DISCONTINUED Hues Of Life 2 - Page 3

Riddhima helped him get up, and leaning on her for support, his arm placed on her shoulder, they both walked through the stairs, and past the coridoor. Riddhima was about to take a turn towards the room that she had earlier visited today, when Armaan stopped her.

"Areh nahi, wo to mera gym hai, hum raat ko wahaan thode reh sakte hain. Yahaan chalo", he pointed towards the door right opposite to the gym. They opened the door, and entered the dark room, as Armaan pressed the switch on the side wall. There was a sudden blaze of light, and Riddhima shielded her eyes, by immediately bringing her palm in front of them as she shifted her head a little sideways. When she felt she was comfortable with the light, she removed her hand, and looked up, to see the room. Her eyes widened, and mouth was left open. It wasn't a room, it was too big to be called just a room. In front of her eyes, she saw a full fledged house. Right opposite her, was a bigger than usual lobby, equipped with some couches, tables, and a tv. The lobby was attached to a kitchen, which had no separate door. The only separation between the two, was the kitchen counter. She had a full view of the kitchen. Other than that, the lobby was enclosed by numerous doors, that all stood open, hidden by transparent curtains, giving a sneaky view of the rooms within. Her gaze travelled from one side to the other, and she was speechless. Armaan saw her scan the place in wonder, and smiled at her expressions.

"Wow! You've done up the place wonderfully", she finally spoke without looking at him, and thus missed his baffled look.

"Wha... how... how did you know that i've done the interiors of this place? Poore office ke interiors maine thodi na kiye hain?", he turned to look at her.

"I just know Mallik, i just know", she gave him a mysterious smile, and walking, made him sit on the couch, as she sat on the couch adjacent to him.

"I don't believe it, tell me how did you know it was me?", he pouted and questioned her.

"Let's say i'm just a little observant Mallik", she smirked, amused at his expressions.

"I don't think so, there is nothing to be observed. I mean, there's no similarity in the office, and this place. And Rishi ne ye toh tumhe bataya hie hoga ki sara office maine nahi design kiya, toh phir tumhe kaise pata chala?", he asked. Seeing the irritation on his face, she decided to tell him.

"Actually Mallik! I liked these interiors", she said.

"Oh wow! Did i hit the jackpot then, if you liked my designing?", he asked sarcastically. She gave a laugh, as his irritation increased.

"Mallik! Tum bachche ho, aur bachhe hie rahoge. What i meant was, ki it is very rare, ki mujhe kahin ke interiors bohut achhe lage. Tumhara office ek exception tha, i had loved the work done by you. Infact, i could easily distinguish, ki kaunsa kaam tumne kiya hai, aur kaunsa nahi. I agree ki initially i hadn't believed Mr Rishi jab unhone bataya ki you were the master mind behind the amazing designing, but ultimately i did believe it", she smiled.

"Aisa kaise ho sakta hai?", Armaan scrunched his eyebrows, and Riddhima mentally smacked him.

"I guess you could say i am too good for my own self", she smirked.

"But i still don't get it. Office ko design karte huye i had specially kept in mind that none of the room has any thing in common with the other. If one was done up in light colours, the other was starkingly in contrast with it. Then how can you make such easy recognition, when even top professionals failed in it", he looked at her as he drowned in surprised confusion.

Riddhima just looked at him, and smiled. She couldn't tell him an answer to this question. She couldn't tell him that his designing brought out the innermost passion and desire of his heart, which touched the eternal romantic in her. She had managed to sync all his designs with the colors of her mind in some way or the other. It was as if he'd put colours on the walls just to suit her thoughts. She experienced a warm feeling at this, but she couldn't tell him all this. Just like she couldn't tell him the real reason why she'd easily surrendered to his kiss. She didn't even want to imagine his reaction if she told him that the sight he'd presented to her, of himself, in the car, had her enticed to no extent. He had looked all set to kill a few female species, all those who set their eyes on him. It wasn't that he didn't look good the other days, in fact he was one of the most magnificent creatures that God had carved out. Cut that! Not one of the most, but 'thee most' magnificent of all the creatures that she'd ever seen. Yes, she had seen many other good looking handsome men, some of whom the world even referred to as beautiful, but Armaan Mallik was a class apart. He was an effortless charmer. Just the uplift of his upper lip into a curve, and girls would be found swooning over him. Armaan knew this, that he had the power to make women buckle in their knees, and though he tried to get this point through Riddhima's head a lot many time, he didn't really care more about it. She did wonder that why did she effect Armaan so much, but always lost out on an answer. But in some deep corner of her heart, she knew why Armaan had such a touching effect on her. She'd harbored feelings for him since a very tender age, and today, when she felt him so close to her, she just couldn't control herself. Armaan really charmed everyone without any efforts, and when he did make some efforts, like with her, there was no way she could've pushed him off her. He managed to stir the deepest of her emotions, as much as she tried to despise him. So when she did feel his heart beat right next to her, she lost herself in the world of imagination, imagining how it would be to hold his living self in his arms, how it would be, to be held by him from where she could hear his breath in a slow motion. She just wanted to imagine...

"Oye!"

Riddhima's train of thoughts was cut short as a cushion landed in her lap smoothly. She shook her head to clear off all the thoughts, and turned her face to Armaan.

"What?", she asked him in an edgy tone, irked at him to break her beautiful thought land.

"Apne dreamland se bahar aao. We can't just sit here all long, can we?", he said in a loud voice.

"Mallik! What else do you think we can do?", she asked in amusement.

"I dunno! Maybe we could watch some movie, or i have some games for play station as well, or you have something else in mind, what say?", he gave her a toothy grin, and Riddhima mentally smiled. He looked so much like Leo right now, and she wanted to ruffle her hand in those silky hair of his, but years of practiced self-control stopped her from going any how mushy with him. He looked at her with twinkling eyes, dancing full of apprehension.

"Hmmm! Actually i do have something better in mind", he scrunched his eyes, and heard a sudden growl, as Riddhima smiled wildly, "Exactly! That's my point!", she pointed to his stomach as he grinned sheepishly at her, "I'll fix something for us to eat. Kitchen mein kuch samaan hoga?", she asked him.

"Hmm, basic cheezein mil jayengi. But please mere liye sirf cereals aur milk dal lana, i won't have anything else", he requested.

"I can fix something light for you", she said.

"No! I want cereals only. There's milk for sure in the fridge, i'll have them with milk, that's it", he said in a commanding voice, reflecting that this was his place. Riddhima just nodded, and walked to the kitchen. She was not those people to take easy commands from anyone. Armaan would soon learn the consequences of messing with her. The last he saw her, was when she'd started to rummage through the refrigerator. He didn't know when he lost his senses to sleep.

A small tapping on his shoulder disturbed him. He opened one eye squintly to look at the source, while he rubbed the other.

"Hmm?", he mumbled.

"Khana ready hai, khakar medicines leke so jao", Riddhima spoke in a soft voice, as she held out a bowl full of milk and cereals to him. He nodded, and tried getting up, but felt a spasm of pain shoot through his arm. Taking support from the armrest of the couch, he sat up straight, and started eating from the bowl that she'd kept on the table.

Riddhima returned from the kitchen, to find an adorable sight greeting her. Armaan sat cross legged on the couch, the bowl placed on the cushion in his lap ever so carelessly, his hair scruffy and messed up, and his mouth full of cereals with the spoon as well, while he flipped through the channels on the lcd. He finally settled for some music channel, and keeping the remote aside, taking the spoon out, gobbled the whole thing at once, and filled his mouth again without any delay, too busy in the songs to notice her come and sit opposite him.

Armaan noticed that Riddhima sat opposite him, busy with her food. He hadn't realized when did she come back from the kitchen, as he saw her busy looking at the video. He saw her happily much into what looked like...

"Salad!", he shrieked, making her startle in her seat, "Tum salad kha rahi ho, fruits and vegetables ka mixed salad?", he looked at her unbelievingly.

"Haan toh? Ismein kaunsi badi baat hai?", she replied, and got back to watching the video. He looked at her wide-eyed, as she took one of the pieces from those colorful ones with her fork, dipped it in something white that lay in a small bowl in her plate, and with easy effort, placed it in her mouth, closing her eyes in pleasure. He observed as she chewed the food with her eyes shut tightly. It were as if she had chocolate in her mouth, as he had only seen people much onto stuff like ice-creams or chocolates, and that too on tv. He hadn't thought people could actually eat like that, but looks like he was wrong. A lump formed in his throat, as he felt his throat turn dry, even though he'd just swallowed a spoonful of milk. After a few seconds of torture, she opened her eyes, as she finally swallowed that one piece. Even as she looked at the lcd, he could see her eyes twinkling with pleasure.

"Er..uhm...", he tried to speak, but stopped midway.

"Kya hua? You wanted something? Cereals khatam ho gayye, aur laoon?", saying this, she was about to open her legs, when he gestured her to stop.

"Nahi nahi! It's ok... wa.. woh main poochna chah raha tha, ki tum ye salad aise hie kha rahi ho, kacha?"

"Yeh!", she said pointing to her plate, "Areh nahi! Its baked, kache vegetables itne tasty kahaan, and saath mein yeh", she pointed to the small bowl, "Ye cheese hai, i melted it specially. Is piece ko plate se uthao, cheese mein dubao, muh mein chabao, just wow wow wow", saying the last bit with her mouth full, as she demonstrated the whole process to him. Armaan gulped before he spoke again.

"Erm... can i also... i mean can i also taste some, just little", he hesitated. She looked up, as if thinking, and then nodded.

"Ok, but just a small bite",, to which he gladly nodded, as she put one piece in his mouth. His eyes closed involuntarily, as he felt the soft stuff melt in his mouth on its own accord. He felt like it was the yummiest dish he'd ever tasted. He opened his eyes, only to find Riddhima's eyes smirking at him playfully, while he felt heat at the back of his ears, and his neck.

"Its... its...", he looked at his bowl, wondering how to describe them, as if that would give him an answer.

"Itna bura hai ki you can't even call it edible?", hearing her soft voice, he immediately looked up shaking hie head, afraid that he'd hurt her. But one look in those eyes full of mischief, and glaring at her, he let out a small 'huff'. Riddhima grinned, and shrugging her shoulders innocently, went back to sit on her seat. She again got busy with the songs, but from the corner of the eyes, she saw Armaan turn his face a little to look at her, and seeing her munch away to glory, made a face at her, and looked back at the tv. His bowl of cereals lay there, long forgotten. She saw him look at her many times, and grinned proudly, seeing him bear the torture. Halway through her food, she got up.

"Main paani lene ja rahi hoon. Should i get it for you as well... oops, i forgot, tum toh doodh pee rahe ho na", stressing on the word doodh, she gave a wicked smile, and went away to the kitchen. Armaan flared up at her audacity to tease him so much. She was getting on his nerves, but he kept mum realizing the fact that had he listened to her earlier, he wouldn't have to eat this bowl full of plain cereal. Though he didn't mind them even one bit, but compared to the bright tempting colorful baked pieces that lay at a little distance, they looked so dull and unattractive. A part of him wanted to snatch the plate and run away, But he knew better than that. Just as he turned his gaze away from those ever so delicious salad pieces, a plate appeared in front of him, full of the latter. He smiled widely, looking at the plate, and immediately grabbed it from Riddhima, who stood there with a knowing smirk. He didn't wait for her, as he dipped a few pieces, and gobbled them up.

"Umm... hmm... yumm...", he spoke between his food. Riddhima looked at him confusedly, as she sat down, grabbing her own plate. She waited for him to finish up, and when he did, he spoke again.

"These are like so so so tasty, i have now words, honestly. Mom ne bhi aaj tak itni yummy cheez nahi banayi. I'll definitely tell her to learn it from you. You'll teach her, won't you?", he looked at her, while she just shook her head in amusement, and watched the songs play.

"Areh! Batao na, sikhaogi na tum unhe?", he whined like a baby.

"Soch ke bataoongi Mallik", she replied, without looking at him, who nodded as if his wish were granted.

"Matlab haan!", she looked at him with a 'what?' expression, "Tumhare 'sochugi' ka matlab hai you'll teach her", he shrugged.

"And how do you conclude that?", she asked, seeming interested in the conversation.

"Agar tumhe mana karna hota to to tum seedhe seedhe na kar deti", he gave a small smile. Riddhima was taken aback at his knowledge about her, but acted perfectly to hide her surprise.

"Ch ch! You talk as if you know me Mallik. Mere 'sochugi' ka matlab hai stop talking, i am not interested, samjhe?", she said with a pinch of attitude.

"To each his own", he said, and went back to eating. When he finished eating, a few minutes before her, who seemed to actually chew the food 32 times, he tried getting up, but felt another spasm of pain shoot through his shoulders, and rubbing them, he sat back again. He shouldn't have slept in that uncomfortable position, it was what had triggered the pain again. Riddhima cleared the dishes in a quick time, and came to sit on the couch next to him.

"Mallik, jaake change karlo, you'll need to be comfortable for your sleep", she said.

"What about you? Tum aise thode na so sakti ho?", looking at her shrug, he spoke again, "Haan! Tum wo saamne wale room mein check karlo. Tumhe ladkiyon ke toh kapde nahi milenge, but am sure you can do with the casuals for the night", saying this, he waited for her to go, lest she observed his hands running over his shoulders again and again, and left immediately, rubbing his shoulders. He went to his bedroom, and changing through the pain into a white t-shirt with a pair of army 3-4ths, he sat on the bed with his legs straight, back supported by the headrest. He closed his eyes as he stretched his neck. He felt a soft knock on his door. He looked up, only to see Riddhima carrying a tray full of medicines and glass of water. His eyes ran to her face, and saw that she had lowered her eyes. Confused by her behavior, he scratched his head, and that was when his eyes fell on what she was wearing. She had worn his favorite grey t-shirt, that had the words 'DARE TO LIVE' printed at the front, and had combined it with another of his off-black lower. She looked way too small in his over-sized clothes, which looked as if they would fall off any moment. Thankfully the lower had a proper waistband, that could be adjusted according to the waist, lest it would've fallen by now. Armaan felt mesmerized looking at her in his clothes, and suddenly, it felt as if they were meant for her, the largeness of them protecting her petite frame. It was perhaps this weird feeling that had kept her eyes lowered.

"Hmm medicines, i forgot about them", he finally replied, when she looked up at him, and he nodded for her to come inside. He didn't want to make her feel any more awkward by speaking any non-sense. She pulled the chair next to his bed and sat beside him, giving him the medicines, and the water. Just then they heard a vibration. Riddhima fished the pocket of her lower and took out her cell. She pressed the accept button, and heard an ear piercing scream, so loud that the phone fell from her hand and landed into Armaan's lap, who got fidgety by the sudden throw and handed her the phone as he fumbled with it. Immediately he also heard Leo scream, as it seemed that he had switched on the loud speaker. Riddhima didn't bother turning it off, as it felt the safer move for her ears.

"RIDDHU! RIDDHU! RIDDHU!", Leo's voice boomed through the room. Finally God seemed to listen to Riddhima, as Leo sobered down, "Riddhu! Bi ne abhi apun ko bataya ki tu aaj office mein hie soyegi. Apun akele nahi soyega, tu abhi ke abhi apun ko bulwa tere pass, kisi bhi tarah se", he humphed in anger.

"Leo, tu baat samajh na", she tried speaking but he cut her words.

"Nai nai nai! Apun ko kuch nahi sun na. Tu apun ko apne paas bulwa, verna apun Bi ko tang karega", he gave an ultimatum. Riddhima let out a sigh as she heard her stubborn brother.

"Leo, main office mein nahi hoon", she finally spoke.

"Kya? Tu office mein nahi hai? Matlab tune Bi se jhooth bola? Tune aisa kyun...", he again stormed off, as Riddhima smacked her head.

"LEO! Chup chaap sun, maine Bi se jhooth nahi bola. Maine unhe bas yeh nahi bataya ki main Armaan ke office mein hoon. Armaan ki tabiyat theek nahi hai, and mujhe apne case per zaruri kaam karna tha, isliye hum dono yehi hain, samjha?", she ended breathlessly.

"Oh ho! Aise bolna tha na. Armaan beemar hai, to uska dhyaan rakhna tu, bechara apna dhyaan bhi nahi rakh sakta. Huh! Us se achha to main hoon, big boy, haina?", Riddhima giggled at Leo's comments, while Armaan gave her the 'what the hell' expression, "Chal, mujhe subah Bi tayaar kar dengi, unhone bola hai. Main tujhse school se aake milunga, theek hai?", after a few more good byes, Leo finally cut the call, and Riddhima sighed in relief. Then coming into the reality, she saw the tray lying there, and picking it up, placed it on the table opposite the bed, as she stood there, her back facing him. Armaan saw her hands fidget with the medicines, as she uncomfortably shifted her weight from one feet to another. He sensed something wrong, but hesitated to ask. As soon as he felt her turn, he shifted his focus at the side table.

"Uh.. Armaan...", she spoke in a soft voice. He turned to look at her, as she avoided his gaze. He now knew something was terribly wrong, Riddhima didn't call him Armaan for no reason.

"Haan?", he prompted her to speak up.

"Tumhare shoulders mein dard hai na", his eyes widened at her comment as he saw her looking expectantly at him, and he shook his head immediately, about to deny her, when she said, "Don't! Don't you dare lie to me, by saying no. I know your shoulders are hurting", and as if listening to her, the pain shot from his shoulders to his arms, and back again, and he couldn't help but rub them with a little yelp. She immediately crossed the distance between them, and was about to console him, but suddenly took her hand back. Armaan felt hurt by her reaction, but trying not to show it, he went back to tend to his shoulder.

"Tum rehne do, pain theek nahi hoga. Mujhe dawai mil gayi hai, i'll put that, if you want", she said in a low voice, and he looked up to see her a small bottle clutched in her palm. He saw the uneasiness on her face, as she still didn't meet his eyes, and the hurt that he'd felt at her withdrawal, vanished.

"Nahi Riddhima, i am sure i can manage...", he tried to speak, but she looked him in the eye.

"You know you can't manage it, so stop the pretense. Maine kaha na i'll apply the balm", she said in an irate voice, irked by the fact that he wasn't making it difficult for her, instead of easing off the things. He saw the decisiveness in her voice, and gave a small nod for approval. She went behind the bedrest, and stood there transfixed. When he didn't hear any movement for about a few minutes, he asked her,

"Kya hua?"

"Eh.. wo... tum... tumhari t-shirt...", she again said hesitantly.

"What about it... oh!", he changed his word as realization dawned him. She couldn't put the medicine with his t-shirt blocking her task. Putting his hands on the side of his t-shirt, he slowly started lifting him, but the pain hit him again, and he surrendered. Immediately he felt her come next to him, and slowly and steadily, she pulled the cloth over his head. He saw her eyes glancing anywhere but at him. He felt the awkwardness rise in the atmosphere, and didn't like it at all. Though a part of him liked the effect that he had on her, but the silence between them was too much for him.

He felt the strangeness of the atmosphere. He had seen the tough side of Riddhima since day one, the harshness and rudeness that she was capable of. Then he had even seen her in her most loving avatar, where she loved Anjali, Bi, and now also Leo as she couldn't love anyone else. He had seen the care and warmth her eyes carried whenever any of them was mentioned. As much as he hated to admit it, that Atul guy also came under the same category. She had even talked neutrally with the rest of the family, and the other people, were none of her business. But when it came to him, she exhibited a temper that was beyond his understanding. It was as if she had set something against him, and that made her hate him plainly, come what may. He'd seen her rude haughty self, her loving self, a part of her vulnerable self when she'd narrated her past to him, and what not. Infact today morning's intimacy between them had also carried another part of her, but right now, he saw her shy, hesitant self. He would've never thought that the Riddhima Malhotra he knew was capable of such a hesitation, that too with him, of all the people. He was surprised that she was behaving so awkwardly with him, unable to say something directly. But then a voice in him pointed out the logic.

She'd definitely not been stranded in such a situation with a man before. And given the moment that they had today morning, she is bound to feel awkward. And the whole 'taking care of him' thing is not helping her, instead freaking her out, if that was possible. Just when he thought the situation couldn't get any more worse, feeling sorry for the two of them, he felt his body stiffen.

Riddhima stood behind him, with the small bottle in her hand, looking at him. She didn't know what was happening. Things were taking a bad shape. Throughout the evening, she'd seen Armaan rub his shoulders. She remembered from earlier that head and shoulder ache were the symptoms of his illness. As much as she wanted to say something, she stopped as she realized he didn't want her to know about his agony. Guessing his male ego stopped him from telling her, she also shrugged the matter. But looking at him writhe in pain all the time, she couldn't control herself anymore. As if she hadn't turned things bad enough already, by agreeing to stay with him here, she didn't like the idea of the interaction with him on such a personal level. As much as comfortable she felt, she didn't want a repeat of the morning scene, yet just couldn't help but laugh away with him. She pretty freaked out when she walked out after changing her clothes to look at herself in his clothes. She felt a strange sensation in her stomach, as if butterflies all around. She liked the loose fabric around her body. An unknown feeling enveloped her heart, and surprisingly she liked it. The tough part was when she had to face Armaan. She felt really weird facing him, dressed up in his clothes. But thankfully, he seemed to have understood her awkwardness, as he didn't probe her at all. She hated her stars that day, but then realized that she'd always hated her stars, so there was nothing new was it? The only thing that had changed was that earlier she was able to control the situations, but this one, she just couldn't. She couldn't digest her own behavior, the way she was at loss of words, how she stammered and hesitated while talking to him. This just couldn't be happening, and definitely not to her. She had somehow convinced herself more than him, that she could apply the medicine for him. She should've agreed when he'd said that he could manage, but somehow recalling the image of him bearing the pain just didn't suit her. So she convinced herself that she could do it, helping him out shouldn't be that difficult, even if it involved physical closeness with him. When she did gather the courage and stood behind him, she realized that he was wearing his t-shirt, and that made her pause right then and there. She stood rooted to her place, still framing a sentence, to take-off his t-shirt, when he himself asked her what had happened. Again, with a lot of hesitance. She blurted the reason. He seemed to understand, and made an unsuccessful attempt to do so, but his pain rose again, and clouded her mind with worries. She flew next to him, and took off the cloth, all the while her eyes in the opposite direction, lest she did something insane. But her attempts failed, when she went to stand behind him and her eyes did fall on his almost bare body. He had worn a black ganji, which revealed the muscles in his arms, ready to rip out. Both his arms were filled with colorful patterns all over, which her mind figured were tattoos. His chest had a swell, and just by looking at him, she knew he could give a tough fight to anyone. He wasn't just bulky, but his body reflected his inner strength as well. She had never been a fan of what people called macho men, but Armaan certainly was an exception at everything. She looked at him in awe, as she admired his physique. Her trance was broken when she heard him groan in pain, and realized that she had some work at hand. She opened the bottle, and spreading the balm on her fingers, she slowly placed her hands on his shoulders, as her heart beat rose suddenly, and she felt his body stiffen at her touch.

Armaan felt her soft hands touch his shoulders, and the way she placed her hands, he knew how difficult it was for her. He stiffened at the brush of her fingers with his bare skin. Her hands moved very slowly at the same spot, rubbing the balm off her hands and on his body. It was difficult for him to decipher if the sudden warmth was due to the balm, or was it because of the contact of his cold skin with her hands. He felt a hesitation as she continued with her task. He had always seen her work efficiently with a smoothness, be it anything that she did. She exhibited the control she had over things. But today, he knew, as he felt that things certainly were not under her control. His thoughts broke when he realised that she had withdrawn her hands, and it had been a few minutes ago. Sensing no movement from her, he turned his head to look back, and an immediate chuckle left his lips. Realizing that she was now the object of his mirth, she glared at him, and he wiped the smile off his face, as she got back to her previous effort. She closed her eyes tight, clenching her teeth, and putting all her strength, as she clutched the bottle of balm, trying to undo the lid. He guessed that the greasy balm spread on her hand was making her otherwise easy work seem tough. He put forward his palm, gesturing her to give the bottle, but she shook her head. When she realized she couldn't manage the task anyhow, she forwarded the bottle. His fingers brushed hers slightly as she quickly withdrew her hand. With an ease in his fingers, he undid the lid, and held the bottle above his shoulder, so that she could take the balm. She plunged her hand, and rubbed the balm on the finger tips of both her hands. Just when she was about to apply it again on his neck, she heard a ruffling sound. She paused to listen attentively, but heard nothing. Brushing it aside as a figment of her imagination, she was about to get back, when again she heard the sound. She leaned above Armaan's shoulder, only to notice his lips moving. She realized that he was the one making that sound.

"Tum kuch kehna chahte ho?"

Startled by her sudden voice, Armaan turned his head to face her, and was stopped dead in his tracks, as he realized that their faces were just inches apart. Riddhima also seemed to realize the fact that they could feel each other's breath on their lips. She looked into his eyes, as he lost himself into hers.

"Tum kuch kehna chahte ho? I heard you, i mean i saw you speak something", she looked at him questioningly. He shook his head, lost in staring at her, and she immediately backed off, continuing with her task.

"Er.. Riddhima, you can stop, if you want...", he didn't continue, at a loss of some decent words.

She gasped silently, as she realized what he was saying. It seemed as if he'd peered through her mask, and into her hesitation. She wondered how did he manage it, to over-look her pretence, and expose her truth out. She knew she should back off. The play of her fingers on the hard of his back made her realize of how really beautiful he was. The errupting butterflies in her stomach did nothing to help. But she also knew that if she backed off for her own comfort, he would suffer in pain, and try to hide it from her as well. Not wanting to let him bear any misery, she decided a way out.

"Does this flat thing in your room work? I could do with some entertainment?", she pointed towards the lcd screen.

"I am sure the tv couldn't be more interesting than me", he mumbled.

"Huh?", she questioned him, "What did you just say?"

"Nothing much", he sighed, and pressed the buttons on the remote, immediately bringing life to the unanimated screen.

The screen rested on a movies channel, and Armaan's lips curved into a smug smile, invisible to Riddhima.

"Shah rukh on tv, i'm so sure you'll love this", the taunt in his voice didn't miss Riddhima's ears.

"I do not like this mushiness, change please", she knew his mouth held open right now. Before he could pause to tell her about the next channel, she protested.

"I think i've had enough songs for one day", she viewed the music channel, as he flipped some more.

"Hey! That's tom and jerry, i love them, totally classic, whatsay?", he asked, bouncing in excitement, but was immediately pressed down by the force of her hands.

"Mallik! I need to watch the tv, and am in no mood for more of your species"

He changed the channel, but not without giving her a glare. They continued arguing over the different channels, and Riddhima had almost finished her work.

"Stop stop stop!", she immediately came next to him, and pushing him, made space for herself on the bed, next to him, as she snatched the remote.

"What? You are not serious..."

"Shhh", she hissed, her eyes dug at the screen.

"You're...", he wanted to speak, but she didn't give him an opportunity.

"Zip!", she glared at him, and went back to look at the tv. Armaan knew better than to interrupt her, and so shut up.

"Now tell me, what's your problem?", she finally turned to him, when the screen went in for a small break.

"I can't believe it! You're watching this match just to irritate me, right?", he asked her.

"Are you crazy Mallik? I love cricket like anything. And for heaven's sake, this is a KKR match, i definitely can't miss it", she replied as if it were the most natural thing.

"KKR is playing, against which team? I'm sure they're bound to lose whatever team it is", she gave him a deadly look, to which he tried covering up his mistake, "I've read in the newspaper, that they aren't too good"

"Prejudiced idiots! I am a KKR supporter, and i give a rat's ass of what people think about KKR", she shrugged, and focused at the screen where the match had continued.

Armaan felt a yawn escape his lips, but he didn't feel like sleeping, yet. The adorable sight right next to him was temptation good enough. Her brows were furrowed constantly, as she muttered frequent curses at the opposite team, and jumped in joy whenever her team saw the better play. She imitated Shah Rukh's actions, as he encouraged his team - so much for not being an SRK fan, he huffed. After a few minutes of observing her silently, it were as if some storm had started in the room. Riddhima was throwing profanities at the screen for all the cheating that was going on, and by now, the game had caught Armaan's interest as well. He too shouted on top of his voice, forgetting that he was ill some time back. Finally, they rested their throats when the match halted at half-point. This was also the moment, when they realized that they were sitting too close for comfort. Shuffling a little away, the moment of awkwardness died, when the other team started playing. This time, they maintained a calm posture, and hence neither realized that when had they slept off.

Credit - POOJA (kweetrockstar)
***********************************

Shilpa helped him get up, and leaning on her for support, his arm placed on her shoulder, they both walked through the stairs, and past the coridoor. Shilpa was about to take a turn towards the room that she had earlier visited today, when Armaan stopped her.

"Areh nahi, wo to mera gym hai, hum raat ko wahaan thode reh sakte hain. Yahaan chalo", he pointed towards the door right opposite to the gym. They opened the door, and entered the dark room, as Armaan pressed the switch on the side wall. There was a sudden blaze of light, and Shilpa shielded her eyes, by immediately bringing her palm in front of them as she shifted her head a little sideways. When she felt she was comfortable with the light, she removed her hand, and looked up, to see the room. Her eyes widened, and mouth was left open. It wasn't a room, it was too big to be called just a room. In front of her eyes, she saw a full fledged house. Right opposite her, was a bigger than usual lobby, equipped with some couches, tables, and a tv. The lobby was attached to a kitchen, which had no separate door. The only separation between the two, was the kitchen counter. She had a full view of the kitchen. Other than that, the lobby was enclosed by numerous doors, that all stood open, hidden by transparent curtains, giving a sneaky view of the rooms within. Her gaze travelled from one side to the other, and she was speechless. Armaan saw her scan the place in wonder, and smiled at her expressions.

"Wow! You've done up the place wonderfully", she finally spoke without looking at him, and thus missed his baffled look.

"Wha... how... how did you know that i've done the interiors of this place? Poore office ke interiors maine thodi na kiye hain?", he turned to look at her.

"I just know Mallik, i just know", she gave him a mysterious smile, and walking, made him sit on the couch, as she sat on the couch adjacent to him.

"I don't believe it, tell me how did you know it was me?", he pouted and questioned her.

"Let's say i'm just a little observant Mallik", she smirked, amused at his expressions.

"I don't think so, there is nothing to be observed. I mean, there's no similarity in the office, and this place. And Rishi ne ye toh tumhe bataya hie hoga ki sara office maine nahi design kiya, toh phir tumhe kaise pata chala?", he asked. Seeing the irritation on his face, she decided to tell him.

"Actually Mallik! I liked these interiors", she said.

"Oh wow! Did i hit the jackpot then, if you liked my designing?", he asked sarcastically. She gave a laugh, as his irritation increased.

"Mallik! Tum bachche ho, aur bachhe hie rahoge. What i meant was, ki it is very rare, ki mujhe kahin ke interiors bohut achhe lage. Tumhara office ek exception tha, i had loved the work done by you. Infact, i could easily distinguish, ki kaunsa kaam tumne kiya hai, aur kaunsa nahi. I agree ki initially i hadn't believed Mr Rishi jab unhone bataya ki you were the master mind behind the amazing designing, but ultimately i did believe it", she smiled.

"Aisa kaise ho sakta hai?", Armaan scrunched his eyebrows, and Shilpa mentally smacked him.

"I guess you could say i am too good for my own self", she smirked.

"But i still don't get it. Office ko design karte huye i had specially kept in mind that none of the room has any thing in common with the other. If one was done up in light colours, the other was starkingly in contrast with it. Then how can you make such easy recognition, when even top professionals failed in it", he looked at her as he drowned in surprised confusion.

Shilpa just looked at him, and smiled. She couldn't tell him an answer to this question. She couldn't tell him that his designing brought out the innermost passion and desire of his heart, which touched the eternal romantic in her. She had managed to sync all his designs with the colors of her mind in some way or the other. It was as if he'd put colours on the walls just to suit her thoughts. She experienced a warm feeling at this, but she couldn't tell him all this. Just like she couldn't tell him the real reason why she'd easily surrendered to his kiss. She didn't even want to imagine his reaction if she told him that the sight he'd presented to her, of himself, in the car, had her enticed to no extent. He had looked all set to kill a few female species, all those who set their eyes on him. It wasn't that he didn't look good the other days, in fact he was one of the most magnificent creatures that God had carved out. Cut that! Not one of the most, but 'thee most' magnificent of all the creatures that she'd ever seen. Yes, she had seen many other good looking handsome men, some of whom the world even referred to as beautiful, but Armaan Mallik was a class apart. He was an effortless charmer. Just the uplift of his upper lip into a curve, and girls would be found swooning over him. Armaan knew this, that he had the power to make women buckle in their knees, and though he tried to get this point through Shilpa's head a lot many time, he didn't really care more about it. She did wonder that why did she effect Armaan so much, but always lost out on an answer. But in some deep corner of her heart, she knew why Armaan had such a touching effect on her. She'd harbored feelings for him since a very tender age, and today, when she felt him so close to her, she just couldn't control herself. Armaan really charmed everyone without any efforts, and when he did make some efforts, like with her, there was no way she could've pushed him off her. He managed to stir the deepest of her emotions, as much as she tried to despise him. So when she did feel his heart beat right next to her, she lost herself in the world of imagination, imagining how it would be to hold his living self in his arms, how it would be, to be held by him from where she could hear his breath in a slow motion. She just wanted to imagine...

"Oye!"

Shilpa's train of thoughts was cut short as a cushion landed in her lap smoothly. She shook her head to clear off all the thoughts, and turned her face to Armaan.

"What?", she asked him in an edgy tone, irked at him to break her beautiful thought land.

"Apne dreamland se bahar aao. We can't just sit here all long, can we?", he said in a loud voice.

"Mallik! What else do you think we can do?", she asked in amusement.

"I dunno! Maybe we could watch some movie, or i have some games for play station as well, or you have something else in mind, what say?", he gave her a toothy grin, and Shilpa mentally smiled. He looked so much like Leo right now, and she wanted to ruffle her hand in those silky hair of his, but years of practiced self-control stopped her from going any how mushy with him. He looked at her with twinkling eyes, dancing full of apprehension.

"Hmmm! Actually i do have something better in mind", he scrunched his eyes, and heard a sudden growl, as Shilpa smiled wildly, "Exactly! That's my point!", she pointed to his stomach as he grinned sheepishly at her, "I'll fix something for us to eat. Kitchen mein kuch samaan hoga?", she asked him.

"Hmm, basic cheezein mil jayengi. But please mere liye sirf cereals aur milk dal lana, i won't have anything else", he requested.

"I can fix something light for you", she said.

"No! I want cereals only. There's milk for sure in the fridge, i'll have them with milk, that's it", he said in a commanding voice, reflecting that this was his place. Shilpa just nodded, and walked to the kitchen. She was not those people to take easy commands from anyone. Armaan would soon learn the consequences of messing with her. The last he saw her, was when she'd started to rummage through the refrigerator. He didn't know when he lost his senses to sleep.

A small tapping on his shoulder disturbed him. He opened one eye squintly to look at the source, while he rubbed the other.

"Hmm?", he mumbled.

"Khana ready hai, khakar medicines leke so jao", Shilpa spoke in a soft voice, as she held out a bowl full of milk and cereals to him. He nodded, and tried getting up, but felt a spasm of pain shoot through his arm. Taking support from the armrest of the couch, he sat up straight, and started eating from the bowl that she'd kept on the table.

Shilpa returned from the kitchen, to find an adorable sight greeting her. Armaan sat cross legged on the couch, the bowl placed on the cushion in his lap ever so carelessly, his hair scruffy and messed up, and his mouth full of cereals with the spoon as well, while he flipped through the channels on the lcd. He finally settled for some music channel, and keeping the remote aside, taking the spoon out, gobbled the whole thing at once, and filled his mouth again without any delay, too busy in the songs to notice her come and sit opposite him.

Armaan noticed that Shilpa sat opposite him, busy with her food. He hadn't realized when did she come back from the kitchen, as he saw her busy looking at the video. He saw her happily much into what looked like...

"Salad!", he shrieked, making her startle in her seat, "Tum salad kha rahi ho, fruits and vegetables ka mixed salad?", he looked at her unbelievingly.

"Haan toh? Ismein kaunsi badi baat hai?", she replied, and got back to watching the video. He looked at her wide-eyed, as she took one of the pieces from those colorful ones with her fork, dipped it in something white that lay in a small bowl in her plate, and with easy effort, placed it in her mouth, closing her eyes in pleasure. He observed as she chewed the food with her eyes shut tightly. It were as if she had chocolate in her mouth, as he had only seen people much onto stuff like ice-creams or chocolates, and that too on tv. He hadn't thought people could actually eat like that, but looks like he was wrong. A lump formed in his throat, as he felt his throat turn dry, even though he'd just swallowed a spoonful of milk. After a few seconds of torture, she opened her eyes, as she finally swallowed that one piece. Even as she looked at the lcd, he could see her eyes twinkling with pleasure.

"Er..uhm...", he tried to speak, but stopped midway.

"Kya hua? You wanted something? Cereals khatam ho gayye, aur laoon?", saying this, she was about to open her legs, when he gestured her to stop.

"Nahi nahi! It's ok... wa.. woh main poochna chah raha tha, ki tum ye salad aise hie kha rahi ho, kacha?"

"Yeh!", she said pointing to her plate, "Areh nahi! Its baked, kache vegetables itne tasty kahaan, and saath mein yeh", she pointed to the small bowl, "Ye cheese hai, i melted it specially. Is piece ko plate se uthao, cheese mein dubao, muh mein chabao, just wow wow wow", saying the last bit with her mouth full, as she demonstrated the whole process to him. Armaan gulped before he spoke again.

"Erm... can i also... i mean can i also taste some, just little", he hesitated. She looked up, as if thinking, and then nodded.

"Ok, but just a small bite",, to which he gladly nodded, as she put one piece in his mouth. His eyes closed involuntarily, as he felt the soft stuff melt in his mouth on its own accord. He felt like it was the yummiest dish he'd ever tasted. He opened his eyes, only to find Shilpa's eyes smirking at him playfully, while he felt heat at the back of his ears, and his neck.

"Its... its...", he looked at his bowl, wondering how to describe them, as if that would give him an answer.

"Itna bura hai ki you can't even call it edible?", hearing her soft voice, he immediately looked up shaking hie head, afraid that he'd hurt her. But one look in those eyes full of mischief, and glaring at her, he let out a small 'huff'. Shilpa grinned, and shrugging her shoulders innocently, went back to sit on her seat. She again got busy with the songs, but from the corner of the eyes, she saw Armaan turn his face a little to look at her, and seeing her munch away to glory, made a face at her, and looked back at the tv. His bowl of cereals lay there, long forgotten. She saw him look at her many times, and grinned proudly, seeing him bear the torture. Halway through her food, she got up.

"Main paani lene ja rahi hoon. Should i get it for you as well... oops, i forgot, tum toh doodh pee rahe ho na", stressing on the word doodh, she gave a wicked smile, and went away to the kitchen. Armaan flared up at her audacity to tease him so much. She was getting on his nerves, but he kept mum realizing the fact that had he listened to her earlier, he wouldn't have to eat this bowl full of plain cereal. Though he didn't mind them even one bit, but compared to the bright tempting colorful baked pieces that lay at a little distance, they looked so dull and unattractive. A part of him wanted to snatch the plate and run away, But he knew better than that. Just as he turned his gaze away from those ever so delicious salad pieces, a plate appeared in front of him, full of the latter. He smiled widely, looking at the plate, and immediately grabbed it from Shilpa, who stood there with a knowing smirk. He didn't wait for her, as he dipped a few pieces, and gobbled them up.

"Umm... hmm... yumm...", he spoke between his food. Shilpa looked at him confusedly, as she sat down, grabbing her own plate. She waited for him to finish up, and when he did, he spoke again.

"These are like so so so tasty, i have now words, honestly. Mom ne bhi aaj tak itni yummy cheez nahi banayi. I'll definitely tell her to learn it from you. You'll teach her, won't you?", he looked at her, while she just shook her head in amusement, and watched the songs play.

"Areh! Batao na, sikhaogi na tum unhe?", he whined like a baby.

"Soch ke bataoongi Mallik", she replied, without looking at him, who nodded as if his wish were granted.

"Matlab haan!", she looked at him with a 'what?' expression, "Tumhare 'sochugi' ka matlab hai you'll teach her", he shrugged.

"And how do you conclude that?", she asked, seeming interested in the conversation.

"Agar tumhe mana karna hota to to tum seedhe seedhe na kar deti", he gave a small smile. Shilpa was taken aback at his knowledge about her, but acted perfectly to hide her surprise.

"Ch ch! You talk as if you know me Mallik. Mere 'sochugi' ka matlab hai stop talking, i am not interested, samjhe?", she said with a pinch of attitude.

"To each his own", he said, and went back to eating. When he finished eating, a few minutes before her, who seemed to actually chew the food 32 times, he tried getting up, but felt another spasm of pain shoot through his shoulders, and rubbing them, he sat back again. He shouldn't have slept in that uncomfortable position, it was what had triggered the pain again. Shilpa cleared the dishes in a quick time, and came to sit on the couch next to him.

"Mallik, jaake change karlo, you'll need to be comfortable for your sleep", she said.

"What about you? Tum aise thode na so sakti ho?", looking at her shrug, he spoke again, "Haan! Tum wo saamne wale room mein check karlo. Tumhe ladkiyon ke toh kapde nahi milenge, but am sure you can do with the casuals for the night", saying this, he waited for her to go, lest she observed his hands running over his shoulders again and again, and left immediately, rubbing his shoulders. He went to his bedroom, and changing through the pain into a white t-shirt with a pair of army 3-4ths, he sat on the bed with his legs straight, back supported by the headrest. He closed his eyes as he stretched his neck. He felt a soft knock on his door. He looked up, only to see Shilpa carrying a tray full of medicines and glass of water. His eyes ran to her face, and saw that she had lowered her eyes. Confused by her behavior, he scratched his head, and that was when his eyes fell on what she was wearing. She had worn his favorite grey t-shirt, that had the words 'DARE TO LIVE' printed at the front, and had combined it with another of his off-black lower. She looked way too small in his over-sized clothes, which looked as if they would fall off any moment. Thankfully the lower had a proper waistband, that could be adjusted according to the waist, lest it would've fallen by now. Armaan felt mesmerized looking at her in his clothes, and suddenly, it felt as if they were meant for her, the largeness of them protecting her petite frame. It was perhaps this weird feeling that had kept her eyes lowered.

"Hmm medicines, i forgot about them", he finally replied, when she looked up at him, and he nodded for her to come inside. He didn't want to make her feel any more awkward by speaking any non-sense. She pulled the chair next to his bed and sat beside him, giving him the medicines, and the water. Just then they heard a vibration. Shilpa fished the pocket of her lower and took out her cell. She pressed the accept button, and heard an ear piercing scream, so loud that the phone fell from her hand and landed into Armaan's lap, who got fidgety by the sudden throw and handed her the phone as he fumbled with it. Immediately he also heard Leo scream, as it seemed that he had switched on the loud speaker. Shilpa didn't bother turning it off, as it felt the safer move for her ears.

"SHEE! SHEE! SHEE!", Leo's voice boomed through the room. Finally God seemed to listen to Shilpa, as Leo sobered down, "Shee! Bi ne abhi apun ko bataya ki tu aaj office mein hie soyegi. Apun akele nahi soyega, tu abhi ke abhi apun ko bulwa tere pass, kisi bhi tarah se", he humphed in anger.

"Leo, tu baat samajh na", she tried speaking but he cut her words.

"Nai nai nai! Apun ko kuch nahi sun na. Tu apun ko apne paas bulwa, verna apun Bi ko tang karega", he gave an ultimatum. Shilpa let out a sigh as she heard her stubborn brother.

"Leo, main office mein nahi hoon", she finally spoke.

"Kya? Tu office mein nahi hai? Matlab tune Bi se jhooth bola? Tune aisa kyun...", he again stormed off, as Shilpa smacked her head.

"LEO! Chup chaap sun, maine Bi se jhooth nahi bola. Maine unhe bas yeh nahi bataya ki main Armaan ke office mein hoon. Armaan ki tabiyat theek nahi hai, and mujhe apne case per zaruri kaam karna tha, isliye hum dono yehi hain, samjha?", she ended breathlessly.

"Oh ho! Aise bolna tha na. Armaan beemar hai, to uska dhyaan rakhna tu, bechara apna dhyaan bhi nahi rakh sakta. Huh! Us se achha to main hoon, big boy, haina?", Shilpa giggled at Leo's comments, while Armaan gave her the 'what the hell' expression, "Chal, mujhe subah Bi tayaar kar dengi, unhone bola hai. Main tujhse school se aake milunga, theek hai?", after a few more good byes, Leo finally cut the call, and Shilpa sighed in relief. Then coming into the reality, she saw the tray lying there, and picking it up, placed it on the table opposite the bed, as she stood there, her back facing him. Armaan saw her hands fidget with the medicines, as she uncomfortably shifted her weight from one feet to another. He sensed something wrong, but hesitated to ask. As soon as he felt her turn, he shifted his focus at the side table.

"Uh.. Armaan...", she spoke in a soft voice. He turned to look at her, as she avoided his gaze. He now knew something was terribly wrong, Shilpa didn't call him Armaan for no reason.

"Haan?", he prompted her to speak up.

"Tumhare shoulders mein dard hai na", his eyes widened at her comment as he saw her looking expectantly at him, and he shook his head immediately, about to deny her, when she said, "Don't! Don't you dare lie to me, by saying no. I know your shoulders are hurting", and as if listening to her, the pain shot from his shoulders to his arms, and back again, and he couldn't help but rub them with a little yelp. She immediately crossed the distance between them, and was about to console him, but suddenly took her hand back. Armaan felt hurt by her reaction, but trying not to show it, he went back to tend to his shoulder.

"Tum rehne do, pain theek nahi hoga. Mujhe dawai mil gayi hai, i'll put that, if you want", she said in a low voice, and he looked up to see her a small bottle clutched in her palm. He saw the uneasiness on her face, as she still didn't meet his eyes, and the hurt that he'd felt at her withdrawal, vanished.

"Nahi Shilpa, i am sure i can manage...", he tried to speak, but she looked him in the eye.

"You know you can't manage it, so stop the pretense. Maine kaha na i'll apply the balm", she said in an irate voice, irked by the fact that he wasn't making it difficult for her, instead of easing off the things. He saw the decisiveness in her voice, and gave a small nod for approval. She went behind the bedrest, and stood there transfixed. When he didn't hear any movement for about a few minutes, he asked her,

"Kya hua?"

"Eh.. wo... tum... tumhari t-shirt...", she again said hesitantly.

"What about it... oh!", he changed his word as realization dawned him. She couldn't put the medicine with his t-shirt blocking her task. Putting his hands on the side of his t-shirt, he slowly started lifting him, but the pain hit him again, and he surrendered. Immediately he felt her come next to him, and slowly and steadily, she pulled the cloth over his head. He saw her eyes glancing anywhere but at him. He felt the awkwardness rise in the atmosphere, and didn't like it at all. Though a part of him liked the effect that he had on her, but the silence between them was too much for him.

He felt the strangeness of the atmosphere. He had seen the tough side of Shilpa since day one, the harshness and rudeness that she was capable of. Then he had even seen her in her most loving avatar, where she loved Anjali, Bi, and now also Leo as she couldn't love anyone else. He had seen the care and warmth her eyes carried whenever any of them was mentioned. As much as he hated to admit it, that Atul guy also came under the same category. She had even talked neutrally with the rest of the family, and the other people, were none of her business. But when it came to him, she exhibited a temper that was beyond his understanding. It was as if she had set something against him, and that made her hate him plainly, come what may. He'd seen her rude haughty self, her loving self, a part of her vulnerable self when she'd narrated her past to him, and what not. Infact today morning's intimacy between them had also carried another part of her, but right now, he saw her shy, hesitant self. He would've never thought that the Shilpa Malhotra he knew was capable of such a hesitation, that too with him, of all the people. He was surprised that she was behaving so awkwardly with him, unable to say something directly. But then a voice in him pointed out the logic.

She'd definitely not been stranded in such a situation with a man before. And given the moment that they had today morning, she is bound to feel awkward. And the whole 'taking care of him' thing is not helping her, instead freaking her out, if that was possible. Just when he thought the situation couldn't get any more worse, feeling sorry for the two of them, he felt his body stiffen.

Shilpa stood behind him, with the small bottle in her hand, looking at him. She didn't know what was happening. Things were taking a bad shape. Throughout the evening, she'd seen Armaan rub his shoulders. She remembered from earlier that head and shoulder ache were the symptoms of his illness. As much as she wanted to say something, she stopped as she realized he didn't want her to know about his agony. Guessing his male ego stopped him from telling her, she also shrugged the matter. But looking at him writhe in pain all the time, she couldn't control herself anymore. As if she hadn't turned things bad enough already, by agreeing to stay with him here, she didn't like the idea of the interaction with him on such a personal level. As much as comfortable she felt, she didn't want a repeat of the morning scene, yet just couldn't help but laugh away with him. She pretty freaked out when she walked out after changing her clothes to look at herself in his clothes. She felt a strange sensation in her stomach, as if butterflies all around. She liked the loose fabric around her body. An unknown feeling enveloped her heart, and surprisingly she liked it. The tough part was when she had to face Armaan. She felt really weird facing him, dressed up in his clothes. But thankfully, he seemed to have understood her awkwardness, as he didn't probe her at all. She hated her stars that day, but then realized that she'd always hated her stars, so there was nothing new was it? The only thing that had changed was that earlier she was able to control the situations, but this one, she just couldn't. She couldn't digest her own behavior, the way she was at loss of words, how she stammered and hesitated while talking to him. This just couldn't be happening, and definitely not to her. She had somehow convinced herself more than him, that she could apply the medicine for him. She should've agreed when he'd said that he could manage, but somehow recalling the image of him bearing the pain just didn't suit her. So she convinced herself that she could do it, helping him out shouldn't be that difficult, even if it involved physical closeness with him. When she did gather the courage and stood behind him, she realized that he was wearing his t-shirt, and that made her pause right then and there. She stood rooted to her place, still framing a sentence, to take-off his t-shirt, when he himself asked her what had happened. Again, with a lot of hesitance. She blurted the reason. He seemed to understand, and made an unsuccessful attempt to do so, but his pain rose again, and clouded her mind with worries. She flew next to him, and took off the cloth, all the while her eyes in the opposite direction, lest she did something insane. But her attempts failed, when she went to stand behind him and her eyes did fall on his almost bare body. He had worn a black ganji, which revealed the muscles in his arms, ready to rip out. Both his arms were filled with colorful patterns all over, which her mind figured were tattoos. His chest had a swell, and just by looking at him, she knew he could give a tough fight to anyone. He wasn't just bulky, but his body reflected his inner strength as well. She had never been a fan of what people called macho men, but Armaan certainly was an exception at everything. She looked at him in awe, as she admired his physique. Her trance was broken when she heard him groan in pain, and realized that she had some work at hand. She opened the bottle, and spreading the balm on her fingers, she slowly placed her hands on his shoulders, as her heart beat rose suddenly, and she felt his body stiffen at her touch.

Armaan felt her soft hands touch his shoulders, and the way she placed her hands, he knew how difficult it was for her. He stiffened at the brush of her fingers with his bare skin. Her hands moved very slowly at the same spot, rubbing the balm off her hands and on his body. It was difficult for him to decipher if the sudden warmth was due to the balm, or was it because of the contact of his cold skin with her hands. He felt a hesitation as she continued with her task. He had always seen her work efficiently with a smoothness, be it anything that she did. She exhibited the control she had over things. But today, he knew, as he felt that things certainly were not under her control. His thoughts broke when he realised that she had withdrawn her hands, and it had been a few minutes ago. Sensing no movement from her, he turned his head to look back, and an immediate chuckle left his lips. Realizing that she was now the object of his mirth, she glared at him, and he wiped the smile off his face, as she got back to her previous effort. She closed her eyes tight, clenching her teeth, and putting all her strength, as she clutched the bottle of balm, trying to undo the lid. He guessed that the greasy balm spread on her hand was making her otherwise easy work seem tough. He put forward his palm, gesturing her to give the bottle, but she shook her head. When she realized she couldn't manage the task anyhow, she forwarded the bottle. His fingers brushed hers slightly as she quickly withdrew her hand. With an ease in his fingers, he undid the lid, and held the bottle above his shoulder, so that she could take the balm. She plunged her hand, and rubbed the balm on the finger tips of both her hands. Just when she was about to apply it again on his neck, she heard a ruffling sound. She paused to listen attentively, but heard nothing. Brushing it aside as a figment of her imagination, she was about to get back, when again she heard the sound. She leaned above Armaan's shoulder, only to notice his lips moving. She realized that he was the one making that sound.

"Tum kuch kehna chahte ho?"

Startled by her sudden voice, Armaan turned his head to face her, and was stopped dead in his tracks, as he realized that their faces were just inches apart. Shilpa also seemed to realize the fact that they could feel each other's breath on their lips. She looked into his eyes, as he lost himself into hers.

"Tum kuch kehna chahte ho? I heard you, i mean i saw you speak something", she looked at him questioningly. He shook his head, lost in staring at her, and she immediately backed off, continuing with her task.

"Er.. Shilpa, you can stop, if you want...", he didn't continue, at a loss of some decent words.

She gasped silently, as she realized what he was saying. It seemed as if he'd peered through her mask, and into her hesitation. She wondered how did he manage it, to over-look her pretence, and expose her truth out. She knew she should back off. The play of her fingers on the hard of his back made her realize of how really beautiful he was. The errupting butterflies in her stomach did nothing to help. But she also knew that if she backed off for her own comfort, he would suffer in pain, and try to hide it from her as well. Not wanting to let him bear any misery, she decided a way out.

"Does this flat thing in your room work? I could do with some entertainment?", she pointed towards the lcd screen.

"I am sure the tv couldn't be more interesting than me", he mumbled.

"Huh?", she questioned him, "What did you just say?"

"Nothing much", he sighed, and pressed the buttons on the remote, immediately bringing life to the unanimated screen.

The screen rested on a movies channel, and Armaan's lips curved into a smug smile, invisible to Shilpa.

"Shah rukh on tv, i'm so sure you'll love this", the taunt in his voice didn't miss Shilpa's ears.

"I do not like this mushiness, change please", she knew his mouth held open right now. Before he could pause to tell her about the next channel, she protested.

"I think i've had enough songs for one day", she viewed the music channel, as he flipped some more.

"Hey! That's tom and jerry, i love them, totally classic, whatsay?", he asked, bouncing in excitement, but was immediately pressed down by the force of her hands.

"Mallik! I need to watch the tv, and am in no mood for more of your species"

He changed the channel, but not without giving her a glare. They continued arguing over the different channels, and Shilpa had almost finished her work.

"Stop stop stop!", she immediately came next to him, and pushing him, made space for herself on the bed, next to him, as she snatched the remote.

"What? You are not serious..."

"Shhh", she hissed, her eyes dug at the screen.

"You're...", he wanted to speak, but she didn't give him an opportunity.

"Zip!", she glared at him, and went back to look at the tv. Armaan knew better than to interrupt her, and so shut up.

"Now tell me, what's your problem?", she finally turned to him, when the screen went in for a small break.

"I can't believe it! You're watching this match just to irritate me, right?", he asked her.

"Are you crazy Mallik? I love cricket like anything. And for heaven's sake, this is a KKR match, i definitely can't miss it", she replied as if it were the most natural thing.

"KKR is playing, against which team? I'm sure they're bound to lose whatever team it is", she gave him a deadly look, to which he tried covering up his mistake, "I've read in the newspaper, that they aren't too good"

"Prejudiced idiots! I am a KKR supporter, and i give a rat's ass of what people think about KKR", she shrugged, and focused at the screen where the match had continued.

Armaan felt a yawn escape his lips, but he didn't feel like sleeping, yet. The adorable sight right next to him was temptation good enough. Her brows were furrowed constantly, as she muttered frequent curses at the opposite team, and jumped in joy whenever her team saw the better play. She imitated Shah Rukh's actions, as he encouraged his team - so much for not being an SRK fan, he huffed. After a few minutes of observing her silently, it were as if some storm had started in the room. Shilpa was throwing profanities at the screen for all the cheating that was going on, and by now, the game had caught Armaan's interest as well. He too shouted on top of his voice, forgetting that he was ill some time back. Finally, they rested their throats when the match halted at half-point. This was also the moment, when they realized that they were sitting too close for comfort. Shuffling a little away, the moment of awkwardness died, when the other team started playing. This time, they maintained a calm posture, and hence neither realized that when had they slept off.

Credit - POOJA (kweetrockstar)
***********************************

Nupur helped him get up, and leaning on her for support, his arm placed on her shoulder, they both walked through the stairs, and past the coridoor. Nupur was about to take a turn towards the room that she had earlier visited today, when Mayank stopped her.

"Areh nahi, wo to mera gym hai, hum raat ko wahaan thode reh sakte hain. Yahaan chalo", he pointed towards the door right opposite to the gym. They opened the door, and entered the dark room, as Mayank pressed the switch on the side wall. There was a sudden blaze of light, and Nupur shielded her eyes, by immediately bringing her palm in front of them as she shifted her head a little sideways. When she felt she was comfortable with the light, she removed her hand, and looked up, to see the room. Her eyes widened, and mouth was left open. It wasn't a room, it was too big to be called just a room. In front of her eyes, she saw a full fledged house. Right opposite her, was a bigger than usual lobby, equipped with some couches, tables, and a tv. The lobby was attached to a kitchen, which had no separate door. The only separation between the two, was the kitchen counter. She had a full view of the kitchen. Other than that, the lobby was enclosed by numerous doors, that all stood open, hidden by transparent curtains, giving a sneaky view of the rooms within. Her gaze travelled from one side to the other, and she was speechless. Mayank saw her scan the place in wonder, and smiled at her expressions.

"Wow! You've done up the place wonderfully", she finally spoke without looking at him, and thus missed his baffled look.

"Wha... how... how did you know that i've done the interiors of this place? Poore office ke interiors maine thodi na kiye hain?", he turned to look at her.

"I just know Sharma, i just know", she gave him a mysterious smile, and walking, made him sit on the couch, as she sat on the couch adjacent to him.

"I don't believe it, tell me how did you know it was me?", he pouted and questioned her.

"Let's say i'm just a little observant Sharma", she smirked, amused at his expressions.

"I don't think so, there is nothing to be observed. I mean, there's no similarity in the office, and this place. And Rishi ne ye toh tumhe bataya hie hoga ki sara office maine nahi design kiya, toh phir tumhe kaise pata chala?", he asked. Seeing the irritation on his face, she decided to tell him.

"Actually Sharma! I liked these interiors", she said.

"Oh wow! Did i hit the jackpot then, if you liked my designing?", he asked sarcastically. She gave a laugh, as his irritation increased.

"Sharma! Tum bachche ho, aur bachhe hie rahoge. What i meant was, ki it is very rare, ki mujhe kahin ke interiors bohut achhe lage. Tumhara office ek exception tha, i had loved the work done by you. Infact, i could easily distinguish, ki kaunsa kaam tumne kiya hai, aur kaunsa nahi. I agree ki initially i hadn't believed Mr Rishi jab unhone bataya ki you were the master mind behind the amazing designing, but ultimately i did believe it", she smiled.

"Aisa kaise ho sakta hai?", Mayank scrunched his eyebrows, and Nupur mentally smacked him.

"I guess you could say i am too good for my own self", she smirked.

"But i still don't get it. Office ko design karte huye i had specially kept in mind that none of the room has any thing in common with the other. If one was done up in light colours, the other was starkingly in contrast with it. Then how can you make such easy recognition, when even top professionals failed in it", he looked at her as he drowned in surprised confusion.

Nupur just looked at him, and smiled. She couldn't tell him an answer to this question. She couldn't tell him that his designing brought out the innermost passion and desire of his heart, which touched the eternal romantic in her. She had managed to sync all his designs with the colors of her mind in some way or the other. It was as if he'd put colours on the walls just to suit her thoughts. She experienced a warm feeling at this, but she couldn't tell him all this. Just like she couldn't tell him the real reason why she'd easily surrendered to his kiss. She didn't even want to imagine his reaction if she told him that the sight he'd presented to her, of himself, in the car, had her enticed to no extent. He had looked all set to kill a few female species, all those who set their eyes on him. It wasn't that he didn't look good the other days, in fact he was one of the most magnificent creatures that God had carved out. Cut that! Not one of the most, but 'thee most' magnificent of all the creatures that she'd ever seen. Yes, she had seen many other good looking handsome men, some of whom the world even referred to as beautiful, but Mayank Sharma was a class apart. He was an effortless charmer. Just the uplift of his upper lip into a curve, and girls would be found swooning over him. Mayank knew this, that he had the power to make women buckle in their knees, and though he tried to get this point through Nupur's head a lot many time, he didn't really care more about it. She did wonder that why did she effect Mayank so much, but always lost out on an answer. But in some deep corner of her heart, she knew why Mayank had such a touching effect on her. She'd harbored feelings for him since a very tender age, and today, when she felt him so close to her, she just couldn't control herself. Mayank really charmed everyone without any efforts, and when he did make some efforts, like with her, there was no way she could've pushed him off her. He managed to stir the deepest of her emotions, as much as she tried to despise him. So when she did feel his heart beat right next to her, she lost herself in the world of imagination, imagining how it would be to hold his living self in his arms, how it would be, to be held by him from where she could hear his breath in a slow motion. She just wanted to imagine...

"Oye!"

Nupur's train of thoughts was cut short as a cushion landed in her lap smoothly. She shook her head to clear off all the thoughts, and turned her face to Mayank.

"What?", she asked him in an edgy tone, irked at him to break her beautiful thought land.

"Apne dreamland se bahar aao. We can't just sit here all long, can we?", he said in a loud voice.

"Sharma! What else do you think we can do?", she asked in amusement.

"I dunno! Maybe we could watch some movie, or i have some games for play station as well, or you have something else in mind, what say?", he gave her a toothy grin, and Nupur mentally smiled. He looked so much like Leo right now, and she wanted to ruffle her hand in those silky hair of his, but years of practiced self-control stopped her from going any how mushy with him. He looked at her with twinkling eyes, dancing full of apprehension.

"Hmmm! Actually i do have something better in mind", he scrunched his eyes, and heard a sudden growl, as Nupur smiled wildly, "Exactly! That's my point!", she pointed to his stomach as he grinned sheepishly at her, "I'll fix something for us to eat. Kitchen mein kuch samaan hoga?", she asked him.

"Hmm, basic cheezein mil jayengi. But please mere liye sirf cereals aur milk dal lana, i won't have anything else", he requested.

"I can fix something light for you", she said.

"No! I want cereals only. There's milk for sure in the fridge, i'll have them with milk, that's it", he said in a commanding voice, reflecting that this was his place. Nupur just nodded, and walked to the kitchen. She was not those people to take easy commands from anyone. Mayank would soon learn the consequences of messing with her. The last he saw her, was when she'd started to rummage through the refrigerator. He didn't know when he lost his senses to sleep.

A small tapping on his shoulder disturbed him. He opened one eye squintly to look at the source, while he rubbed the other.

"Hmm?", he mumbled.

"Khana ready hai, khakar medicines leke so jao", Nupur spoke in a soft voice, as she held out a bowl full of milk and cereals to him. He nodded, and tried getting up, but felt a spasm of pain shoot through his arm. Taking support from the armrest of the couch, he sat up straight, and started eating from the bowl that she'd kept on the table.

Nupur returned from the kitchen, to find an adorable sight greeting her. Mayank sat cross legged on the couch, the bowl placed on the cushion in his lap ever so carelessly, his hair scruffy and messed up, and his mouth full of cereals with the spoon as well, while he flipped through the channels on the lcd. He finally settled for some music channel, and keeping the remote aside, taking the spoon out, gobbled the whole thing at once, and filled his mouth again without any delay, too busy in the songs to notice her come and sit opposite him.

Mayank noticed that Nupur sat opposite him, busy with her food. He hadn't realized when did she come back from the kitchen, as he saw her busy looking at the video. He saw her happily much into what looked like...

"Salad!", he shrieked, making her startle in her seat, "Tum salad kha rahi ho, fruits and vegetables ka mixed salad?", he looked at her unbelievingly.

"Haan toh? Ismein kaunsi badi baat hai?", she replied, and got back to watching the video. He looked at her wide-eyed, as she took one of the pieces from those colorful ones with her fork, dipped it in something white that lay in a small bowl in her plate, and with easy effort, placed it in her mouth, closing her eyes in pleasure. He observed as she chewed the food with her eyes shut tightly. It were as if she had chocolate in her mouth, as he had only seen people much onto stuff like ice-creams or chocolates, and that too on tv. He hadn't thought people could actually eat like that, but looks like he was wrong. A lump formed in his throat, as he felt his throat turn dry, even though he'd just swallowed a spoonful of milk. After a few seconds of torture, she opened her eyes, as she finally swallowed that one piece. Even as she looked at the lcd, he could see her eyes twinkling with pleasure.

"Er..uhm...", he tried to speak, but stopped midway.

"Kya hua? You wanted something? Cereals khatam ho gayye, aur laoon?", saying this, she was about to open her legs, when he gestured her to stop.

"Nahi nahi! It's ok... wa.. woh main poochna chah raha tha, ki tum ye salad aise hie kha rahi ho, kacha?"

"Yeh!", she said pointing to her plate, "Areh nahi! Its baked, kache vegetables itne tasty kahaan, and saath mein yeh", she pointed to the small bowl, "Ye cheese hai, i melted it specially. Is piece ko plate se uthao, cheese mein dubao, muh mein chabao, just wow wow wow", saying the last bit with her mouth full, as she demonstrated the whole process to him. Mayank gulped before he spoke again.

"Erm... can i also... i mean can i also taste some, just little", he hesitated. She looked up, as if thinking, and then nodded.

"Ok, but just a small bite",, to which he gladly nodded, as she put one piece in his mouth. His eyes closed involuntarily, as he felt the soft stuff melt in his mouth on its own accord. He felt like it was the yummiest dish he'd ever tasted. He opened his eyes, only to find Nupur's eyes smirking at him playfully, while he felt heat at the back of his ears, and his neck.

"Its... its...", he looked at his bowl, wondering how to describe them, as if that would give him an answer.

"Itna bura hai ki you can't even call it edible?", hearing her soft voice, he immediately looked up shaking hie head, afraid that he'd hurt her. But one look in those eyes full of mischief, and glaring at her, he let out a small 'huff'. Nupur grinned, and shrugging her shoulders innocently, went back to sit on her seat. She again got busy with the songs, but from the corner of the eyes, she saw Mayank turn his face a little to look at her, and seeing her munch away to glory, made a face at her, and looked back at the tv. His bowl of cereals lay there, long forgotten. She saw him look at her many times, and grinned proudly, seeing him bear the torture. Halway through her food, she got up.

"Main paani lene ja rahi hoon. Should i get it for you as well... oops, i forgot, tum toh doodh pee rahe ho na", stressing on the word doodh, she gave a wicked smile, and went away to the kitchen. Mayank flared up at her audacity to tease him so much. She was getting on his nerves, but he kept mum realizing the fact that had he listened to her earlier, he wouldn't have to eat this bowl full of plain cereal. Though he didn't mind them even one bit, but compared to the bright tempting colorful baked pieces that lay at a little distance, they looked so dull and unattractive. A part of him wanted to snatch the plate and run away, But he knew better than that. Just as he turned his gaze away from those ever so delicious salad pieces, a plate appeared in front of him, full of the latter. He smiled widely, looking at the plate, and immediately grabbed it from Nupur, who stood there with a knowing smirk. He didn't wait for her, as he dipped a few pieces, and gobbled them up.

"Umm... hmm... yumm...", he spoke between his food. Nupur looked at him confusedly, as she sat down, grabbing her own plate. She waited for him to finish up, and when he did, he spoke again.

"These are like so so so tasty, i have now words, honestly. Mom ne bhi aaj tak itni yummy cheez nahi banayi. I'll definitely tell her to learn it from you. You'll teach her, won't you?", he looked at her, while she just shook her head in amusement, and watched the songs play.

"Areh! Batao na, sikhaogi na tum unhe?", he whined like a baby.

"Soch ke bataoongi Sharma", she replied, without looking at him, who nodded as if his wish were granted.

"Matlab haan!", she looked at him with a 'what?' expression, "Tumhare 'sochugi' ka matlab hai you'll teach her", he shrugged.

"And how do you conclude that?", she asked, seeming interested in the conversation.

"Agar tumhe mana karna hota to to tum seedhe seedhe na kar deti", he gave a small smile. Nupur was taken aback at his knowledge about her, but acted perfectly to hide her surprise.

"Ch ch! You talk as if you know me Sharma. Mere 'sochugi' ka matlab hai stop talking, i am not interested, samjhe?", she said with a pinch of attitude.

"To each his own", he said, and went back to eating. When he finished eating, a few minutes before her, who seemed to actually chew the food 32 times, he tried getting up, but felt another spasm of pain shoot through his shoulders, and rubbing them, he sat back again. He shouldn't have slept in that uncomfortable position, it was what had triggered the pain again. Nupur cleared the dishes in a quick time, and came to sit on the couch next to him.

"Sharma, jaake change karlo, you'll need to be comfortable for your sleep", she said.

"What about you? Tum aise thode na so sakti ho?", looking at her shrug, he spoke again, "Haan! Tum wo saamne wale room mein check karlo. Tumhe ladkiyon ke toh kapde nahi milenge, but am sure you can do with the casuals for the night", saying this, he waited for her to go, lest she observed his hands running over his shoulders again and again, and left immediately, rubbing his shoulders. He went to his bedroom, and changing through the pain into a white t-shirt with a pair of army 3-4ths, he sat on the bed with his legs straight, back supported by the headrest. He closed his eyes as he stretched his neck. He felt a soft knock on his door. He looked up, only to see Nupur carrying a tray full of medicines and glass of water. His eyes ran to her face, and saw that she had lowered her eyes. Confused by her behavior, he scratched his head, and that was when his eyes fell on what she was wearing. She had worn his favorite grey t-shirt, that had the words 'DARE TO LIVE' printed at the front, and had combined it with another of his off-black lower. She looked way too small in his over-sized clothes, which looked as if they would fall off any moment. Thankfully the lower had a proper waistband, that could be adjusted according to the waist, lest it would've fallen by now. Mayank felt mesmerized looking at her in his clothes, and suddenly, it felt as if they were meant for her, the largeness of them protecting her petite frame. It was perhaps this weird feeling that had kept her eyes lowered.

"Hmm medicines, i forgot about them", he finally replied, when she looked up at him, and he nodded for her to come inside. He didn't want to make her feel any more awkward by speaking any non-sense. She pulled the chair next to his bed and sat beside him, giving him the medicines, and the water. Just then they heard a vibration. Nupur fished the pocket of her lower and took out her cell. She pressed the accept button, and heard an ear piercing scream, so loud that the phone fell from her hand and landed into Mayank's lap, who got fidgety by the sudden throw and handed her the phone as he fumbled with it. Immediately he also heard Leo scream, as it seemed that he had switched on the loud speaker. Nupur didn't bother turning it off, as it felt the safer move for her ears.

"NOOR! NOOR! NOOR!", Leo's voice boomed through the room. Finally God seemed to listen to Nupur, as Leo sobered down, "Noor! Bi ne abhi apun ko bataya ki tu aaj office mein hie soyegi. Apun akele nahi soyega, tu abhi ke abhi apun ko bulwa tere pass, kisi bhi tarah se", he humphed in anger.

"Leo, tu baat samajh na", she tried speaking but he cut her words.

"Nai nai nai! Apun ko kuch nahi sun na. Tu apun ko apne paas bulwa, verna apun Bi ko tang karega", he gave an ultimatum. Nupur let out a sigh as she heard her stubborn brother.

"Leo, main office mein nahi hoon", she finally spoke.

"Kya? Tu office mein nahi hai? Matlab tune Bi se jhooth bola? Tune aisa kyun...", he again stormed off, as Nupur smacked her head.

"LEO! Chup chaap sun, maine Bi se jhooth nahi bola. Maine unhe bas yeh nahi bataya ki main Mayank ke office mein hoon. Mayank ki tabiyat theek nahi hai, and mujhe apne case per zaruri kaam karna tha, isliye hum dono yehi hain, samjha?", she ended breathlessly.

"Oh ho! Aise bolna tha na. Mayank beemar hai, to uska dhyaan rakhna tu, bechara apna dhyaan bhi nahi rakh sakta. Huh! Us se achha to main hoon, big boy, haina?", Nupur giggled at Leo's comments, while Mayank gave her the 'what the hell' expression, "Chal, mujhe subah Bi tayaar kar dengi, unhone bola hai. Main tujhse school se aake milunga, theek hai?", after a few more good byes, Leo finally cut the call, and Nupur sighed in relief. Then coming into the reality, she saw the tray lying there, and picking it up, placed it on the table opposite the bed, as she stood there, her back facing him. Mayank saw her hands fidget with the medicines, as she uncomfortably shifted her weight from one feet to another. He sensed something wrong, but hesitated to ask. As soon as he felt her turn, he shifted his focus at the side table.

"Uh.. Mayank...", she spoke in a soft voice. He turned to look at her, as she avoided his gaze. He now knew something was terribly wrong, Nupur didn't call him Mayank for no reason.

"Haan?", he prompted her to speak up.

"Tumhare shoulders mein dard hai na", his eyes widened at her comment as he saw her looking expectantly at him, and he shook his head immediately, about to deny her, when she said, "Don't! Don't you dare lie to me, by saying no. I know your shoulders are hurting", and as if listening to her, the pain shot from his shoulders to his arms, and back again, and he couldn't help but rub them with a little yelp. She immediately crossed the distance between them, and was about to console him, but suddenly took her hand back. Mayank felt hurt by her reaction, but trying not to show it, he went back to tend to his shoulder.

"Tum rehne do, pain theek nahi hoga. Mujhe dawai mil gayi hai, i'll put that, if you want", she said in a low voice, and he looked up to see her a small bottle clutched in her palm. He saw the uneasiness on her face, as she still didn't meet his eyes, and the hurt that he'd felt at her withdrawal, vanished.

"Nahi Nupur, i am sure i can manage...", he tried to speak, but she looked him in the eye.

"You know you can't manage it, so stop the pretense. Maine kaha na i'll apply the balm", she said in an irate voice, irked by the fact that he wasn't making it difficult for her, instead of easing off the things. He saw the decisiveness in her voice, and gave a small nod for approval. She went behind the bedrest, and stood there transfixed. When he didn't hear any movement for about a few minutes, he asked her,

"Kya hua?"

"Eh.. wo... tum... tumhari t-shirt...", she again said hesitantly.

"What about it... oh!", he changed his word as realization dawned him. She couldn't put the medicine with his t-shirt blocking her task. Putting his hands on the side of his t-shirt, he slowly started lifting him, but the pain hit him again, and he surrendered. Immediately he felt her come next to him, and slowly and steadily, she pulled the cloth over his head. He saw her eyes glancing anywhere but at him. He felt the awkwardness rise in the atmosphere, and didn't like it at all. Though a part of him liked the effect that he had on her, but the silence between them was too much for him.

He felt the strangeness of the atmosphere. He had seen the tough side of Nupur since day one, the harshness and rudeness that she was capable of. Then he had even seen her in her most loving avatar, where she loved Gunjan, Bi, and now also Leo as she couldn't love anyone else. He had seen the care and warmth her eyes carried whenever any of them was mentioned. As much as he hated to admit it, that Samrat guy also came under the same category. She had even talked neutrally with the rest of the family, and the other people, were none of her business. But when it came to him, she exhibited a temper that was beyond his understanding. It was as if she had set something against him, and that made her hate him plainly, come what may. He'd seen her rude haughty self, her loving self, a part of her vulnerable self when she'd narrated her past to him, and what not. Infact today morning's intimacy between them had also carried another part of her, but right now, he saw her shy, hesitant self. He would've never thought that the Nupur Malhotra he knew was capable of such a hesitation, that too with him, of all the people. He was surprised that she was behaving so awkwardly with him, unable to say something directly. But then a voice in him pointed out the logic.

She'd definitely not been stranded in such a situation with a man before. And given the moment that they had today morning, she is bound to feel awkward. And the whole 'taking care of him' thing is not helping her, instead freaking her out, if that was possible. Just when he thought the situation couldn't get any more worse, feeling sorry for the two of them, he felt his body stiffen.

Nupur stood behind him, with the small bottle in her hand, looking at him. She didn't know what was happening. Things were taking a bad shape. Throughout the evening, she'd seen Mayank rub his shoulders. She remembered from earlier that head and shoulder ache were the symptoms of his illness. As much as she wanted to say something, she stopped as she realized he didn't want her to know about his agony. Guessing his male ego stopped him from telling her, she also shrugged the matter. But looking at him writhe in pain all the time, she couldn't control herself anymore. As if she hadn't turned things bad enough already, by agreeing to stay with him here, she didn't like the idea of the interaction with him on such a personal level. As much as comfortable she felt, she didn't want a repeat of the morning scene, yet just couldn't help but laugh away with him. She pretty freaked out when she walked out after changing her clothes to look at herself in his clothes. She felt a strange sensation in her stomach, as if butterflies all around. She liked the loose fabric around her body. An unknown feeling enveloped her heart, and surprisingly she liked it. The tough part was when she had to face Mayank. She felt really weird facing him, dressed up in his clothes. But thankfully, he seemed to have understood her awkwardness, as he didn't probe her at all. She hated her stars that day, but then realized that she'd always hated her stars, so there was nothing new was it? The only thing that had changed was that earlier she was able to control the situations, but this one, she just couldn't. She couldn't digest her own behavior, the way she was at loss of words, how she stammered and hesitated while talking to him. This just couldn't be happening, and definitely not to her. She had somehow convinced herself more than him, that she could apply the medicine for him. She should've agreed when he'd said that he could manage, but somehow recalling the image of him bearing the pain just didn't suit her. So she convinced herself that she could do it, helping him out shouldn't be that difficult, even if it involved physical closeness with him. When she did gather the courage and stood behind him, she realized that he was wearing his t-shirt, and that made her pause right then and there. She stood rooted to her place, still framing a sentence, to take-off his t-shirt, when he himself asked her what had happened. Again, with a lot of hesitance. She blurted the reason. He seemed to understand, and made an unsuccessful attempt to do so, but his pain rose again, and clouded her mind with worries. She flew next to him, and took off the cloth, all the while her eyes in the opposite direction, lest she did something insane. But her attempts failed, when she went to stand behind him and her eyes did fall on his almost bare body. He had worn a black ganji, which revealed the muscles in his arms, ready to rip out. Both his arms were filled with colorful patterns all over, which her mind figured were tattoos. His chest had a swell, and just by looking at him, she knew he could give a tough fight to anyone. He wasn't just bulky, but his body reflected his inner strength as well. She had never been a fan of what people called macho men, but Mayank certainly was an exception at everything. She looked at him in awe, as she admired his physique. Her trance was broken when she heard him groan in pain, and realized that she had some work at hand. She opened the bottle, and spreading the balm on her fingers, she slowly placed her hands on his shoulders, as her heart beat rose suddenly, and she felt his body stiffen at her touch.

Mayank felt her soft hands touch his shoulders, and the way she placed her hands, he knew how difficult it was for her. He stiffened at the brush of her fingers with his bare skin. Her hands moved very slowly at the same spot, rubbing the balm off her hands and on his body. It was difficult for him to decipher if the sudden warmth was due to the balm, or was it because of the contact of his cold skin with her hands. He felt a hesitation as she continued with her task. He had always seen her work efficiently with a smoothness, be it anything that she did. She exhibited the control she had over things. But today, he knew, as he felt that things certainly were not under her control. His thoughts broke when he realised that she had withdrawn her hands, and it had been a few minutes ago. Sensing no movement from her, he turned his head to look back, and an immediate chuckle left his lips. Realizing that she was now the object of his mirth, she glared at him, and he wiped the smile off his face, as she got back to her previous effort. She closed her eyes tight, clenching her teeth, and putting all her strength, as she clutched the bottle of balm, trying to undo the lid. He guessed that the greasy balm spread on her hand was making her otherwise easy work seem tough. He put forward his palm, gesturing her to give the bottle, but she shook her head. When she realized she couldn't manage the task anyhow, she forwarded the bottle. His fingers brushed hers slightly as she quickly withdrew her hand. With an ease in his fingers, he undid the lid, and held the bottle above his shoulder, so that she could take the balm. She plunged her hand, and rubbed the balm on the finger tips of both her hands. Just when she was about to apply it again on his neck, she heard a ruffling sound. She paused to listen attentively, but heard nothing. Brushing it aside as a figment of her imagination, she was about to get back, when again she heard the sound. She leaned above Mayank's shoulder, only to notice his lips moving. She realized that he was the one making that sound.

"Tum kuch kehna chahte ho?"

Startled by her sudden voice, Mayank turned his head to face her, and was stopped dead in his tracks, as he realized that their faces were just inches apart. Nupur also seemed to realize the fact that they could feel each other's breath on their lips. She looked into his eyes, as he lost himself into hers.

"Tum kuch kehna chahte ho? I heard you, i mean i saw you speak something", she looked at him questioningly. He shook his head, lost in staring at her, and she immediately backed off, continuing with her task.

"Er.. Nupur, you can stop, if you want...", he didn't continue, at a loss of some decent words.

She gasped silently, as she realized what he was saying. It seemed as if he'd peered through her mask, and into her hesitation. She wondered how did he manage it, to over-look her pretence, and expose her truth out. She knew she should back off. The play of her fingers on the hard of his back made her realize of how really beautiful he was. The errupting butterflies in her stomach did nothing to help. But she also knew that if she backed off for her own comfort, he would suffer in pain, and try to hide it from her as well. Not wanting to let him bear any misery, she decided a way out.

"Does this flat thing in your room work? I could do with some entertainment?", she pointed towards the lcd screen.

"I am sure the tv couldn't be more interesting than me", he mumbled.

"Huh?", she questioned him, "What did you just say?"

"Nothing much", he sighed, and pressed the buttons on the remote, immediately bringing life to the unanimated screen.

The screen rested on a movies channel, and Mayank's lips curved into a smug smile, invisible to Nupur.

"Shah rukh on tv, i'm so sure you'll love this", the taunt in his voice didn't miss Nupur's ears.

"I do not like this mushiness, change please", she knew his mouth held open right now. Before he could pause to tell her about the next channel, she protested.

"I think i've had enough songs for one day", she viewed the music channel, as he flipped some more.

"Hey! That's tom and jerry, i love them, totally classic, whatsay?", he asked, bouncing in excitement, but was immediately pressed down by the force of her hands.

"Sharma! I need to watch the tv, and am in no mood for more of your species"

He changed the channel, but not without giving her a glare. They continued arguing over the different channels, and Nupur had almost finished her work.

"Stop stop stop!", she immediately came next to him, and pushing him, made space for herself on the bed, next to him, as she snatched the remote.

"What? You are not serious..."

"Shhh", she hissed, her eyes dug at the screen.

"You're...", he wanted to speak, but she didn't give him an opportunity.

"Zip!", she glared at him, and went back to look at the tv. Mayank knew better than to interrupt her, and so shut up.

"Now tell me, what's your problem?", she finally turned to him, when the screen went in for a small break.

"I can't believe it! You're watching this match just to irritate me, right?", he asked her.

"Are you crazy Sharma? I love cricket like anything. And for heaven's sake, this is a KKR match, i definitely can't miss it", she replied as if it were the most natural thing.

"KKR is playing, against which team? I'm sure they're bound to lose whatever team it is", she gave him a deadly look, to which he tried covering up his mistake, "I've read in the newspaper, that they aren't too good"

"Prejudiced idiots! I am a KKR supporter, and i give a rat's ass of what people think about KKR", she shrugged, and focused at the screen where the match had continued.

Mayank felt a yawn escape his lips, but he didn't feel like sleeping, yet. The adorable sight right next to him was temptation good enough. Her brows were furrowed constantly, as she muttered frequent curses at the opposite team, and jumped in joy whenever her team saw the better play. She imitated Shah Rukh's actions, as he encouraged his team - so much for not being an SRK fan, he huffed. After a few minutes of observing her silently, it were as if some storm had started in the room. Nupur was throwing profanities at the screen for all the cheating that was going on, and by now, the game had caught Mayank's interest as well. He too shouted on top of his voice, forgetting that he was ill some time back. Finally, they rested their throats when the match halted at half-point. This was also the moment, when they realized that they were sitting too close for comfort. Shuffling a little away, the moment of awkwardness died, when the other team started playing. This time, they maintained a calm posture, and hence neither realized that when had they slept off.

Geet helped him get up, and leaning on her for support, his arm placed on her shoulder, they both walked through the stairs, and past the coridoor. Geet was about to take a turn towards the room that she had earlier visited today, when Maan stopped her.

"Areh nahi, wo to mera gym hai, hum raat ko wahaan thode reh sakte hain. Yahaan chalo", he pointed towards the door right opposite to the gym. They opened the door, and entered the dark room, as Maan pressed the switch on the side wall. There was a sudden blaze of light, and Geet shielded her eyes, by immediately bringing her palm in front of them as she shifted her head a little sideways. When she felt she was comfortable with the light, she removed her hand, and looked up, to see the room. Her eyes widened, and mouth was left open. It wasn't a room, it was too big to be called just a room. In front of her eyes, she saw a full fledged house. Right opposite her, was a bigger than usual lobby, equipped with some couches, tables, and a tv. The lobby was attached to a kitchen, which had no separate door. The only separation between the two, was the kitchen counter. She had a full view of the kitchen. Other than that, the lobby was enclosed by numerous doors, that all stood open, hidden by transparent curtains, giving a sneaky view of the rooms within. Her gaze travelled from one side to the other, and she was speechless. Maan saw her scan the place in wonder, and smiled at her expressions.

"Wow! You've done up the place wonderfully", she finally spoke without looking at him, and thus missed his baffled look.

"Wha... how... how did you know that i've done the interiors of this place? Poore office ke interiors maine thodi na kiye hain?", he turned to look at her.

"I just know Khurana, i just know", she gave him a mysterious smile, and walking, made him sit on the couch, as she sat on the couch adjacent to him.

"I don't believe it, tell me how did you know it was me?", he pouted and questioned her.

"Let's say i'm just a little observant Khurana", she smirked, amused at his expressions.

"I don't think so, there is nothing to be observed. I mean, there's no similarity in the office, and this place. And Rishi ne ye toh tumhe bataya hie hoga ki sara office maine nahi design kiya, toh phir tumhe kaise pata chala?", he asked. Seeing the irritation on his face, she decided to tell him.

"Actually Khurana! I liked these interiors", she said.

"Oh wow! Did i hit the jackpot then, if you liked my designing?", he asked sarcastically. She gave a laugh, as his irritation increased.

"Khurana! Tum bachche ho, aur bachhe hie rahoge. What i meant was, ki it is very rare, ki mujhe kahin ke interiors bohut achhe lage. Tumhara office ek exception tha, i had loved the work done by you. Infact, i could easily distinguish, ki kaunsa kaam tumne kiya hai, aur kaunsa nahi. I agree ki initially i hadn't believed Mr Rishi jab unhone bataya ki you were the master mind behind the amazing designing, but ultimately i did believe it", she smiled.

"Aisa kaise ho sakta hai?", Maan scrunched his eyebrows, and Geet mentally smacked him.

"I guess you could say i am too good for my own self", she smirked.

"But i still don't get it. Office ko design karte huye i had specially kept in mind that none of the room has any thing in common with the other. If one was done up in light colours, the other was starkingly in contrast with it. Then how can you make such easy recognition, when even top professionals failed in it", he looked at her as he drowned in surprised confusion.

Geet just looked at him, and smiled. She couldn't tell him an answer to this question. She couldn't tell him that his designing brought out the innermost passion and desire of his heart, which touched the eternal romantic in her. She had managed to sync all his designs with the colors of her mind in some way or the other. It was as if he'd put colours on the walls just to suit her thoughts. She experienced a warm feeling at this, but she couldn't tell him all this. Just like she couldn't tell him the real reason why she'd easily surrendered to his kiss. She didn't even want to imagine his reaction if she told him that the sight he'd presented to her, of himself, in the car, had her enticed to no extent. He had looked all set to kill a few female species, all those who set their eyes on him. It wasn't that he didn't look good the other days, in fact he was one of the most magnificent creatures that God had carved out. Cut that! Not one of the most, but 'thee most' magnificent of all the creatures that she'd ever seen. Yes, she had seen many other good looking handsome men, some of whom the world even referred to as beautiful, but Maan Khurana was a class apart. He was an effortless charmer. Just the uplift of his upper lip into a curve, and girls would be found swooning over him. Maan knew this, that he had the power to make women buckle in their knees, and though he tried to get this point through Geet's head a lot many time, he didn't really care more about it. She did wonder that why did she effect Maan so much, but always lost out on an answer. But in some deep corner of her heart, she knew why Maan had such a touching effect on her. She'd harbored feelings for him since a very tender age, and today, when she felt him so close to her, she just couldn't control herself. Maan really charmed everyone without any efforts, and when he did make some efforts, like with her, there was no way she could've pushed him off her. He managed to stir the deepest of her emotions, as much as she tried to despise him. So when she did feel his heart beat right next to her, she lost herself in the world of imagination, imagining how it would be to hold his living self in his arms, how it would be, to be held by him from where she could hear his breath in a slow motion. She just wanted to imagine...

"Oye!"

Geet's train of thoughts was cut short as a cushion landed in her lap smoothly. She shook her head to clear off all the thoughts, and turned her face to Maan.

"What?", she asked him in an edgy tone, irked at him to break her beautiful thought land.

"Apne dreamland se bahar aao. We can't just sit here all long, can we?", he said in a loud voice.

"Khurana! What else do you think we can do?", she asked in amusement.

"I dunno! Maybe we could watch some movie, or i have some games for play station as well, or you have something else in mind, what say?", he gave her a toothy grin, and Geet mentally smiled. He looked so much like Leo right now, and she wanted to ruffle her hand in those silky hair of his, but years of practiced self-control stopped her from going any how mushy with him. He looked at her with twinkling eyes, dancing full of apprehension.

"Hmmm! Actually i do have something better in mind", he scrunched his eyes, and heard a sudden growl, as Geet smiled wildly, "Exactly! That's my point!", she pointed to his stomach as he grinned sheepishly at her, "I'll fix something for us to eat. Kitchen mein kuch samaan hoga?", she asked him.

"Hmm, basic cheezein mil jayengi. But please mere liye sirf cereals aur milk dal lana, i won't have anything else", he requested.

"I can fix something light for you", she said.

"No! I want cereals only. There's milk for sure in the fridge, i'll have them with milk, that's it", he said in a commanding voice, reflecting that this was his place. Geet just nodded, and walked to the kitchen. She was not those people to take easy commands from anyone. Maan would soon learn the consequences of messing with her. The last he saw her, was when she'd started to rummage through the refrigerator. He didn't know when he lost his senses to sleep.

A small tapping on his shoulder disturbed him. He opened one eye squintly to look at the source, while he rubbed the other.

"Hmm?", he mumbled.

"Khana ready hai, khakar medicines leke so jao", Geet spoke in a soft voice, as she held out a bowl full of milk and cereals to him. He nodded, and tried getting up, but felt a spasm of pain shoot through his arm. Taking support from the armrest of the couch, he sat up straight, and started eating from the bowl that she'd kept on the table.

Geet returned from the kitchen, to find an adorable sight greeting her. Maan sat cross legged on the couch, the bowl placed on the cushion in his lap ever so carelessly, his hair scruffy and messed up, and his mouth full of cereals with the spoon as well, while he flipped through the channels on the lcd. He finally settled for some music channel, and keeping the remote aside, taking the spoon out, gobbled the whole thing at once, and filled his mouth again without any delay, too busy in the songs to notice her come and sit opposite him.

Maan noticed that Geet sat opposite him, busy with her food. He hadn't realized when did she come back from the kitchen, as he saw her busy looking at the video. He saw her happily much into what looked like...

"Salad!", he shrieked, making her startle in her seat, "Tum salad kha rahi ho, fruits and vegetables ka mixed salad?", he looked at her unbelievingly.

"Haan toh? Ismein kaunsi badi baat hai?", she replied, and got back to watching the video. He looked at her wide-eyed, as she took one of the pieces from those colorful ones with her fork, dipped it in something white that lay in a small bowl in her plate, and with easy effort, placed it in her mouth, closing her eyes in pleasure. He observed as she chewed the food with her eyes shut tightly. It were as if she had chocolate in her mouth, as he had only seen people much onto stuff like ice-creams or chocolates, and that too on tv. He hadn't thought people could actually eat like that, but looks like he was wrong. A lump formed in his throat, as he felt his throat turn dry, even though he'd just swallowed a spoonful of milk. After a few seconds of torture, she opened her eyes, as she finally swallowed that one piece. Even as she looked at the lcd, he could see her eyes twinkling with pleasure.

"Er..uhm...", he tried to speak, but stopped midway.

"Kya hua? You wanted something? Cereals khatam ho gayye, aur laoon?", saying this, she was about to open her legs, when he gestured her to stop.

"Nahi nahi! It's ok... wa.. woh main poochna chah raha tha, ki tum ye salad aise hie kha rahi ho, kacha?"

"Yeh!", she said pointing to her plate, "Areh nahi! Its baked, kache vegetables itne tasty kahaan, and saath mein yeh", she pointed to the small bowl, "Ye cheese hai, i melted it specially. Is piece ko plate se uthao, cheese mein dubao, muh mein chabao, just wow wow wow", saying the last bit with her mouth full, as she demonstrated the whole process to him. Maan gulped before he spoke again.

"Erm... can i also... i mean can i also taste some, just little", he hesitated. She looked up, as if thinking, and then nodded.

"Ok, but just a small bite",, to which he gladly nodded, as she put one piece in his mouth. His eyes closed involuntarily, as he felt the soft stuff melt in his mouth on its own accord. He felt like it was the yummiest dish he'd ever tasted. He opened his eyes, only to find Geet's eyes smirking at him playfully, while he felt heat at the back of his ears, and his neck.

"Its... its...", he looked at his bowl, wondering how to describe them, as if that would give him an answer.

"Itna bura hai ki you can't even call it edible?", hearing her soft voice, he immediately looked up shaking hie head, afraid that he'd hurt her. But one look in those eyes full of mischief, and glaring at her, he let out a small 'huff'. Geet grinned, and shrugging her shoulders innocently, went back to sit on her seat. She again got busy with the songs, but from the corner of the eyes, she saw Maan turn his face a little to look at her, and seeing her munch away to glory, made a face at her, and looked back at the tv. His bowl of cereals lay there, long forgotten. She saw him look at her many times, and grinned proudly, seeing him bear the torture. Halway through her food, she got up.

"Main paani lene ja rahi hoon. Should i get it for you as well... oops, i forgot, tum toh doodh pee rahe ho na", stressing on the word doodh, she gave a wicked smile, and went away to the kitchen. Maan flared up at her audacity to tease him so much. She was getting on his nerves, but he kept mum realizing the fact that had he listened to her earlier, he wouldn't have to eat this bowl full of plain cereal. Though he didn't mind them even one bit, but compared to the bright tempting colorful baked pieces that lay at a little distance, they looked so dull and unattractive. A part of him wanted to snatch the plate and run away, But he knew better than that. Just as he turned his gaze away from those ever so delicious salad pieces, a plate appeared in front of him, full of the latter. He smiled widely, looking at the plate, and immediately grabbed it from Geet, who stood there with a knowing smirk. He didn't wait for her, as he dipped a few pieces, and gobbled them up.

"Umm... hmm... yumm...", he spoke between his food. Geet looked at him confusedly, as she sat down, grabbing her own plate. She waited for him to finish up, and when he did, he spoke again.

"These are like so so so tasty, i have now words, honestly. Mom ne bhi aaj tak itni yummy cheez nahi banayi. I'll definitely tell her to learn it from you. You'll teach her, won't you?", he looked at her, while she just shook her head in amusement, and watched the songs play.

"Areh! Batao na, sikhaogi na tum unhe?", he whined like a baby.

"Soch ke bataoongi Khurana", she replied, without looking at him, who nodded as if his wish were granted.

"Matlab haan!", she looked at him with a 'what?' expression, "Tumhare 'sochugi' ka matlab hai you'll teach her", he shrugged.

"And how do you conclude that?", she asked, seeming interested in the conversation.

"Agar tumhe mana karna hota to to tum seedhe seedhe na kar deti", he gave a small smile. Geet was taken aback at his knowledge about her, but acted perfectly to hide her surprise.

"Ch ch! You talk as if you know me Khurana. Mere 'sochugi' ka matlab hai stop talking, i am not interested, samjhe?", she said with a pinch of attitude.

"To each his own", he said, and went back to eating. When he finished eating, a few minutes before her, who seemed to actually chew the food 32 times, he tried getting up, but felt another spasm of pain shoot through his shoulders, and rubbing them, he sat back again. He shouldn't have slept in that uncomfortable position, it was what had triggered the pain again. Geet cleared the dishes in a quick time, and came to sit on the couch next to him.

"Khurana, jaake change karlo, you'll need to be comfortable for your sleep", she said.

"What about you? Tum aise thode na so sakti ho?", looking at her shrug, he spoke again, "Haan! Tum wo saamne wale room mein check karlo. Tumhe ladkiyon ke toh kapde nahi milenge, but am sure you can do with the casuals for the night", saying this, he waited for her to go, lest she observed his hands running over his shoulders again and again, and left immediately, rubbing his shoulders. He went to his bedroom, and changing through the pain into a white t-shirt with a pair of army 3-4ths, he sat on the bed with his legs straight, back supported by the headrest. He closed his eyes as he stretched his neck. He felt a soft knock on his door. He looked up, only to see Geet carrying a tray full of medicines and glass of water. His eyes ran to her face, and saw that she had lowered her eyes. Confused by her behavior, he scratched his head, and that was when his eyes fell on what she was wearing. She had worn his favorite grey t-shirt, that had the words 'DARE TO LIVE' printed at the front, and had combined it with another of his off-black lower. She looked way too small in his over-sized clothes, which looked as if they would fall off any moment. Thankfully the lower had a proper waistband, that could be adjusted according to the waist, lest it would've fallen by now. Maan felt mesmerized looking at her in his clothes, and suddenly, it felt as if they were meant for her, the largeness of them protecting her petite frame. It was perhaps this weird feeling that had kept her eyes lowered.

"Hmm medicines, i forgot about them", he finally replied, when she looked up at him, and he nodded for her to come inside. He didn't want to make her feel any more awkward by speaking any non-sense. She pulled the chair next to his bed and sat beside him, giving him the medicines, and the water. Just then they heard a vibration. Geet fished the pocket of her lower and took out her cell. She pressed the accept button, and heard an ear piercing scream, so loud that the phone fell from her hand and landed into Maan's lap, who got fidgety by the sudden throw and handed her the phone as he fumbled with it. Immediately he also heard Leo scream, as it seemed that he had switched on the loud speaker. Geet didn't bother turning it off, as it felt the safer move for her ears.

"GEETU! GEETU! GEETU!", Leo's voice boomed through the room. Finally God seemed to listen to Geet, as Leo sobered down, "Geetu! Bi ne abhi apun ko bataya ki tu aaj office mein hie soyegi. Apun akele nahi soyega, tu abhi ke abhi apun ko bulwa tere pass, kisi bhi tarah se", he humphed in anger.

"Leo, tu baat samajh na", she tried speaking but he cut her words.

"Nai nai nai! Apun ko kuch nahi sun na. Tu apun ko apne paas bulwa, verna apun Bi ko tang karega", he gave an ultimatum. Geet let out a sigh as she heard her stubborn brother.

"Leo, main office mein nahi hoon", she finally spoke.

"Kya? Tu office mein nahi hai? Matlab tune Bi se jhooth bola? Tune aisa kyun...", he again stormed off, as Geet smacked her head.

"LEO! Chup chaap sun, maine Bi se jhooth nahi bola. Maine unhe bas yeh nahi bataya ki main Maan ke office mein hoon. Maan ki tabiyat theek nahi hai, and mujhe apne case per zaruri kaam karna tha, isliye hum dono yehi hain, samjha?", she ended breathlessly.

"Oh ho! Aise bolna tha na. Maan beemar hai, to uska dhyaan rakhna tu, bechara apna dhyaan bhi nahi rakh sakta. Huh! Us se achha to main hoon, big boy, haina?", Geet giggled at Leo's comments, while Maan gave her the 'what the hell' expression, "Chal, mujhe subah Bi tayaar kar dengi, unhone bola hai. Main tujhse school se aake milunga, theek hai?", after a few more good byes, Leo finally cut the call, and Geet sighed in relief. Then coming into the reality, she saw the tray lying there, and picking it up, placed it on the table opposite the bed, as she stood there, her back facing him. Maan saw her hands fidget with the medicines, as she uncomfortably shifted her weight from one feet to another. He sensed something wrong, but hesitated to ask. As soon as he felt her turn, he shifted his focus at the side table.

"Uh.. Maan...", she spoke in a soft voice. He turned to look at her, as she avoided his gaze. He now knew something was terribly wrong, Geet didn't call him Maan for no reason.

"Haan?", he prompted her to speak up.

"Tumhare shoulders mein dard hai na", his eyes widened at her comment as he saw her looking expectantly at him, and he shook his head immediately, about to deny her, when she said, "Don't! Don't you dare lie to me, by saying no. I know your shoulders are hurting", and as if listening to her, the pain shot from his shoulders to his arms, and back again, and he couldn't help but rub them with a little yelp. She immediately crossed the distance between them, and was about to console him, but suddenly took her hand back. Maan felt hurt by her reaction, but trying not to show it, he went back to tend to his shoulder.

"Tum rehne do, pain theek nahi hoga. Mujhe dawai mil gayi hai, i'll put that, if you want", she said in a low voice, and he looked up to see her a small bottle clutched in her palm. He saw the uneasiness on her face, as she still didn't meet his eyes, and the hurt that he'd felt at her withdrawal, vanished.

"Nahi Geet, i am sure i can manage...", he tried to speak, but she looked him in the eye.

"You know you can't manage it, so stop the pretense. Maine kaha na i'll apply the balm", she said in an irate voice, irked by the fact that he wasn't making it difficult for her, instead of easing off the things. He saw the decisiveness in her voice, and gave a small nod for approval. She went behind the bedrest, and stood there transfixed. When he didn't hear any movement for about a few minutes, he asked her,

"Kya hua?"

"Eh.. wo... tum... tumhari t-shirt...", she again said hesitantly.

"What about it... oh!", he changed his word as realization dawned him. She couldn't put the medicine with his t-shirt blocking her task. Putting his hands on the side of his t-shirt, he slowly started lifting him, but the pain hit him again, and he surrendered. Immediately he felt her come next to him, and slowly and steadily, she pulled the cloth over his head. He saw her eyes glancing anywhere but at him. He felt the awkwardness rise in the atmosphere, and didn't like it at all. Though a part of him liked the effect that he had on her, but the silence between them was too much for him.

He felt the strangeness of the atmosphere. He had seen the tough side of Geet since day one, the harshness and rudeness that she was capable of. Then he had even seen her in her most loving avatar, where she loved Anvesha, Bi, and now also Leo as she couldn't love anyone else. He had seen the care and warmth her eyes carried whenever any of them was mentioned. As much as he hated to admit it, that Arjun guy also came under the same category. She had even talked neutrally with the rest of the family, and the other people, were none of her business. But when it came to him, she exhibited a temper that was beyond his understanding. It was as if she had set something against him, and that made her hate him plainly, come what may. He'd seen her rude haughty self, her loving self, a part of her vulnerable self when she'd narrated her past to him, and what not. Infact today morning's intimacy between them had also carried another part of her, but right now, he saw her shy, hesitant self. He would've never thought that the Geet Malhotra he knew was capable of such a hesitation, that too with him, of all the people. He was surprised that she was behaving so awkwardly with him, unable to say something directly. But then a voice in him pointed out the logic.

She'd definitely not been stranded in such a situation with a man before. And given the moment that they had today morning, she is bound to feel awkward. And the whole 'taking care of him' thing is not helping her, instead freaking her out, if that was possible. Just when he thought the situation couldn't get any more worse, feeling sorry for the two of them, he felt his body stiffen.

Geet stood behind him, with the small bottle in her hand, looking at him. She didn't know what was happening. Things were taking a bad shape. Throughout the evening, she'd seen Maan rub his shoulders. She remembered from earlier that head and shoulder ache were the symptoms of his illness. As much as she wanted to say something, she stopped as she realized he didn't want her to know about his agony. Guessing his male ego stopped him from telling her, she also shrugged the matter. But looking at him writhe in pain all the time, she couldn't control herself anymore. As if she hadn't turned things bad enough already, by agreeing to stay with him here, she didn't like the idea of the interaction with him on such a personal level. As much as comfortable she felt, she didn't want a repeat of the morning scene, yet just couldn't help but laugh away with him. She pretty freaked out when she walked out after changing her clothes to look at herself in his clothes. She felt a strange sensation in her stomach, as if butterflies all around. She liked the loose fabric around her body. An unknown feeling enveloped her heart, and surprisingly she liked it. The tough part was when she had to face Maan. She felt really weird facing him, dressed up in his clothes. But thankfully, he seemed to have understood her awkwardness, as he didn't probe her at all. She hated her stars that day, but then realized that she'd always hated her stars, so there was nothing new was it? The only thing that had changed was that earlier she was able to control the situations, but this one, she just couldn't. She couldn't digest her own behavior, the way she was at loss of words, how she stammered and hesitated while talking to him. This just couldn't be happening, and definitely not to her. She had somehow convinced herself more than him, that she could apply the medicine for him. She should've agreed when he'd said that he could manage, but somehow recalling the image of him bearing the pain just didn't suit her. So she convinced herself that she could do it, helping him out shouldn't be that difficult, even if it involved physical closeness with him. When she did gather the courage and stood behind him, she realized that he was wearing his t-shirt, and that made her pause right then and there. She stood rooted to her place, still framing a sentence, to take-off his t-shirt, when he himself asked her what had happened. Again, with a lot of hesitance. She blurted the reason. He seemed to understand, and made an unsuccessful attempt to do so, but his pain rose again, and clouded her mind with worries. She flew next to him, and took off the cloth, all the while her eyes in the opposite direction, lest she did something insane. But her attempts failed, when she went to stand behind him and her eyes did fall on his almost bare body. He had worn a black ganji, which revealed the muscles in his arms, ready to rip out. Both his arms were filled with colorful patterns all over, which her mind figured were tattoos. His chest had a swell, and just by looking at him, she knew he could give a tough fight to anyone. He wasn't just bulky, but his body reflected his inner strength as well. She had never been a fan of what people called macho men, but Maan certainly was an exception at everything. She looked at him in awe, as she admired his physique. Her trance was broken when she heard him groan in pain, and realized that she had some work at hand. She opened the bottle, and spreading the balm on her fingers, she slowly placed her hands on his shoulders, as her heart beat rose suddenly, and she felt his body stiffen at her touch.

Maan felt her soft hands touch his shoulders, and the way she placed her hands, he knew how difficult it was for her. He stiffened at the brush of her fingers with his bare skin. Her hands moved very slowly at the same spot, rubbing the balm off her hands and on his body. It was difficult for him to decipher if the sudden warmth was due to the balm, or was it because of the contact of his cold skin with her hands. He felt a hesitation as she continued with her task. He had always seen her work efficiently with a smoothness, be it anything that she did. She exhibited the control she had over things. But today, he knew, as he felt that things certainly were not under her control. His thoughts broke when he realised that she had withdrawn her hands, and it had been a few minutes ago. Sensing no movement from her, he turned his head to look back, and an immediate chuckle left his lips. Realizing that she was now the object of his mirth, she glared at him, and he wiped the smile off his face, as she got back to her previous effort. She closed her eyes tight, clenching her teeth, and putting all her strength, as she clutched the bottle of balm, trying to undo the lid. He guessed that the greasy balm spread on her hand was making her otherwise easy work seem tough. He put forward his palm, gesturing her to give the bottle, but she shook her head. When she realized she couldn't manage the task anyhow, she forwarded the bottle. His fingers brushed hers slightly as she quickly withdrew her hand. With an ease in his fingers, he undid the lid, and held the bottle above his shoulder, so that she could take the balm. She plunged her hand, and rubbed the balm on the finger tips of both her hands. Just when she was about to apply it again on his neck, she heard a ruffling sound. She paused to listen attentively, but heard nothing. Brushing it aside as a figment of her imagination, she was about to get back, when again she heard the sound. She leaned above Maan's shoulder, only to notice his lips moving. She realized that he was the one making that sound.

"Tum kuch kehna chahte ho?"

Startled by her sudden voice, Maan turned his head to face her, and was stopped dead in his tracks, as he realized that their faces were just inches apart. Geet also seemed to realize the fact that they could feel each other's breath on their lips. She looked into his eyes, as he lost himself into hers.

"Tum kuch kehna chahte ho? I heard you, i mean i saw you speak something", she looked at him questioningly. He shook his head, lost in staring at her, and she immediately backed off, continuing with her task.

"Er.. Geet, you can stop, if you want...", he didn't continue, at a loss of some decent words.

She gasped silently, as she realized what he was saying. It seemed as if he'd peered through her mask, and into her hesitation. She wondered how did he manage it, to over-look her pretence, and expose her truth out. She knew she should back off. The play of her fingers on the hard of his back made her realize of how really beautiful he was. The errupting butterflies in her stomach did nothing to help. But she also knew that if she backed off for her own comfort, he would suffer in pain, and try to hide it from her as well. Not wanting to let him bear any misery, she decided a way out.

"Does this flat thing in your room work? I could do with some entertainment?", she pointed towards the lcd screen.

"I am sure the tv couldn't be more interesting than me", he mumbled.

"Huh?", she questioned him, "What did you just say?"

"Nothing much", he sighed, and pressed the buttons on the remote, immediately bringing life to the unanimated screen.

The screen rested on a movies channel, and Maan's lips curved into a smug smile, invisible to Geet.

"Shah rukh on tv, i'm so sure you'll love this", the taunt in his voice didn't miss Geet's ears.

"I do not like this mushiness, change please", she knew his mouth held open right now. Before he could pause to tell her about the next channel, she protested.

"I think i've had enough songs for one day", she viewed the music channel, as he flipped some more.

"Hey! That's tom and jerry, i love them, totally classic, whatsay?", he asked, bouncing in excitement, but was immediately pressed down by the force of her hands.

"Khurana! I need to watch the tv, and am in no mood for more of your species"

He changed the channel, but not without giving her a glare. They continued arguing over the different channels, and Geet had almost finished her work.

"Stop stop stop!", she immediately came next to him, and pushing him, made space for herself on the bed, next to him, as she snatched the remote.

"What? You are not serious..."

"Shhh", she hissed, her eyes dug at the screen.

"You're...", he wanted to speak, but she didn't give him an opportunity.

"Zip!", she glared at him, and went back to look at the tv. Maan knew better than to interrupt her, and so shut up.

"Now tell me, what's your problem?", she finally turned to him, when the screen went in for a small break.

"I can't believe it! You're watching this match just to irritate me, right?", he asked her.

"Are you crazy Khurana? I love cricket like anything. And for heaven's sake, this is a KKR match, i definitely can't miss it", she replied as if it were the most natural thing.

"KKR is playing, against which team? I'm sure they're bound to lose whatever team it is", she gave him a deadly look, to which he tried covering up his mistake, "I've read in the newspaper, that they aren't too good"

"Prejudiced idiots! I am a KKR supporter, and i give a rat's ass of what people think about KKR", she shrugged, and focused at the screen where the match had continued.

Maan felt a yawn escape his lips, but he didn't feel like sleeping, yet. The adorable sight right next to him was temptation good enough. Her brows were furrowed constantly, as she muttered frequent curses at the opposite team, and jumped in joy whenever her team saw the better play. She imitated Shah Rukh's actions, as he encouraged his team - so much for not being an SRK fan, he huffed. After a few minutes of observing her silently, it were as if some storm had started in the room. Geet was throwing profanities at the screen for all the cheating that was going on, and by now, the game had caught Maan's interest as well. He too shouted on top of his voice, forgetting that he was ill some time back. Finally, they rested their throats when the match halted at half-point. This was also the moment, when they realized that they were sitting too close for comfort. Shuffling a little away, the moment of awkwardness died, when the other team started playing. This time, they maintained a calm posture, and hence neither realized that when had they slept off.

Credit - POOJA (kweetrockstar)
***********************************