“Don’t be silly, Andy. I already told you, I don’t want a man in my life, besides he is a client.”

“The heart wants what it wants, Trisha.”

Trisha rolled her eyes. “Are you a poet now?” She shook her head. “Meghan is lucky to have you. There is never a dull moment with you.”

“Yes, she is very lucky to have me as her husband.” He nodded his head.  “Don’t worry about Sid being a client. Let’s call it networking.” He winked at her and gave her a grin. “Trisha please, you really should try to relax.  Go with the flow, loosen up a little. You know what, I am going to make us both a cup of tea and leave you to your thoughts.” He smiled from ear to ear and walked to the small kitchen which was in the back of the office.

He is a client

“He is a client, Andy! You asked me to handle this account, remember?”

A few minutes later, Andy came back with two cups of tea and gazed at Trisha. “Are you ok Trisha? You look kind of pale. Or is this a new make-up look, you are going for? 

 “I don´t feel very well, all of a sudden, it will pass.” She took the mug from her desk and wrapped her hands around it. “Aaah, that feels much better.”

“Are you sure? It seems like the brown is fading away from your face. That can´t be a good sign and I’m no doctor.  I think you are  getting sick.” Andy shook his head. “Take the rest of the day off. As your boss, I don’t want to hear no for an answer.”

Trisha sat down on her comfy couch and wrapped a blanket around her.  She had made herself  a steaming mug of hot tea and changed into a comfortable pink jogging suit.

Message

Trisha closed her eyes,  holding the mug in both her hands. “You have to come to terms with your divorce. It has been two years now. The time to torture yourself is over! Andy is right! Only you can make yourself happy!” It was her inner voice, repeating the same things she already knew.

Maybe they were right. Maybe she should go out more. “Of course they are right” said her inner voice. “You are turning into a hermit.”

Her attention was drawn to the high ceiling window. A group of school girls were passing by. From her first floor apartment she had a good view of the street. The girls were laughing and staring at a mobile, which one of the girls was holding in her hand. Trisha kept watching the girls till she couldn’t see them anymore. She took the bowl of potato chips from the coffee table and started munching on them.  She picked up the remote and turned the television on and decided on binge watching “The Crown” on Netflix.

In the middle of episode four, her phone beeped. She looked annoyed at the intruder of her peace, cursing herself that she should have switched her phone off.

It was a text message. Assuming that it was Andy’s, she picked up her phone. Her heart skipped a beat. It was a message from ‘Mr. Eye Candy’.  Trisha smiled at her screen and read the message over and over again.

https://payhip.com/b/nXgWU

A few minutes later the girl came back. “Mr. Bal will be here in five minutes.”

Trisha nodded “Thank you.”

“You know this job is so boring. I am just here so I can save for my Ibiza holiday. Have you ever been to Ibiza?” Then she tilted her head and frowned. “I really need to learn how to walk on heels like those. I would absolutely look gorgeous in my golden bikini and those heels.” Her eyes wandered off dreamy. “Well,  I better get to work.” The girl walked slowly to her desk while staring at the screen of her phone.

Trisha chuckled inwardly, who had hired her? Then her heart skipped a beat. She just realized that she had not looked up Sid Bal on the internet. Andy used to handle this account, but due to personal circumstances he had  asked Trisha to take over the account last Friday. And had given her a thorough briefing of the account.  

“Mr. IT”

She had been planning to dive into it  during the weekend but it had totally slipped her mind. “Trisha” she said in a firm voice to herself “how could you be so stupid!” She could do it now, and reached for her phone in her purse when she heard a man’s voice calling  her name.

 “Trisha.”

Trisha looked up and looked straight into the most beautiful brown eyes of a gorgeous tall man with a stumble beard. Had he just showered with perfume? He smelled divine, sweet yet masculine. She couldn’t utter a word.  Her friends would  have described this man as ‘Mr. Eye Candy’.  She quickly pulled herself back together, put her phone in her purse and stood up. Trisha felt as if her heart had stopped beating.

She pulled herself together and stood up. “Hi, I am Trisha Gandhi” she said calm  and as professional she could, stretching her baby pink manicured hands towards Sid.

“Sid Bal” he said in a calm voice. “Thank you for waiting Trisha. Are you familiar with days where everything seems to be going wrong?”

Trisha nodded since she felt choked up. His voice was gentle and manly and maybe even a bit arrogant. Did she just give away that she was mesmerized by him?

“Yes, I do,” her voice was professional. She was surprised that this man she just met for a few ‘nano’ minutes just swept her from her feet. This was something she believed would never happen again, since her heart was deeply scarred.

“Well this is one of those days! Do you mind if we have the meeting somewhere else?  I really could use a break.” Sid was searching for something in the pockets of his pants.

“Sure,” Trisha was glad that she was able to speak again.

“I will be back in a minute. I need to get my phone.”

Coffee

Trisha watched as Sid took the stairs upstairs. What had just happened to her? Who was this man who just  had swept her from her feet? Why did she allow him to do so? She scraped her throat softly and swallowed. “He is a client, Trisha. Behave yourself.” Trisha opened her purse and searched for her pocket mirror. She had to make sure she looked presentable. How could such an attractive man work in the IT business? Her image of Sid had been of someone with goofy glasses and no sense of fashion. Not that of a physically attractive man who just whooped her from her feet. He was the kind of man who could get any woman he wanted. Trisha pressed her lips together and tried to stand as confident as possible on her beautiful nude coloured high heels.  “Why didn’t I look him up?” Trisha shook her head. 

“Thanks for waiting again. There is a coffee shop right across the street. The barista does an excellent job.”

“That sounds good to me”. Did he notice that this was not a courtesy smile, but a smile of pure joy? How could she have a business meeting with this man? She couldn’t even think straight!