The Arranged One | ✔️

Chapter 2 - Lunch yes! Date no!

"TRACY!"

"I'm s-sorry m-ma'am", Siya's short-haired secretary came, practically in trembling.

"TRACY!" , Siya said again, going red with anger.

"Sorry sir" Tracy looked at him with pleading eyes. But he, Abhi couldn't help her. Siya's temper was certainly not to be tested.

"What explanation do you have for this? Hadn't I given you clear instructions? I wanted every slide to be lilac. You give me grey?" The detest for the colour clear in her voice.

"Tracy", said Abhi as he looked at the Tracy, who was almost double Siya's tiny self, "Please go and change the colour immediately."

"Abhimanyu sir...I'm really v-very s-sorry", she replied glancing at Siya and shuddering, before every word.

Once she was gone, he turned to Siya and handed her a glass of water.

"You hate her!"

"No I don't" And she sipped a little water and sighed deeply. "No Abhi", she added when she saw him waiting for a reply, "It's not her I hate, it's her dim-wittedness."

"Elaborate."

"Well, she is an extremely sweet girl, very hardworking, organized and helpful. But there are things she is slow at. Obvious things!", she took a deep breath and continued, "I told her 'Lilac for the slides'. Which clearly referred to the presentation slides and not my window", she pointed at her now lilac framed sliding windows and shook her head tiredly.

He watched her in silence before saying seriously, "But then it was considerate of her to think up a colour for the presentation slides herself, don't you think so?" And suddenly both of them were laughing.

He watched her laugh with vague self-satisfaction. Though she pretended to be rough, with her boyish attire and tightly tied hair, he knew there was a soft sweet girl who needed reassurance and protection. No she wasn't weak! Hah! Girls aren't weak. Call them fragile, but weak??? Well, He didn't know about the rest but this one was an angry kitten who could turn into a tigress at any instant. But even if she did behave like a tigress she was after all a sweet little kitten.

***

"So, are you free today evening?" She asked as they were sipping coffee in the cafeteria in their usual 3:30 break time.

"If you mean after office, that's six o' clock, yes", Abhi replied, keeping his empty coffee mug on the table.

"So you are free around seven",  she asked, leaning forward to wiped the corners of his mouth with a tissue.

"Obviously!", he replied, grabbing at her wrist and pulling it away from his mouth, but holding it still.

"Great! Thanks a lot for saying that." She gently shrugged her hand from his grip.

"Why?", he asked, taking a sip from her mug. He was now feeling suspicious.

"We are going to learn waltz from seven to eight-thirty."

"WHAT!" He almost choked at his coffee. Coughing hard as he said, "NO!"

She looked at him pleadingly, patting his back all the same, "Please, please, please!"

"No. I said No, and that's final", he said once the coughing had died down.

"But you are free, what's the problem?" She countered, sounding miffed now.

"Waltz! What do I look like? A clown?"

"You are such an proud Indian man! Can't you see the grace of the dance? It is so beautiful!"