Imperfectly Perfect

Chapter 14 - You were right, he's a liar

I nearly stayed awake the whole night. Not a single part of me could manage to keep my mind off Niall. I don't know how he has crept into mind so deeply that I felt like that. How did I go from not wanting to see his face to wanting to kiss him?

I'll never know.

If nothing, growing up has taught me one thing : separate your personal life no matter how miserable it gets from your professional one. Therefore, though it's very difficult I somehow finish off writing four stories today. It's 3.00 Pm now and with the absence of Deepak I feel super-bored. I want to go have coffee so bad, but going alone is a big no in my head – it'll be mundane like anything.

"Oh God, somebody please stab me," I murmur to myself.

As if on cue, the censor of the door beeps and I turn to my left to see who has come at this ungodly hour.

And there comes Santosh, carrying his ever-charming smile and jiggling the bike keys by his fingers like he always does.

He smiles at me. "Hi," he mouths.

I'm so taken aback that I can only wave at him. Least bothered, he nods and turns the water filter area to walk to his chair.

My mind immediately goes to Steven. Although I'm uncertain I think that Santosh went on a trip to Chennai with Steven and him coming to office means Steven might also appear any moment. But, he told me he would be in Chennai on Saturday. I know, I sent him the message by mistake, but he didn't know that. Does that mean he lied to me?

In only split seconds I get sweaty and my hands almost start to shake. Internally, I smack myself for allowing someone to take so much control of my senses. I know I shouldn't.

I feel a deep pang in my heart and it's mostly because of annoyance. I immediately feel homesick, miss my city, my parents, my family, and my friends – all those who cares for me and loves me.

"Nadia," Venkatesh's voice pulls me out from the musing.

"Yeah," I turn around and smile at him.

"I'm sending you a link, write a story from there."

"Yes, sure, I'll do it," I nod as obediently as I can.

My heart has become entirely laden though there is a possibility that I might be wrong. Something tells me that Steven lied to me and I cannot digest it.

The door censor beeps again and I look towards it. And proving me right, Steven walks in. He looks the same old – slicked back, tied up dread locks and drowsy eyes. I shift my eyes away before he can lock our gaze. I can't face him. He knows that he lied to me, and I'm astounded at his ungratefulness to have done that knowingly that he is coming to office today. Did he ever not feel awkward of confronting me? Did he not think once of how would he face me after lying to me about being in Chennai? What was the need to lie in the first place? He could've just turned me down like always. This is a whole new arrogance level.

I put my head in my hands and know that a lump is forming inside my throat. I don't deserve this; in no way I deserve this. I'm a good person, I care about things, and people most significantly, it's his loss, his mistake – I shouldn't feel like this.

I open my office's gmail account and receive the link from Venkatesh. I open the link and notice that the story is pretty big, quite featurish. Therefore, I muster strength and concentrate on writing a story.

The rest of the office hours pass by quite normally. It's 5.00 Pm now and I've finished writing six stories. My shift is till 6.00 Pm, but with Steven roaming around me and his lie still fresh in my mind, I can't stay any longer. In fact, it gets so stuffy that I grab my mobile and leave office to feel some fresh air.