Chapter 6

Chapter Five

"Shhhhh....." whispered Arnav urgently, his eyes locking with the stricken gaze of the woman before him. "Relax. Relax. Relax," The room held its breath as he mumbled soothingly and gently released her from his grip. As he stepped back, a ray of light from a nearby glass window fell upon their faces, revealing each other's identities in a silent exchange.

"Arnav?!" Khushi whispered, surprise evident in her tone.
"What's going on here?" Her voice rose, carrying a mix of concern and confusion.

The initial shock of being in such proximity to Khushi Gupta subsided, replaced by the tension that escalated with her raised voice—a risky volume for those seeking refuge in secrecy.

Khushi awaited his explanation, her gaze fixed on him. Before she could utter another question, he broke the silence, his words cutting through the stillness. "I have the police tailing me."

He observed her reaction, half-expecting her to erupt into a scream. Instead, her eyes widened at the revelation, holding onto a silent anticipation for him to disclose more information.

The sound of men running and shouting echoed from the library portico. Arnav watched as Khushi stood still, gulping down a ball of saliva.

He hurried to the side of the window, desperately scanning for an escape route for Khushi to sneak out. He saw the watchman speaking to one of the constables who were previously chasing him. While talking, the security personnel secured the lock from outside, and Arnav closed his eyes in frustration, mentally cursing himself for bringing this upon himself and her.

After making sure they left, he turned towards Khushi, finding her still rooted to the spot where he had left her, clutching onto her water bottle. Recognising the need to apologise and explain, he began, "Look...," Only to be abruptly cut off by Khushi's voice. 

"Why are they chasing you?" Her eyebrows tensed and scrunched up.

Arnav felt the gravity of the situation he had unintentionally dragged Khushi into. Though he knew he hadn't consciously done anything wrong to her, a sense of awkward responsibility settled on him.

"Had a tiff with Doshi... I mean, Akash Doshi. He is from the opposition party.  I mean, from FSU."

Realisation dawned on Khushi as he spoke; with disbelief palpable in her voice, she asked, "So, I am trapped here with you?"

He looked at her in silence and then averted his gaze, unable to formulate a compelling argument to counter the unsaid accusation.

Khushi's mind raced as she considered her next course of action. Calling her friends seemed futile as they could only help with a key. Breaking the lock would only attract unwanted attention. She stole a look at Arnav, who now stood at least 10 feet away from her. Spending a night in close quarters with a man she barely knew (her "non-existent crush" notwithstanding) seemed ridiculous. 

"He doesn't look sinister, though." her mind tried to assuage her unconscious fears. "Shut up, Khushi! Haven't you seen enough documentaries on psychopaths to know to never go by the looks?" the rational side reasoned.

Arnav intentionally tried to keep as much distance as he could from the other occupant in the room. He knew how precarious the situation looked from Khushi's perspective. "Should I talk to her and ease her possible fears?" he pondered. "No, acknowledging the elephant in the room would only make it more awkward than it already is."

A sudden bout of thirst overcame him. Exhausted from the earlier chasing and running, he sat down and scanned the room for a cooler. The sight of an empty water container came into view. "How splendid," he muttered, leaving a sigh. There was no way he was going to ask Khushi for water; he wanted to keep the interaction minimal, not wanting her to feel like he was taking advantage of the situation.

He winced as a searing pain coursed through his right hand and instinctively checked for the source. As he inspected, he found a scrape on his elbow, covered with a layer of mud that begged an urgent rinse to stave off infection. He gently blew on the wound to remove the peripheral layer of dirt, revealing the raw skin beneath.

Out of nowhere, a bottle was shoved into his face, disrupting his thoughts and actions, and he lifted his face to meet the eye of his fellow roommate for the night. 

"There is no water in the washroom. Been out for the past two days. We did bring it up before the student representative." 

"Oh!" was all he could conjure up as a response. "Was that a subtle jibe? Who was the general secretary in charge? Arnav probed mutely in his head.

She still had the bottle extended towards him, and he hesitantly took it from her with a nod. As she retreated a step, Arnav rose from his seat, making his way to the nearest corner to tend to the scrape, mindful to use as little quantity of water as possible.

He handed the bottle back to her with a soft "Thanks," which she acknowledged with a subtle shake.

"You should cover the wound with something."

"That's fine. It's not too deep," he quickly assured her.

A brief pause ensued as Khushi threw a glance at his injured hand before returning to her chair.  Arnav settled back into his seat, contemplating whether to retrieve a book from the nearby shelf to pass the time. He stood up to move to the nearest shelf, only to stop short as Khushi approached him with a forwarded handkerchief. 

"It's okay,  really. It's not a big deal." Arnav attempted to refuse before she reached him.

"Take it. It's better to not leave it open."

Reluctantly, he accepted the handkerchief from her. As he fumbled with the fabric, attempting to bandage his wound with his left hand, Khushi took a step closer. Sensing his struggle, she extended both hands toward him.

A delicate, sweet scent of vanilla oil enveloped his senses, catching him off guard as she stood unexpectedly close. The cloth slipped from his grasp, but before it could touch the ground, Khushi skillfully caught it with a jerk, their hands briefly grazing. Both pretended nonchalance, downplaying the electric awareness that lingered in the air after that fleeting touch. 

 Khushi lifted her gaze to meet his, only to find his eyes fixated on the handkerchief she now held in her right hand. She waited, a silent invitation for him to extend his hand. Without a word, he rolled back his sleeves, revealing the scrape for her inspection. 

"It's not cleaned properly." She observed. Swiftly, she navigated to the table, returning with her bottle of water. Handing him the handkerchief to hold, Khushi poured the water gently over his wound, the liquid trickling down and marking its path on his skin as the bottle emptied.

Once satisfied, she kept the bottle down and retrieved the handkerchief from him. She gently dabbed one end of the fabric on the wound, absorbing the excess water and carefully tied it around his injury. 

"Shukriya," he softly uttered, finally meeting her eye. (Thank You) 

Khushi nodded with a small smile, which went unreciprocated. 

She watched him pick up the water bottle from the ground and hand it over to her. 

"I will see if I can find any book to read," Arnav said, already turning towards the shelf. 

Khushi nodded, murmuring a 'sure' and walking back to her chair. She opened her notebook and hastily tried to get back to her initial "problem." As her eyes zeroed down on the equations on the paper, her mind continued to reel under the effects of the interaction that took place not too long ago. She breathed in his warmth and the trace of his woody scent, which still lingered around her. 

Khushi raised her eyes from the notebook to discreetly watch the wounded man strolling through the isle, calm and composed, his gaze scanning the vast array of books.

Glancing at the giant wall clock above the arch, Khushi noted it was 3:20. Five more hours before the security arrived with the key.

What play of fate is this? Isn't the setting a bit too romantic, or am I delusional?  Whatever it is, it doesn't bode well for my peace of mind. And certainly not for my heart. 

Only Khushi knows how difficult it was to calm her nerves, resisting the urge to burst with the close proximity of the boy, err...the man, she secretly thinks about when time permits. 

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Thank you for reading.

Hope you liked the update. Even if you didn't, do let me know your thoughts on the chapter. And, especially on Arnav and Khushi. 

Love,

Dorothea