"Please take a left here. Yeah, that's pretty much."

He slowly brought his car to a halt near an apartment complex. However, he did not unlock the vehicle. Anya waited patiently to get off the car. She knew he was stalling, and she was curious about finding out the reason.

"It was nice talking to you today. I hope we meet again, Anya. It was a big change from my usual crowd. Maybe not in that pub, somewhere else perhaps?" his soft words stunned her a little. She couldn't comprehend if he was asking her out, as in a date, or if it was just a casual meeting as friends. Were they even friends? Or was he implying something else altogether?

"Is it a date, Mr Mullapudi?" she teased him, trying to keep the tone on a much lighter note.

Ajay took a cue from her tone, "Not really, as you said, why would I be interested in a mere mortal like you? And its Ajay, Anya, not Mr Mullapudi," he quipped.

She laughed, "Will you keep correcting me till I get it right? What if I chose to address you as such? After all, I'm just another stranger. We may or may not meet again."

"Ah..ha...Now you know why I want to meet you again, we'll not be strangers anymore then."

Anya internally face-palmed, she was an idiot to walk into that trap. She should have seen it coming. He was suave, and she wavered. It was dangerous territory. She could meet him, and in time, she knew either they would end up together or stay as acquaintances.

But option two was hardly likely when it came to him. Even if they end up together, he was not a person of long-term commitment, and she had questions on where it would lead eventually. She was scared after what happened with Karthik, and she recently realised that she couldn't set her heart on a no-strings-attached relationship. She didn't possess that mien.

"I'm not sure Mr Mullapudi. What is it you want from me? I was drunk and saw you quite a few times. You are a very handsome man, so I went ahead and ordered a drink for you. Then you thanked me for the drink. That's pretty much. Now why this?"

Her candour stumped him. Yes, that was pretty much it. He closed his eyes and rested his head on his car seat. He was equally clueless as to why he wanted to meet her again. She wasn't his type either. He remembered her smile. He felt he was indeed a King when she smiled at him.

He opened his eyes and turned to look at her, "For once, I don't know. Just want to know more about you."

She did not expect an honest reply from him. Their gazes locked, and for a long time, no one moved. She could see wariness and restlessness linger in his gaze, and he noticed for the first time that she was tired. Clever makeup hid her weariness, which did not result with a single sleepless night. It was as if she was perpetually tired.

"Are you alright? You look very tired," he blurted out, and she was taken aback.

She somehow underestimated his observation skills. She knew she was not sleeping well, and often woke up with bizarre nightmares. It all started the day she had relocated to the paying-guest- accommodation and continued till this day. She seemed to have forgotten how to have a healthy eight-hour sleep. It caused her tiredness, and she was often irritated. South Indian Filter Coffee that carried a healthy dose of caffeine was running her life these days.

The sequences in her nightmares were inconsistent. The sounds and diverse visions of a faceless stranger opening a door, refrigerator closing with a thud, stray dogs growling on a dark street, the honking sound of a moving car, flushing of the toilet, people chattering on a crowded bus— were produced with strange intensity and vividness in her nightmares. She often felt these were real and woke up with a start in a sweat-drenched T-shirt. She was filled with dread of the unknown and had trouble falling back asleep.

Her self-analysis through the internet pointed only in one direction —anxiety, stress and everything led back to the same thing—a broken relationship with high expectations and eventual fear of being in another relationship ever again.

What she needed was a therapist to talk to, share her stuff. But again her pride came in between and ruined her chances. His question was a jolt to her, she thought she could cleverly hide it from the outside world, but she was wrong now.

"Of course, I'm ok. Why will I not be?"

She brushed his concerns aside and continued, "I'm sure we'll meet each other someday after work. We do work in the same area. Now could you please open the door, Mr Mullapudi?" she breezed through.

"And when would that someday be?"

If nothing else, Ajay was stubborn to get things his way. He never liked vague, uncertain replies, and this seemed like one. He was not sure why he was acting stubborn. It was almost strange to pursue a woman who was reluctant of his company. He was used to women falling all over him.

"I don't know. You tell me. I have no clue of your plan," she burst out in exasperation. Somebody had to give in. It was late. She needed whatever sleep she could get to make through the next day, even if it was a weekend. And what would one date lead to? Nothing was her answer. Thus, she agreed.

"Tomorrow lunch, I'll fetch you at 12.30 p.m. from here," he commanded.

"That won't be necessary, I'll be there if you let me know the place," she firmly insisted irked by his hard tone.

Ajay shook his head with a slight smile.

"Nah, it's a surprise, and for some reason, I feel you'll like it."

"So much for getting to know me? Really? I can't believe it," she replied sarcastically.

"Believe me, even I'm surprised," he echoed her words with a grin.

He unlocked the doors and got out to open her car door. She beat him to it and alighted as if that was a prison cell. They briefly shook hands, confirmed their lunch date, and she moved into her apartment complex. He waited till she got in, reversed his car and went home. He wondered about his strange behaviour around her and couldn't help but smile at it.

That night, Anya was more than stunned with Ajay's behaviour. He did not treat her like he treated those other bimbos surrounding him. She felt they were long lost friends, and now she was curious to know where he planned to take her.

She had a full night's sleep and woke up leisurely at 8.30 a.m. That counted close to seven hours of uninterrupted sleep, and she was more than happy about it. The day looked brighter and promising. She felt refreshed but was still a little sluggish. She didn't want to count the number of hours required to fully recover from her sleep depravity. But this was progress. Was she finally moving on? A question she didn't have an answer for now. She just hoped this would be a stepping stone to the road to recovery.

On the other side of Koramangala, Ajay got up at the same time he usually got up—5 a.m. sharp and went for his daily jog. No matter how long he stayed up the night, he ensured he woke up early—early bird always got the best worms. However, today was for entirely different reasons. He wanted to think and compartmentalize his swirling thoughts about his job and on the personal front.

Before long, he listed down the priority tasks that he had to sort out as soon as he reached office on Monday. He also noted down other mundane tasks that he could delegate. But, his brutal jog did not keep Anya'a thoughts at bay. She was different from the usual crowd he encountered. She still had certain innocence in her which was not yet, tainted by this bustling city. She sounded a bit wary and a little disillusioned, but these couldn't reach her innate strength and disturb her core values.

He realized that she was not from the city when she looked at the stars with a bittersweet expression on her face. People hardly took the time to look around them these days. He was yet more intrigued about her.

Even after spending a few hours just talking to her, he knew nothing about her. That was more than the sum total of all the time he had ever spent talking to the women whom he met in his life. He stopped and chuckled to himself. He knew he was exaggerating. He did talk a lot to his mother, his sister and a couple of colleagues who were women.

The more he thought about her, the more he was surprised to find that he was attracted to her.

He was sure it was her smile that did the trick. But he knew this attraction would go nowhere. Her witty comebacks and lack of sly remarks were refreshing. He wondered how long it would take for this novelty to wear off, and he could get back on track. Therefore, this audacious lunch date made sense to him now.

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