"Did you get any legal advice? Are you entirely sure we cannot fight him in court?" My brain automatically switched to damage control mode and I was trying to come up with all the things we could do and not go bankrupt.

"Calm down. We will get through this. First, we will start looking for potential clients and investors, then about how we can go after him. There be at least a few people working with you because of their passion or their faith in you. We can bank on them for some time. We can maybe apply for a small loan." I was making a mental list of all the people I could call.

"There is no future." He sounded resigned. I do not know what came over me and what I was thinking, but, I stood in front of him and hugged him.

He held on to my waist and placed his head on my stomach. I really wanted to assure him that everything was going to be fine. I am not entirely sure if the hug made him feel any better, but I stood like that for some time and he hugged me close to him like his life depended on it.

He then slowly let go of me and held my hand.

"You know, you are the third person I am saying this to. First it was my father and later Ryan. The responses from both of them have been more or less the same. Both offered money and asked me not to sell anything. I know it is their way of helping me, but I do not need money. Taking money from them will only prove that I cannot go back to what I was. I will be proving to myself I am a loser."

"Don't think like that, Nick. I don't know how much of what happened did you tell them, but they are only looking out for you. Don't be hard on yourself. It will get better. We will get better. I have faith in you, you have not come this far because of your money or influence or self-proclaimed good looks. It was because of your will and passion for the things you believe in." I wanted him to believe in what I said, I wanted him to believe in himself.

"I know right now everything looks bad and it might seem like there is no getting better but believe in yourself, because I do, and I have not even known you for that long. Look at it this way, it is an experience. It is something you will tell your kids when you tell them on being young and stupid." I said with a smile. It was easy to imagine Nick with two kids looking up at him while he spoke to them with wisdom.

"Kids haa," we walked towards the parapet wall hand in hand, "wonder what that would be like. I hope I don't disappoint them."

"Are you arrogant? Yes. Irritating? Definitely. But, disappointing? No. They will be very proud of their father. Trust me."

**************

"You cannot like it here! It is atrocious, and the rent is too high for this rat hole. I will not let you say yes to this place." I said vehemently, looking at Nick with disbelief. We were currently looking for apartments and I am sure the last thing that lived in this place was smaller than a house rat and richer than Bill Gates. "It should be illegal to even demand that much rent for this place."

Nick was still looking around, weighing his options but finally decided to leave.

"We have three other apartments to look at and then we can finalize. You don't have to pay them any advance right now. We can tell them we will come back later."

"I imagined going house hunting with you, you know? But, in my head I pictured it in a very different way and very very different circumstances. And it was so much more enticing in my imagination."

I did not dignify that comment with a reply because I feared where the conversation would go. A lot changed in the last two weeks that passed. Nick is currently crashing on Ryan's couch. I contacted Ryan's legal team to investigate the copies of IP documents Nick gave me. Jack and I spoke with some investors and have only partly been successful. Nick has been talking to his employees and they have collectively been considering the possibilities of partnership.

He has also spoken to some potential investors and something new I learnt about Nick was that he had a way of making people listen to him. He was very persuasive and spoke in a very convincing way.

"Ash called this morning." Silence, blanket silence. We were walking down a few blocks to look at the next potential apartment. "He offered his office. Said I could use it without any lease because he was not using it anyway."

"Are you taking his offer?" I asked curiously, because Nick wasn't one of those people who accepted help from anyone for free. Even if it was his father.

"Do you want me to take it?" So, this was about me.

"How much do you know?"

"Less than what I wish I knew but enough to know that the two of you are not on speaking terms."

"My issues with someone should not affect your decision. That too big ones such as this." I said not meeting his eye. It was nice of his to take my feeling into consideration, but I didn't want my choices to influence any of his.

"I said no." I am not surprised.

We continued walking and just when we were going to turn left he caught my hand and stopped walking.

"It is a little difficult to comprehend how you think, but, understand this. No matter what happens it is you and I against everything else. Not you against me. I will be by your side and your issues are mine and your problems are mine. Just have faith in me to make sound judgement and decide on what I need in a situation when you are involved. Your feelings are important to me irrespective of how dire my needs are."

"I will try," I was too overwhelmed to say anything else.

I desperately needed a class that taught 'How to react when people say nice things to you.'

"Ryan's legal team will tell us if they find anything by tomorrow. You have to meet the last two investors on the list by the end of this week, so we can decide where your office can be. Have a chat with Ronny and see what he thinks about your partnership idea. I think it is important to have a third person opinion and you can always count on him to give an unbiased opinion..."

"You don't have to rumble because you feel uncomfortable." He was smiling down at me.

"Thank god, I had no idea what to say next. I would have probably told you how dolphins sleep with with one eye open swimming."

"They do that?"

From there the conversation went on to animals' eating patterns and possibilities of parallel universes.

If I was being truthful to myself, I'd say I really really really liked Nick. I was just scared about its future and how he and I would work together.

~*~*~*~*~

"In my office. Now." Ryan sure went to a school that made him a charming man with etiquettes and manners.

The line went dead and for a minute I wondered if I was hallucinating about Ryan's call.

I stopped reading the email I was going through and rushed to his office before he did something more appealing. Like throwing a table lamp at me.

I knocked on his door twice before entering his room and took a deep bow and spoke in the sweetest and most humble way possible

"Riya Sir, at your service."

"What nonsense is this? I understand that you are on your way to be all lovey dovey with my cousin dearest, but you cannot betray me like this." I never knew I had it in me to make Ryan lose it.

"As much as I want to imagine me being 'lovey dovey' with your cousin dearest I do not understand what you are talking about. I would never betray ."

~*~*~*~*~