"Get up sleepy head. What's got into you today?" Sneha asks me as she taps my desk with my lipstick shaped pen.

I raise my head to look at her, my vision still blurry.

"Sneha, let me sleep, go away to your desk and work." I grumble.

"Shravya, did you pull an all nighter last night working on a file again?" She asks me as she takes in my appearance.

I finally sit up straight and rub my hands with the heels of my palms in an attempt to clear my vision.

"No, that's what I planned on doing when I couldn't sleep but Arjun Mehrotra did not leave my mind last night, not even for a minute." I tell her.

She raises an eyebrow in response.

"Sit down and listen to the entire story because that's what I have been doing since the beginning of this week. Narrating stories, some true and some false to some body or the other." I tell her.

"As tempting this offer sounds, I'll sadly have to let it go for now. Mittal's coming to this floor in five minutes, the peon just informed us of this, I came here to wake you up." She tells me.

"Oh, oh okay. Get back to your desk then we don't want her to scold you for roaming around now, do we? Thank you so much for coming and waking me up though, I take you for granted so many times." I tell her with a big smile on my face.

"What are best friends for?" She says in response and starts moving towards her desk.

A couple of minutes later, Mrs Mittal reaches our floor and visits a couple of employees' desks. I quickly organize my dress and take out the report I had to work on from my bag after which I keep it on my desk.

While she takes her own sweet time in reaching my desk I fidget with my lipstick shaped pen.

It looks so cool. I had ordered it online and Ma handed it over to me after dinner last night informing me that it got delivered yesterday afternoon while I was in office.

'Standard five kid, does that ring a bell?'

His words ring in my ears and I immediately stop fidgeting with it.

A small frown forms on my face as I eye my desk.

From the sticky notes and notepads, to the highlighters, pens, pencils, markers, sharpeners, erasers, ruler, paperclips, folders, scissors, my water bottle, USB memory stick, my power bank, calendar, wall planner everything, literally everything is customised.

Even my paper clips have Doraemon and Shin Chan's faces on them. I got them custom made from an Instagram page selling quirky stationery.

[Doraemon and Shin Chan - Two very popular cartoons in India]

Does this really make me a standard five kid? I think to myself.

A few seconds later I immediately mentally yelled at myself.

Having quirky and customised stationery does not make you a standard five kid.

Yes, better.

I smile in satisfaction as I eye my penguin shaped power bank.

"Shravya, is there a special reason behind that smile?" Mrs Mittal's voice brings me out of my trance.

"Uh yes? No... I mean.. no ma'am, I'm sorry...I was just.." I trail off.

"It's okay. Show me your report, Shravya." She tells me with a polite smile on her face.

Thank God my boss isn't like the stereotypical arrogant and rude bosses.

"Here ma'am." I tell her and hand over my tax file reports to her.

I stand up as she goes through it.

"Impressive. Good work, Shravya. Keep it up." She tells me with a smile as she hands the report back to me.

"Thank you so much, ma'am." I say in response with a smile on my face. Mrs Mittal moves to the next desk.

•

"I did meet Arjun yesterday." I say as I put my coffee down.

Yes, I'm having coffee during my lunch break because that's the only thing which will help me survive the next five hours at work.

"What happened then? Did he agree? He must have, the guy's so into you!" Sneha exclaims.

"Too much exaggeration, Sneha." I mumble and take a sip of my coffee.

"Okay you do the talking then, I'll patiently listen." She tells me, her eyes containing an excited glint.

"He told me he'll give me an answer in twenty-four hours. The said twenty-four hours end at 8 in the evening today." I tell her.

"Oh." She mumbles her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"What would he even need twenty-four hours for though? It's either a yes or a no." She says.

"I know right but he said he wants something in return." I tell her.

"Spoken like a true business man." She comments.

"Yes. Now my only concern is whether he'll agree to this or not. This one question kept me up all night. Tell me something positive Sneha." I tell her taking another sip of my coffee.

She takes her sweet time in chewing the food inside her mouth and then answers.

"He will definitely say yes to this Shravya, rest assured." She tells me.

"I hope he does." I tell her and eye my watch.

1 : 32 p.m.

That's about six and a half hours left for the twenty-four hours to get over. I've still not received any response from him.

"Take a chill pill and enjoy your lunch." She tells me.

I try to divert my mind and focus on my food instead.

•

I ring the doorbell and a few seconds later Ma opens the door.

I gave her a small smile.

"Ma I'm super tired and would like to take a nap before dinner." I tell her in a soft voice and make my way to my room.

"Should I bring something for you to eat Shravu?" I hear her call out.

"No Ma, I'm not hungry." I shout back from my room.

It's almost seven in the evening and I haven't got an answer yet.

I place my bag on my desk and open my earrings, placing them beside my bag.

Opening my hair from its braid I make my way to the bathroom to freshen up. When I'm out after taking a shower and changing into a comfortable t-shirt and pyjamas I come out and jump on my bed.

It seems extra comfortable today and the moment I lay down sleep takes over me.

The ringing of my phone wakes me up. With a groan I place a cushion on my face trying to block out the sound.

It stops ringing and I try to fall asleep again however it starts ringing again.

"For God's sake, let me sleep." I murmur against the cushion.

It stops ringing again but a minute later it starts ringing again.

I throw the cushion away and sit upright. Grabbing the phone from the night stand I receive it without looking at the caller ID.

Choosing to remain silent I press my phone to my ear because I know if I speak I'll burst out and yell at the person for disturbing my sleep.

"Hello, am I speaking to Shravya Arora?" A smooth, slightly heavy voice asks.

I immediately recognise it and remove my phone from my ear to look at the caller ID. It's an unknown number.

"Yes." I say and immediately cringe at how sleepy my voice sounds.

"Hey, this is Arjun, I hope I haven't called at a wrong time? This was my third attempt at calling you." He says.

"No, no, it's absolutely fine. I was, well, taking a nap and sorry for not receiving the call earlier." I tell him.

"Okay, I called to inform you that I've made a decision." He tells me and my heart starts beating at a rapid pace.

"Oh." I manage to say trying to sound as calm and composed as possible.

"I'm ready to pretend to be your boyfriend." He says and I immediately yell into the receiver,

"You are??"

He chuckles at the other end.

"The enthusiasm is overwhelming." He says and I mentally facepalm myself.

"Thank you so much for doing this for me." I tell him.

"No, it's not only for you I'm doing it, I've also decided what I want in return." He tells me.

I completely forgot about that.

"Sure, what do you want in return?" I ask him hoping that it's something I'll be able to give him.

"We'll have to meet to discuss that." He tells me.

"I'm sorry but I'm busy for the rest of the week." I tell him.

Realising how rude I sound to a guy who's doing such a huge favor to me, I immediately add, "But I'm sure I can take some time out."

"No it's completely alright, I'm busy for the rest of this week too, so can we arrange to meet during the weekend?" He asks me.

Weekend? That rings a bell.

I have a blind date arranged by Sneha for me this weekend.

But the timings can be adjusted, I'm sure.

"Sure, what time?" I ask him.

"I'll text you the timings after speaking with my assistant, yes?" He asks.

"Sure okay."

"Okay then.." He trails off.

"Thanks again." I tell him.

"You're welcome and you can go back to sleep now." He tells me.

"Yes, no I mean I'll go and eat something now, rats are kickboxing inside my stomach." I tell him and then immediately bite my tongue.

You speak too much, Shravya Arora!

"Sure. I'll hang up now." He says followed by a laugh.

My face flushes.

"Hey, wait, I don't remember giving you my number." I tell him.

"I have my sources, Shravya. Go eat something now, we wouldn't want the rats to start wrestling inside your stomach now." He tells me chuckling after which he disconnects the call.

I put my phone down and press both my palms on my cheeks. They're warm. Without even looking at the mirror I'm sure they're flushed too.

Ten minutes later my phone beeps and I immediately check it to see a message from Sneha.

Sneha : Your blind date is this Sunday at 6 p.m. at Cafe Marbella.

After contemplating for a few minutes I send her a response.

Shravya : I'm having second thoughts about going on this date.

Also, Arjun's agreed to pretend to be ny boyfriend.

Sneha : typing...

Sneha : YASSSS! I told you so!!

You have to still look for someone who's going to be your real THE ONE though right? So you have to go on this date. We'll talk about this in details tomorrow.

Shravya : As you say.

•