Chapter 1
2026
“Rhea, please. It’s been two weeks since we met,” Anaya complained over the phone.
“Oh please, you’re the one acting busy these days,” I replied sarcastically.
Honestly, it wasn’t surprising anymore. Anaya had always been the smartest in our friend group, so of course she was the first one to get a job.
Meanwhile, I was still rotting in bed at 7 PM questioning my life choices.
After tossing around under my blanket for almost forty-five minutes, I suddenly sat up.
“Oh shit.”
I was supposed to meet Anaya in an hour.
Dragging myself out of bed felt like a personal attack, but eventually I got ready and headed downstairs.
Anaya was always late anyway.
The second I stepped outside, warm air hit my face.
Okay, maybe wearing full sleeves in Mumbai during May was a terrible idea.
But honestly, Mumbai weather had its own personality issues. One minute it felt normal, the next it felt like swimming in lava.
Within five minutes, I was already regretting every life decision that brought me outside.
But For once, I didn’t mind waiting alone.
No relatives.
No “When are you getting a job?” lectures.
No awkward comparisons.
Getting a job wasn’t easy, alright? I was trying.
I sighed and stared at the nearly empty road in front of the building gate.
Ten minutes later, a car finally pulled up near the gate
Anaya stepped out from the passenger seat while her boyfriend gave me a quick nod before driving away.
Thank God.
“Are you secretly a sloth?” I asked while observing her walking speed.
“Oh, don’t even start,” she groaned.
Yeah. Definitely not messing with the corporate employee right now.
“So, how’s everything?” Anaya asked, suddenly sounding way too curious.
What was I even supposed to say? That I failed a subject when I was supposed to be out looking for jobs? It had been a month since college ended, and somehow my college loved me enough to fail me in one subject just to drag me back there for one extra day.
So instead, I smiled.
“Everything’s great.” A fake smile really could solve half of life’s problems.
“Oh, did you hear?” Anaya said excitedly. “Tara’s been meeting some guy lately.”
I nodded slowly, unsure how to react. I was happy for Tara. Really. But I also knew exactly what was coming next.
“So what about you now—”
“So what about you now?”
Me and Anaya spoke at the same time.
I stared at her. “You’re actually too predictable, Anaya.”
“Oh, but Tara is literally the youngest among us and even she has a guy. Everything aside—TARA has a guy.”
Anaya emphasized the last part dramatically.
Honestly, I understood why. Tara had always been the “I don’t need men in my life” type of girl. But she’d changed a lot lately. Moving to Bangalore for college had completely changed her. Freedom looked good on her.
“You’re twenty-one, babe,” Anaya pointed out.
“Not yet. September, remember? Or did you already forget my birthday?” I replied, rolling my eyes.
I really didn’t want to have this conversation again. It was exhausting. I had dated people over the past few months, sure. But guys these days somehow never managed to live up to expectations.
Talking to Anaya after two weeks felt nice though.
Too nice, apparently, because I didn’t even realize how quickly time passed.
“Okay, Anaya. See you soon,” I said, waving goodbye before walking toward my apartment building.
As usual, my eyes stayed glued to my phone while scrolling through Instagram.
I was almost near the entrance when I finally looked up for a second.
And froze.
It’s him.
