Mysterious Oberoi

3

Diya groaned with the set of papers before her. I peeped at her from the laptop. I was trying to design the interior for the pre-wedding ceremony. As I glanced at the piece of paper where Diya had written down the improvisations by Anaya Kapoor. A simple thought of her made me roll my eyes in displeasure.

"Who is getting the deep dislike from you?" Diya chuckled, resting her head on the desk.

"Who-else? Our favorite lady from the fashion world." The sarcastic reply from me made her to shook her head.

"But dude, I had never thought I would meet Mr. Oberio!" She shifted back to her 'Fan-Girling' moment. I rolled my eyes in displeasure.

"From when you started crushing on Mr. Oberio?" I knitted my brow in confusion. She pressed me a sheepish smile.

"After involving with Hejal's wedding. I had started reading some magazines involving interviews with a businessman." She informed making me stare at her with a suspicious look.

"Were you stalking Mr. D'cruz?" I couldn't believe my ears. She was stalking business news about him as she had developed a crush on Hejal's brother.

"Don't look at me in such a manner." She sounded offended. "He was a mixture of cuteness and hotness. How was I supposed to ever forget him?" I offered her an unbelievable look.

"Diya! You know how it sounds?"

"Yeah, that I am desperate but you know... I am not!" She whined like a kid, making me smile.

"So?" I raised my brow in question.

"Leave it, bro! I am going to die single." I shook my head at her declaration. "I had recently started liking Mr. Oberio but seems like he no longer is a bachelor." She sounded displeased with the information. "But you know what? None of the magazines have his pictures. He seems a quiet private individual. Nor the news of his wedding is known to the media."

I gave a slight nod concentrating back on the laptop. "Hey! Where had you met them? Were they the same mysterious couple you met last night?" She interrogated, making me sigh.

"They are..." not averting my gaze from the screen. As I was anticipating a series of questions.

"As in them?" I gave a nod, her voice raised a pitch higher. "You said that the guy had a girl? I mean he was a father? As in..., Mr. Oberio have a daughter?" And I could assure it that her voice had reached the top floor of the building.

I spare her a glance, glaring at her. "Can you just calm down? It isn't like he betrayed you..." My dramatic friend just narrowed her eyes at me.

"He had betrayed so many hearts! And how come there isn't a single news about his ex-marriage or his daughter?" I shrugged my shoulder at my shocked friend.

"I don't know whether she is his real daughter," I muttered sounding uncertain. "Though she considered him as so..." I trailed away, rewinding the huge smile playing on that small kid as soon as he lifted her in his arms. He had made a space in her small, fragile heart.

"She had made a place in your heart." Commented Diya, pulling me out of my thoughts. I stared at her with widened eyes. "You never allow anyone around your shielded heart but maybe she had the charm to break all the walls." She pressed a smile at me.

I shook my head concentrating back on the laptop. Trying to ignore the urge of my heart that was yelling to meet her again. The aspiring part of me wanted to go back to the garden. A deep underlying hope that I could meet her was overpowering me but I needed to restrain myself. I couldn't allow my heart to soften for a stranger. I knew it would end up breaking me, crushing me to the extreme. Concentrating on my work was better than involving my heart in any matter.