Before I can crowd my head with more of these thoughts, I force myself to snap back to the present. Nia decides to call it a night; she’s tired after the ad shoot. We walk back to my suite and Nia falls asleep in a minute or so. I, however, am far from being sleepy. So, I step into the balcony to smoke. Taking a long drag of the cigarette, I can’t help but wonder if I did the right thing by signing up on this AILENA app. Was being in a relationship and still signing up for something like this even appropriate? Wasn’t I violating my own value system by not choosing this or that? Why was I now volunteering for this and that?

Then again, I could perhaps draw some solace from what Nia had said. We’re not even in a ‘formal relationship’! It’s a fucking ‘situationship’. Great, at least I don’t feel as guilty now as I did while signing up. In any case, from what I could gather from our conversation today, Nia doesn’t see much of a future for us.

I let out a long sigh. I feel like discussing this whole thing with Vedant. I almost call him up, but I can’t bring myself to actually hit the call button. Why is it so difficult for some people to share their emotions and dilemmas with others? My sister is quite the opposite. Since childhood, she’s been able to voice everything very clearly. I can call her as well and seek some advice, but she’s busy handling her own family and I really don’t want to bother her.

I’m still contemplating my doomed situationship when I receive an email from ULIC. When I open the email, I can’t quite believe my eyes, for it says I should download AILENA, set up my profile and start my first chat. What?! The app had found me a match already? Unbelievable! But how could I be the one chosen for the beta test? Had Asmitha really rigged a fair game for the sake of my investment? But that’s just impossible!