Those Unexpected Beginnings..

It was 7PM and he was in the lobby of the “Taj” hotel in Lands’ End, Mumbai. 15 mins have passed without his phone buzzing.

“Yes !!!”, he thumped, “Today has officially ended”.

Ankit Sharma had a busy day. The whole day was buzzing with calls, meetings and press conferences about a possible proposition in Mumbai. He worked as the Publicity Manager for the ruling political party. As expected, there were stupid questions thrown at him and he had to confine his retorts to his inner voice.

Tired as he was, he got up from the comfortable sofa to finally go to his room and enjoy the sea link view. The best part of his job was the

perks he got when he was traveling for work.

He was waiting for the elevator when a voice from behind said:

“Ankit Sharma! Alone on a Saturday night ?!!”

He turned around to see Priya Shankar, dazzling in a party dress. Priya was working for the opposition political party and she held the same position as Ankith.

“Is this a setup by your employers!”, came the expected reply.

“You think you are too important, don’t you?!”, she retorted with a frown.

“If I don’t consider myself important, who will?”, he said without faltering.

“Anyways, what brings you to Mumbai?”, she asked.

“Work trip, but tomorrow is a holiday and I’ve managed to extend my stay for this night. How about you?”

“Aren’t you coming from a party conference today? Rumor is that you guys are going to say yes to today’s deal.”, she said. He looked at her. She was beautiful; green always suited her. He had first seen her in Hyderabad during the swearing ceremony and she immediately made a great impression on him - the way she was handling her team, talking to people, giving them orders, checking her notebook, elegant and so much in control. “Lady Boss”, were his thoughts then.

“I can’t believe am discussing work.”, she said and he came out of reverie.

“You know, Priya, I should learn from you. The way you wheeze out answers from others but you never answer them yourself.”, he said.

“Knowing you, I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment but today, I will”, she said.

“See, you are dodging my question again.”, he smiled, “Why are you here?”, he asked.

“Why, aren’t you happy to see me?”, she said with a mock flirty voice, but then laughed at his expression. “I am meeting some friends tonight but am actually here for a wedding”.

“Wedding! How lucky! Haven’t attended one in ages”, he smiled.

“Same here, I jumped at the chance of attending one and sent an RSVP right after I checked my calendar. So, are you leaving tomorrow?”, she said.

“Yes, I am.”, he said while her phone rang. She excused herself to talk on the phone.

Standing there, he wondered, “Is she seeing someone? One would be lucky to date Lady Boss”. It was difficult to have a private life now that they were in the public eye and the last time he checked, she was rumored to be in a relationship. He wanted to ask her out several times in the past but he thought that it would be too complicated. They just started their careers and he did not want to jeopardize his position but now ….

“My friends are going to be late by 25 mins. I’ll wait here in the lobby.”, she said.

“Wow, that’s great!”, the words slipped his mouth he could stop himself.

“What?”, she said. She was taken aback. Did she hear him right?

“Yes, it’s great that they informed you, isn’t it? “, he said to cover up his slip, “Is it okay if I give you company while you wait here in the lobby? I am waiting for my keys anyways”, he said innocently.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

“Okay”, she said with suspicion.

“Can we order some drinks here in the lobby? I want to order an iced tea”, she said.

“I can check that for you.”, he said, looking for a waiter.

“Not bad”, she thought. Though he was not a looker, he always dressed classy.

“Waiter, one iced tea for the lady and one coffee for me. Please make the coffee extra hot.”, he said.

“Iced tea with mint”, she said to the waiter and then remarked, “How varied are our orders!”.

“Well, I have a headache and need something hot to drink. Else, I would have ordered iced tea”, he looked at her with a pause, “with mint”, he added.

“Oh”, she said at a loss to reply. Is it possible that he was flirting?

“Anyways, it’s nice meeting you outside work. How’s life? Boyfriends?”, he asked with his fingers crossed.

“I dated a guy but we broke up a few months back.”, she replied.

“Oh, that’s bad. Am sorry”, he said, with his heart leaping with hope.

“Well, it took about 3 conferences to get over him. How about you? What’s new?”, she asked.

“Well, it’s great. Everything is fine”, he gave a short reply, wondering if she would be interested in his personal life.

“Sir, Ma’m: your order”, the waiter interrupted.

“Thank you”, they both said in unison and laughed. He added sugar to his coffee and stirred it. She was sipping her tea.

“The service is quick here, isn’t it. Anyways, where were we?”, she said.

“Nothing, you had just asked me about my life.”, he tried his luck again.

“Yes, I remember. How about personal life?”, she asked with a smile.

“Well, I was seeing someone until recently too.”, he lied.

“Looks like we are in the same boat”, she replied sympathetically.

“Yes. What’s your type?”, he asked curiously.

“Are you really asking me this? I never thought we’ll be having this kind of a conversation.”, she asked.

“Why, what’s wrong? I thought you were enjoying our conversation. Because, I am”, he replied, looking at her directly.

“WWhaaa”, came her reply, her face reddening.

“Sorry if am making you uncomfortable.”, he said smiling coyly at her.

“Is this really Ankit?”, she thought. While she was an outspoken and expressive person, he was the opposite. He limited himself to his circle of friends and sometimes she had wondered if he were in the right field of work. He was brilliant, of course, but he was seldom found in “networking” gigs.

“Yes, it’s me.”, he guessed her expression, “By the way, you look great tonight”, he added. She looked very cute at the moment and he couldn’t help but laugh at her expression.

“Thank you”, she managed, hiding a blush. Her heart was thumping, not sure why.

“I consider myself lucky today, for getting a chance of meeting you here.”, he said in a rush. If not now, never. “If you are free,”, he said when her phone ringed.

“My friends are here”, she told him, “I have to leave. You were saying something?”, she said teasingly.

“Well, if you are free tomorrow”, he started awkwardly.

“Yes?”, she teased further.

“Will you come for a coffee with me”, he finished.

She looked at him and stood up to leave. Then she turned back and smiled. “You know my number, contact me”, she replied and left.