To Love Or Not To Love| A FEATURED STORY

Chapter 27

"You look sick," Anu exclaimed as she crossed her arms to look at Ajay who took refuge in his room and made no attempt to leave it. He was dishevelled and looked worse for wear— with shabby hair, beard dotting his face and crumpled clothes. It was clear he wasn't taking heartbreak very well. She felt that he even lost a little weight.

He was relentlessly working on his laptop without sparing a glance at her. Losing her patience at the lack of response from him, she padded across the room, forcibly removed his laptop and put it away.

"Anu, I'm working! Do you mind?" he gave her a death glare which would have incinerated any other person in her place. She was his sister for a reason and returned his glare in equal measure.

"We need to talk!"

"What if I don't want to?"

When she did not budge and arched an eyebrow, he continued, "Don't you have somewhere to be? Perhaps on a date or something with 'Hacker Sanju' or is still 'Arrogant Rajendra'? I keep losing track whom you are with."

She knew he was purposefully riling her up to get away from her, and she did not care for his attitude. She wanted to end his misery and pull him out of this self-pity.

"This is not you Ajay. We are going out tonight. Just you and me on a brother-sister date. You look fucking crazy! Never thought, I would see the day when the famous banker Ajay Mullapudi would end up hiding in his room to get away from a mere girl."

"I'm not hiding. I'm working."

"Which is what you seem to be doing these days to the extent that you've stopped going to that damn pub on Friday nights too. How long are you planning to mope around?"

When Ajay chose not to answer she glared at him, he finally let out a puff, "Why do you care?"

"Of course, I care. You are my idiot brother who doesn't know how to hold on to the best thing that has happened to him. Anyways, what's done is done. Either you go out there searching for her or quit being like this. Be a man, make an effort and move on."

"Clearly like you, I guess! I don't think you are in a position to tell me about moving on. You seem to be leading two men, one from your past and the other you are intent on spending your future with. In what way this is good?"

"Now don't make this about me. We are not discussing me here. When that bridge comes, I'll know how to cross. And I'm not leading anyone. I know where I stand with each of them. It's about you."

She paused for a minute, looked at him keenly and widened her eyes in disbelief.

"And this reluctance is because of me, isn't it? You think you'll end up like me with one foot in the past and one foot in the future? Newsflash! My feet are firmly planted in the present!

"I fell in love with Rajendra, agreed, and it didn't last. But it doesn't mean I'm clinging to those memories and never moving on. I made an effort and came out of it. Now I don't mind falling in love again. Better to be alive a little than be cautious and leave out everything. Take a chance and live a little."

"Of course I took a chance, look where it got me," he mumbled, reluctant to admit his feelings aloud.

Anu's gaze softened, and she said in a placating tone, "Then you didn't try harder. Maybe you should. Look! I don't mind even if you think very lowly of my relationship status. I know what I'm doing, and unlike you, I'm not moping around needing someone to pull me out of this abyss. Stop being a coward for once, and find her Ajay if she means something to you. And this time don't mess it."

When Ajay looked away morosely choosing not to answer.

Anu asked, "Are we still on this date?"

"I don't want to."