OS - Once Upon a Night

I was having a headache when I started writing this. I was listening to this song. End of the story 🤣 This is going to have a lot of bloopers but what I suggest is don't think about them 😳 Also, the song is of no essential meaning here 😳

OS - Once Upon a Night

'Randhir bhai, aap aise shanti se kaise sho sakte ho?' Jiggy complained disgustedly as he wiped his face again. The room reeked of sweat, dirty laundry, cologne and summer.

Parth laughed at Jiggy as he looked up from Concepts in Electric Circuits. The heat was making it hard to concentrate and he closed it shut. As he waited for Randhir to reply, he leaned on the chair and took a deep breath.

Randhir smirked smugly and continued to tap his hands to the beat of the song playing through his headphones. His head throbbed angrily, but he was Randhir Singh Shekhawat and he never lost his cool in front of others. Ever.

Jiggy grumbled again. 'Aur light ko bhi abhi jaana tha?!' Then suddenly sitting up straighter, he beamed at Randhir. 'Arre Randhir bhai, aap theek nahi kar sakte generator ko?'

Randhir angled his head towards Jiggy's bed and turned down the volume. 'Kar toh sakta hoon but karunga nahi. Iss garmi mein I can't be bothered,' he said without bothering to open his eyes. His head screamed and he clenched his jaw. Dammit.

Jiggy deflated like a balloon and fidgeted. Turning towards Parth, he opened his mouth.

Parth cut him off. 'Tum jaante ho woh mujshe nahi hoga.'

Turning up the volume again, Randhir casually messaged his temples. God. Any moment now and he'd explode.

The water tank was empty at this time of the night and none of the boys had taken a shower. Randhir held his breath as the smell of sweat amplified through his nostrils. Releasing it slowly, he took slow breaths and put more pressure on his temples.

'Sanyukta shayad ..'

'Kya?'

Pausing the song midway, Randhir glared at Jiggy. The headache made it harder to do so and the effect of the glare seemed to have been multiplied. Jiggy visible shrunk.

'Nahi, what I meant was .. aap toh rest .. woh .. Sanyukta ko'

'Woh generator theek karegi? Usko theek se chalna toh aata nahi ..' he stopped speaking as he sat up on the bed. His shirt reeked and clung to him. Parth looked at him curiously and then at Jiggy. Randhir threw a disgusted glare at both of them and disposed his shirt. His vest smelled worse than his shirt but walking out bare chested seemed like a risque. The hot air hit his arms and he put on his shoes.

'Sab kaam mujhe hi karna padhta hain yaha ..' he grumbled and went out.

...

To think she'd actually volunteered.

Sanyukta glared at the generator in front of her and mentally slapped herself. The only generators she'd studied were the ones neatly drawn and labelled in textbooks, and she'd still volunteered. But Vidushi had suggested they call Randhir and ask him to look at it and she'd heard herself speak as if on a reflex.

'Kaushtaki, torch kaha hain?'

Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!

The heat was making her dizzy. Taking a deep breath, she flexed her hands and peered closer at the generator.

'Arre wah! Ab tum bhi generator theek karne lagi? Karo karo,' Randhir Singh Shekhawat spoke up from behind her and she cursed audibly.

'Kya hain Randhir? Akela chod do mujhe!'

'Meine pakda kab?' he smiled at her in his typical MCP way and lifted his hands in mock surrender.

Sanyukta glared at him and then back at the generator. She had a sinking feeling both of them were smirking at her in the same way. Go ahead. Try me.

'Woh ..'

'Kya hua Sanyukta Agarwal? Kabhi pehle generator theek nahi kiya kya?'

'Listen, Randhir!-,' but she held back and continued again, 'what I'm saying is .. ki, yeh .. thora sa large scale hain.'

'And you can't do it,' Randhir finished for her and took a step closer, 'It's okay Sanyukta. Koi baat nahi, mein hoon na?' he smirked again and took the torch from her. Their hands brushed and something zapped.

Moving away from him cautiously, she watched him bend down on his knees. He was wearing a soaked through black vest and track pants. Looking closely, she noticed the headphones and his messed up hair. Not a particularly safe direction.

'Lao mein torch pakarti hoon,' she offered instead, looking away from him and instead at the torch he held in his right hand.

'Koi zaroorat-'

'Hain.' Snatching it quickly to avoid further zaps, she bent down and angled the torch at the generator. A cold wind hit her face.

She must have made a sound because his eyes snapped at her and looked at her like she'd grown another head. Embarrased, she glared again.

'Kya hain? Mein generator nahi hoon! Udhar dekho' she motioned towards the machine in discussion and back slightly.

Randhir seemed to find it amusing.

But a cold wind was blowing suddenly. Sanyukta moved her hair away from her face and lifted her face upwards.

'Ab baithe baithe Kareena Kapoor ki tarah pose hi maarna hain toh torch mujhe do and go back to your hostel,' he barked at her.

'Ab mein kya karun itni garmi hain toh? Tumko-'

'Garmi toh lage gi hi na? Itna style marne ki kya zaroorat hain?' Abruptly darting his hand, he took her loose ponytail and give it a tug.

She slapped at his hand. 'Do you have to be so irritating?'

'Only with you, Sanyukta. Only with you,' he mumbled inaudible and glanced at the generator again. His headache was dimming down and he felt the cold air on his back. Sitting back on he ground, he breathed loudly.

'Lagta hain baarish hone waali hain.'

At her words, he looked at her. She was watching him like cautiously and he inched towards her.

'What are you looking at, Sanyukta?'

'Kuch nahi. Tum jaldi nahi kar sakte? Kuch bhi nahi kiya abhi tak ..' she trailed back as he inched towards her further more. The torch hit the ground and rolled to a distance.

'Randhir ..'

'Kya hain Sanyukta?'

'Woh ..' breathing quickly, she said the first thing that came to her mind. 'Badboo.'

His previous expression lost, he looked at her funnily.

'Badboo aa rahi hain tumse. Bohut.'

This time he seemed to go from confused to angry in 0.03 seconds and he yanked her closer. A laugh bubbled out from her throat even as her breath hitched.

'Tumse bhi koi phool ki smell nahi aa rahi hain,' but she smelled of clean soap and somewhere in the back of his mind he thought she'd taken a shower. How come?

She wiggled against her grip and pushed at him. 'Chhi! Tum ladke nahate nahi ho kya?'

'Paani hoga toh nahaunga na? Saara paani toh tum ladkiyaan waste kar deti hon!'

'That's not wastage .. God, Randhir. You smell like a pig!'

'Accha?' He pulled her closer and leaned towards her. The cold wind around them had picked up it's speed but she could only feel the heat between them. Her senses went into overdrive.

She closed her eyes as her face angled towards him. But the kiss never came. Instead, she felt a cold drop first on her nose, then on her eyes. It had started raining.

Their clothes dripping wet, they stared at each other. An earplug had slipped from his ear, and this close she could hear the song Randhir had been listening to for the past two hours.

"Musafir hoon yaaron na ghar hai na thikaana
Mujhe chalte jaana hai bas chalte jaana .."