Giriettan

I joined an IT company for my internship, which lasted six months. Like everyone else, I was excited to see new people in the office. But honestly, my office wasn’t that fun because most of the employees were much older. A few of us were Gen Z, but we were all in different departments.

And that’s where the story begins.

As an intern, I didn’t earn much, so I used to go to the office cafeteria for tea—always alone. A week passed, and slowly I started recognizing people. One day, when I went to the cafeteria, I noticed a small group of six people who had come for coffee. I knew they weren’t from my floor—probably from another department.

That’s when I saw him. My Giriettan.

I usually fall for gym rats, but this time it felt different. In my head, the background music of Om Shanti Oshana started playing the moment he walked in. He was around 5’7”, wheatish-skinned, with a beard and really nice eyes. I’m sure he noticed me too. I panicked because he was with five guys and one girl, so I literally escaped from there and went back to my cabin.

The next day, I went to the cafeteria again, but I left as soon as they arrived. I knew they noticed me leaving when they came in. But you know how it is when you like someone—the fear of facing them.

This went on for a few weeks. Sometimes I focused on my work and barely thought about him.

After a few weeks, I went to the cafeteria and found out that one of the guys from their group was the husband of my teammate. That’s when I realized, okay, they probably know me.

The next day, five of them came to the cafeteria, but he didn’t. I felt bad. But then I reminded myself—I came here to study and work, not to fall in love. So I focused on my responsibilities. A month passed, and I assumed he had moved to another office.

My hostel was near my office, so I used to go back there for lunch. One afternoon, while returning to the office, I saw a group of people walking toward me. And there he was—my Giriettan. Seriously, the butterflies in my stomach went crazy. I kept my face normal and acted calm. They passed me, and I smiled only after they were gone. But I noticed his eyes were still on me.

Somehow, I had a colleague in my hostel. She was the same age as me and the only person I spoke to in the office. But I heard a lot of rumors about her—that she wasn’t a “good girl,” that boys tried to hit on her because they thought she was easily available. I never judged her. I only saw her from my point of view. She was good to me, and that’s all that mattered.

One bad thing I heard from a male colleague was that she had dated a married man.

I was shocked. What? Married? She was so beautiful—every man would look at her. Why would she date a married man? That was the only moment I felt disappointed in her.

Two months into my internship, one day I went to the cafeteria and saw my Giriettan again. After all this time, one woman from their group came and spoke to me. Just basic conversation—my name, where I was from, what I did. Suddenly, I rushed back to my cabin because I was terrible at acting normal around them.

When my second month’s salary got credited, I was in a really bad mood. So I decided to go alone to a rooftop bar near my hostel.

I wore a tank top and jeans. I’m 5’2”, chubby, with long wavy hair and brown skin—and I have a good shape too. I walked to the bar around 7 PM. I could feel many men staring at me, but I just played breakup songs by Rihanna in my headphones and walked in confidently.

I ordered one Budweiser beer and dragon chicken. I smoke too, so I had already bought a Mixpod and lighter. I was sitting alone when I noticed two middle-aged men at the table next to mine. One of them asked me for a lighter. I gave it to them—this happened two or three times. The fifth time, one of them came over and asked:

“Hey girl, if you don’t mind, can you join us?”

I replied, “No thanks. Enik ottakk irikkan aanu ishtam.”

He said, “You’re a Malayali? I thought you were a model or North Indian.”

I said, “No, I’m from here only.”

He tried twice more to convince me, but I stood by my decision. Eventually, they left me alone.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey Aishwarya, I’m Anjana—your colleague. We talked yesterday. Why are you sitting alone? Come and join us.”

I didn’t recognize her at first. Then I looked at the table where her friends were sitting. There were five people. One was my hostel colleague. The others were strangers—except one.

MY GIRIETTAN.

I panicked. I was sitting alone in a bar with a beer bottle and a cigarette in front of him.

Aishuuuuu, you messed up.

Is this really the impression I wanted to give him outside the office?

I snapped back to reality and went to sit with them.

I acted normal. Normally, I look like a baddie, so I kept my attitude. I barely spoke. I talked to everyone except him. He was sitting beside me, with Anjana between us. Sometimes he passed me his vape. Occasionally, I noticed his eyes on me. But I didn’t give him any reaction. I mostly looked at my phone and talked to others. Still, the butterflies never stopped.

During the conversation, they asked my age. When I said 23, they were surprised and said I was too young. Out of curiosity, I asked their ages. Anjana was 25—but one age shocked me.

My Giriettan was 31.

I was like, What?! Why God, why me?!

After some time, we decided to leave. They dropped us at our hostel.

The next day at the office, I told my teammate that I had met some people at a bar. He asked who they were. I mentioned my hostel mate Anjana and Giriettan.

He suddenly looked shocked and said, “I wanted to tell you something. Do you know who your roommate dated in this office?”

Yes. It was him—my Giriettan.

He was married. And he had dated my roommate.

My heart broke. Everything went dark. Tears filled my eyes. I went to the washroom and cried.

He was the only person I had ever truly crushed on—and it all went wrong.

From the next day onwards, I started avoiding him completely. I didn’t even look at him. Meanwhile, Anjana became very close to me. She was his best friend.

(And the real story starts in the next part. Thanks for reading.)

Note: this story is completely for entertaining purpose.So no hate towards the characters