◆ Pink Diamond ◆

Oh-so-romantic crane

"So Raven was there too?' Nicki asked with a mouth full of lasagna. We were at this Italian restaurant for our lunch break. Work has been crazy. The model who was going to be on the cover of our debut issue canceled on us because she was down with 'jaundice'. Yeah, right. Like we don't know you have been partying all night and just going through a terrible hangover. Models, god.

"Yes." I said. I was having coffee. Its been three days since the 'raining men' night. Mark meets me every morning here at the office or he picks me up and drops me at work. But since he has been pretty much busy too, so thats only when we meet.

"But, I don't understand. When did you have feelings for Mark? Or was it the drinks talking?" Nicki asked.

"He is a great guy Nicki."

"I know that very well. But..."

"Let it go!" I cut her off. I really wasn't in the mood to talk. I was having fun with Mark. He has been nothing but sweet and understanding. And lets not forget the night I found Aryan kissing Manvi. He was really supportive. He is too good for me. As for Dr. Amit, I haven't seen him since that night. He said he was taking a little break and will see me a week later. He also has insisted on making our sessions weekly instead of daily. He said, I don't need him daily and I was pretty much doing well.

"Alright. But, trust me when I say, Dr Amit totally has feelings for you and even Raven if you ask me."

"Can you get out of your romantic world and get back in the real world?" I was annoyed. She wouldn't stop talking about how they both like me. Or at least one of them and she was too excited to find out which one.

"Nea, I know you are smart and all. But when it comes to yourself, you are pretty much dumb."

"Okay, Nicki. I am dumb. The guy who pretty much broke up with me five years ago, has feelings for me. Sure. Then why did he breakup in the first place? And as for doctor Amit......just let it go alright? I am with Mark now. And he is amazing."

"You have only been with him for three days. And do you even know why he fired you?"

"Its in the past. He was doing what was best for the magazine. And its nothing serious right now anyway. We meet what? An hour a day?"

"The guy said he loves you, Nea."

"Trust me, after what I have gone through. Those words mean nothing to me. People hardly know what they are talking about when they say those words."

She gave up arguing and got back to finish eating. Raven has feelings for me? What the hell was she talking about? I wish she stops reading her romance novels. And hello, if I were a man I wouldn't leave a hot wife like Lara. So no way, Dr Amit likes me.

That somehow sounds highly inappropriate. But you know what I mean.

I couldn't meet Raven as we had planned to. He got an emergency surgery to perform and could not come. In his few days here, he is already working under the most sort after neurosurgeon.

"You know, I am wondering how you will handle the mess though." Nicki said once we reached the building.

"What mess?"

"Raven thinks you are engaged to Amit. Why did you lie to him anyway?"

"I don't know."

"You wanted to make him jealous."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, I didn't want to make him jealous. Anyway, it did not work."

"Aha! You wanted to make him jealous! Do you have feelings for him Nea?"

"No, of course not! I told you, it was over for me once he told me he did not love me anymore."

"You told me he said that he doesn't know."

"Same thing."

"How so?"

"Look, he probably did not want to hurt me or something. Or just did not want to be harsh. 'I don't know' always mean NO and 'maybe' means YES. People use these phrases when they don't want to admit something directly."

"In the girl world, it does." Said, Anant. He was our fashion photographer. And also, a good friend of Nicki's, "Sorry could not help but overhear your pathetic girl conversation."

"GET OUT!" Nicki and I said together.

"Would love to. But there is someone waiting in the lobby for you Nea."

"Must be Mark, I will see you both tomorrow." I kissed them both goodbye and made my way to the lobby.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Raven?"

"Oh, hey there you are. I was just around here and wanted to make up for cancelling the other day."

"You have a pretty crazy life, there."

"I love every minute of it." He said proudly. It was nice to see him finally achieve everything he wanted to achieve. I remember how back when we were together he could not stop talking about his dreams. And he always worked pretty hard too. "So are you free or shall we meet up later?" He asked.

I checked my cell phone. No sign from Mark. "No, I am free. Where do you want to go?"

____________________________________________________________________________________

20 minutes later, we were seated inside a cafe in a nearby mall.

"I can't believe you made me walk over here in high heels." I said.

He laughed. "Too bad your man wasn't here to carry you."

Ouch. "Shut up. Its so hot outside. I could have fainted." I said dramatically.

"I saw a construction site on my way here. I am sure, I could have arranged a crane for you."

Crane. If only Nicki could hear this. Can you see Nicki how much he likes me? He is dying to kiss me right now. He probably wants to kiss me in oh-so-romantic crane, he saw on his way here.

"Are you calling me fat?" I said in mock anger. He laughed.

"I never said that."

"You said that."

"Really, can you please quote me?"

"I don't have to. I read in-between the lines."

"As always." He sighed. What does he mean by as always? "So, wedding bells huh?"

Argh. What to do about this? "Yeah. Its been crazy."

"Didn't you always say you werent going to marry before touching 30?" I want to fry his brain. Why does he have to remember everything?

"I am 25. And crazily in love." Nice job, Nea. NEA'S PATHETIC LIE #1,00,000. "What about you? You are 28. When are your wedding bells?"

"No, there is too much left to do now."

"Too many dreams Raven. Just get married already."

Did I say that out loud? His expression suggested that I did say that out loud. Loud enough for him to hear. Maybe loud enough for the entire mall to hear. I said that pretty annoyingly. And yes, stupidly.

He took it as a joke. Thank god.

"Haha. You know what? I want to meet the happy couple."

"Happy couple?"

"You and your fiance?" He said raising his eyebrow.

"Oh, um yeah, sure."

"There a fund raiser tonight for cancer patients. Its going to be black tie. Bring him. Here is the address." He said giving me an invitation card

"What? Tonight? I dont know. He is really busy."

"Come on. You both will be doing good anyway. Its a fund raiser. And I really want to meet him."

Mother of god! What am I going to do?