Arjun was quite disheartened as he pulled the leash of agitated Bruno outside the park. The poor dog had been quite excited to see his only friend in the park however, Neha was seen nowhere. Disheartened Bruno had been howling at the passers-by searching for Neha, passing accusatory glares at people for hiding his friend but little did the poor dog know that Neha had skipped her morning walk.

Arjun, on the other hand, had expected to meet Neha and thank her for her valuable inputs for the meeting early in the morning but unfortunately his plans had failed. He also had planned to ask her out for a dinner today morning but the chances seemed slim.

“Why hasn’t she come for the walk?” He wondered as concern for her took over his mind. “What if she is unwell?” He thought as he walked outside the community park along with Bruno.

On the other hand, Neha had got ready for her morning walk when she remembered how Pawan was judging her character on the previous day. Mentally deciding to stay away from Arjun so that she does not become a topic of gossip in the office, she decided to resort to Yoga and skip morning walks for some time. She missed Bruno as her heart craved to hug the cute dog and rub his belly but she was helpless.

She was a woman with dignity and Pawan's insensitive words had stabbed her heart. Yes, she had been close to Arjun but she was not misusing her closeness with her boss to grab the title of ‘best employee'. Heck, she did not even care of getting the tag of best employee. She just wanted to give her best and do justice to the salary she received in her account every month.

After gulping down two sandwiches gloomily, she dressed up casually in a maroon shirt pairing it up with denims and headed for work. She was upset not because, Pawan had mocked her character but because, she had accepted the car ride with Arjun giving a cue for grapevine in her department.

She felt dirty as Pawan’s words rang in her ears. Closing her eyes in despair, she slumped her shoulders as she sat in the metro. She was certainly lucky to find a place to sit today!

Arjun was driving for work while his mind was clouded with the thoughts of Neha. It was Friday and he was excited to make his weekend eventful.

“Will you not sound like a creep if you will ask her out? Considering the fact that she is your colleague, will she not think you to be an opportunistic guy after women?” His brain reasoned but his adamant heart retorted, “Arjun, you just keep thinking to protect your image while she will accept any arranged marriage proposal”, reminding him of the insecurities budding in his mind.

“Is it the right moment?” He asked himself waiting for the red signal to turn green but then he remembered Mayank's words, “The right person won’t need the right moment but another right person”.

“So, let’s ask her out for a dinner date today”, he mumbled to himself as he drove inside the gates of Federal Bank of India and his dark brown eyes lit up looking at the tall, slim figure walking ahead. Clad in simple semi-professional dress, she looked amazing. Rubbing the back of his neck, he glanced at her and drove past her making up his mind to politely thank her as well as ask her out for a dinner date.

Giving a curt nod to her colleagues who greeted her, Neha walked inside her cabin and suddenly felt suffocated in the premises of her work station. Giving herself the much-needed advice to avoid the words of Pawan, she decided to get back to her work. An hour later, she was startled to see the office boy entering her cabin only to inform her that, “Madam, Arjun Sir wants to see you with the file Madan Sir gave yesterday”.

As much as Neha wanted to hand over the report file to the peon along with her detailed review attached inside it, she realized that she must not run away from her duties and responsibilities. Nodding at the office boy, she wound up her work by saving the file and closing her office computer before heading towards the cabin of the General Manager.

“Good morning, Sir”, she greeted him and he was able to sense the hesitation in her voice.

“So were you able to review these reports by any chance, Ms. Neha?”, asked Arjun gesturing her to sit.

“I glanced at it and made certain observations and inferences which I have attached inside the file”, she replied looking everywhere inside the cabin but him. She felt uncomfortable and Arjun was amused to see her fumbling around him for the first time.

“Thank you so much for this and also for your significant inputs which were of great help in the meeting at the ministerial level”. He profusely thanked her trying to figure out what was going in her mind.

“Is it right time to ask her out?” His heart questioned and for the first time, his mind answered confidently, “Yes, a dinner outside would definitely uplift her mood”, assuming that she was gloomy due to perhaps, another arranged marriage prospect!

As Neha got up mumbling, “You're welcome, Sir”, Arjun could not help but ask her, “Is everything okay?”

Today Neha wanted to shout and scream that nothing was okay. She wanted to yell at him stating that her dignity was held at stake because of him and his sweet gestures of feeding her golgappas or offering her car rides when she realized that Arjun was simply being friendly and he was not wrong.

She realized he was someone who supported in the darkest hour of the night when she was stranded outside a restaurant, ditched by the guy whom her parents had chosen for her.
Finally, she realized that it was Pawan and his disgusting thought-process towards the whole womankind since he was the evil man mocking at her character.

As Arjun's care and Bruno's love flashed before her eyes, she realized she definitely craved for a good friend but she was also aware of the fact that society and people in her circle would never approve of something like this. Being born and brought up in a conservative family, she wondered not just Pawan but even her parents would judge her character if they found about her spending time with Arjun.

The trance of her thoughts were broken when Arjun asked confusingly, “Are you okay, Sneha? You seemed zoned out.”

“I am fine”, she replied as her heartbeats raced and her heart felt elated upon being referred with her favourite nickname.

“All okay? You didn’t come over the morning walk and Bruno was searching for you like a lunatic.” Arjun mumbled while a small part of his heart wanted to tell her that he was also craving to see her just like a drug addict craving for his drug.

Neha nodded without replying when Arjun eyed her suspiciously wondering, “What is bothering her?”

“Are you sure?” He pestered once again only to hear a feeble ‘yes’ and see Neha retreating from his cabin. For once he knew that something was certainly bothering her but he knew his limits and he refrained from asking anything else. Asking her out was certainly out of question for now and hence, with a sour mood he got back to work.

On the other hand, Neha was continuously feeling guilty of going on the trip at Kingdom of Dreams when her heart questioned herself, “Did you do anything wrong?”

“No”, she mumbled to herself when her brain reasoned, “But who would believe you?”.

“When you were calling off your engagement, you knew you will be judged but you went ahead knowing you’re right. What is wrong with getting judged by Pawan?” Her heart protested leaving her confused. Huffing in frustration, she continued to work.

The rational side of hers wanted her to move on without paying any attention to the words of Pawan but somewhere in her heart, she was afraid of getting judged at her workplace just like she was judged at her home by her parents. Her heart longed for Arjun’s care but she was afraid of the consequences.

Keeping aside her turbulent thoughts, Neha drowned herself in her work without even realizing that it was time for lunch. Her friend Juhi was on leave and hence, there was no one to drag her out of her cabin and remind that she needed to eat her meal. Her appetite was lost amidst her confusions and frustrations.

Arjun, on the other hand, was feeling quite restless. During the lunch hour when he did not see Neha in the corridor walking towards the pantry, he was sure that there was certainly something bothering her. With pure intentions to help her cope with things going on in her life, he walked towards her cabin only to see her working on her computer through the glass door.

A knock startled Neha who was working on the biannual reports of her department and she was certainly surprised to see Arjun at the door. Her pitch black eyes rose up while her heart raced in fear of getting when Arjun mumbled, “I stopped by to inform you that it’s the lunch hour”.

“What would people think of me and him being together during lunchtime?” She thought while Arjun looked at her in amusement.

“Is everything fine, Ms. Neha?” Arjun asked politely when Neha lost her mind.

“Yes, everything is fine, Mr. Verma. I know its lunchtime and I have work to do. Stop showing your concern and just, leave me alone.” Neha hollered and Arjun was shocked to see her angry.

For Arjun, Neha was a timid girl who seemed upset since the day he had met her. He was surely attracted to her enigmatic behavior but he had never crossed his limits especially in the premises of Federal Bank of India. He was beyond embarrassed. He looked around and was thankful that there was no one in the corridor to witness Neha losing control on him.

“Am I behaving like a creep?” He questioned himself and he knew he was simply, acting like a gentleman who was concerned of her upset mood. He simply wanted her to smile but on the other hand, she had just poured down her frustration onto him in form of anger. Upset and disheartened, Arjun walked away from her cabin fearing that his presence might create rumors about his reputation at the workplace.

Upon reaching his cabin, he slumped himself on his upholstered chair. He had lost his appetite and his food remained untouched.

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Hi everyone

First of all, I would like to thank each one of you for bearing up with me and supporting the story even when I was not in a position to update. 💛💛

I'm so sorry that I was not able to post an update leaving the history stranded all this while. 💚

There had been an issue with my phone followed by Diwali. After that I simply couldn't write after losing the chapter plans of my story, I hadn't backed them up unfortunately. I have created the chapter plans again and I aim at writing regularly now!😅 Clumsy me! 🙈

P.S I want to share something, I was also disheartened to accept that the mirror websites are plagiarizing works but then I realized that these are inevitable downsides of digital world. 😑

As far as this story is concerned, I am sorry to break that I am losing motivation to write. It hurts to see less number of readers when one takes pain to write however, I am not blaming anyone of you. I would simply write this, and continue writing till the point you would support me. Its just that I felt low all this while. I know I might seem to be throwing tantrums, but I am sorry. I promise to finish the story, though! 😐

So, now a good news, I am back and I hope to remain in form 💙

P.S let's reprimand Neha together for overreacting and overthinking 🤣🤣

Looking forward for their date soon, though 😅

With immense love, I sign off only to be back soon! 💜