CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: ANANYA STUDY COMMITTEE GATHERING!!

In her own room now, Ananya tossed and turned on the bed, holding her teddy bear tightly as if it were capable of soothing her untamed heart.

Her face burned with heat, and each heart beat felt like it would burst out of her chest.

Despite her attempts, the events of the day continued to repeat themselves in her mind, leaving her feeling dizzy and nervous at once.

Meanwhile, her phone rang out for a notification a WhatsApp message.

Ananya was startled and quickly picked up her phone, half hoping, half expecting it to be Alex’s message.

Her heart started racing, but reality proved to be entirely different.

Rather than a direct message from Alex, she had been drawn into a WhatsApp group chat. She raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Who had pulled her into some sort of random group at this time? Touching the screen, she opened the chat, still confused about what sort of group it would be.

It did not take long for the queries to be answered .

The study Committee member of the University, Aarhus, has formed the group and invited all the classmates who were already working in Mumbai.

Her motive was straightforward: to organize everyone for a birthday party at Taj Maple Hotel tonight.

Within the group, each of them was an old alumni from her university years.

The conversation soon became lively. As usual how people might have not something to talk in face to face but they had a lot to talk on group chats.

So no one can stop the direction of the conversation in the group once it started.

Messages flooded in sequentially, tiny notification bubbles illuminating her screen continuously.

Her room, once quiet, was now filled with the ding ding ding of messages.

The conversation, as happens, strayed from friendly hellos to teasing jabs. Soon it veered toward the ever-trending subject of boyfriends. Aarohi threw out the suggestion that if people had one, they might bring him to the party maybe some sparks of friendship or love could fly with fresh meetings.

Ananya blinked on the screen in silence.

Boyfriend? Never, from childhood to the present day. She had never even had one.

Her strategy was to just sit silently, scroll through the messages, and stay out of the limelight.

But destiny apparently had other ideas. Out of the blue, one of her old school classmates mentioned her name in the discussion, pulling her into the limelight before she had a chance to slip away.

Neha had written: "Huh? Ananya, why are you not responding? Don’t tell me you have a boyfriend and secretly keeping it from us?"

Her banter tone could not be avoided.

Surprised, Ananya rapidly typed: "Uh..." But before she could go on to explain, Tanya wrote another message that made matters even worse.

Tanya had written: "Ananya’s so cute, of course she has a boyfriend. In college, so many guys wooed her. If she wasn’t always immersed in her books, she’d have been married by now!"

Rhea was quick to follow: "Absolutely true! Ananya must be keeping someone under her blankets. No way is she still single. Just look at her she’s too silent already. Suspicious!"

One after another, her fellow students loaded up with additional taunting words, believing beyond any doubt that she wasn’t single.

Ananya wanted to say no, but her fingers stilled over the keyboard.

The more she considered it, the harder her heart pounded. Their teasing accusations somehow reminded her of Alex his steady calm, the way he had simply dropped her off just a while ago. Before she knew it, her cheeks grew warm again.

She typed: "Uh..." That was it. Just a small, tentative syllable that slipped through her nerves.

But that faint response was more than enough. To everyone else in the group, it looked exactly like a guilty admission.

The teasing instantly exploded again.

"See! She admitted it!"

"So secretive, Ananya, but we’ll find out who he is at the party!"

It was so infuriating!

(⋟﹏⋞)

She wished to yell that she was still single, but before she could even press a single letter, Aarohi, who was a member of the Study Committee, tagged her straight in the group.

Aarohi: "Ananya, don’t forget to bring your boyfriend to the birthday celebration tonight at the Taj Maple Hotel."

The message flashed immediately, and Ananya stood still, her mind totally blank under the sudden limelight.

By the time she had recovered, the discussion had already progressed rapidly to other issues, leaving her in silence behind. She held her head, a throbbing pain spreading across her temples.

Her responses were always slightly delayed, her mind dragging behind. As a result, she had missed her opportunity to explain in time.

To her increasing horror, her peers were now totally convinced she had a boyfriend.

What to do? I’m still single... I don’t even have a boyfriend.

The thought went around her mind repeatedly, weighing heavily on her chest. She felt trapped by the unexpected misunderstanding, like a bird in a cage.

Her conflicted heart churned with anxiety.

If she remained silent, everybody would interpret this as confirmation.

If she opened her mouth now, she would be the victim of constant ridicule. Either way, she couldn’t emerge unscathed.

And then, as if called by her own agitated mind, Alex’s face flashed vividly in her head.

In this vast city being completely new, he was the only one she knew well enough to count on.

Her hands shook a little while she argued with herself.

Should she disturb him? Would it be asking too much? She nibbled on her lip, unwilling to decide, but after an eternity of hesitation, finally boldness overwhelmed her.

She opened her contact list, located his name, and clicked on the call button firmly.

The phone rang once before it connected. Listening to Alex’s soothing voice on the other side, her heart skipped a beat. Impulsively, she voiced her hopeless plea.

"Alex, Will you go to the hotel with me tonight?"

The moment the words escaped her lips, Ananya’s face grew scorching red. That was not what she intended to say! The sentence came out sounding too flirtatious, almost ambiguous.

What she wished to convey was something else, that she needed him to pretend to be her boyfriend for the party only. Nothing else.

But when spoken, her embarrassment muddled her words, and the words tumbled out clumsily.

On the other end of the phone, Alex’s eyes grew slightly wide. For a brief moment, his face went blank with shock.

Um? What on earth was happening here? Suddenly, this girl was inviting him to go to a hotel with her?

Nevertheless, he immediately pushed the thought aside. He knew Ananya innocence too well, her too generous heart, her tendency to state things awkwardly when she was nervous from their brief two meetings .

She couldn’t possibly be saying it like that.

Mindful of her flustered and slightly foolish expression, Alex smiled quietly to himself. Obviously, she had gotten herself into some sort of trouble once again.

With that curiosity, he at last gave his response without hesitation. "OK."

His straightforward answer took Ananya’s heart by surprise. Relief washed over her like a refreshing cold breeze. She sat up straighter on her bed, biting hard at her lip in nervousness, still finding it hard to believe that he had agreed so readily.

"Ready yourself," Alex said, continuing in the same calm, firm tone. "I’ll fetch you downstairs at your place at 8:30 tonight."

His words did not allow for denial, imparting the same soothing authority that always seemed to make Ananya oddly secure.