed him my phone and his face reflected the shock on mine.

" What should I do? " I asked him gulping hard.

" Text back! " He said.

" I don't feel like it is the right thing to do" I said confused.

" You are the fucker who sent her friend request. Now, suddenly you talk about right thing. You will be engaged in about a week anyway. Talking to her won't make a difference , but you will be free of your regret. " He said.

I nodded at him and turned back to my phone.

What's wrong with a simple text?

She can change nothing in my life.