"I saw him yesterday. It was him wasn't it? You met him at Marbella." He tells me.

"Who are you even talking about?" I ask him.

"Oh please Shravya, don't act so oblivious now." He says, a grumpy expression on his face as he looks at me.

"Wait, wait, wait are you talking about Vivaan?" I ask him as realisation dawns on me.

"Oh so he does have a name. Vivaan." Arjun mumbles.

"He isn't my boyfriend." I tell him.

"Why did he smile at you? And then the two of you went inside the cafe." He says.

"Mr. Mehrotra, if a guy smiles at me and we go to a cafe together it doesn't make him my boyfriend. You've smiled at me a good number of times and I'm here with you at your apartment, does that make you my boyfriend?" I ask him.

"I am your boyfriend. A fake one at least." He replies and I shake my head.

"This is unbelievable." I mumble under my breath.

"Anyways it doesn't matter to me whether you have a boyfriend or not. What does is that you did not tell me you have a boyfriend. What do you even need me for?" He asks me.

"Vivaan isn't my boyfriend! He was a blind date set up for me by my best friend." I tell him.

"Oh." He says.

"Oh? That's what you have to say?" I ask him.

"What else should I say?" He asks me.

"You should apologise." I announce.

"Apologise? What for?" He asks me.

"For drawing wrong conclusions and then acting so cold towards me." I tell him and cross my hands against my chest.

He gets up from the sofa he was laying down on and takes a seat beside me on the one I'm sitting on.

"Shravya, look I'm sorry I shouldn't have drawn out wrong conclusions and whether you have a boyfriend or not is none of my business so I shouldn't have even acted cold towards you." He tells me.

"It's okay. Had I been in your place I would have been a little disappointed too, thinking I've been lied to. But I wouldn't have acted as cold as you did." I tell him.

"So everything is sorted between us now? Also, can I ask you something?" He asks.

"Yes and yes." I reply.

"You went on a blind date, why?" He asks me.

"Well that's because at one point I do want to settle down with someone but if I don't go out and socialize, meet people and make friends then I'm going to end up a single lady with nothing but cats to keep me company. Sneha's words not mine and so I agreed to go out on a blind date arranged by her." I answer.

"And how did the blind date go? Vivaan and you, giving it a try?" He asks, looking at me intently.

"No, yet another blind date friend zoned by me." I answer.

"Good." He says and my eyes widen in surprise.

"Good?" I ask him. Panic strikes his face and he immediately opens his mouth to speak again.

"No, what I meant is that good either of you did not lead each other on if you did not feel any connection." He says.

"Who told you that we did not have a connection between us?" I ask him, raising my eyebrow.

"It's simple, why else would you friend zone him and not date him instead. I feel there has to be some sort of connection between two people for them to start dating each other. He or she has to like you to spend more time with you. You have to be with someone who makes you smile, laugh, feel something. A person with whom one second you argue and the next second either of you are cracking a joke to make the other laugh. With connection comes caring. Something that goes beyond just physical attraction." He explains and I simply stare at him.

"Have you felt this? A connection with someone ever?" I ask him when he's done.

"Not yet." He replies looking straight into my eyes.

We keep on staring at each other for I don't know how long until I come back to my senses and quickly break eye contact with him.

"Dinner, I have to cook dinner." I tell him.

"Oh yes, dinner." He tells me.

I get up from the sofa. "Can you show me the kitchen and also tell me what thing is where?" I ask him.

"Sure." He says and stands up.

He walks towards the kitchen with me following behind him.

We reach the kitchen after crossing a short corridor.

"This is where all the spices are." He tells me as he motions towards a cabinet.

"The utensils are on the stand there." He says motioning towards the utensil stand.

"Rice and flour is in this cabinet. All the vegetables except for onion and potato are inside the refrigerator. Meat is inside the freezer. That's all for now I guess, if there's anything you cannot find then let me know by giving me a call. I'm going back to the living room now, gotta catch up with the match." He tells me.

"Aye aye captain." I tell him with a salute.

"I'll get going then." He tells me with a smile and turns away to leave the kitchen.

"Arjun wait!" I tell him and he stopped in his tracks.

"Yes?" He asks me turning around.

"I forgot to ask you what would you like to eat today?" I ask him.

"Palak paneer and roti." He answers.

[Palak Paneer : It is one of the most popular Indian dishes made with succulent paneer cubes (Indian cottage cheese) in a smooth spinach sauce.

Roti : It is a flatbread made with wholemeal wheat flour]

"Okay, sure. I'm no expert in cooking but my Dad likes whatever I cook, he may or may not be lying to not make me feel disheartened so I'm just giving you a heads up." I tell him.

"I'm no master chef either, Shravya. As long as there's edible food on my table I'm grateful to God above, so don't feel any pressure and relax." He tells me with an assuring smile.

He then leaves the kitchen and I start preparing his dinner.

I start with taking out spinach from the vegetable box inside the refrigerator and then thoroughly wash it. Then I take out the paneer block and cut it down into small bite size cubes after which I chop the onions. I then place a wok on the cook top and start preparing the dish.

When I'm frying the chopped onions Arjun comes back into the kitchen.

"Everything under control?" He asks me and I give him a thumbs up.

"Can I join in?" He asks.

"That depends on what assistance you will be of." I reply.

"I can pass you whatever you need and bring you a glass of chilled water at intervals." He tells me.

"Okay you may come in." I tell him and he immediately enters the kitchen.

"Pass me the salt jar." I tell him and he quickly does so.

A few moments later I ask him to pass me the paneer cubes.

He keeps on bringing me whatever I need.

When I'm done making the gravy I ask him to pass me the jar containing the flour.

I watch as he walks to the cabinet and takes it out from it with ease.

I would have required a chair to reach that top shelf.

"See, having me around has so many benefits." Arjun says with a proud smile on his face as he places the jar on the counter in front of me.

"Yes, it does." I answer with a smile myself.

I take out the required amount of flour to make the rotis and then ask him to keep the jar back to its place.

I begin kneading the flour into a dough while Arjun busies himself in his phone while leaning against the cabinet across the counter.

Half way into kneading the dough I try to blow the hair strands falling on my face away.

When that doesn't work I try to remove them from the back of my hand. Arjun notices my struggle and looks up at me.

A smile forms on his face as he stares at me.

"What?" I ask him slightly annoyed.

"You've got some dough on your cheek." He tells me. My hand immediately reaches to my cheek and I try to clean it with the back of my hand.

"You messed it up all the more." Arjun says, trying to suppress a smile.

I look at him with a frown. He keeps his phone on the counter and walks towards me.

Once he's reached me I pause and look at him with my brows furrowed.

What he does next causes me to freeze.

He places his hand on my cheek and rubs his thumb over it.

"All gone now." He says after a few seconds.

I remain rooted at my spot.

"Shravya?" He calls out.

"Oh yes, thank you." I murmur and immediately fix my gaze back to the dough.

"Need some help with those strands of hair falling on your face too?" He asks me and I immediately shake my head in a no, which causes more strands to fall on my face.

He chuckles before taking one more step closer towards me.

"Look at me Shravya." He says and I do.

His hand reaches out to my face and he tucks the strands of my hair behind my ear.

"They won't trouble you any longer." He says and then without waiting for my response leaves the kitchen. I stare at his retreating figure, not being able to wrap my head around what just happened.