IT WASN'T THAT SIMPLE

CHAPTER EIGHT

For the next seven days, Punit and Ayesha were at cloud nine. The fact that their parents had accepted their relationship made them feel light and elated. It was a start of a new chapter in their life and they were thrilled about it. The liberty to talk about each other to their parents was a surreal feeling for them.

That weekend, all three of them had different plans. Ayesha had a family get together on Saturday while Sid's Saturday and Sunday were occupied in organizing an open air flee market. Punit was the only one without any plans. Hence, he requested them to cancel their plans too but none of them took him seriously. However, it wasn't as if he had his hands empty. The boys had a meeting scheduled on the upcoming Monday with a potential investor named Abhimanyu Iyer. Abhimanyu was a Bengaluru based investor and entrepreneur who was quite renowned in the start-up circle and was closely associated with Nine Arrows Venture Capital Firm of Bengaleru. By the age of forty two, he founded three start-ups and exited all three of them with lucrative profit margins. After that, he started investing his fortunes in companies and ideas he believed in and exited them after getting the desired returns on his investment. He once said in an interview that he preferred remaining associated with a company till the time he and the company needed each other. It wasn't as if each of his investments turned out to be a game changer but the business community had high regard for him for his ability to judge raw potential and transform them into business minds. There was a saying that if Abhimanyu was associated with the business, it was sure to draw attention and investors.

Sid knew all of it and he was very eager and excited about the meeting. He was involved in an email conversation with Abhimanyu's team for over a week and finally, on the previous night, he got a call and an email from them to inform him that Abimanyu was going to be in Mumbai on the upcoming Monday and Tuesday to visit one of his invested companies and they had slotted their appointment with him on Monday morning at eleven, at that company itself. If given a choice, Sid would have preferred staying back at home at the weekend and prepare for the meeting but it was impossible for him to pull out from the event at that moment.

Though Punit had lost interest in the start-up but Sid's excitement was contagious. After a long time, Punit too was enthusiastic about the meeting. Unlike Sid, he wasn't too aware about Abhimanyu's background but Sid's body language was indicative enough for him to realize that it was something big. However, he still felt that it wasn't fair on him to be the only one sitting at home on a Saturday.

"Why don't you go and watch a movie?" Asked Sid as he noticed Punit blankly staring at him while he wore his shoes.

"In case you didn't notice, you and Ayesha have plans." Grumbled Punit.

"Go alone. Enjoy the movie."

"Who goes alone to a movie?"

"I do."

"Dude, you do a lot of things that normal people doesn't," voiced a disgruntled Punit. "I don't want people to think of me as that individual whom the entire group deliberately avoids."

"What about Tarun?"

"He has gone to his hometown."

Sid thought for a bit and came up with another solution to his loneliness. "Go and hit the gym."