Part 3

I remain still for a moment. Then he asks me how open-minded I am.

Open-minded? Why does he want to know that? I say, “Okay… I guess.” He laughs at my answer and then asks me if I have a boyfriend.

Boyfriend? Really? He is asking me this question? But one thing is clear to me now. I understand what his intentions are and what he is trying to do. So I say yes. Maybe if I tell him I have a boyfriend, he will stop doing all this.

But he doesn’t.

He asks me what he does and where he lives. Okay, so now I’ll have to lie. I look around and notice a CA nameplate nearby, so I tell him that my boyfriend is a CA finalist, that he is from MP and lives in UP. I think maybe now he will stop.

But he doesn’t.

He simply says, “Okay, good. But a person should do whatever makes them happy.”
I smile and say nothing.

 I try to pretend that I don’t understand what he is talking about. But then he says,
“You understand what I’m trying to say.”
I say, “No, Sir.”
He immediately responds, “Sir? Okay… so if I don’t call you Sir, then what should I call you?”
I go completely blank. 

I don’t say anything. I just start looking at the clock sitting on the table. Then he says again that we will spend some “me time” together, and that the most important thing is that whatever happens between us should not reach anyone else not even a third person.

At that point, I don’t know what to say or how to react. But I know one thing. I have to leave. Staying there doesn’t feel right anymore, especially when there is no CCTV in the office. And then I remember that he had asked me about the CCTV earlier, before the pizza arrived.

I pick up my bag and walk out of the cabin. I tell him, “I’ll have to go. It’s getting late. My room will be locked by 9.”

He says,
“There are still ten minutes left. Even if you leave now, you won’t reach in time. It’ll be locked.”

I tell him, “I’ll manage.”

But he keeps insisting. Almost ten times. “Come inside. Stay for ten more minutes.” And every time, I say the same thing: “It’s getting late. I have to go home.”

I finally come back to the reception area. I put my phone down and turn towards the exit. And then I see him standing right behind me.

For a few seconds, I just stand there. Then he reaches his hand towards me and asks me to hold his hand if I’m open-minded.
I say,
“Sorry, I’m not comfortable. I can’t do all this.”
And I walk outside.

He comes out with me. I lock the office because the keys are with me, and we go downstairs. I am trying to act completely normal because at that moment, getting home safely is the only thing that matters to me. What if something happens? There is no CCTV.

When we reach downstairs, he suddenly says,
“The laptop bag needs to be kept upstairs. It’ll get wet.”

I swear, I was so blank that I didn’t even realise why I was going upstairs again. But I don’t go back inside the room.

Then I realise that my room has already been locked. So I call a Didi who lives nearby and ask her,
“My room is already locked. Can I come over to your place?”
She immediately says yes and tells me to come over.

I tell Arbaaz Sir that she lives nearby and that I’ll go there. He hears me and says again,
“Now it’s not that late. You can stay a little longer. She lives right next to you.”

I tell him that I have already said I’m going and that I have to leave.

That night is extremely traumatic for me.

He asks me if he should drop me. I look at the road in front of us. There are a few metres where the road is completely empty. I think that even if I tried to run, he could easily catch me on his bike. There are houses around, but I don’t know if anyone would even hear me if I screamed.
So I agree.

I get on the bike.
The sky is completely open above me, but I feel suffocated.

He drops me outside Didi’s place. And before I leave, he says it again almost like a warning that even as a joke, this should never reach any third person.

I say,
“Yes. It won’t.”

And I finally reach Didi’s place.