Vihan Kumar had just reached his apartment after meeting Isha when his mind started racing with thoughts of Priya joining SoftTech. If she did, they would be colleagues, and they could even be on the same project. As he stepped into his home, the first thing he noticed was the sound of his phone. A beep. His heart skipped a beat. It was a message from Isha. He knew what it would say before he even looked—information about Priya.

He placed the bike key on the table nearby and sat on the couch. The worn fabric sagged under him. Slowly, he exhaled the breath he had been holding and let his body go limp in the couch as his mind took him back to today morning when Isha called and the events that led to this, replayed in his mind.

The sun had just peeked over the horizon, painting the sky in a wash of blues and pinks. He was sipping his morning tea and enjoying the view from the balcony when the phone rang. He smiled as he saw Isha Rao's name light up his phone screen and he eagerly pressed the 'answer' button. They hadn't talked for a while, not since he changed his job.

"Hey Isha, long time no talk! How are you, idiot?"

"I'm good, smarty-pants. How about you?" she said, mockingly.

"I'm doing good. So, what's up?"

She took a deep breath and started fidgeting with her hair. "I want to tell you something important,"

"Ok, tell me."

"I will not tell you over the phone. Let's meet."

"Sure, I am always ready. What place do you have in mind and when?"

She giggled. "At the Kosmic café this evening."

"I knew you would say Kosmic café, Isha,'' he said noncommittally. "Why do you always visit that place? I really don't get it."

"You know I like coffee, and Kosmic is the best in town."

Vihan smiled frostily and said, "Sure, let's meet at Kosmic."

"Perfect. I'll see you evening then."

Vihan sat back as he disconnected the call, wondering what she wanted to say that was important. As he was lost in thought, he gazed at the sky once again and admired the beautiful blue hue. Suddenly, he was pulled back by the roar of car horns and screeching of tires as the vehicles zoomed by on the road.

It was a weekend, so the remainder of the day went slowly. Soon, it was evening, and he was already running late when he grabbed the bike from the parking lot. Fresh air hit his face as he started down the street. He quickened his pace, the 5 o'clock sun already turning the sky a dusky pink. He was running late for his meeting with Isha.

Isha's mind drifted back to the conversation she had with Swati right before leaving home as she waited for Vihan to arrive at the café.

She was almost ready. The blue fabric of her dress clung to her body in all the right places. She had picked out a pair of earrings that matched the dress. She looked in the mirror one last time, running her fingers through her hair to fix any fly aways before she left. Swati's voice halted her in the tracks as she turned to see her judging eyes. "Meeting with Vihan, huh?"

"Yes, we are meeting at Kosmic café at 5." Isha's slender fingers flew over the keyboard of her phone as she navigated the rental car app.

Swati continued, "Just yesterday you were able to connect with Priya and got to know her whereabouts and now you are going to share that with Vihan?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure about it? I mean, you both have been friends since college, and I know you have feelings for him. I see your eyes light up like the stars whenever there is mention of Vihan."

Isha interrupted and said, "We are just friends. I have told you many times."

"All I am saying is to be honest to yourself, otherwise you might get hurt." Isha did not respond to this. Swati sighed and said, "Forget it. What about our shopping plan for today?"

"Come to Kosmic café at 6 o'clock, and we both can go from there."

"Okay."

The muscles in her face tensed as she processed Swati's words before she forced a smile and continued on. "See you at Kosmic, bye."

"Bye."

Isha slowly stepped away from her home and saw the car idled at the curb. The driver was waiting patiently.

Isha's eyes darted up as the sound of a chair scraping the floor pulled her from her thoughts. Her gaze locked with Vihan's as he stood from the table. He placed the coffee cup he grabbed from the waiter down in front of her, the liquid sloshing a little as he let it go. Isha's hand reached for the cup of coffee, with her eyes narrowed in fury, and she began to lecture him on the importance of timekeeping. "You never change, do you? Always late."

Vihan stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking at the ground as he spoke. "It's Bangalore's traffic, you see."

"You always have some reason to not be guilty, Vihan. There's no point in arguing with you. Now sit down."

"So, what's this important thing that you wanted to say?"

She started fidgeting with her hair and a small smile graced her lips as she said, "I got in touch with Priya Sharma, and she's here in Bangalore."

Priya's news came as a surprise to Vihan, and Isha could see it on his face. Vihan said, "How were you able to connect with her, and where has she been all these years?"

Isha said, "The other day, I was lazily scrolling through my social media account when her profile suddenly got suggested. I paused for a moment before clicking on it, half expecting it not to be her. But to my surprise, it was her. I clicked on it and saw that she had moved to Mysore for college. I pinged her on the chat, and we talked for a while. Her parents had to move to Mysore because of a job transfer, so she also moved to Mysore, leaving our engineering college. She joined a college there. You wouldn't believe what she said next."

"What did she say?"

Isha continued, "Priya is currently working for a startup and she's been job hunting for quite some time. She already has multiple offers. One of the offers is from SoftTech, and it's for a position as a software engineer. If she accepts the offer, she'll start next month. She asked me about SoftTech as a company, to see if it's a good place to work. I told her that it is."

Isha's voice droned on in Vihan's ear, but he was lost in thought. The memories of his college days were so vivid he could smell the musty old books in the library and hear his friends laughing in the distance. Isha's voice cut through the silence, shaking him out of the daze. "Were you lost in thought again?" she said. "Sorry, yes. I was for a bit," Vihan replied. "I knew it. I could see it in your eyes. You were distant."

Vihan said, "Do you remember the conference we had at the end of our second semester of engineering?"

"Yes, I do remember," Isha said and laughed. The sound was like tinkling bells, and her eyes danced with amusement. Vihan was about to talk when the waiter interrupted. "What can I get for you today, sir?"

"Just Assam tea, please," Vihan replied. The waiter nodded and walked away.

"You were talking about the conference," Isha said.

"Yeah. It seemed like ages ago. So much has happened since then," Vihan replied. "I remembered the note I had thrown at Priya. It seems so childish now. I could have talked to her. I should have talked to her. But I didn't know she was from our college. I didn't know anything about her. I had to do something before the conference ended."

A smile tugged at the corner of Isha's mouth as she remembered the time Vihan had wrapped a note around a stone and threw it towards Priya. Isha happened to be nearby, and she picked up the note which was intended for Priya. Isha said, "It was childish of you to throw a note. I am trying to remember what the note said. It said something like 'Hi, my name is Vihan, and I think I like you. Can we talk? Following is my phone number.' At first, I thought it was for me and then I saw you waving your hands and pointing towards Priya."

Vihan laughed and said, "Yeah. It was funny. I thought you would just ignore and throw away the note, but you called me the next day."

Isha said, "Yes, I did. The first time I called, I pretended to be close to her. Luckily, I knew her name, so I was able to keep up the act. But eventually, I told you the truth. Looking at the bright side, the whole event had led to us becoming friends."

The waiter placed the hot cup of tea in front of Vihan. He wrapped his hands around it, enjoying the warmth before taking a sip and said, "Yes, we becoming friends was the best thing that happened."

Isha said regretfully, "I'm sorry I couldn't help you connect with Priya back in our college days. Her engineering stream was different from mine, so I wasn't that close to her. And then she suddenly disappeared."

"You don't have to keep apologizing for that, I already know it wasn't easy for you. I never would have even known her name if it wasn't for you. Also, now we know the reason why she suddenly disappeared."

Isha started to play with her hair as she said, "Now that I am able to get Priya's details, I guess I have redeemed myself." Vihan said jokingly, "Not so soon. Share Priya's social media profile link with me, and then, and only then, you shall be redeemed." Isha eagerly replied, "Yes, of course. I will share."

Isha's phone vibrated on the table. She picked it up and saw that it was a call from her roommate Swati. She answered and started talking. She talked for a bit and then disconnected the call. Isha said, "Swati just called and she's on the way. We are planning to go shopping. Would you like to join us?"

"No, I'll pass. I already have plans for tonight. A couple of my friends will be coming to my home."

"So, you are partying tonight?"

"Yes, kind of party. It's nothing special though. Just a weekend party."

Vihan paused for a bit, sighed, and said, "I thought we had some more time to talk."

Isha said apologetically, "I thought Swati would be here a little later, but she's reaching sooner. Let's catch up again soon."

The rental car's headlights cut through the twilight as it pulled up to the café. They could see Swati inside, waiting. Vihan and Isha said their goodbyes and Isha went to the car.

The car's engine whirred as it sped down the road. The two girls were seated in the back. Swati asked, "So, how was your meeting with Vihan?" "It was good."

Swati continued, "So, you shared Priya's whereabouts with him?"

"Yes, I did."

"Are you feeling good about it?"

Isha said, "Yes, I am good. How many times do I tell you, we are just friends?" Isha's eyes flitted about the passing street as she spoke, and she wouldn't meet Swati's gaze.

Swati replied, "Okay." There had been an awkward silence between them, and it persisted until they arrived at the shopping center.

Vihan stood frozen in the driveway as the car disappeared around the corner, the sound of its engine gradually fading away. After a few moments, he turned and walked to his bike, to head home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey everyone! My name is Vish and this is my first romance novel!

I hope you enjoy the story.

© UnfortunatePoet

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.