Nash didn’t know what it was about Anahita Verma that always brought out the immature in him with a gusto. Everything she did or said felt like a personal challenge to him that he felt unable to back down from.

Hence the constant and oftentimes unreasonable bickering.

Nash knew most of his actions around her were childish and yet he felt powerless to stop himself from being this complete & utter jerk, every single time!

He knows that he hadn’t made a favourable impression on Anahita and all their subsequent encounters hadn’t improved her opinion of him. Even then he finds it impossible to lose this ‘stupid streak’ in front of her.

Around her, his size 9 foot always ends up in his mouth, without fail!

Is it any wonder that she favours his elder bro and her boss over him?

But he can’t seem to stop himself from repeating his unbelievable moronic behaviour.

Everything she did affected him and he didn’t even know why.

That’s why, despite being extremely busy designing games, he still takes out time to come to his family’s business headquarters and bug his brother’s CFO, almost everyday.

It is just that he gets irritated seeing Anahita and his brother talk like they’ve known each other far longer than 3 years.

They always seem to go ‘soft’ around each other!

They talk of things he doesn’t understand!

They laugh together at jokes that he doesn’t get!

Nash loves his brother, he really does, but he feels extraordinarily possessive and protective towards Anahita, why or since when, even he doesn’t know!

Of course that makes him even more moody or in his friend KK’s language; more PMSy and it is Anahita who bears the brunt of it!

All he knows is that thoughts of her keep him up all night. They even carry forward into the day with him.

So much so that he comes to KI just so that he can catch a glimpse of her and if he is lucky, verbally spar with her!

He loves ruffling her perfectly coiffed feathers!

He loves how she smiles, genuinely, with a hint of shyness in it.

He loves how she laughs, with her entire being, uninhibitedly.

He loves how she eats, with actual enjoyment.

He loves that she is so openly caring to his family and that they love her too! Except his brother, because he doesn’t want him anywhere around her!

He loves how she lovingly calls her mom maa & her dad paa.

He loves how professional she is until she receives a phone call from her parents. Then she turns into this whiny 3 year old!

He loves how she adds small personal touches to her office attire.

He loves how her eyes shine whenever she’s talking about things she likes.

He loves how animated she gets during discussions.

He loves that no one has anything bad to say about her.

He loves how obsessively neat she is.

He loves how she always reminds him of spring with a possibility of rain.

He loves that a strand of her hair refuses to stay in her officious ponytail.

He loves the crease in her brow, the tilt in her nose, & the mole on her lip.

He loves how all-seeing her gaze is, like she knows all of his carefully hidden secrets.

He loves her wit & sarcasm.

But he hates how she always smiles at his brother and not at him!

God! She makes him feel like a kindergartner pulling the pigtails of the girl he likes!

He hadn’t even realized that he was this childish. In fact, he had always considered himself to be quite mature and a sorted person and not someone prone to petty jealousies!

How was it that Anahita brought out a side of him that even he wasn’t aware of? He was changing and so was his perception of himself….and it was all because of Anahita Verma.

3 years was a long time to play hide & seek with one's own feelings.

It was time to start behaving like an adult that he actually is and man upto his feelings for her, and that too before she gets tired of fighting with him!

He wanted her in his life, in his home, and in his bed, forever, & it was time he took the first step towards that goal.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Nash started towards where he had seen Anahita disappear moments ago...