She knew that it was not Mono singing as he belonged to this area and the song belonged to the cities above. He must have saved it on his mobile and would be listening whenever he felt like it. It was 1 a.m. and quite late at night. At first she had thought to go over and tell him he sang well. But, she did not go as it was quite late to go into the room of male colleagues so late at night. In addition the Orbs would be resting and she could not venture out into the corridor without their protection.

She decided to talk to Luke as soon as they a.s.sembled for breakfast. She felt agitated and wanted to rush off to talk to Luke. She could not understand why she was behaving like this. She had slept with the tune of the song as well as the words of the song on her lips and in her mind. The song sung by Luke seemed to tug at her heart strings. There seem to be a sweet pain in her heart since last night. What was happening to her? She did not want to give a name to her feelings but she had an idea what her heart wanted.

She decided to do some self talk to make her see reason.

"Wake up girl!" she muttered to herself. "You are not a teenager having a crush on some guy that you want to rush downstairs to see him, be near him, hear him talk etc. You are 27 years old. Behave yourself. He will find out what is happening to you as he is also not a teenager. He is 30 years old, for G.o.d's sake.

You will definitely make a fool of yourself and never be able to face him again. The reason being that, whenever you meet him again you will be too embarra.s.sed to face him. So think and let that excellent mind of yours try to a.n.a.lyze your feelings and let your mind give you a proper direction.

Move slowly one step at a time. No rush, no falling over yourself, no gus.h.i.+ng, no talking nonsense etc. Talk to Sherpa, Luke's friend, and find out everything about Luke from him.

She hardly knew that guy. Though he was well educated, knowledgeable, dependable, handsome, with a sunny disposition, Overall, he was a nice person and definitely good husband material. But it was definitely too early for her to feel like this?

First things first, she should start to get ready. It was daybreak and the sun should have rise by now. Not that it was visible from her room. She got up to look at the time on her wrist.w.a.tch. It was almost 6 a.m.

As more and more people acquired mobile phones some of the usual things had started to disappear. The causality was the humble torch and the wrist.w.a.tch. These were featured in the mobile phones. Everything was on the mobile even movies and videos as a result all the children were spending a lot of their school/ collage time, homework time i.e. practically even their entire leisure time is glued to their mobiles. As a result most of the kids had bad eyesight due to overuse of their eyes seeing the white screen of the mobile.

She realized that her brain had wandered. She tried to focus on the present and got up from the bed. She went to the washroom and saw new brushes and toothpaste at the side of the mirror above the sink area. She finished brus.h.i.+ng her teeth, she then woke up Zoya. Zoya, upon waking up went straight to the washroom to finish her ablutions. Zia thought what to do about change of clothes and went to open the almirah that was kept in the corner of the room. There were new clothes there. How kind were the Orbs and where did they get all this stuff. The clothes were of different sizes. She knew the bigger one was for her. The clothes were the type that the people of this area wore regularly.

The idea to wear clothes that were worn in this area was a good thing. Even if their cover got exposed, they would not be identified as outsiders but people from this area.

As soon as Zoya finished taking her bath, she would go and take a bath as it would clear her chattering mind.

Zoya came back and Zia gestured that she should open the almirah to see the surprise waiting for her. Zoya was surprised on seeing the green printed midi of cotton like material of this area. It was beautiful. The midi was matched with an attached plain green s.h.i.+rt. The midi reached till her calf muscles. There were boots but she did not want to wear them. However, she took out the scarf that was kept alongside. There were no undergarments. That was not an issue as last night they had washed the undergarments which had dried by now. The dress was awesome.

Zia had already seen her midi and blouse which were of similar material. Her printed midi was orange in color with a matching orange blouse. There were matching boots and a scarf.

Zoya started getting ready. She did not wish to take a bath.

So, Zia went to the washroom to quiet her heart and head. She thought that if she took a shower, her damp hair would ensure a cool head and the cooled body would ensure a cooler heart.

Soon they were ready and it was almost 7.30 a.m. She wondered if they could go down to the canteen early.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

Zia went to open the door and saw the Orbs surrounding Mono and Luke.

"Good Morning," said Luke and Mono quite rested and happy.

"We are going down to the canteen to see if breakfast is ready, and if not, then we will make it. Would you like to accompany us?" Luke asked with a kind smile and it seemed as if his eyes were looking for something in her eyes.

"She is looking pleasing, a sight for sore eyes," suddenly Luke spoke his thoughts allowed.

"The others can come along in half an hour, as all the Orbs are waiting outside their rooms to bring all of them down when they are ready. It is up to Zoya if she wants to come now or later," added Mono.

Zia called Zoya and asked her, "Do you want to come down to the canteen now or do you want to come a little later with the rest of your cla.s.smates and the rest of the Orbs?"

"I would prefer to come down now," she replied.

Zia was not happy about this. How in the name of heaven was she going to talk to Luke? But still she would try. Maybe she and Luke will get an opportunity to talk. It seems even he was aware of her not just as a colleague.