There was a knock on his door.

" Come in." Sid yelled.

The door opened revealing Raj and Neha standing at the door.

" Sir you called us?" Raj asked him.

" Yes, have a seat." Sid said in monotone.

Raj and Neha looked at each other and took the seats in front of him.

" Where is she?" He asked examining them.

" Who?" Neha asked.

" Ms. Agarwal." He replied.

" She is on leave Sir, she told me that she emailed you her leave application." Neha said to him nervously squirming under his gaze.

" Why did she need leave.....that to for few days?" Sid asked them in his business tone frowning at the leave application in his laptop.

Neha looked at Raj as to ask him what to tell.

" Sir.....umm.....she is not well." Raj said unsure of his response.

" Why? What happened to her?" Sid asked concerned while Raj and Neha were taken aback by sudden change of his demeanor .

" N.Nothing she just have f.fever." Neha stuttered.

" Just fever?.....Then why did she stated that she wouldn't be able to come to office for few days just for a  fever." Sid enquired suspiciously.

" It's a viral flu Sir and as it is contagious, she will come after she is completely fine." Raj replied and Sid nodded his head unsure.

" Sir, can we leave now?" Neha asked after a while.

" Yeah." Sid said and went back to his laptop.

After coming out of his cabin, they both sighed loudly in relief.

" How does Anu work with him in his cabin all the time?" Neha wondered loudly wiping the sweat on her face and fanning her face with her hands.

" Yeah.....it was like we sat for an  interrogation." Raj said shaking his head.

" I must appreciate you for making an excuse of Viral fever at that time because I didn't know what to say?" Neha exclaimed walking towards elevator.

" I know.....but we had to say something right, because if he comes to know the actual reason of her leave then don't know how will he react." Raj said worried.

" What do you think they must have reached there?" Neha asked looking at her watch entering into elevator.

" No, they might reach there in another 2 hours." Raj replied.

" I already miss her." Neha said with tears in her eyes looking down.

" Me too." Raj said thinking deeply.

" Anu was not ready to go there as she was forced by her parents to go with them for their meeting." Neha sighed.

" She will eat our head when she comes back for convincing her to go with them." Raj said chuckling.

With that they both went back to their desks to resume their work.

******

Siddharth was restless. In the morning, he waited for her to come with his coffee but she didn't. He waited and waited and opened his laptop to work but then an email popped up. He opened and read it as the leave application of Ananya.

He frowned on the thought that she will be not coming to the office for few days.

He doesn't understand why does he care.....he hates her right then why! He tries to work but couldn't concentrate. So he called her friends and asked them for explaination.

He don't know why but it seemed that they are hiding something from him but he couldn't pester them.

He indulged himself with lot of work to stop himself going into unnecessary thoughts and memories.

******

Siddharth looked up angrily when someone barged into his cabin and sighed annoyed at the person.

" Don't you know how to knock on the door before coming in?" Sid glared at him.

" No." Karthik replied shrugging.

" Why are you here Karthik?" Sid asked.

" To meet you." He again shrugged.

" Don't you have any work to do?" Sid asked annoyed.

" That reminds me..... Where is that PA of yours by the way?" Karthik asked him curiously.

" It's none of your business." Sid snapped angrily.

" Ouch! But it's my business bro." Karthik smirked.

" Shut up Karthik." Sid growled.

" Ok but where is she honestly? I didn't see her anywhere." Karthik asked seriously.

" She is on leave for few days." Sid mumbled.

" Oh." Karthik said and started his usual stupidity about girls, parties and friends which kind of diverted Siddharth's mind off from Ananya.

******

Siddharth's car entered into the large gates of the 'Khuranas' mansion. He got out of the car, walked into the house and reached stairs when someone called him.

" Sid?"

" Yes Ma." He replied to his mother who is standing near dining table smiling at him.

" Come here "

He came near her and stood in front of her.

" What Ma?"

" What were you doing so late in your office beta? You should take care of yourself too...... Look how much tired you are." She says concerned caressing his cheek.

" I am fine ma. There was a lot of work today in the office, that's why I got late." Sid replied smiling and kissing her palm.

She gave him a glass of juice. He drank it without arguing and all the while his mom just stared at him.

She got habituated daily seeing frown on his face, creases on his forehead, bags under his eyes, coldness in his voice and emptiness in his eyes. Her heart ached seeing him like this and she knows the reason behind this but she couldn't do anything.

He hardly smiles and she never saw him happy in this whole year after that incident. He doesn't mingle with anyone and doesn't let anyone in.

" Thanks Ma." He said to her softly.

She kissed his forehead and hugged him tightly. Tears spill out of her eyes remembering what all had happened after he told that he loved someone.

" Please move on from past beta." She whispers rubbing his back.

His body tensed listening to her words.

" Ma I am tired.....I will go and freshen up." He says and turns to leave.

" Come fast beta.....I will keep your dinner ready." She said smiling at him while he nodded his head and went to his room.

******

He went to his room and plopped himself on his bed. He sighed closing his eyes and only one imaged popped in his mind. He jerked his eyes open and sat up on his bed. He unbuttoned his shirt and moved to his closet.

He opened one drawer and took out a photo. A sad smile appeared on his face looking at the photo and soon his face etched into pain.

Why did you do that to me Anu?

How can you do that to me?

Even after knowing how much I loved you.

Why did you betrayed me?

Did you never loved me? At least for once?

He didn't realise he was crying until his tears dropped on the photo. That photo was in the park in which he was hugging her from behind looking at her lovingly and she is looking back up at him with a beautiful smile on her face.

Was this also a lie?

That genuine smile on her lips, that love in her eyes, that innocence in her face and that cute blush on her cheeks........Was that all also a facade?

He kept back the photo in the drawer, wiped his tears away and went to washroom to have a shower to relax himself.

******

As he walked into the office, he glanced at the desk of Anu and saw it empty. He sighed and looked at Raj and Neha who turned back to their work in a swift motion as if they didn't saw him looking at them.

I am sure they are hiding something.

It has been already three days since she had left on leave but he cannot get used to it. He doesn't want to admit to himself that he is missing her.

His frustration has been clearly showed in his work and his staff became the target of his anger. He yelled at each and every staff member of the company at least for once in the past three days. And that poor girl Shweta has become an easy target for him to vent out all his frustration as she stays in the same floor as him and also currently doing the work in place of Anu.

He sat on his chair and rubbed his forehead.

What's wrong with me?

I am supposed to stay away from her but not miss her.

I am supposed to hate her.

Yes! Hate her.

I hate her.

With that he starts working on his presentation but gets distracted often for which he groans in frustration.

It should not make any difference to me whether she is here or not.

Yes! It doesn't make any difference to me anything regarding her.

I am taking resolution right now that I will not care if she is here or not and will not react to her presence or her absence.

Even if she comes and stands in front of me in my cabin right now.

At the sound on his door he looked up to see Ananya standing in front of him at the door with his coffee in her hands.

" You are back!" Sid yelled standing up from his seat looking at her shocked.

Here goes all the resolution into drains........

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To be Continued..........

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