Suman hurriedly wrapped the scarf around her neck, all thanks to the little mark Shravan had placed ever so gracely with his teeth the previous night.

Last night, thanks to Shravan's way of marking her his, she didn't have it in her to video call her family back home. And to top it off, more than half her night was spent in tossing and turning. With barely of 2 hours of proper sleep, she ended up waking a little later than usual and was now in a rush for work.

"Good morning Sugar!" Her friendly neighbour, Mrs Peterson greeted her to which she hurriedly replied.

"Oh wait for me, I'm using the elevator as well." She called out and soon entered the elevator with Suman.

"Hmm late for work I see."

"Yes. I hardly got a wink of sleep last night due to which I couldn't leave my bed. And your London's weather is to be blamed as well." Suman said making the old lady chuckle.

"Hardly got a wink of sleep eh? Any boy in the picture?" The lady cocked her brow making Suman's smile falter.

"N-no." She blushed.

"Well your crimson cheeks say a different story." Mrs Peterson said amused.

"Got to go!" Suman said relieved as the elevator soon stopped on the ground floor.

"Will continue the talk later!" Mrs Peterson semi-yelled making Suman shake her head. She was glad to have found such an amazing neighbour indeed.

"Woah, you're pretty late." Samantha commented as soon as Suman burst in through the kitchen door.

"Sorry, I slept late last night." She murmured as she tied her hair in a bun, wore the apron and began peeling the skin off the potatoes that were to be used in the chicken cutlets.

"Naah it's alright. You're just half an hour late though." Samantha shrugged her shoulders.

"Men!" Riya screamed in frustration as she burst in. The kitchen, that stocked food, was her happy place and would always come here whenever she was in a bad mood. The other employees continued with their work as this was something normal, however Suman was quite shocked at her sudden entry into the kitchen and this was the first time Riya had come in so unexpectedly since her arrival.

"All good Riya?" Suman asked.

"Yeah. It's just, these men are a big nuisance!"

"What did Rishi Sir do?" Suman laughed, partially due to Riya's face that had turned red in anger.

"Not your Rishi sir. It's his stupid brother, Jay. Last week he told me he's in love with my cousin, Natasha." Riya said.

"Awwh what's bad in that?" Suman asked.

"No there's nothing bad in it, I'm happy. The thing is he told me about this and how serious he was about my cousin and he even said he'll take the first step in confessing his love. Now, he wants to back off because 'Mr Jay Mehra', the one who has been in the school debate team I might add, is scared to say a simple 'I Love You'." She sighed out.

"Voh usse jaanta hai?" Suman asked to which Riya nodded. "Phir problem Kya hai?! Yeh ladke bhi na!!" Suman exclaimed and her thoughts drifted off to Shravan. How similar are these two stuck love stories!

"Woah you got riled up over that." Riya said amused, "Unless the same thing has happened to you?" She cocked her brow with a lopsided grin.

"Psssht, noo. I mean I don't know about the 'guy' but I doubt it's happened." Suman shrugged. The last thing Suman wanted was for Riya to find out that she was talking about the very same person who happens to be Riya's friend, her boyfriend's close friend as well as Suman's, herself, best friend.

"Riya, where have you been? Jay's been trying to phone you." Shravan said as soon as he entered, but his eyes fell on Suman who was averting his gaze and continued slicing the potatoes.

"Mujhe uss gadhe se baat nai karni." Riya huffed making Shravan sigh.

"Look, he's phoning me again." Shravan said showing him his phone. " Come on yaar speak to him." He sighed but Riya shook her head vigorously.

"Fine I'll explain to him." He said and Suman fought back the urge to scoff at that.

"Jay yaar. Stop calling me." He said irritated.

"Yeah but she doesn't wanna talk to you bro."

"She's not at fault as well. I mean you know how excited she was when you told her you're gonna confess your feelings to her cousin."

"So? Just because of a stupid 'I'm afraid of rejection' or 'I don't want to lose her friendship' you're gonna miss out a chance you're getting on confessing your love? Bro, you're stupid." He said.

'Khud buddhu hai aur doosro ko buddhu bulata hai. Hmmph.' Suman thought.

"Listen, if your friendship is strong enough, it won't break no matter what. And rejection is better than the regret of not revealing your feelings. Who knows, you'll could've had a chance together?" Shravan explained.

"Look who's talking." Suman muttered making Shravan narrow his eyes at her.

"Listen, speak your heart out and whatever will be the outcome, will be taken care of. And besides, you must be stupid for thinking she doesn't love you. Haven't you seen the way she looks at you, the way concern overtakes her when anything small happens to you, how she keeps on inquiring about you? Dude, she loves you! Even a blind person would know." Shravan said making Suman scoff mentally.

"Gadhe, khud bada lecture deta hai, jab khud ki baat aaye, toh confess nai kar sakta." She again muttered as Shravan gave her another look. He's been noticing her mutter to herself incoherently, after almost each sentence.

What's up with her?

"Sumo!" Aditya barged in but soon composed himself as soon as he saw Shravan and Riya there as well. "I mean Suman, I need to discuss something extremely important with you. Please come with me for a minute." He said in a civilised tone as Suman nodded before removing the apron she had tied over her outfit. Shravan's hand immediately reached his forehead as if trying to subdue an incoming headache.

"Just make sure, to confess before someone steals her from you." He muttered to Jay before hanging up.

"What's with the last sentence you just told Jay?" Riya raised her eyebrow as she stood up. She had been observing Shravan from the time he returned from India. He was lost most of the time, but his behaviour changed a lot since Suman's arrival. She knows Shravan drinks occasionally but is not a heavy drinker. Maximum two glasses. But he was so drunk the previous night that he didn't remember a single thing when he got up that morning. She couldn't help but connect everything to Suman. "I've been noticing you quite lately. Is it related to Suman?" She asked making Shravan widen his eyes but masked it with a sarcastic look before turning to look at Riya.

"Dude, you know me. I'm not the one to be affected by girls, and Suman is no exception. So there's no specific reason behind my behaviour which may seem weird to you in any way." He said before answering his phone.

"Sumo! Listen." Aditya said as he took Suman to a bench in the office's garden and made her sit on it. He immediately sat on the bench right opposite hers.

"You're a girl right?" He asked as sumo widened here eyes in disbelief.

What in the world!?

"Adi, did you really call me all the way here, to ask me a very stupid question? And what did you think? Just because I told you to call me Sumo doesn't mean I'm a guy from the inside." She said irritated.

"Sorry sorry. Just that, I'm scared."

"What happened?" She asked.

"Listen, don't tell anyone. The thing is, today's my girlfriend's birthday and I literally remembered it just now. She's gonna be super mad if she gets to know I forgot it. And to make it worse, I didn't even get her a gift." Aditya said with a worried expression.

"What!? You forgot her birthday?! Are you for real?" Suman exclaimed.

"Arrey, you're reacting to it, as if it's the world's most evil crime committed." Aditya said. He called her for help, but the way she reacted to it made him even more scared.

"Of course it is! Forgetting important dates in a relationship is a crime! If there was a couples rule book, I'm sure this would be enlisted!" She said.

"But I forgot!" He whined like a little baby making her grumble.

"The last time I also forgot it and she hadn't talked to me for a week! Can you imagine?! I mean who goes berserk on someone for having forgotten your birthday?" Aditya said as Suman gave him a 'you're dumb' look.

"Good! If my boyfriend had to do that, I wouldn't have talked to him for a month I'm sure. By the way, let me think."

"What does she love?" She asked.

"Me." Came his immediate reply with a grin making Suman glare at him.

"Then do one thing, gift wrap yourself and courier 'you' to her." Suman said as she stood up and was about to walk off but Aditya was fast enough and pulled her back to sit down.

"Shaant meri ma, shaant. Okay, she loves dresses, jewelleries, all that a normal girl loves. Ms Sumo wrestler." He teased her making her wack his arm.

"Wait, I remember her once saying about a gown she had seen but couldn't buy since it was a little expensive. Unfortunately I wasn't with her at the mall or I would've bought if myself." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Great! We'll go see if the dress is still there, if it is, you're really lucky, or else plan B." She said. "By the way, do you know which shop she saw it in?"

"Yeah. Uhmm Mahir." He said.

"Perfect! Today, straight after work you and I are going there. Samjhe?" Suman said making Aditya bump his fist in the air in excitement.

"Thank you thank you so much!" He exclaimed as he hugged her making her laugh as she patted his back.

"By the way? Is there someone in the picture?" He winked as he broke the hug.

"Someone in the picture? Which picture?" Suman asked confused.

"Meaning you yourself said , 'If my boyfriend had to forget my birthday, I wouldn't have talked to him for a month'." He said immitating her.

"No!" She blushed.

"But your blush says something else." He teased. "Awwwh Suman is in love!" He exclaimed making Suman chase him around the garden throwing small stones at him as he laughed.

However their little fun moment was spotted again by a pair of blazing eyes. The scene in front of him had both angered and hurt him beyond limits. Closing his eyes in frustration, he sped out of the office as he made his way to his car and drove off.

'Have I really lost her?' He pondered as a tear made it's way down his cheek.

》》●●●●●●●●●●●《《

It was nearing midnight, when she bid Aditya goodbye. She looked back at her kitchen that was filled with dirty dishes and decided on just placing them in the sink, too lazy to wash them up. As it is, the next day was Sunday, which meant the firm was closed for the day. She decided on trying on the dress she had seen on sale earlier that evening when she was looking for Aditya's girlfriend, Amaya's dress.

It was a royal blue coloured Anarkali that reached her feet. It had gold working on the top half and a trail of gold beads in a single line from the waist onwards. As she was zipping the dress up from the back, her door bell rang. Curious to know who it would be at that odd hour of the night, she just wrapped a shawl around, covering her bare back and opened the door.

"Tum!?" She asked shocked. "Tum yahan Kya kar rahe ho?"

"Kyu? Aditya tumhare ghar aa sakta hai Lekin tumhara Bachpan ka best friend nai?" Shravan asked a little angry as he made his way inside.

"What do you mean Shravan?" She asked annoyed.

"Itna innocent mat bano." He said roughly as he took a step towards her.

"You know what!? Just get lost!" She said as she stomped her foot and turned around to walk away, when she felt cool air hitting her back. She realised her shawl had slipped off and when she bent down to get it, she saw Shravan staring at her wide eyed.

Not knowing what overcame him, he walked towards her as if he was in a trance. He stopped just when her back hit the wall and he was right in front of her. Their bodies weren't touching but the heat that emenated from their bodies was enough to build that tension in the air.

Without a contact, he wounded his arms around her and his hands found their way to the zipper of her dress.

"Tumhe sambhal kar rehna chahiye. Agar koi aur hota toh?" He said as he slowly, very slowly pulled the zipper up with his fingers grazing her back, making her hair stand erect.

"Vaise voh Aditya yahan Kya kar raha tha?" He asked as soon as he zipped the dress. As he asked that question the tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach was replaced with anger.

What in the world!

"Tumse Kya huh? Aur tum hote kaun ho yeh sawaal puchne?" Suman asked angrily. "Listen, tumne mujhe, hum sabko aise hi chod aaye. So you really have no right to interfere in my life. Main kaha jaati hoon kisse milte hoon, yeh sab tumhe jaanne ka haq nai hai!" She said a little softer but in a firm voice.

"Kyu huh? Kya voh Aditya tumhare liye itna special ho gaya ki tumne mujhe, apne best friend, ko bulaya?" He asked as he fisted his hands around her arms. She flinched as it hurt her, but he didn't move back. She had to answer his question.

"Kaunsa best friend? Kaisa best friend? Mera best friend Mera chashmish, mera Shravan tha. Tum toh The Shravan Malhotra ho. I don't know you." She said as her eyes glistened with tears but she looked away and blinked back her tears. She could, in no way, let her guard down now.

Hearing her, his hold on her loosened. As he was about to go, realization dawned on Suman, as she stopped him. "Tum mera peecha kar rahe the?" She asked as Shravan's expressions changed from hurt to surprise at her knowledge.