Ariya OS Bas Ek Pal - Page 3

Mid-Credit Scene

A week passed by. Arjun patiently let Riya settle down, behaving completely normal as they used to before. Riya was confused initially but slowly went back to normal. If anything, she was glad that his out of the blue teasing session lasted only fora day, or had it?

Shree entered the conference room with a huge box of chocolates in his hand: good morning!!!!

Ayesha: good morning Shree!

Chotu: haath mein kya hai? (He grabbed the box and opened it) chocolates!!!

And then what? All the 6 pounced upon the box, gobbling down on the treats. The two ACP’s looked at them with disbelief. They were literally in charge of a bunch of children. Rathore too extended his hand to pick one after they all had taken their share.

Riya: waise Shree…ye achanak aaj subah-subah chocolates kis khushi mein?

Ayesha: are ha, hum toh bas aise hi khaane lage

Shree: are woh shaadi…

Liza(chuckling): shaadi? Specky woh bichari kaun hai jisse tum shaadi kar rahe ho?

Shree: ae lizard chup kar re, meri didi ki shaadi fix ho gayi

Rathore: congratulations Shree

Shree: thank you sir!

Riya: Shomita di ki? Kaunsa waala ladka choose kiya?

Shree: woh professor tha na?

Riya: Rustomji college waala?

Shree: ha usne….

Sakshi: are Arjun tum bhi lo na, koi tax nahi lagega

She handed him on but he shook his head.

Arjun: nahi Sakshi, mujhe ye waali chocolate nahi pasand, mera taste thoda sa (subtly glancing at Riya) alag hai

Riya looked at him from the corner of her eyes.

Sakshi: oho! Ab ek din ye kha loge toh kaunsa paahad tut jaayega?

Arjun: are paahad ki kise padi hai? mujhe sirf (emphasizing) meri waali special chocolate pasand hai

Riya’s hands automatically started fidgeting again.

Sakshi gave up and took the chocolate for herself: tum bahot nakhre karte ho

Arjun: ab kya karu? bigadne waali ho toh….(meaningfully) nakhre toh honge hi na?

Riya started turning red again: main…main zara washroom hoke aati hu

Making sure, she didn’t have any eye contact with Arjun, she slipped away. She closed the door of the washroom behind her and took a deep breath.

Riya: ye Arjun sir toh firse shuru ho gaye, kya hoga mera?

She went to the washbasin and washed her face to soothe her nerve endings. Despite the fact that he was making her a nervous train wreck, a wide grin appeared on her face remembering all his words to her. She was never going to be able to wipe the visual of him eating the chocolate, sorry….her chocolate in the conference room and frankly speaking, why would she?

She didn’t want to get caught for fear of being apprehended but it seemed like Arjun had completely different plans for her. Her brain automatically replayed the moment of his lips on hers and that was the last straw. She turned into the reddest strawberry on the planet. She closed her tightly, trying to contain her grin and splashed water on her face till her reactions calmed down.

She wiped her face and walked outside. A hand suddenly grabbed her elbow and pulled her into the record room, hugging her from behind. Her protest vanished the second she recognised the touch. Needless to say, she was shocked.

Riya: Arjun sir?!

Arjun smiled: hi!

Riya tried to free herself but he was holding her firm enough to overpower her squirms

Riya: aap…aap…kya…

He rested his chin on her shoulder: ek baat batao, woh chocolates kaha se laayi thi tum?

Riya gulped in a futile effort to rehydrate her dry throat: kyun?

Arjun(sadly): khatam hogayi….mujhe aur chahiye

Riya: woh…woh maine banayi thi

Arjun: really? Mujhe nahi pata tha tumhe chocolate banane ka shauk hai

Riya: woh…kab…kabhi-kabhi banati hu

Arjun freed her: oh ok(facing her) bye!

And just like that he vanished again. Riya let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Rubbing her head, she took support of the wall as she tried to come back to her senses mv “ye humesha aise kyun karte hai? ek saath bolkar khatam karo na? lekin nahi! jaise shaant hoti hu firse meri dhadkan badhane ke liye pahunch jaate hai”

Sunday-

Riya was sitting on her recliner, peacefully reading a book. She was interrupted by the doorbell. Slipping a bookmark on the page, she went to open the door. Riya mv “kaun hoga?kahi Shree toh nahi?” She unlocked the door and pulled it open. A man greeted her, confusing her.

Arjun: good morning

Riya: good morning sir, aap yaha?

Arjun: andar aana mana hai?

Riya: huh? Umm….nahi…woh nahi toh(giving him way) sorry, ayiye

She closed the door behind him and turned. That’s when she noticed the bag in his hand, mv “ab ye kya karne aaye hai?”

Arjun: ek kaam tha tumhara….free hona?

Riya: ji sir kahiye

Arjun handed the bag to her: ingredients…please chocolates bana do

Riya: kya?!?!

Arjun: wahi jo tumne pichli baar banayi thi

She mechanically took the bag from him: sure….(tucking her hair behind her ear) aap baithiye, main…main banati hu

She hurried away to the kitchen and placed the bag on the counter before breathing a sigh of relief.She emptied the contents of the bag and to her surprise, all the resources for making them were present. She wondered how he would have known the recipe but then shrugged it off.

She removed utensils and started doing her work. As long as he stayed outside, she didn’t have to worry about having a heart attack. She twirled her hair up in a bun and snuck a bobby pin in to hold it in place.

She was stirring the chocolate on the double boiler when she felt his presence behind her. She sent out a silent prayer to not faint and Arjun pulled out the pin sending her hair cascading down, along her shoulders.

Arjun leaned and whispered in her ear: tum khule baalon mein zyaada khubsurat lagti ho

Bush crept up on her cheeks as she tried to calm her erratic breath. He placed a hand on the one that was stirring and followed the same motion.

Riya: aapko….kuch chahiye sir?

Arjun: nahi bas aise hi

She suppressed a smile gaving a few more stirs to make sure there were no lumps and switched off the gas.

Riya looked down: sir woh…uh

She wordlessly indicated that she needed to move. Realising that he was blocking her way, he moved to aside. Riya removed her mould and greased them.

Arjun: taste karu?

Riya(horrified): na….

But he had already snuck his finger in the batter.

Arjun winced: shit!! Garam hai

He hurriedly blew at his finger and quickly licked off the chocolate to soothe the pain.

Riya scolded him: had karte hai sir aap, abhi toh gas band kiya (taking his hand) obviously garam hai(checking for burns) zyaada lagi?

Arjun: nahi ab theek hai, mujhe nahi laga ki itna garam hoga

Riya: aapki common sense sirf case ke time par chalti hai?

Arjun squinted at her.She giggled and poured the base into the moulds. She tapped them to the counter to remove air bubbles.

Arjun: waise taste bilcul waise hi hai….perfect!

Riya lowered her eyes, her blush turning redder by the second: ab inhe thanda hone ke liye ek-do ghante lagenge

Arjun was going to take her in his arms: toh tab tak..

Riya moved outside: main wrapping karti hu

Arjun made a face and followed her. She removed sheets of paper and spent the next hour cutting them into perfect squares all the while, while being stared gazed at by Arjun and a pink color on her face.

Arjun: waise ek baat puch ni thi tumse

Riya: ha ?

Arjun: tumhe kaise pata ki us din mera birthday tha?

Riya lowered her eyes: woh mujhe yaad tha

Arjun: kaha se

Riya: woh….file mein se

Arjun squinted: kaunsi file?

Riya did not answer his question. He realised that she was talking about the time when she had pried into Roshni’s file. He cleared his throat and looked away. An unsettling silence rested between them.

He spoke after a few minutes: I’m sorry too

Her head snapped in his direction

Arjun: mujhe itna saara nahi daantna chahiye tha

Riya looked down again: it’s ok sir, waise bhi galti toh meri hi thi, I should have asked you when I had the chance

Arjun: then why didn’t you?

She hugged herself and raised her eyelids: woh…I…mujhe Chotu ne, bataya tha, I didn’t think ki mera aapko aise puchna sahi hoga. mera koi haq nahi tha

Arjun raised his eyebrow: toh fir file kyun dekhi?

Riya(embarrassed) :woh…general curiosity

Arjun chuckled at her answer while she refused to make eye contact.

Riya: main uh….dekh leti hun, shayad set ho gaya hoga

Saying so, she ran off into the kitchen. The chocolates had cooled and were ready to wrap. She carefully extracted them from the moulds and started packing them quickly,wanting to send Arjun off and stay out of his sight for a while now.

She filled all of the min a bag and gave it to him. Riya walked him to the door, avoiding further conversation. She waited at the doorstep as common courtesy. However, to her surprise, he walked back after keeping the bag in the car.

Arjun answered on seeing her confusion: phone reh gaya hai

Riya: oh laati hu

She went inside and took his phone from the table as he climbed up the steps again. She handed him the phone and Arjun slipped into his pocket.

Arjun: Riya

Riya: ji?

He cupped her face and before she knew it, his lips pecked hers zapping the sanity out of her.

Arjun(softly): thank you

Her eyes shot open but he was gone again. The sound of the engine turning on shook her out of her trance and she saw him leave the driveway of her house. She immediately closed the door and hit her back against it as she collapsed on the floor.

Riya: Arjun sir kissed me? …..again?

Her heart skipped a beat as she hid her face in her hands in a futile attempt to control her blush.

That night-

Riya was on her bed,ready to go to sleep. Her phone pinged with a message. She switched off the lights and picked it up.

Arjun- You are more perfect than the chocolates!

She almost threw her phone away and buried her face in the pillow.

Riya: Arjun sir!!!!!

Arjun’s house-

He waited for a minute after the ticks turned blue and then another. She still wasn’t going to reply.He shook his head and popped one of the fresh chocolates before turning in for the night…………………

P.S the next part of the extension will be last