The Novel Woman

3. He's serious with me???

Felisa was brought up in an orphanage. So basically, she had trust issues with everyone, especially with men. So naturally, she stayed single till she met this man called Shankar two years ago, who liked Felisa as who she was. After a lot of considerations, she agreed to date him. Just when she thought the relationship was stable, he broke up with her. The reason he gave was that his parents wanted a daughter in law with good background, not someone from orphanage. Of course, a lame excuse. Though she was hurt and lost at first, she recovered eventually since she had heard enough of those already. After that, she decided to stay single until the right person crossed her. She wasn't ready for an another relationship when she said yes to Sumeet. It was out of frustration. She wasn't serious then. Nor now. The good thing is that Sumeet hadn't pressured her like any other man into things like hugging, kissing or even holding hands. Till now. Though that means the man was not into her, she was happy.

"Any plan tonight?" Sumeet asked her. She gave a fake awkward smile as she didn't know what to say. One thing is that she might have a plan with Div, which she didn't want to miss. The other thing is that she didn't want to disappoint him. So she decided to take some time before answering that question.

"I'll call you and let you know in the afternoon." Again, Felisa noticed a disappointment flashed on his face along with a nod. 'Don't tell me he's serious with me. We have nothing in common. Com'on.. We can't be a couple. I need to tell him before the water has gone deep.'

Sumeet had planned to spend the entire evening with her. First Open theatre, with a dinner, followed by a few drinks and later he wanted to reveal something which he was holding back for almost 2 weeks. The break-up. Yes, Sumeet also wanted to breakup with her as the relationship was going nowhere, neither romantically nor sexually. If Felisa was like those girls, who would hook up with any guy, suck his money, he would have told her then and there when he wanted to break up. But Felisa was different. So he was taking things slowly. Though he knew that Felisa wasn't into him, he was afraid that he might hurt her.

"Let's meet up for lunch, shall we?" Felisa asked, thinking she might get a chance to tell him the truth.

"Ya, sure." He smiled.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At 1pm, Inside the office foodcourt

"Hi Fel..."

"Hey.."

"Am I late?" Sumeet scratched his head.

"No.. I just came. Please sit." He smiled and sat down opposite Felisa.

"Have you ordered?"

"Yap... I just ordered a cup of coffee for you as I didn't know what you like. By the way, it's my treat today."

"Oh, no. That's not necessary."

"No, please. You treated me this morning. If you don't accept this, I might want to give you back for that breakfast you spent."

"Okay.. You win. 👌" He laughed.

Just when Felisa was about to tell him about the breakup, Snega barged in.
Snega is Felisa's office friend. She was a good friend to Felisa until the latter started dating Sumeet as the former was one of those girls who were chasing Sumeet.

"Hi Sumeet... Been a while." Her coyish behavior irritated Felisa to the core.

"Hey Snega.. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. Can I join you guys?" Snega glared at Felisa as she asked.

"Yeah... Sure.. " Sumeet replied hesitantly. Felisa got angry because she couldn't tell him about the breakup anymore. After all, it was a private issue. So she decided to meet him in the evening.

After lunch, just before they departed, Sumeet said to Felisa. "Can you make time, just for tonight? I have something important to tell to you."

Snega bit her teeth as she rolled her eyes at Felisa.

"Actually, I, too have something to talk about. So let's meet up today evening."

"Fine then, let's meet up. At around 6pm, meet me near the office gate. I'll pick you up." With that, they left to their respective departments.

Sumeet and Felisa worked in the same company, but different departments. They got to know each other while interning. They didn't even consider themselves acquaintances then. After they knew that both were good friends with Divya, they started greeting each other in company meetings or gatherings. Other than that, they also met in social gatherings or get-togethers with Divya.

The girls, who were chasing Sumeet, were shocked when Sumeet asked Felisa out. The office departments erupted. Why? - was the question everyone was thinking.

Sumeet, first, met Felisa during the internship. That time, Sumeet didn't even look twice at her. But when he saw her at Divya's get-together, he despised her as he thought she was following him. Then again, at one point, he realized that Felisa also didn't even look twice at him. He was surprised in fact. That piqued Sumeet's interest. Sumeet tried impressing her in several way, but she didn't give a damn as she had Shankar at that time. That made Sumeet more desperate. So as soon as, Sumeet got the news that Felisa broke up, he proposed her, not really expecting a yes. But to his surprise once more, Felisa didn't think twice. He was overjoyed then. But again, he realized that Felisa accepted his proposal, not because she was interested in him, just because she was frustrated. He knew that she was regretting the decision, so he decided to break up, not only for her, but also for him.