Chapter 4

Shivangi

From the moment he had whispered in my ear, I was in a daze. Staring at him and struggling with feelings I hadn't thought I would ever feel again. Though he was making fun of me, I knew he was trying to make me better. But what struck me most was that he noticed my discomfort, no one usually did because I hide it. I wasn't really of what I was saying or doing, until my hand touched his. In an instant, I was aware and my body felt awoken after long slumber. I gasped at looked up at him and knew at once that he felt it too.

Though, I was considered to be extrovert and friendly, I was always a little socially awkward. These two qualities don't seem to gel well but it works for me. In fact, it's these qualities that make me resent awkward situations and conversations. So, even though I wanted to figure out what just happened, I decided to smooth things over and smile at him.

"Shivangi" I say with as much cheerfulness as I could muster.

He suddenly looked so conflicted and in pain and I thought he was going to ignore me. But he surprised me with a silent, "Krish" and quickly let go of my hands. I wanted to ask him what was wrong but felt that it wasn't my place and he had turned away from me. In fact, it seemed it was a bad idea to talk to him right now. Mustering all the courage I had, I said,

"Thank you", rather meekly.

He slightly turned his head towards me and nodded. I thought that was it but after what seemed like an hour, he finally broke the awkward silence.

"How is it that you are nervous for the interview, when you didn't even flinch hearing all the comments earlier?"

For a second my mind didn't register his question and then it hit me what he meant by earlier. I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment but heart skipped a beat realising that how closely to he observed me earlier.

"The comments, I can tune out but this is an interview. My first." I look at him, biting my lip slightly and my hands twisting in my lap again. "No clue as to what they're going to ask and how to reply" I vented out.

He looked calm and nodded as he listened to me. I have to admit, I was a little... no very envious of his calmness. I can never be that calm even if my life depended on it, I have way too much nervous energy within me. In fact, I was just minutes away from pacing back and forth down the hall.

"Whenever you're nervous, try not to think about it. Distract yourself. Maybe go to your happy place in your mind" He said. But before I could reply, the guy inside the room exited and signalled me to go in. I turn towards Krish and give him a small smile and then, I go inside.

After 20 minutes, I was mentally exhausted and dragged my feet towards the door to exit.

"How did it go?" His voice broke through my tired stupor. I sigh before replying, "It was alright, I suppose. Though I feel I was a little cocky."

"Oh, you'll be fine. Chill" he said with a smile, seeing which I felt much better.

He then asked inside the room confidently, as if he owned the world. I looked after him, even when I couldn't see him anymore, wishing that he could stay longer. I turned away to go downstairs to wait as I was instructed, hoping against hope that we could meet again.