Her Mr. Right

Heartstrings Finally Pulled 💞

Clad in a baby pink tunic and blue denims, Neha was ready to visit the veterinarian along with Bruno and Arjun. It was sharp six in the evening when she was waiting for him to pick her up.

"Why does he  want you to accompany him with Bruno? The chances of him staying alone with just a dog are slim." Her brain was constantly bothering her and strangely, her heart lacked a counter except, “Perhaps, everyone is busy in his family today”.

“Isn’t it okay to help someone, especially a colleague?” She asked herself and she realized she should not be having any qualms in helping Bruno.

“Why doesn’t he speak about his family?” She mumbled to herself and with immense curiosity, she decided to stalk him over Facebook. Her hands trembled as she typed ‘Arjun Verma’ after logging into her Facebook account.

Amongst the fifty search results showing profiles with the same name, she was elated to find his profile picture. In his profile picture, he was standing in the backdrop of Gateway of India, dressed in a grey shirt and denims. However, her smile soon turned into a frown as she realised that he had locked his profile.

The only option left with her was to send a friend request to him and wait for an approval but her mind was against it. Finding him on Instagram was another fruitless ordeal, she realized because it has been a trend to keep profiles private.

“Stop being a stalker, for God’s sake”, her brain chided her as her heart was in a conflict to know about his family and his marital status. The cascade of her thoughts was broken when her phone rang and ‘Mr. Manager’ was calling her.

Yesterday, before sending the contact details of her interior designer, she had saved his number with ‘Mr. Manager’ instead of ‘Arjun’ just to remind herself to maintain a strict professional relationship.

Over the call, he asked her to meet him outside the gates of the housing society she stayed at as he was waiting for her. She was constantly thinking about the plight of Bruno, the poor dog who was traumatised to visit a hospital for a regular check-up because of a life threatening injury he had got while protecting the nation.

“Poor dog! He certainly doesn’t deserve any of this”, Neha mumbled to herself but at the same time, she could not help but feel proud of the lively animal who had collected his broken pieces immaculately.

Locking her apartment, she rushed towards the main gates since it was already six in the evening and she did not want Bruno to get late. Arjun waved at Neha as soon as he saw her. He was certainly admiring her refreshing demeanor after a working day. She had changed into casuals and she was indeed, looking great.

“Pink suits on her”, his heart told him while he mumbled to himself, “Smile suits her more”, mentally planning to always keep her happy.

His brain mocked him, “She is gorgeous and she might have a boyfriend so keep your hormones in control”, and reality hit him hard. He was certainly no one to her except her senior colleague and he didn’t know anything about her.

Quickly composing himself, he told his brain, “If she is already committed, I would still be a good friend to her but I wish, she should not be”.

His conversation with himself ended when she walked towards him and he shook his hands with her soft ones cherishing the tingling sensation he had in his body. On the other hand, Neha was flustered at the sudden gesture of shaking hands which had woken up the dormant butterflies in her stomach who had begun dancing and nagging her.

Trying to hide her crimson cheeks, she sat at the passenger seat after all, Arjun had opened the door of his car for her like a chivalrous gentleman.

“She doesn’t seem to have a boyfriend as she blushes around me so cutely”, he wondered grinning to himself as he ignited the engine. Bruno woofed excitedly to find Neha around him enjoying the silent ride. Neha was stealing glances towards Arjun as she found his dapper, anchor beard quite attractive.

“Shameless”, her brain chided her and she teared her gaze to look at the roadside through the window pane. Arjun, who had been noticing her throughout the drive, felt dejected as she turned to look away from him after all, the attention he had been enjoying did not exist anymore.

Without paying much attention to her actions, he drove towards the hospital constantly pondering over a question, “Why is she so guarded and so reserved?”, but little did he know that the answer was not a pleasant one.

He sighed as he parked the car in the parking lot. “You will have be careful around him”, Arjun instructed her and she nodded.

“Please don’t stay near him if he barks aggressively”, he told her and mumbled, “Thank you so much”, before getting down from the car. Neha followed his suit while he opened the door for Bruno. The dog jumped gleefully as he hugged Neha. She got down her knees caressing his back. Neha pecked Bruno lightly on his crown preparing him for the ordeal while Arjun smiled looking at their bonding.

As soon as Bruno entered the veterinary hospital and smell of antiseptics mixed with that of other animals, he tried to run away, barking loud attracting everyone’s attention. For once, Neha was frightened to see his enraged eyes as he desperately tried to move away from Arjun’s hold. Unlike every mornings, today Arjun had caught his leash tightly.