I take a deep breath before asking him to follow me.

We get inside the elevator and I press the button to the first floor.

"What is your job in this office, Miss Arora?" Arjun Mehrotra asks me.

"I work under the finance department. I am an accountant here." I replied.

"Good with numbers." He comments.

"Take me to your department first then." He adds after a few seconds.

Great now the elevator ride is going to be longer and all the more awkward.

"What is your role in your restaurants? Are you a chef?" I ask him turning my face in his direction.

"No, I'm the owner and I manage everything over-all." He answers.

"More like a boss giving orders to the poor staff working under him, and managing different departments." I mumble under my breath.

"Absolutely right assumption, Miss Arora but besides that I manage all of these people managing the different departments. Very easy job, really." He replies sarcasm dripping in his tone.

"You weren't supposed to hear that." I say with a groan.

"Too bad I did then." He answers and I nod my head now looking back at the closed elevator doors. A few seconds pass in silence before the elevator produces the ding sound and its doors open.

I step out with him following me.

"So this is the finance department of Mittal & Co. where the likes of me and I myself, people good with numbers as you pointed out, work." I told him.

"Very well then, let's explore it further." He tells me.

"Sure Sir." I replied.

I show him around, taking him to first meet the head of the department, then we make our way towards a couple of employees' desks.

When we're in a corridor he stops me.

"Wait, wait, so many people dedicatedly working on files filled with numbers and more numbers, my head is spinning. I need a break." He tells me.

"It was you who wanted to see the finance department." I mumble under my breath and thankfully this time he doesn't hear me.

"So is that all then? Would you like to leave now?" I ask him.

"What? No, of course not. Let's go see your desk before I take my leave." He tells me.

"Trust me, looking at my desk will make your head spin all the more." I told him.

"Okay then, let's go make my head spin some more." He says.

Whatever you wish for, imaginary boyfriend. I think to myself before nodding my head at him.

We walk towards my desk located in an isolated corner of the floor and stop by it.

"Here." I say pointing at it.

He starts examining it, picking up files, opening them and instantly closing most probably because of the numbers he sees both horizontally and vertically on the papers.

I just stand at a little distance and watch his actions.

His eyes then fall on my pen stand and he picks up the unicorn themed pen that I got myself online. He opens the cap, writes something on his palm and then replaces the cap and keeps it back on the stand. Then he picks up the French fries shaped erased and looks at it with amusement.

I have this weird obsession with cute and quirky stationery so I spend most of my free time looking for them online and adding them to my cart. At the end of every month when I receive my paycheck I immediately press the 'buy now' button and purchase them.

I watch as he picks up the flexible ruler and folds it in various ways. When he's done playing with the ruler he looks at me.

"Your stationary looks like it belongs to a kid who goes to standard five." He tells me.

"Too much exaggeration." I mutter under my breath.

"The same stationary you were checking out like a two year old kid who gets attracted to every new thing he or she looks at." I reply back out loud to him with a fake sweet smile on my face. The smirk on his face falls down and he immediately puts back the bunny shaped sharpener that he had picked up to examine next.

"No, more like an amused adult who cannot believe that set of stationary belonged to another adult." He says in response.

"I can have whatever kind of stationery I want and no one, not even someone as great as Arjun Mehrotra can judge me." I say.

"Of course." He replies.

"Why are you even here in the first place?" I ask him, in an annoyed voice.

"Well my restaurant, the one you must have heard about I'm sure, is opening a few blocks away from this building, Mrs. Mittal is a distant relative and when she heard I was around she invited me to her office." He replies.

Okay that made sense.

"Oh."

He's about to say something when his phone starts ringing.

"Excuse me." He says and takes it out of his pants pocket.

Obviously it's the latest iPhone. I think to myself as he puts the phone to his ear after receiving it.

"Yes, okay, I'll be there in ten minutes." He says into the receiver.

"Seems like I'll have to end this tour here, Miss Arora. It was nice meeting you." He says and puts his hand forward.

"Same here." I reply and shake hands with him.

"Here take this." He tells me and puts his business card in front of me.

"What will I need it for?" I ask him.

"You never know, you might need it someday, so keep it." He says and walks away.

I examine the card for a while after which I put it inside my bag.

I sit back on my desk and wonder just how happy Ma will be if she gets to know that I met her supposed son in law today.

A chuckle escapes my lips at the thought.

•

"You met him today? You aren't lying to me, are you?" Ma asks while serving my dinner to me.

Papa looks at me from across the table with doubtful eyes.

"Yes, Ma, I met Arjun today. He came to my office for the first time and then I gave him a tour of the finance department." I told her.

"The guy appears to be a statue on television most of the time, how's he with you, Sharvu? " Ma asks.

I recall my encounter with him today. He seemed to be alright, quite different from what he appears on television.

"He's super sweet and caring with me." I told her. Sarcastic too, I want to add but decide it better not to.

"Is there romance in your relationship?" Ma asks, making me choke on my food.

"Madhu, let our daughter breathe. Stop asking her these private questions." Papa scolds Ma and passes me a glass of water.

Thank God for Papa or else Ma would have very soon brought up my sex life on the dining table.

"Okay fine, I won't ask her anything. We have to at least know how the guy treats our daughter!" She mumbles angrily to herself before taking her seat.

The table remains silent for a while. Papa and I glance at each other and then take a look at Ma whose eyes are focused on her plate.

"Ma, the rajma chawal tastes extra delicious today." I comment.''

[Rajma chawal : Kidney beans and rice]

"Madhu, we should have ice cream after dinner today, what do you say?" Papa asks her.

"Nobody listens to me in this house. You father-daughter duo always team up against me. Now don't try to lie to me or flatter me. " She says in a sad voice.

"Aw, have we made Ma sad?" I ask with a smile and look at her.

"Sorry, Mother India, don't be so senti now. I'll tell you about all the romantic things Arjun and I do for each other." I tell her in a joking manner.

[Senti : Sentimental]

"Quiet, I don't want to know any of that." She tells me seriously but then a few seconds later finally smiles.

"I still want ice cream after dinner, Raj. I'll have mint chocolate chips." She says looking at Papa.

"Anything for you my lady." He says in response with a grin.

"Mississippi Mud for me." I announce.

"Done!" Papa replies.

"Yay!" Ma and I high five with each other.

After dinner Papa drives us to an ice cream parlour where we enjoy a good family time before coming back home.

I retire to my room instantly and sit by my desk to work on a report.

Halfway into working a thought comes to my mind and I cannot help but put it into action.

I minimize the report on my laptop's screen and open Google where I type in a name and click on the search bar.

Okay, I guess I am going to stalk Arjun Mehrotra now.

A girl's gotta know something about her imaginary boyfriend right?

An hour later, I found out everything about Arjun Mehrotra. Everything that was available on the internet that is. His life history, his Alma mater, how many members he has in his family. His body measurements. His height was 6 feet two inches, which I had guessed right the first time I saw him in person. His favourite this and that, his habits, a couple of them at least. How much of this information is true I'm not sure of though.

All of his social media handles, which I'm sure are managed by his PR.

Satisfied with my research I work a little more on the report and then fall on my bed to finally let sleep take over me.

Various thoughts appear in my mind as I shut my eyes.

I think about how I no longer have to worry about Ma finding a suitable guy for me or having to meet a guy and his family every couple of weeks. I also don't need to find any more excuses to run away from marriage or break an alliance.

Arjun Mehrotra doesn't even know that he is my imaginary boyfriend and neither do Ma or Papa know about this whole dating Arjun Mehrotra thing being 100% fake.

My only worry now is how long can I keep this going on without getting caught.

I'll have to think of some way or the other to keep this whole fake and imaginary dating thing going on for a year at least so that I can get time to figure out what I want to do with my life and find the perfect companion for myself.

When I am done wondering about Arjun Mehrotra and the lie I have made up, I finally let sleep take over me.

•