"Miss Mathur," he said, voice laced in amusement, "it didn't look like you were ignoring me,"
Shiv could feel the heat travel all the way through her neck to her face. She cleared her throat, "Aren't you tired of looking at my face."
"I'm a man of p...
The new morning seemed overbearing. Shiv needed to come up with a lie. She debated coming clean to Neelu but was too embarrassed to act upon it. The stress carried over to her office, and she found it hard to focus on her work all day.
She was the last one to leave the office. With a heavy heart, she stood inside the elevator and slumped against the wall. Just as the doors were closing, a hand stopped them. Shiv straightened up, backing into a corner.
"Miss Mathur," Shiv sighed at the sound of his voice and relaxed. "Did I scare you?" he asked as his huge frame occupied the elevator.
"A little bit," her voice came out in a rasp.
"Not feeling well?"
Shiv glanced at him, skeptical.
"Mr. Shergill," Shiv cleared her throat. "About your offer from the other day."
She had debated over it the entire day, it seemed like all her debates led to nothing but more debates.
He turned to look at her, "What about it?" his voice laced with amusement.
Shiv knew she'd regret asking, but she was desperate, and he was the last person to judge her on something like that. "I'll go to the ball with you."
"Was that the proposal, Miss Mathur?" The elevator stopped, and Arjun walked ahead, looking over his shoulder at her. Shiv grabbed his hand, "About that," she began, but stopped when she followed his eyes and realized. She dropped his hand and cleared her throat. "I'd like to modify the proposal. I need a boyfriend. Tonight."
He arched his eyebrows.
"Don't look at me like that." Shiv felt nervous, stupid even. "I blurted out that I might have a boyfriend. I needed to save face. Now I'm desperate to find someone to bring home."
"I'll stop you right there, Miss Mathur. I'm amazed; I never pegged you for that type of person."
Shiv's eyes widened. "No, no, no, Mr. Shergill." Her cheeks flushed. "My neighbors want to meet my boyfriend, and they've invited him to dinner tonight. The thing is, I don't actually have a boyfriend. So, will you?"
"Will I?"
Shiv groaned. He was probing her. "Will you be my boyfriend, just for tonight?"
Arjun Shergill showed no emotion as he scrutinized her under his gaze. "I hope you're aware, Miss Mathur, nothing comes for free," he said, ever so calmly.
"I'm ready to pay the price, Mr. Shergill. Anything."
"Anything?" Mr. Shergill echoed. "You see, Miss Mathur, 'anything' is a bit riskier as a price. Don't ever bet your 'anything' for just anything."
Shiv felt dejected; he was outright rejecting her. It seemed like he couldn't even bear to be her fake boyfriend for one night. Was the idea of being with her so repelling to Mr. Shergill? Shiv had already prepared herself for the worst. She would go to Neelu and admit the truth; she'd seek her help.
"Miss Mathur?" Shiv started at his voice. She had been staring at the ground, unable to look at him. "Aren't we getting late for dinner?" Mr. Shergill asked.
Shiv glanced up at him. "You're coming?" she asked, almost timidly.
"Why did you change your mind?"
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