Everyday for the past week her eyes scanned every corner of the office as soon as she entered it. But she did not see him. Her shoulders drooped and her already grave face turned graver. As the week proceeded even her melodious voice turned scratchy. She used the state of her voice as an excuse to avoid talking to others. She preferred to sit at the corner of her office and stare at the monitor. Her productivity had reduced by a shocking 75%. Everyone noticed the change in her but attributed it to her poor health. She was thankful for this convenient misunderstanding.
Exactly a week later, she saw him in the bus. Brightness crept back into her eyes and a smile appeared on her lips. She even hummed a tune as she walked to her seat. He smiled and waved to her. Her faced resembled a smiley ball when she smiled back. It seemed to her this ride to the office was the best she had experienced. Even the long jam caused by an accident did not take the smile away from her lips. She closed her eyes, held the smile and hummed beautifully a mediocre song. She turned around and looked at him. He was busy conversing with others. Apparently, he had a lot to catch up. At times, his eyes met hers and they exchanged a smile.
It was yet another meeting day. As she sat in the room, she realized that he was sitting a few seats away from her. She cursed under her breathe. She should have picked a seat on the opposite side. Besides the smiles, she could only exchange a few words with him in the morning. Hardly enough to make up for the lost opportunities of conversation during the week. She sat through the meeting feeling miserable. Unfortunately for her, neither he nor the people around him talked much during the meeting and she could sneak a peek at him. As the morning proceeded, she lost the melodiousness in her voice. She waited in patient misery for the lunch.
She was the first person to walk into the dining room. As she served the food, an annoying friend joined her. He picked up a conversation that she was not interested in. Out of politeness she hmm-ed and ahh-ed through the conversation hoping he will pick her disinterest and stop the conversation. But the fellow's self obsessive nature took the hmms and the ahhs as interest. She was forced to share a table with the loquacious fellow. As ever, he was in a mood to converse and did not really care about the listener's interest or response. Her responses to his monologue reduced to a minimum. Time and again, her eyes searched through the faces in the dining hall. His absence annoyed her.
Finally, he walked in and settled down on a table with his plate of food. She quickly excused herself and got up. By the time she got to his table a few others occupied the seats around him. She stood at some distance from the table in confusion before walking away. She looked at him with a mixture of anger and sadness as she walked out of the dining hall.
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