Page 40 of Obsession

“Ananya? Wait.” A voice behind her made her turn. Her face split into a smile when she recognized the man walking toward her.

“Zeeshan, hi! How are you?”

Zeeshan pulled her in for a hug. “Hiya, girl.”

“It’s been so long! Five years now, isn’t it?” Ananya said. “When did you get back from Ethiopia?”

“I returned two weeks ago,” her old friend said. “I’ve been meaning to call and all. Glad I ran into you. How’ve you been?”

“I’m good!” Ananya checked the time on her phone. “How come you’re here?”

“My office is close by, and I have several lunch meetings here. But I do want to catch up with you soon. When can you make time?”

“How about Friday?” she asked. “Does lunch work for you? We can check with Devina if she’s in town. I believe she’s always traveling between Mumbai and Dubai”

“Sweet. It will be like old times. I will message Devina.”

“Good, let’s meet at Zuma then. It’s close to my office. I’d love to hear all about your years in Africa.”

“Great, I’m looking forward to it,” her friend replied.

With a quick hug and a wave, Ananya sat in her car. After a quick sip of her latte, she drove off, a happy smile on her face. The four of them—Asha, Zeeshan, Devina, and she—had tried to keep in touch post their MBA days. They would even meet once in a while. Asha had gotten married and stayed in London, now raising her two adorable boys. Zeeshan had started working for UNICEF immediately after college. Devina, on the other hand, was still single and ran a successful designer boutique with branches in Dubai and Mumbai.

However, as time passed, they all had sort of lost touch, only occasionally wishing one another on birthdays and such. It was going to be nice to catch up with them after so long.

She weaved her car into the heavy traffic. It was funny how relationships changed with time. At one time, Zeeshan and the girls were a constant feature in her life. They were always together, at least until she began dating Mihir. After that, everything had changed.

And now, years later, Mihir had re-entered her life, and everything had changed again—her sisters were engaged to his brothers, and she and he… This time around, they were standing at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Sadness began to creep back into her heart. She stopped it immediately. There was no room for sadness or regrets or hate any more. If she had to deal with Mihir, then she’d fill her heart with strength, resolve, and determination instead. She sighed.

After their disastrous encounter, she’d gone outside and jumped into the pool to be with her family. Mihir had returned to the party a few minutes later. She’d played with her niece and nephew and chatted with everyone else, behaving as normally as she could. But on the inside, she’d been a churning ball of emotions. Mihir and she hadn’t spoken at all for the rest of the evening. But his eyes had been on her every time she had looked his way.

Fuck, she’d behaved so foolish, losing control the way she had.

Finally, an hour later, tired of pretending, she’d returned home. The night had been even more awful. Her mind had been an absolute mess. She’d swayed between blaming herself for her lack of control with him and remembering in great detail everything about that encounter. Even now, her body came alive thinking of him—his hands on her, his fingers inside her, moving knowingly, applying just the right amount of pressure and the right speed to make her lose her mind. Her heart rate spiked.

The truth was, she hadn’t been physical with any man after him. The few men she’d dated over the years had never appealed to her—certainly not enough to take anything forward with them. And for no fault of theirs. The problem always had been her… and her fixation on Mihir.

She clutched the steering wheel tighter. What happened yesterday had been a mistake. It meant nothing. It definitely didn’t mean that she was still fixated on him. She’d learn from this mistake and never repeat it again, and definitely not keep thinking about it, and him, anymore.

She needed to sever this connection between them once and for all. And soon.

11

Ananya reread the latest blueprint that her team had sent her for Noir’s next edition. It was lunchtime on a Friday, and she still had a lot of work to be done. She exhaled. Every day, there was a lot to be done. Noir’s six-year anniversary was in two months, and they were coming up with a bonus, special print issue. They had photo shoots to be done, models to coordinate with, advertisements to finalize, interviews to be conducted, articles to review and… her list was endless. Added to that, the annual Noir Fashion Week was scheduled in Mumbai in four months. She had too much to be done and too little time to do it. She checked the time on her watch. She was to meet Zeeshan and Devina in fifteen minutes. She stretched her neck from side to side, cursing herself for adding this lunch in the middle of a busy workday.

She looked out of the window of her office in Poseidon’s headquarters. Dubai’s tall skyscrapers could be seen in full view here. This twelfth floor was mostly dedicated to Noir. She also had a team here that managed the media aspect of Poseidon.

She blankly stared outside the window. The whole week had simply flown by. She was thankful to be busy with work. Being busy meant not having time to think ofhim, at least during the days. The nights though…

She shook her head. She was not going to think about how he’d taken over her dreams once again. She swiveled her chair and focused on the spreadsheet open on her laptop.

A tremor ran down her nape. The door to her office opened, and Mihir Oshnov sauntered in like he owned the place. Ananya’s assistant followed him hurriedly, looking harassed.

Think of the devil and the devil appeared, looking suave and handsome as ever. Fuck. Mihir Oshnov wore his Tom Ford suit like a second skin.

Leah threw her hands in the air. “I’m sorry, Ananya. I told him he couldn’t meet you without an appointment, but he wouldn’t listen.”

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