Aaditya was not the most handsome person in their office. He was not the most talented person either. He was a mix of the two and he was not a chatty type. All these things appealed to Rati and for the first time, she felt her heart ache for a person.
They have been working at the company for a year, when Aaditya joined them at their office from a different branch. Though he earned a lot, his lifestyle was simple and he never hesitated in helping others. He was the perfect person, who usually appears only in books and movies.
He was nearly perfect except for a minor glitch. He kept to himself and never joined others for other than office activities.
For Rati, he seemed like a strong coffee in the early morning. She felt her soul energized. Stronger and happier.
Rati never told her feelings to anyone, not even to Shalini. Both of them didn’t have any secrets until Rati kept her feelings secret from Shalini.
During group discussions, when it was his turn to speak, Rati felt difficult to concentrate. Her eyes also fell on his lips and she had always tried not to stare at it for too long.
All these feelings were new to her and she was enjoying every minute of it and after crushing on him for three months, she realized that she was in love with him.
Aadithya was staring at his computer. The words on the computer looked hazy and his heart was beating faster. His fingers remained static on the keyboard and he was getting flustered all of a sudden.
Rati was speaking to the person near him and she was laughing to a joke that person had said and that laugh pierced his heart. He had been in love with her at first sight. Then after getting to know more about her, he liked her even more. But his confidence evaded him whenever he tried to be near her.
That had been the reason he had always avoided her.
But from a distance, he admired her playfulness and he realized that she would be the perfect light for his perpetual gloominess.
His mind also warned him that she was bright and beautiful and she obviously wouldn’t want a man like him. His life went on without a profound meaning to it and he tried to gain confidence with each passing day
Rati and Shalini were sitting cross legged on their apartment floor and Shalini was decoding the meaning of life.
“Why is that half of our classmates are married and the other half has boyfriends or fiancés and we are still single?”
“Are we that bad? We haven’t had even a single proposal in our entire life”
Rati lied down on the floor and rested her legs on the sofa.
“We are doomed to be a spinster Shalini.”
“Really?” Shalini pouted
“Or marry the person your parents see for you and live happily ever after!”
“I prefer being a Spinster to that!”
Shalini rested her head on the sofa and said “What do you think we will be doing after some thirty forty years, apart from remaining single?”
“Getting old and chatting about getting a proposal.”
“You could be right Rati!”
“I am”
With that, Rati went on to open the curatins of the balcony. The setting sun emitted a faint orange glow and her eyes fell on the blue colour Maruti car standing below, in front of her apartments. When she tried to get a good view, it went away.
Even Aaditya had a blue Maruti car and for a minute she had thought that to be him. She went back in, plugged on her earphones and mused upon her life.
Aaditya looked at the bunch of red roses on the passenger seat next to him. Just one look and all his courage had evaded him, once again.
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