High School Romance Revisited

Chapter 17 - The Awkward Morning

I ran cutting through the gusting wind. Only one thought in my mind; I have to reach where I wanted to go. There were endless green fields under my feet and the sun playing hide and seek with the cloud above my head. Finally I could see it, a large cherry blossom tree. The pretty little flowers were raining and I ran in full speed to catch them.

As the soft petals settled on my palm I slowly stopped and stood there, to enjoy the shower of cherry blossom. There was a beautiful contrast of green and pink all around me. I opened my arms and closed my eyes to enjoy the soft petals brushing on my skin. It felt blissful. And the happiness inside me increased when I saw him slowly holding my hand and come to stand beside me. We stared at each other and then fell on the flowerbed. Can we stay like this forever?

"No, I don't think so!" I heard Lofa screaming. I sprang open my eyes and saw my staff standing in front of the centre table surrounding the Cherry Blossom painting. Akhil and Rob closely inspected the painting while Lofa's hand covered her mouth and her eyes wide open in shock.

I don't understand, where did the Cherry Blossom tree go? And where was Mahen? I frowned trying to adjust my eyes to the broad daylight.

Holy Fuck!

My eyes widened and my head shot up!

That was a dream. I am still in our conference room. But what was I holding?

I turned to my right and noticed all this time I was resting my head on Mahen's shoulder. My arms had tangled with his while I had slipped into a deep slumber.

"So if we believe that the painting was not with Deepa then it must be a gift from that man sleeping beside her," Rob commented in a hush tone. But loud enough for me to hear it.

I noticed Mahen moving beside me and I quickly stood up. Due to my sudden movement Mahen woke and rubbed his eyes. He too was a little shocked to see the crowd and slowly got up.

"Look the lovebirds are up!" one of the girl from the editing team pointed at us. With all eyes at us I was lost for word while Mahen just said, "hey!"

I cleared my throat and asked, "What are you all doing here?"

"It was all Akhil's fault," Rob pointed at him.

"What did I do?"

"You were the one who said Deepa and her boyfriend were sleeping in the conference room. We just came here out of curiosity," Lofa explained.

"He is not my boyfriend!" I stated.

"Then why does he always visit at odd hours?" Lofa asked. This curious cat is surely going to die one day.

"Hey when did I visit at odd hours?" Mahen questioned.

"The security guard informed you came late in the evening yesterday and last time when visited it was post 4pm when most of the employees were on assignments," Lofa said.

"Done? Now get out. All of you," I walked cutting through the crowd and gathered the candles and remaining pieces of the cake to throw them in the bin.

As usual out of nowhere Rob shrieked. I turned and saw he was glued to the painting. "Now what happened?" I was seriously getting irritated now. Just because I behave in the most friendly manner it doesn't mean they will take me for granted. I am the boss here!

"Deepa, its exactly the lines as you described about the painting," Rob said.

"You idiot. Ofcourse it's the same lines, it is the real painting!" I shouted.