FF(Arhi): Lavender [Thread 2 link - p. 159] - Page 7

Originally posted by: prernawaghray

hey
i just caught up with ur ff, just wanted to say that its too good...
loved ur style of writing n also the concept
what i really liked was that khushi pursues her studies further n works for arnav n khushi n lavanya are besties lol :)
loved it yaar
plz pm me... ill try to be a regular on this thread ... update soon

Originally posted by: LyssaPie

hahahaha i bet that did something to him no wonder he punished her 😉

Chapter 6: Wood

It worked out randomly that she ended up working the next two Sundays. She actually liked how quiet the usually busy office was on Sunday; even Saturdays had a good number of people in the office. Sundays, on the other hand, was solitude at its best. She had learned that the devil came in every Sunday like clockwork, but for the past two Sundays, they hadn't had a chance to cross paths. She remained down in the storeroom; between the computer there and her laptop, she had everything she needed. Besides, it allowed her to not run into him and she preferred that and knew he likely did as well, particularly after the jalebi confiscating incident.

Today was the fourth Sunday of what was rapidly becoming a routine. She had gone to temple in the morning, had gone back home to have a quick breakfast, and had packed a light lunch and had come in to work.

She turned on her iPod and worked on the presentation that she needed to finalize for tomorrow. Several hours went by before she thought that her final draft was ready. A good solid hour and it would be done. She minimized the presentation and leaned back, cracking her neck and stretching. This job was just waiting to lead to a path of back problems, so she had taken up yoga a while back. She got up and stretched again and walked to the door and out to the entrance to check the parking lot... she had heard him leave some time back, but she wanted to make sure that he was indeed gone... and he was. The parking lot was empty.

She walked back to the store room and closed the door and locked it behind her just in case before walking into the room to start her 20-minute routine. Even though there was a light rug on the floor, she had bought in and stored a yoga mat in the room and she grabbed it now to set up. Half-way through her routine, just when she was one-legged in tree pose with her hands in a prayer position and her eyes closed, she felt movement behind her. It startled her... keeping the tree position with eyes closed was not easy to begin with and something that she had only started to be able to do recently... and being startled was entirely sufficient to make her lose her balance. She wouldn't have fallen, but maybe it looked like she would, because he caught her from behind just as her folded up leg gave out.

Some of the calm that she had achieved from the yoga transferred to that moment and she remained still whereas her first inclination would have been to jerk away from him. He made her feel... like she would jump out of her skin... but in that moment, she fought it well... and strangely enough, he didn't push her out of his arms quickly like she would have thought he would.

"The door was locked." She said, keeping her back to him, once she straightened and got her balance back.

"I have a key." He answered as if that made perfect sense as to why he would let himself in.

"If the door is locked, wouldn't you assume that maybe I want some privacy?"

"No, first I would assume that you had already left the building for the day as there were no sounds that I could hear. Besides, I don't know what you would be doing in an office building that would be private enough to lock the door."

"Clearly Yoga." She said, fighting to keep the exasperation out of her voice. So much for the yoga calm.

"Why are you still here?" he asked. "It's a bit late, isn't it?"

She thought it funny that he of all people should ask that.

"I thought you left." She told him instead.

"I left to get something to eat. And came back." He replied as he let her leave his arms.

She knelt down to roll her mat as she asked, "Wouldn't Anjali-ji be waiting for you for dinner?"

She took the rolled mat and straightened and when he still didn't answer, she looked at him. A scowl was now on his face. "Are you trying to get me out of the building? Planning some illicit activities?"

She rolled her eyes as she walked to the corner to store her mat. "Of course sir. I can't even begin to list all my illicit activities. Let's see... there is prancing around half naked, auditioning for a po*n video... anything else...?"

When she turned around, she found him leaning back against the table.

"You have certainly come a long way since peeping through the hole in this very room into someone else' afternoon tryst and telling me that you don't know whether you are f**king with my clients or watching four play."

Honestly, the man never gave her a moment's reprieve... just when she thought that she had gained the upper hand, he upped the ante strong enough to make her blush.

"I also managed to get my hardass of a boss to finance all of my higher education. Not a total loss for a "nincompoop", I would think." She told him as she walked to the window to open it wider. The room was warm... intolerably so... She pulled her hair up and looped it around to stick the pointy end of her pen through it to hold it secure in a loose bun before she fanned her neck with her hand.

She thought he would leave. Instead, she found him behind her in the next instant. In a move that surprised her, he pulled the pen out of her make-shift bun. "A pen is for writing, not for adorning your sweaty hair."

And just like that, her yoga calm flew out the open window.

Her eyes flashed up to his in anger as she thought of an apt enough answer. Before she could come up with one with enough bite, he surprised her yet again by pulling out a long wooden carved stick from his pocket. He slapped it into her palm as he said, "There are evidently things like this whose sole purpose is to hold hair up. Why bother a writing utensil?"

For a moment, she could only look at the exquisite hair-pin in her hand in wonder. By the time she looked up at him, his face was back to that mild scowl that was perpetually etched there. "You have one hour, Khushi. Finish up everything by then. I am closing this place up when I leave and you can't stay here after that."

With that, he turned around and walked out of the room, leaving her to her surprise.

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