The Balcony

Chapter 25 (NEW)

Kajal looked at her reflection in the mirror, smoothening the non-existent wrinkles on her rather crisp white shirt. She cursed the Diwali party for messing up her perception of mirrors. Now, whenever she looked at one, she pictured herself through his eyes. Despite the fact that it made her smile in a way that she felt her face grow warm, she wanted the memory out of her head. It served no purpose in her life. She was tired of feeling these things all over again. Kajal had set a pattern to her life and she liked it that way. She didn't want to disrupt it no matter how she felt. This tug of war had to end. Today was a new day. She smiled at her reflection, pushing away last night's thoughts and turned around with a swish of her hair.

And it indeed was a new day. She was feeling more like her normal self again. Work went about the usual way for the most part. Until she had to use the library. She walked in with her glasses on top of her head as she rubbed her eyes rather tiredly. She had been staring at the screen continuously for hours. She scanned the boxes, looking for the right one, absently letting her hair loose from the tight ponytail that it was tied in all morning. She then retied it lightly and put it to one side. She continued her search for the files, unable to find the right box when her eyes fell on an open one on top of one of the reading tables. She walked over to the spot and saw that the files had already been pulled out and someone had begun writing notes. On sticky notes. In very familiar writing.

She came closer to the table and reached out for one of them. Just as she began to think of all the notes covered in the same writing lying on her desk, a deep voice called out softly from behind her.

"Hey..."

She looked around and saw Vikramaditya standing there. She hated how he made her feel out of sorts with her heart racing with just his presence. He took a few steps closer to where she was standing and kept his gaze fixed on hers. She took a deep, shaky breath and said, "I'm sorry. Here's your note...I mean file." With that, she stuck the note back on the file and handed it back to him. He broke into a half grin that showed that he had noticed her slip-up. Before he could say anything else, she nodded at him and walked towards the farthest aisle in search of her work, leaving him behind.

When Kajal got back to her desk with the right box, she slumped in her chair, half exhausted, half oddly wired up, she saw a Styrofoam cup of coffee standing next to her computer. There was a bright yellow, sticky note stuck to the cup with a tiny drawing of the earth.

Without even a sip of the coffee, she smiled, warmth spreading all over her face. She'd get over this too. Just not this moment.