Neil widened his eyes placing a bite into his mouth.

Avni felt as if he did not liked it.

Avni: kya hua pasand nahi aaya...

Neil: umm.. it's amazing. mujhe nahi pata tha ki tum itna accha banati ho..

Avni looked on feeling surprised.

Avni: sach mein accha hai?

Neil: haan... waise mujhe pata nahi tha ki tum drama ke alawa kuch aur bhi kar sakti ho..

Avni: kya matlab hai tumhara.. 

She narrowed eyes at him listening his comment. Her comeback was all set But seeing him enjoy the food she said nothing. Both had silent dinner not bothering each other.

After the dinner avni took both of their plates at kept them in the washbasin.

Avni: chalo...

Neil: kaha?

Avni: tumhare room mein..

Neil looked at her in surprise.

Neil: kya.. dekho.. ek baar tumhe bacha liya ab mere room mein jane ke sapne mat dekho.. 

Avmni: kya? satak vatak gye ho kya? tumhare saath room mein.. 

At first she was confused of his words but she realised and looked at him with wide eyes. 

Avni: oh hello... Woh jo gadar macha rakhi hai na tumne...usko sahi thikane lagana hai...tumhare room ki safai karni hai...

He bit his tongue feeling embarrassed. Not looking into her eyes he rubbed the back of his neck.

Neil: ab... okay... mujhe kuch

Avni: apna single track dimag na apni side pe rakho... tumhare saath ek ghar mein rehna jeena dushwaar karta hai... ek kamre mein reh ke mujhe apni kurbaani dene ka shaunk nahi hai..

Neil: oh hello.. ladkiya marti hai mere saath rehne ke liye..

Avni: hongi woh chipku chewing gums.. Mujhse yeh sab mat expect karna.. 

She said making faces and walked to his room. Neil followed her closely. She begin folding his clothes and placing them in the cupboard. Within few minutes his room was neatly arranged with each and every thing on place. He looked at her in shock.

Neil: (in mind) yeh ladki kya kya kar sakti hai... i'm impressed.

Avni: ab jagah ban gyi na room mein.. Mujhe is ghar mein gandagi bilkul nahi chahiye... samajh gye aap... 

Neil nodded looking at the room. It looked like having ample space now.

Wishing him good night avni walked to her room. She sat on her bed scrolling instagram feed. A small smile came to her lips seeing the love she was getting from her fans. 

Soon both of them surrendered themselves to sleep.

*************

So this was their first complete day of living together and there are twenty more to go. As they sleep lets take a looks at their lives before meeting each other.

Avni, She had been the ruling queen of TV for past two years. Her show was huge hit amongst people of all age groups. her chemistry with her co-star was appreciated wholeheartedly. The news of her joining bollywood industry spread like wildfire. She received many good wishes and good lucks for her new venture. The thing for which she was liked the most was her humble nature. She had a soft heart that is sensitive to each and every one close to her. This is the reason she gave her scarf to Neil even if she kind of hates him. She cannot stand anyone in pain.

Neil on the other hand was the heart throb of many. Due to his looks he bagged the role of main lead in his first project only. He is talented and loves himself to the limit of self obsession. Moreover he had a little advantage of being the only son of film producer Prakash Khanna. Haters could say a clear case of Nepotism, but people in the industry are well aware of his skill too. He is hard and decides to refrain getting attached to anyone because of his nature. He is a big believer of charity. He has successfully given 5 back to back blockbuster hits to the audience.

The project that they are working on "Daastaan-e-Pyaar" is something completely different than the previous genres they had tried. Their chemistry is going to rock, the director had predicted the very first day but the real "clash of clans" moment came minutes after the camera went off.

Raj was surprised seeing them fighting like cats and dogs. At first the crew felt they were mistaken but then clearing their vision they were shocked seeing Avni mehta and Neil khanna trying to kill each other by words. They clash of personalities was the reason for their fight.

And now when they had to stay together... The crew could only pray for keeping both of their actors alive.. so as to complete the project. 🤪

**************

New morning could have got new hopes but These times were supposed to be hard. No people were seen just the police vehicles stood at a distance of few kilometres as we move on the road. Neil who had a 'not so' peaceful sleep got up rubbing his eyes. He looked at his phone screen it showed 11 am.

He was about to rush for the shoot but recalled the condition outside. Taking a deep breath he ran his fingers in his hair and moved out of that room.

To his surprise he saw avni sitting on the couch reading some news article from her phone. Sensing someone around her she turned to him.

Avni: good morning...

She wanted to say something but Neil interrupted her showing his hand.

Neil: abhi please meri maa banke mujhe late uthne pe lecture mat dena...

Avni rolled her eyes at his stupid remark.

Avni: mujhe koi shaunk nahi hai twenty seven years ke bigde huye khadoos bacche ki maa ban ne ka.. Breakfast bana diya hai.. kha lijiyega.. 

She stood up to go to her room not before rolling eyes at him.

Avni: aur haa... Ho sake to thoda sa jaldi uthne ki koshish kiya karo... Sehat ke liye accha hota hai.

She walked to her room biting her inner cheek. Neil looked at her retreating figure and frowned.

Neil: mujhe khadoos kehti hai.. khud kya hai.. jab dekho tab lecture deti rehti hai... professor kahi ki.. 

He shifted his attention away from her and walked to the Kitchen. Serving himself breakfast he walked to his room and freshened up. It has been few hours both of them sitting in their rooms. They had scrolled to the end of their social media feeds to get a "You Are All Caught Up" message. The time had seemed to slow down today. 

Avni sat by the window of room thinking something. 

Avni: yaar waqt hi nahi guzar raha kya karu main?

 She took her phone and came out in the hall.  She found Neil already sitting there. Thinking to herself she sat opposite to him and looked at him nervously.

Neil whose whole concentration was on the phone raised his eyes and looked at her. Seeing her looking at him he popped his eyebrows in 'what happened' motion. Avni looked away nodding in a no. She sighed and walked to the kitchen.

The next half an hour she spent wandering here and there trying to search something that she can do. but there was nothing. She had already spoken to her family. The lunch was already done. There was nothing she could do right now.

(It was almost all of us during the first few days of lockdown.)

Avni: itna bore to aaj tak maths class mein bhi nahi huyi main.

Neil: to kya ab main "Mujra" karu tumhare liye... yaa "belly dance"...  (rolling eyes)

Avni: oh please, mujhe koi shaunk nahi hai itni badi belly ko hilta hua dekhne ka..

She said looking away disinterestedly. Neil looked at her wide eyes. He made an angry face and looked at his own self.

Did she just called him fat or something like that.

(Me: yes Mr. Superstar Khanna 🤭)

Neil: oh hello... meri koi belly nahi hai.. itni mehnat karke gym mein 6 pack abs banaye hai aur tum ho ke...

Avni: haan ab to dikh hi raha hai.

Neil looked at his abdomen. He was wearing a fitted T-shirt and sitting relaxed on the couch. Due to this his stomach appeared like a small pot belly. He cleared his throat and sat upright pulling his shirt outwards so as to hide it.

Avni pressed her lips together seeing him looking at his own figure and getting conscious.

Neil: mujhe call karni hai...

He stood up and walked away. As soon as he left avni laughed out gently.

AVni: yeh aadmi bhi na.. pata nahi itni jaldi conscious ho jata hai.. so called "stud boy"

She shook her head and sat on the couch. Her attention shifted to her ringing phone. It was Raj, their director and producer.

Avni: hello sir... Good evening.

Raj: good evening avni... Kaisi ho?

Avni: main theek hoon...

Raj: okay... Ab... Neil hai kya waha?

Avni looked at the closed door of his room and answered in affirmative. Walking to the door she knocked it gently.

Neil: ab kya bakwaas karni baaki hai?

Avni facepalmed herself.

Avni: Raj sir ka phone hai... Baat karni hai...

Soon both of them sat on the couch with the phone on speaker.

Neil: kahiye kya problem hai?

Raj: Arrey mujhe nahi... Main to tumse puchne wala tha koi problem hai ke nahi.

Avni: nah...

Before she could even complete a word of her sentence she was abruptly stopped by Neil.

Neil: problem? Arrey koi ek ho to bataya jaye na... Problem ka pahaad hai yaha pe.

Avni looked at him surprised. Neil continued to speak.

Neil: itna chota kamra... Usse bhi chota bathroom... Arrey shuru hone se pehle hall khatam ho jata hai... Kya karunga main sara din yaha baith ke... Aur bed... Itna chota ki us pe sone se dar lagta hai agar neeche gir gaya to?

Avni rolled her eyes at him listening his complaints.

Neil: agar main neeche gir gaya meri haddi vaddi toot gayi to? kiski zimmedari hogi yeh? Aur naa yaha pe AC hai na geyser.. 

Avni was just staring at him for being so loud. Raj on the other hand knew his friend very well. He facepalmed himself and hung up the call.

Listening a beep Neil looked at the phone shocked.

Neil: kaat diya... Mere baat karte huye phone kaat diya... How could he do so? usko to main kisi din mil ke hi bataunga... Uski itni himmat...

Avni: CHUP!!!

Neil looked shocked.