Hey guys! We are back with a new chapter fresh out of the oven for you, our lovely readers. We really apologise for the long wait and do not further delay your journey into the next chapter of our dear roommates.

The song for this chapter~ Ik Vaari Aa

"What, who?", he sputtered, at a loss for words. In front of him stood a stunning young woman, a hastily clad towel doing a really bad job at protecting her modesty. She had fair skin, with a cascade of black hair, dripping with water, trailing on her bareback. A sharp nose and an even sharper jawline accentuated her features. But what drew him was her eyes. Electric blue orbs gazed into his own, piercing into the extremities of his brain. Drops of water dripped from her nose, as she stared accusingly at him with those eyes, almost crackling with electricity. Straight out of a movie. She was shorter than him, yet he felt intimidated and shrank back a step. The white towel was draped around her as a robe, as she spoke in a strong voice.
"Well, lost your voice?", she demanded, "who are you?"
He gulped, controlled his voice, and said, "Hi". It came out squeakier than a prepubescent boy. The edges of her mouth curled upwards a bit, but her eyes kept staring at him, calculating him. "Hi", he said, deliberately bringing his voice to normal, "this is the fifth floor, right? Mr K. Ganguly lives here, right?"
"Not 'mister', it's 'miss'. And who is looking for her?", she asked.
"It's you?", he said. Immediately, he felt a shock in the air as her eyes hardened a bit. "I mean, I had a roommate agreement with you? Somrik Majumdar?", he said. Bit by bit, he felt a little of his confidence returning.
"That's you? The landlord never told me it's a boy," she remarked with a scowl. Yet, Somrik felt a tinge of excitement in her voice. "This might not be so bad at all," his hormones seemed to say. "Well, come in now. Don't want any other roommates to come to see me like this," she invited him in, almost slamming the door behind.
"Wait, there are others here too? Are they all girls?", Somrik said, the excitement clear in his voice.
She gave him a long, hard stare. The temperature seemed to dip a bit, and his healed wound throbbed in his arm. "No, I live alone or at least used to until you came. Don't get too ahead of yourself, I don't have friends over. This mess of yours needs to be cleared out with the landlord. A boy and a girl just can't stay in an apartment together here in Kolkata", she said.
This was far from the welcome he had hoped. This was the cheapest place he could find off the internet, closest to his college. He wasn't letting go of the chance, especially if there was a cute girl living there too. But mainly because of the money, not the girl.
"So what do you suggest we do?", he asked.
"For now, don't get too comfortable. Sit on the sofa or something, keep your suitcase and duffel on the ground. Do not unpack. Do not touch my stuff. I'll go and get tidied up. Then we'll go and talk to the landlord, and get this mess settled out. Understand?", she asked.
"Yes ma'am, crystal clear" he answered with a cheeky smile, confidence returning bit by bit.
With a roll of her eyes she stormed off towards the hallway, and slammed a door he assumed to be to her room. He stood in the middle of the living room, an envelope without an address. A trail of water passed across the room, disappearing under a door at the end of the hall. Various types and shapes of furniture lay scattered. Cardboard boxes lay irregularly along the wall. The only sofa was covered with various books on a range of topics, and a laptop with a slowly blinking light. Almost as if someone had dumped all stuff in the room, a hurricane had happened, and then someone had made a half-hearted effort to extract order out of chaos, then screamed at her inability and given up. He walked over to the boxes and was nudging them with his foot when he heard the door swing open. She came out, soberly dressed in a pale blue top, and black pants, with her hair in a ponytail.
"So, let's have a talk with the landlord, shall we?", she said. Keeping his luggage behind, Somrik followed her down the stairs.
"By the way, what does the K stand for", he asked.
"Kashni," she answered in a monotone.

Fifteen minutes later...
"No, I refuse to leave this apartment. We had a deal. You gave me your word. I just cannot go and look for other housing options now. Hostels are now full. I have even made the initial payment. You can't just refund me and kick me out", Somrik said strongly to the landlord.
"But this can't just happen. A boy and a girl, that too of your ages living together. There are other tenants too in this building. What will they say? How would I know Somrik is a male name? ", the landlord replied.
"Even I refuse to stay with a boy. I do have a sense of responsibility, and moral fibre. Also, living with a girl is far easier, and hygienic", she added with an evil smile.
"I understand your problems. But the fact remains at that. I can't just go out right now when there is a room promised to me, and paid for, if I may add", Somrik retorted.
"Fine. Stop arguing like children both of you", the landlord said, earning dark looks from both of the combatants. "Let me propose a solution. Stay together for a month. Somrik, I will search for an alternative roommate in another flat. Preferably a cheaper option. You have indeed paid for this month, so Kashni, you need to adjust for a month until a solution can be found. I'll hear no more arguments this afternoon."
"Okay cool, it's acceptable by me", Somrik said, "how about you?", he asked Kashni.
"Does it seem like I have much of a choice?", she retorted, with a classic eye roll.
"Well, back to your room, and both of you, behave. Won't even let me sleep on a rainy afternoon", the landlord grumbled as he shut the door in their faces.

Somrik's mind was deep in thought. On one hand, he had the tremendous rigours of med school; on the other, wooing a cute, but rude, roommate. Both of them walked silently to the fifth floor. A month was all he had. He had to start looking for alternatives from now on, but he felt pretty sure he would never have a roommate like this. Though shorter, she seemed to be as fit as he was, probably even stronger. But apart from her looks, there was a certain coldness in her, a cold which comes like a bullet and rips through, leaving a shockwave behind. There was something electric about that coldness, a feeling of barely suppressed energy, waiting to be freed. There was something about her, something he couldn't place his finger on.
Almost as if she could hear his mind, she turned towards him, blue eyes furrowed in a quizzical gesture. He stared back with an equal intensity, what he would have liked to think was "smouldering". Needless to say, judging by her reaction, his self-esteem took a bigger dive than Neymar.
"Well, time to cheat a little", he thought. He stumbled on a stair and grabbed her arm to prevent himself from falling.
"Hey! What are you doing? Can't you even walk straight? What the hell man, manage yourself," she said, annoyed at his antics.
"Sorry", he said sheepishly, "lost my balance for a bit"
She gave him one more of those icy stares and reached the landing of the fifth floor. Both of them went into the apartment, and in that mess, stood to face each other.
"Well, one month it is. After that, you're going out faster than a bullet from a gun", she quipped.
"Well", mimicking her, "after that one month, you're gonna wish I never left", he quipped back.
"Let's see who misses who", she said, gracing him with (finally) with a real smile.
"So, roomies for a month", Somrik said.
"Accepted, roomie", Kashni replied.

As Somrik carried his duffel and suitcase into his room, he couldn't forget what he had felt. In healing other, he had gained a very primitive and basic sense of emotions in a person. Nothing powerful, just the basic emotion governing a person's life. When he had "accidentally" stumbled onto her a few minutes back, he had felt something, something he hadn't felt ever before. This was what he had felt, the something he couldn't put his finger on. The enigmatic factor which was both endearing and intimidating. The emotions which those electric blue eyes held, which had shot daggers when he had first met her.
He felt pain. Unbearable pain. But it wasn't searing hot pain, of the physical type. What he felt went far deeper, almost as if written into the genetic code. A blistering cold pain, arising right out from the bones and seeping out through the pores. Maybe in this roommate business, might he have bitten off more than he could chew?

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-TheNerdyReader1729 and I.