18

"You should have told me before. Do you even know how embarrassed I was, when all the lights focused on me, and after that, you called me on stage." I said and kicked the stone lying on the road, giving him a furious look.

"But you gave a wonderful speech." He spoke looking at me.

Yeah, All thanks to Google.

I glanced at him, "That's not the point."

"So, what's the point?" He asked as we reached the car.

That I fell off the stage at the end, in front of so many people.

This actually happened.

It was when I finished off my speech and was climbing down the stage, I tripped on the stairs and fell on the floor. That was embarrassing and will haunt me forever.

"I should have prepared myself for it, mentally. I should have worn something nice, and you know... try to look presentable?" I crossed my arms across my chest and locked my gaze on him.

"I don't see anything wrong with your look." He spoke calmly in a casual tone while pressing the button to unlock his car.

I stared at my reflection in the black windows of the car. My hair looked a little messy. The tiredness from working all day was clearly visible on my face.

Nothing is right with my look.

I'm not the pretty girl that everyone admires. Not a beauty that guys fall in love with.

I'm average, or maybe below average. With not-so-clear glass-like skin, big black specs that almost covered my face, and my skinny body which never seems to gain weight no matter how much I try. Well, I don't really try. I am too lazy to focus on these things. I am aware that this is not good for me, but I can't help being lazy.

Sometimes I wonder how I manage to do so much work in my professional life, maybe it's because of the motivation there, money. The best motivation for a person like me.

I know I should focus on myself, but I lose the motivation just after an hour of starting things.

I once tried to gain weight, it took me a month to actually gain one kg and then, I got sick, resulting in me losing 2 kgs. I stopped after that.

I don't care about my looks though; That's what I tell myself. But I am mature enough to not label myself ugly. I'm pretty. I feel prettiest when I am alone in my room but then when I go out, and see all those pretty girls. I couldn't help but compare myself with them. And that fades away my confidence.

Little do I know that a book is always judged by its cover. No matter how much people deny it, it's a bitter truth. Just the Human nature. Only the mature ones try to read the book without paying much attention to the cover.

I was drowning in my overthinking, worrying about how I might have appeared there. There were many people, but it's not like I have stage fear or lack of confidence, I overcame that thing long ago when I was preparing for my secretary exams. I was more concerned about the impression I left and the way I embarrassed myself by falling from the stage.

"Ria?" His voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I replied absentmindedly.

"You seem lost."

I cleared my throat, "No. I'm fine."

He stared at me for a while, like he was reading me. Getting nervous by his constant gaze, I looked down.

"Maybe if you stop your overthinking, things will look normal to you."

I scoffed, "I said I'm fine."

"And I can see you are not. Tell me what's bothering you." His voice was soft as he took a step closer to me and I took a step back, hitting the door of the car and now I was caged. His heavenly scent hit my nose, intoxicating me.

I gulped and maintained my stern look, "And why should I tell you about my problems? Who are you?"

Something flickered in his eyes, and he looked away, an expression of sadness covering his face making me wonder if I was too harsh.

He looked at me again and smiled a little, which almost looked forced, "You are right. I'm no one."

I thought he would leave. But he didn't, instead, he rested his one hand on the top of the car and leaned down a little to my height. Butterflies erupted in my stomach and heat spread across my cheeks as he stared at me with his intense gaze.

"But I'm your employer. And I don't like my employees being stressed out, it has a direct effect on their work."

You are the reason for their stress in the first place.

I wanted to say that, but my heart didn't permit me to lie. The work environment and culture of the company are actually nice. Not the toxic one I have seen in other places. No matter how cold he is, he doesn't put unnecessary pressure on anyone except his secretary.

I came back from my thoughts and licked my lips; his eyes fell on my action, stirring something deep within me.

He brought his eyes back to mine. Averting his eyes from me, he pulled away, creating some distance, and shoved his hands in his pockets.

To fade the awkward tension, I spoke, "Next time you bring me somewhere, please let me know beforehand, so I can try to look presentable."

"We often worry about the things which are not even there. Half of the problem would be solved if you stop overthinking." Then he looked at me.

"You are beautiful, you might not see it, but I do." He whispered, his eyes roaming on my face, like drinking all my features. His eyes captured mine and I found myself unable to look away.

I blinked processing his words. I think I misheard him, "What?"

His face turned expressionless again, and the ocean-blue eyes which seemed to be filled with emotions a few seconds ago turned dark hiding everything behind its darkness. I wonder how he does that. He is confusing.

He cleared his throat, "I mean, I get what you are thinking, Stop caring about people's opinions. They were strangers. You are not going to meet them again, even if you do, no one's going to remember what happened."

His little speech left me surprised making me wonder how he reads my mind.

Gathering myself, I spoke sternly, "I know that. Don't teach me."

He chuckled, and we heard someone calling his name.

"Mr. Aggarwal?"

Two young boys and one girl approached us. They were looking younger than me.

They passed me a warm smile, which lit up their eyes, bringing a smile to my own face.

"Hello. We work at your company."

Mr. Rude offered a slight smile and nodded, "Is that so? Which department do you work in?"

"Marketing and sales," they replied with excitement.

One of the boys then looked at Mr. Rude and said, "We've always heard your name but never had the chance to meet you. You're even more interesting in person than what we've heard."

The other boy added, "Indeed, you are a great inspiration."

Mr. Rude chuckled and engaged in conversation with them.

And I was surprised to see him talking normally. This means he is only rude to people around him.

Especially me.

The girl faced me with a smile, "Ma'am, your speech was incredible. It was truly inspiring."

I returned the smile, "Was it?"

Her grin widened, "Absolutely, I admire your confidence. I've always observed you from a distance; you are so hard-working. I wish to be like you when I climb the ladders of corporate."

The warmth spread through me hearing her. I was stunned hearing her words. I never knew someone could think about me like that.

I looked at Mr. Rude and he was already looking at me with a smile. I smiled at him and then turned towards that girl. We all chatted for a while and then they took their leave.

We sat in the car and drove off.

Looking out of the window, I looked at the sky which was filled with gray clouds. The atmosphere was cool and a cold wind blew, Alerting me that it was about to rain. And as I rest my head on the window, a drop of rain falls on my cheeks. I closed my eyes in pleasure.

The smell of the rain mixing with the sand spread into the atmosphere, Calming my senses, it always relaxes me.

My phone rang bringing me out of my thoughts and I picked it up seeing the caller ID.

"Hey, Sarah!" I greeted, a smile forming on my lips hearing my best friend's voice after so many days. We talk to each other whenever we get free. But work is giving us both a hard time.

But no matter how busy we get, we always try to find some time for each other.

"You alive?" Her voice came from the other side making me roll my eyes.

"Yes. I'm."

"Good. I thought you forgot me."

"I can never forget my best friend." As I said those words, I heard Mr. Rude coughing. Fake coughing.

I wonder what happened.

"Are you with a male? Did you make any boyfriend? Oh my god! How come you didn't tell me about this?" She yelled from the phone, her voice full of shock. I rolled my eyes at her and hoped that her voice didn't reach Mr. Rude ear's.

"Shut up. How is work?" I tried to change the topic and it worked.

"Work is great. And I have news for you." She said her voice dropping suddenly.

"Good or Bad?"

"Depends on you, how you take it."

"Okay? Now, you have increased my curiosity." I chuckled.

"First of all, I want you to be calm. Like calm. Okay?" She spoke to which I nodded my head without saying anything, ready to hear to news.

"Okay?" Her voice came from the phone, and I again nodded.

"Hello? Ria? You there?" I nodded again. I heard Mr. Rude chuckle. He looked at me with an amused look and smirked. I raised my eyebrows asking what and he replied.

"She can't see you. Stop nodding and answer her."

When I finally realized what he was saying, My cheeks heated up due to embarrassment.

Why am I like this?

Wait a second, that means he can hear her. He heard everything.

"Have you already dozed off?" Sarah's question came and I answered

"No. It was just a Network issue. Tell me the news." I said, looking out of the window.

"Um--you know that guy I told you about. That I met some months ago and started liking him. And after some time we started dating. Do you remember?" She asked nervously.

"Yes, Did he do anything to you? Did he hurt you? Shall I make a plan to kill him?" My voice was dead serious. I heard Mr. Rude coughing and glanced at him as he passed me a look that spoke 'Look at yourself first before speaking such sentences.' I ignored him.

Sarah gasped and replied, "No. Nothing sort of this happened."

"Then?" I asked confused.

"Um- I -we are getting engaged." She said.

Everything became silent. It took me some seconds to realize what she was saying. And when I processed the words, I sat straight in my seat and almost hit my head. Almost.

Mr. Rude looked at me confused.

"Sarah, You are so dead. You better tell me everything from the start. Everything." I whisper shouted at her. Earning a look from the person sitting beside me. Sarah just laughed.

I took a deep breath and replied, "Sarah Grace William. I never thought things would have gotten this far. Why didn't you tell me about this?"

I could imagine her rolling her eyes.

I have never met this guy. And that's why I was pretty worried about her. I need to make sure he is a good guy.

"Ria. I am telling you now. Even I got to know about this news just now. A few minutes ago, Aarav called me and dropped this news suddenly. Both of our parents had the meeting which I was totally unaware of."

"I am so happy for you." I smiled.

"Well, I am happy for me too." She joked.

"Wait—What did you tell his name is?" I asked feeling that I had heard this name before.

"Aarav." She replied.

"By any chance, is his last name Aggarwal?" I questioned and Sarah's answer almost made me jump from my seat. Mr. Rude looked at me from the corner of his eyes as I spoke his last name.

"Yes. How do you know?"

"You are going to give me a heart attack with all this news," I said, calming my breath.

I had never seen the person she mentioned. I wasn't certain if this was the same Aarav I knew. Before jumping to any conclusions, I needed to confirm that my suspicions were correct.

As the car pulled up in front of my house, I ended the call, promising to continue my conversation with her later. I expressed my gratitude to Mr. Rude for the ride before heading inside my home.