The Unconventional Choices

Chapter 1

Sunil

I walked with pride as I held the bonus handed over to me by my boss, after he had acknowledged that I had earned our company the biggest share profit in the past eight months. I was just headed out for a lunch-break when I ran into one of my colleagues.

"Congratulations on your bonus. You are the hot news all everybody can talk about." She complimented me.

"That's good to know." I said, trying to keep the conversation short. She was hot, but I really hated small talks.

"Want to go out for a drink and celebrate?" She asked, seeming hopeful.

"I would love to, but I am meeting my girlfriend for lunch." I specified.

"Oh, you have a girlfriend? Interesting!" She uttered disappointedly and walked away.

My friend walked towards me as soon as she disappeared.

"Why is it shocking to believe that I have a girlfriend?" I wondered to my friend.

"The shocking factor is not that you have a girlfriend, it's about who your girlfriend is." My friend corrected.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I get it; my girlfriend and I are very different people, so what? Love works in mysterious ways." I argued.

"That saying is meant for you two." My friend agreed.

As I drove my Mercedes to my girlfriend's place of work sipping my coffee and listening to stock market news on the stereo, I felt the feeling of getting out of the Wall Street bubble.

"Mmm, do I smell money?" The receptionist commented as I walked into the building.

That was her signature dialogue every time I went down there. Her jokes were getting really old, so was she.

"Hey Naomi! I'm here to pick up my girlfriend for lunch, as usual." I told her, as I approached her table.

She gave a wide smile. "You know where to find her."

"I sure do." I smiled back and started walking towards my girlfriend's office. I was surrounded all over by white-coats and nobody seemed to notice me. They were all busy starring at their books and microscopes. There was such a pin drop silence that the only noise I could hear was my leather boots which made a sticking noise with the floor.

Finally I spotted my nerd-girlfriend and couldn't help but feel sorry for her looking at the miserable condition that she was in. She wore thick glasses which were easily explainable with fat books and encyclopedias lined up all around her and well, a cup of lemon tea on her table. Her colleagues looked exactly like her, all equally dull and miserable. To be fair, I should be given some credit to identify her in a crowd of such similar-looking people. These people were so infectious that I was almost about to go into depression just looking at them. I had to get my girlfriend and get the hell out of this place as soon as possible, I thought.

"Hi Tanya!" I called out.

"Sunil!" She smiled looking at me and gave me a hug.

"Ready to go to lunch?" I asked eagerly. I already missed my work-place so much. I wondered how my dear girlfriend could work in a place where people din't even talk to each other. If I had to work here, I would definitely kill myself.

Tanya

Everybody has their own perspectives of looking at things. For instance, everything my boyfriend, Sunil thinks and narrates about me is completely untrue and I quickly made up a metal list of all those misleading lies spoken about me as we drove to the restaurant for lunch.