A beautiful girl asked me to upload a Prologue last week, and trust me, I have been thinking about it too, but couldn't form something that would do justice to the whole story. So couple of more days and I promise, I will upload a Prologue for you all, so that you can see the teaser of all the fun you are going to have while reading this book ;)

Happy reading :)

Chapter Two

You brought me sunshine when I only saw rain,

You brought me laughter when I only felt pain - Unknown

10 months back

Hi Austin,

Please prepare the detailed report of the variances of Steel Corporation LLC, for this quarter, by end of business today.

Feel free to reach out in case of any queries.

Regards,

Laura Paulson

Austin groaned looking at the time when he received this email. It was a Friday and 5 in the evening. His shift was about to end in another 30 minutes and this email sneaked its way into his inbox. He knew she was doing this on purpose, as this was not the first time. Those reports will take a good 2 hours to be done and he knew that, she knew about that. Those reports weren't due to the client for atleast next couple of weeks. Why was she in a hurry? Oh yeah! She wanted to remain the all-time over achieving employee of his firm.

"Hi Austin" the devil itself made an appearance, Austin just gave her a small smile in response.

"Feel free to call me in case you have any doubts, I hope you have my number. I'm leaving for the day. And yeah, send an e-mail once you are done, I'll have a look at them first thing Monday and send it to the manager on the same day or on Tuesday. Have a great weekend buddy" she said and walked away with an 'encouraging' pat on his shoulders.

"God! Please kill her" Austin muttered looking up.

Austin Brooks, was the favourite analyst to all his seniors in his team and people love to work with him, atleast that's what he was told whenever he raised a concern that he was getting overwhelmed with work to the Resource Manager. He knew they were dumping him with all the work while the team was busy with their never ending breaks and all day gossip club.

He sighed and got up from his desk to refill his coffee mug. He had to skip his lunch to send the work on time. For once he thought he would get a chance to leave early and enjoy his Friday. But destiny had some other plans.

Same day: Other side – Around 9 PM

Zoe closed her eyes, made a wish and blew the candle placed on the cupcake.

"Happy birthday to me" she said taking a bite of the same. She looked around the almost empty café. This was how she was celebrating her last 8 birthdays. Loosing her mother when she was 5 knowing nothing about who her father was, then growing up with her weird and crazy yet loving Grandmother, who also left her when she was 16. Life was never easy for her. Yet, after every difficulty that life had thrown at her, she emerged stronger than before ready to face the next one.

Waving at the last customer, she turned off the lights of the café, and turned the sign board to 'We are closed, See you tomorrow' she walked back to the counter to pack the cookies and cupcakes to give them to the kids of her apartment.

There was a faint knock on the door annoying her. Who in the right mind would come at this hour that too after seeing that they are closed. She decided to ignore but the person on the other side was not taking No for an answer. Getting ready to grant the death wish of that person, Zoe stomped towards the door.

In the faint lighting at the door, Zoe saw a guy standing with a blazer on his left arm and a bag slung on the other shoulder. His tie was no longer in place and the first couple of buttons were open. Boy! Looks like someone had a rough day.

She saw him looking at her with hopeful eyes. He didn't say a word, but Zoe understood that he just needed someone to feed him. She opened the door and switched on the lights. He followed her and the first thing he did was dumping his bag and blazer on a chair and ran towards the washroom making Zoe laugh out loud at his actions.

Such a stupid boy!

Zoe shook her head with the smile never leaving her lips.

10 minutes later he walked out without his tie and the sleeves of his shirt folded till his elbows.

"I'll eat anything that you have. Please give me something. I am really hungry. I didn't get time to eat anything after breakfast today" he said and Zoe nodded taking out the cookies and cupcakes that she had packed for the kids. She placed the box infront of him and without wasting a second he attacked them.

"Would you like to have something to drink?" she asked him and he looked at her with wide eyes. He didn't get time to admire the angel, but now when he heard her melodious voice, he forgot to blink his eyes. He lifted his hand and touched her left cheek with is forefinger and pulled it back as if he touched something hot.

"You are real" he said, more like telling himself. Zoe first thought that he was acting, but looking at his eyes that held a genuine spark, she wondered if he was for real. Did guys like him still exist in todays world?

She pinched his arm making him squeal in surprise. Rubbing his arm, he threw an accusing glare towards her and asked

"What was that for?"

"To show that I'm real" she winked at him.

Zoe realised that his ears had turned pink. Was he for real? It was now her turn to ask the question. He was too good to be true.

He laughed out loud and said extending his had to her

"Austin Brooks"

"Zoe Johnson"

The shook hands in a dramatic way laughing at their actions.

"So, Mr. Brooks, what would you like to drink?"  Zoe said turning to the coffee machine

"A black coffee with 2 cubes of sugar please. And call me Austin" he said gulping down the whole cupcake at once.

"Woah! Easy there fella! Take small bites, the cupcakes aren't running anywhere" Zoe said in a stern tone making Austin smile. He saluted a 'Yes Ma'am' before doing the same to the next one. Zoe nodded her head at his childish antics.

Handing him the coffee cup, she sat on the other side of the counter.

"Can we sit at the table, and maybe, talk, only if you don't have any other plans" Austin said taking pauses recording her expressions at every word he spoke. She smiled and held the box for him while he carried the coffee mug.

"Aren't you scared sitting with a total stranger all alone in this café?" Austin was genuinely surprised.

"You don't know what all I can do if someone even thinks of harming me" Zoe said with a smirk and Austin raised his hands in defeat. Time passed so quickly that they didn't realise they were talking for 2 hours.

Austin yawned and both of them smiled.

"Lets call it a day" Zoe said getting up taking the empty mug and box with her.

"How much for those?" he asked her

"My treat. Its my birthday today" Zoe turned to him with a smile. He looked at her as if he saw a ghost.

"You didn't tell me its your birthday! Shit! We would have celebrated properly!" he whined like a child.

"No big deal" Zoe shrugged with a smile. Austin looked at the clock. It was 11:55, 5 more minutes were left in her birthday. He walked towards her, taking her in a warm hug, he whispered a 'Happy Birthday' in her ears kissing her cheek taking her by surprise.

She mumbled a 'thanks', blown away by his gesture.

Locking the café, they stood at the door stealing glances.

"Okay then, until next time" Zoe said looking up.

"Until next time" Austin stepped forward and took her in a hug.

Both walked in opposite directions to reach their respective destinations.

That moment marked the start of a beautiful beginning.

**********

Hello beautiful people!

Happy Monday!

Stay home and Stay safe guys

Until next time

Neeraja :)