"Arnav, you sound like a teenager experiencing his first crush! Every time I talk to you, you are talking about this girl you have never talked or know anything about."
"Anjali! I do not sound like a teenager! But the girl was something different, I really hope I see her again."
"Seriously stop sighing! And get a grip dude! Also, why are you still talking to me, don't you have a meeting with your PI in 10 mins?"
"No the meeting with the PI is in an hour before that I have to meet with another grad student in the lab so she can show me around or something. But all that can't happen till I find the stupid room! The room I have to go to is in the basement but this building has 2 basements, like what is up with that?"
"Arnav, breathe! Calm down, stop being a typical male and ask someone for help. And look I have to go now, I have to get Neel's breakfast ready and send him out the door."
"No worries, Anjali. Tell Neel I said hi and I'll call you later."
"Yup, and good luck with everything today!"
"Thanks"
After putting his phone in his pocket he looked around to see if there was anyone he could ask for directions.Finding this building hadn't been difficult but finding the lab room in this building has been another thing altogether. He had been looking for this place for the past 10 minutes.
"Excuse me" He called out to the person who walking in front him.
"Yes"
"I was actually looking for room 518, would you by any chance know where it is?"
"Sure, just walk ahead, turn right and its the last door on the left side."
He thanked the gentleman and walked in the direction he was instructed to.
8:55. Phew, just in time.
Knocking on the door, he waited anxiously for someone to open it.
Yes, he was anxious and nervous, the first meeting with a PI is no joke, but after years of practice he had perfected hiding his emotions from everyone. Perfected wearing the mask of happiness.
Well not everyone... Anjali saw right threw him. That woman was something different all together. He thought fondly, chuckling as he recalled their conversation a few minutes ago.
Looking at his watch once again. 8:57. Was no one inside?
He knocked again and this time the door slowly opened to reveal a girl looking down at the clipboard she was holding.Mind you, this girl wasn't just any girl, she was the one that Arnav had been talking about for the past week. The girl whose thoughts invaded his mind, the only girl who instantly brought a smile to his face. He wanted to see those beautiful eyes again but she still hadn't seen him as she was still looking down at the clipboard writing something down.
"Are you here for experiment 334? Can..."
She started to speak but stop when she saw the man in front of her. Too shocked to speak, she continued staring into his eyes. God he really does have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.And with that thought she couldn't stop the warmth invading her cheeks as she recalled that incident in the subway last week.
**TRING TRING** The ringing of the phone brought them both back to Earth.
"I am sorry, just wait here for a second." Khushi said as she excused herself, quickly straightening up and walking away from the door towards the phone.
He watched as she walked towards the phone picking it up and talking to the person on the line. Pushing the glasses up on her nose as she took and pen and notepad and started writing something. Her hair falling around her face, concealing her face from him. His eyes trailed down her body, she was wearing a pair of blue skinny jeans and a bright red t-shirt.
She looks beautiful. He thought, as he saw her turn and walk back towards him.
Her questioning look had prompted him to start talking. "Hey, I am Arnav Raizada, I am the new graduate student, Samantha Waters was suppose to meet me here..." He trailed off not knowing what more to say.
"Yes, that was just her on the phone, she told me to let you know that she is running late and will be here in about 10 minutes. You can wait in here if you like."
She took a few steps back to allow him to enter the lab. He walked in the door, towards the table which she had pointed at.
"So um, what's your name?"
"Khushi Gupta, I am... um... a undergraduate research assistant" She said in the best steady and professional tone she could muster up and extended her hand.
Her hands are really soft. He noted as he shook her hand.
As he looked around he quickly realized that she probably was now his colleague.
Crap! She probably remembers me as the creep on the subway. Way to make a stellar first impression Raizada. I should probably apologize to her. He thought and before he could say anything he heard a knock on the door.
He watched as she walked towards the door with a clipboard in her hand and talk to the girl at the door. She directed the girl towards the room labelled "Room 1". Probably one of the experiment rooms, he thought.
Khushi was still in the room when a pretty Caucasian girl walked through door; struggling with holding her keys, coffee and laptop bag as she tried to close the door.
"Here let me help you" He said as he got out of his chair.
"Its okay, thanks though." She said as she finally managed to close the door, turning around and walking towards the table he was standing by.
"You must be Arnav, I'm Samantha."
"Yes, that me" He said shaking her hand.
"Sorry I was late, there was subway delay. Thankfully my phone had network so I could let Khushi know. By the way, where is she?"
"Yes, she told me and don't worry about it. She is room 1."
"Oh right! She had a participant this morning."
Just a few seconds later they saw Khushi walking out of the room "Oh hi Khushi. How are you?"
"I'm good Sam. Bad subway ride?"
"Like always! I was just telling Arnav about it. You guys have met I am guessing?"
"Yes, just before you came." Arnav answered.
"Okay perfect! We should get going then, I will give you a quick overview of the lab protocols and then we can go meet Dr. Moline."
She directed Arnav through the various rooms in the lab, informing him about the various projects that were going on and the general protocol about experiments and lab. She couldn't look away from him, she tried to focus on writing up her paper but her eyes kept drifting towards them. What did not help is that she knew he was looking at her every few minutes as well. Hell she had caught him looking at her, after which he had quickly turned away and asked Samantha a question as if to prove that he was paying attention to what she was saying.
After, what seemed like hours to khushi, they had finish their little tour of the lab. Both picked up there belonging and starting walking towards the door.
"Bye Khushi, oh and before I forget, I saw your presentation last night so we can talk about it when i get back."
"Sounds great Sam, see you." And she shyly turned towards the man who had been staring at her this entire while. "Bye"
"See you" Arnav said with a smile as he walked out the door behind Samantha.
Khushi what the hell, since when have you been shy! But then again, the man is completely different from anyone I have ever seen. Defined jawline, beautiful eyes, and a fit body that look amazing in the formal shirt and pant he was wearing. Its impossible to not be shy! She thought as she continued looking at the closed door. The image of him winking in the subway a week ago came to her mind, she felt warmth at her cheeks, she quickly snapped out of her dreams and got back to work in an attempt to distract herself.
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