"There's something else you can do for me instead." I tell him.

"What?" He asks me.

"Can you please click a full length picture of me? I have to send it to my friend." I tell him.

"Uh yes sure." He says in response..

I unlock my phone, open the camera and hand it over to him.

"Stand in front of that wall. Best lighting and background." He tells me and motions me to move towards a particular wall.

"Okay." I say and walk over to it.

I stand in front of it with my hands placed one on top of the other while Arjun kneels down at a little distance from me, positioning my phone to click a picture.

No one has ever put so much effort in clicking a picture for me. The fact that I rarely click pictures of myself alone, is also there.

"Shravya, smile." He says, looking at me.

I don't know why but my face flushes listening to his words and looking at him looking at me the way he is doing now.

I smile and he captures a couple of pictures.

"See." He tells me as he stands up from his previous position and shows me the three pictures he's managed to click. They're pretty good.

"Thank you so much." I say as he hands over my phone to me.

"It was a pleasure." He replies.

"Let's get going now." I tell him and he nods his head at me.

•

"There you go." Arjun says as he stops the car in front of Cafe Marbella.

"Thank you so much for giving me a ride, I would have definitely been late had you not offered to drive me here." I tell him.

"Shravya, you don't need to thank me everytime I do something for you." He tells me.

"How can I not? You didn't even know me before this week and look how many things you have done for me already?" I tell him.

"But now I do know you, a little at least so don't thank me." He tells me.

"Accha baba I won't thank you from now onwards, okay?" I tell him as I unfasten my seatbelt.

[Accha baba : (in this context) Okay fine]

"Yes, perfect." He tells me.

I unlock the door and get out.

"Bye, Arjun." I tell him leaning down and looking at him through the car's window.

"Bye Shravya, see you tomorrow." He tells me.

"Tomorrow?" I ask him, confused.

"You've forgotten so soon? I wonder whether I'll have food on my table for dinner tomorrow. Lunch will be managed at the workplace but I'm really worried about dinner." He says dramatically.

"Too much exaggeration." I mumble under my breath as I remember his side of the deal.

"Oh I remember now. Don't worry Arjun, you'll have food prepared by yours truly on your table for dinner tomorrow and yes I'll see you tomorrow too." I tell him with a smile.

He gives me a playful smile back.

I turn away and begin my hunt for Mr. V wearing blue.

•

The next morning,

"We ended the date as friends." I announce it to Sneha during lunch.

She looks up at me, her eyes wide in shock.

"I can't believe this. I absolutely refuse to believe this. This is the fourth blind date you've ended up with friend zoning." She tells me.

"I don't know. I did not feel any connection this time as well." I tell her honestly.

"At this rate I'm sorry to break it to you Shravya, but you're going to actually end up single. No kidding." She tells me, taking a sip of her mango shake.

I remain silent.

"Anyways, let that be, I'll work harder in finding a suitable blind date for you next time. Your best friend will make sure you won't remain single for life. Just have faith in me." She tells me.

"No, put everything to rest now. I just need a break from Ma's matchmaking and from your blind dates. Shravya Arora has had enough! Now if God wants me to find my 'THE ONE' he'll send him in the form of the most unexpected person." I tell her.

"Unexpected person as in someone like Arjun Mehrotra?" She asks me with a teasing smile on her lips.

For a moment I consider what she's said and in my mind think, why not but then the rational part of me wakes up and I immediately yell,

"What the hell! No!"

"Sure sure." She says in response, the teasing smile still intact on her face.

"Wait wait wait, you still haven't told me what did Mr. Mehrotra want from you in return?" She asks me.

"I hope it wasn't a sexual favor though." She adds and bursts out laughing.

I make a face and smack her arm.

"Oww, Shravya!" She says as she rubs her arms

"Oww Shravya!" I imitate her.

"Okay, seriously though, what did he ask you for, my excitement is growing with each passing second." She tells me.

"He asked me to cook for him." I tell her.

"What!? Cook for him?" She asks surprised.

"Yes. It's a long story." I tell her.

"And I'm all ears." She says in response.

I then begin to narrate to her the events of yesterday. She patiently listens and when I'm done she says,

"I expected that to be so different. I'm disappointed."

"What did you expect it to be like then, Sneha madam?" I ask her.

"Well, I thought he'd ask you to give this thing between you guys a try." She says with a pout.

I shake my head in response. "Firstly there's no thing between 'us' and secondly this isn't a romance novel." I tell her.

"Oh but I wish it was." She tells me dreamily.

"You're a hopeless romantic Sneha." I comment.

"That I am. I've even decided what it would be called if it was a romance novel." She tells me.

"You have? Do tell me." I say.

"The Dating Pact." She announces with a big smile on her face.

I let out a laugh and she joins me.

•

At five fifteen a peon stops by my desk and tells me that Mrs. Mittal has asked him to let me know that my working hours are over.

I thank him and start packing my belongings. When I'm done I leave the office and find a car waiting for me across the street. I walk towards it and the driver greets me.

"Ma'am, I've been sent by Mr. Arjun Mehrotra." He tells me.

I greet him back and get inside the car.

Twenty-five minutes later I reached Arjun Mehrotra's building and left the car carrying two thick catalogue books with myself.

I manage to somehow make my way inside the building and enter the elevator after which I press the button to the seventeenth floor.

By the time I reach the seventeenth floor my hands are jammed.

I step outside and walk to flat no. 17 (C). On reaching the doorstep I kick on the door because honestly that's the only way I can tell Arjun that I'm here. My hands are still and won't move so I can neither knock nor press the doorbell.

A few seconds later the door opens and Arjun Mehrotra stands in front of me wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a black vest.

"Hey!" I greet him with a smile on my face.

Instead of responding to my greeting he just gives me a nod and steps aside to let me in.

I let the cold greeting slide and entered inside.

"These catalogues are killing my hands, so take them from me, please." I tell him and he instantly takes them from me.

"Aah." I let out a sigh of relief and walked to the nearest sofa and took a seat on it. My eyes fall on the 65 inch television placed at the centre of the room. A football match plays on it with the sound being muted.

I watch as Arjun keeps the catalogues on the centre table and then proceeds to lock the door.

He then makes his way to the kitchen and returns a minute later with a glass of chilled water in his hand.

He places it on the table in front of me and then takes a seat on another sofa. He unmutes the television and starts watching the match.

His behaviour seems unusual. He hasn't spoken a word. I cannot help but wonder what's wrong with him.

Did something happen? Or is it something I did?

Wait what could I have done, he was fine while he dropped me off at Marbella yesterday. We did not speak after that so it cannot be me.

"You can relax and then start preparing the dinner." He tells me with his eyes still fixed on the television.

I do not respond and instead start massaging my hands.

"From tomorrow onwards make sure the driver carries the catalogues up here. You don't have to do it." He tells me.

"Okay." I reply.

After this we remain silent for a good five minutes.

I start feeling annoyed at his behaviour and open my mouth to speak.

"Is anything wrong?" I ask him.

He mutes the television once again and looks at me.

"You tell me, Shravya, what's wrong and why did you lie to me?" He asks me.

A frown instantly makes its way to my face.

"I lied to you?" I ask him.

"Oh of course you did not lie to me because you kept it hidden from me." He tells me.

"What did I keep hidden from you? None of what you are saying is making any sense to me." I tell him.

"You did not tell me you have a boyfriend, Shravya!" His reply shocks

me.

"What!?" I immediately yell.