A week since the horrific night that he had to spend with Miss Car Murderer, Aditya's sleep schedule was still off. Owing to the additional work hours he had to put in recently, he could only sleep for four hours every day. Hence, once Sunday morning arrived again, he was content with the extra couple of hours he could continue slumbering.

His sweet dreams of a pleasant solo trip to France, where he was roaming down the lane in front of Champs-Élysées, came to an abrupt halt because of the not-so-gentle tickling he experienced on his sides. Swatting the hands of his dearest girlfriend away, he rolled to the other side, watching the Eiffel Tower light up with his eyes closed.

"Adi," she whispered in his ears, sprawled on his back, tracing her fingernails along the indentations she had created the previous night. "Get up."

He mumbled incoherently, digging his face into the pillow.

She tittered. "Such a child you are."

Groaning, he squinted his eyes open to find Piyali hovering over him with a silly grin on her face, her straight tresses swaying with the gentle drafts emanating from the air conditioning vents above, the blanket loosely wrapped around her frame, purple hickeys perceptible on her throat and neck. Ethereal and gorgeous. As always. However, had her hair been as curly and as jet black as Nandini's were, he would've liked it more. Scoffing at the thought that had crossed his mind, he mumbled, "Lemme sleep."

She shook her head and planted kisses on his back, pushing the duvet off him. "Come on. Get up. Please."

He clicked his tongue. "Why are you bothering me early in the morning?"

She rolled her eyes. "And here I thought you would be excited at the prospect of morning sex."

His eyes flew open, and he shook his head in amusement. Flipping their positions instantly, his mouth dipping to her neck, warm and heavy breaths interspersing, he let his tongue dart along her bobbing throat as she gulped with each erratic sigh that left his mouth. His fingers slid along her torso, edging lower and lower, but he had to halt when the distinct aroma of flatbread and spices getting fried in oil hit their nostrils.

"Ugh!" She huffed, shoving him off her. "Your best friend has to do this every Sunday, isn't it?"

***

It had been their Sunday morning ritual ever since Aditya and Abhi became college roommates almost a decade ago. Back in school, all they could make were some tasteless pancakes, but over time, as Abhi's skills grew and Aditya's remained unchanged, their kitchen got to see the expert chef running around, mixing spices, kneading dough, and cooking the perfect Aloo Parathas, stuffed with a scrumptious and spicy potato filling.

Abhi flipped the last paratha on the pan, evenly greasing both sides with oil before tossing it onto a plate and silently forwarding it to the couple across the kitchen island. They had just arrived with their t-shirts hanging loose, hair messed up, and eyes swollen. "Eat it," he said, glancing between the exhausted and somnolent duo. "I have cooked it in olive oil, and it's healthy."

Piyali crinkled her nose, taking a piece of tissue out of the holder and dabbing at the bread. When she had soaked enough oil, she unfurled the tissue in front of Abhi's eyes. "Healthy?"

The yellow blotches looked back at him, and he could only huff. "Don't eat, and please get out of my house."

Sticking her tongue out at him, Piyali went back to Aditya's room, shutting the door behind her.

Aditya cast a hopeful glance at the paratha. It had been quite a few months since he returned from India, and now he was craving the whacky diet he had followed when he was home, parathas topping the list each morning. However, he had spent many an evening getting back in shape, and now he didn't wish to throw his progress off track.

Abhi let out a groan of frustration, watching his friend bring his fingers to the plate, his hand hovering over the paratha but never taking a bite from it. Muttering curses under his breath, he said, "What's the worst that can happen? Eat it already."

Casting one final contrite glance at his well-toned upper arms, Aditya said, "I will somehow sweat it off." And off went the delicious medley of potatoes, flour, oil, and spices directly into his mouth.

***

Aditya was certain he didn't wish to quit the job no matter what Piyali had to say. Yes, the innumerable tasks that he had been assigned with tight deadlines were testing his patience, but he was passionate about what he did.

The multinational investment bank where he worked as a finance associate in their product team was planning an expansion in other countries, and he was frustrated with the long hours he had consistently put in because the rest of the team was either incompetent or couldn't care less about missing deadlines.

However, he had always been a workaholic, and leaving tasks midway or compromising on the quality of the final product was not something he was fond of. Hence, when the budgets were running high and the timeframe for completion was approaching at an alarming rate, he was left with no other option than earn the ire of all his friends and Piyali. Even during the weekends, he was working extra hours, and she needed him to quit this job and take up a different one with a proper work-life balance that existed in real life rather than just on paper.

Her mere whims and fancies couldn't exactly sway him from his choices, and he hoped to make her understand better that he would always be there for her when she would require him the most, but he might not perpetually escort her everywhere as her other friends' boyfriends did. That was just not who he was, and he prized his dedication and sincerity towards work above all. He hoped she would stop carping and whining about the lack of hours he had been spending with her. He hoped she would understand that those silly arguments after a long day at work drained him of his remnant energy too.

Of late, these fights had been confusing him. With each passing day, as they steadily grew more and more serious about each other, contemplating marriage, a life together, her demands grew too. She needed more time solely with him, which he could understand to a certain extent, but he couldn't exactly deliver on that. Their disputes and altercations were beginning to bug him. But he wished to lead a mundane life with his girl. That was all he had ever desired. A life free of major drama and practically without any pointless conflicts.

Hence, he chose to take off a bit early that evening, heading straight for Piyali's office from where he planned to pick her up and take her on a lovely date. That might resolve the massive fight they had the previous day, where he could only comprehend snippets of the conversation since she was screeching indiscernibly most of the time. Her complaints had something to do with a vacation she had planned for their anniversary which he deftly avoided.

He hoped she would realize that he loved to go on vacations with her as much as she did, but this lack of understanding on her part bugged him. It didn't before, but now when they were contemplating a long-term relationship that entailed marriage, these little things had begun to bother him. Even he had a lot of complaints in his heart that he wished to tell her but now was not the time.

Driving through the city, he arrived at her office's guest parking and rang her up. Squealing in excitement at the thought of him picking her up from the office for a date night, she told him to go to the fifth floor of the building and flash the spare entrance card she had handed over to him.

He followed her instructions, reaching the fifth floor, ambling towards the section where Piyali and her team sat. Spotting the head full of straight brown hair at the far end of the hall, he sauntered towards her cubicle, rapping at her wooden desk with a massive grin on his face.

"Hey!" She beamed, standing up and quickly pecking his lips. "You are here."

He chuckled, pinching her cheeks. "Are we still fighting?"

She shook her head. "I can't be mad at you for long. Especially not because of a freaking vacation."

He sighed in relief, wiping fake sweat off his forehead. "Thank goodness. I hate fighting with you."

She pulled a spare chair next to her table and gestured for him to sit. "Give me fifteen minutes, and we will leave, okay?"

He hummed, leaning back into the chair, letting his eyes roam around the area. As it was a Friday, people had already begun to leave, and the floor was relatively empty. A few lights at the far end went off too when the occupiers of the cabin in that corridor left. However, he could see the curly tresses swinging wildly in front of the mini kitchenette down the hall. Leaning against the marble counter where a huge coffee machine was placed, a cup of coffee in her hands as steam emanated from the surface, Nandini was conversing with Piyali's boss—Pete.

His nose creased of its own accord. "I was hoping to avoid the murderer of my car this evening, but I had to see her here too."

Piyali craned her neck and followed his line of sight. Throwing him an exasperated look, she said, "Your car is fit and fine now. No one can even tell it was damaged in any way. Please spare the poor girl."

"My insurance rates went up because of her."

"Don't be a miser, Adi."

He shrugged, and she went back to clicking furiously on her keyboard.

"But you did a good thing," she said, smiling. "The other night, when she was scared, I am glad you didn't disregard her call and stayed with her till the morning."

He groaned behind his palms. "Ugh! The worst night of my life. She is my arch-nemesis, and I had to stay back because—"

"Because you are a good person," she said. "That's why I love you so much."

Rolling his eyes, he glimpsed back at Nandini, who was still talking to Pete, sipping from her cup of coffee, wearing those glasses with a black frame that she loved but ditched when going on dinners and outings. When he saw Pete walk off and the girl turned towards the sink to wash the mug, an evil idea popped into his mind. He was anyway getting bored sitting next to Piyali, whose eyes were still fixated on the computer screen in front of her. "I will be back shortly," he mumbled.

"Where are you going?"

"Nothing major. Just want to trouble my mortal enemy."

***

It had been a few months of her working at the firm, and now she had understood how things worked around here. Pete was a wonderful boss who helped her every time she faltered, and Piyali was a great mentor too, along with being a good friend to her. In fact, if it weren't for the twit annoying her every time the group met on alternate evenings, Nandini was certain these few weeks of knowing all of them could qualify as the best time she had spent with her friends ever since she came to the US. But then the irksome man had to bother her, pull her leg, threaten to oust her secret of getting scared of a bumblebee, and just bug her, in general, with his sarcastic comments about his car.

She had watched him walk inside when she was busy in a conversation with Pete. The federal defect fix she had been working on was delivered to the clients successfully, and her boss was quite impressed with her, hoping to assign her a major project the following week. During those conversations, she had observed how Aditya had his eyes narrowed at her. He was surely planning something evil, and she had to be prepared for it.

True to her intuitions, the man-child indeed pulled the most immature prank of the century, booing at her from behind, trying to elicit a response from her. But then she had already seen his silhouette and reflection in the white tiles of the kitchenette walls. Hence, her reaction wasn't what he might have expected, for she put up a wide smirk and swerved around, wiggling her brows at his fallen expressions.

"You didn't get scared?" he said.

She clicked her tongue, shaking her head.

His lips drooped. "Really?"

She wiped her hands with a piece of tissue and discarded it in the trash can. "Your stupid and idiotic pranks are well suited for an asshat like you."

He rolled his eyes. "And you are the wisest of all the nincompoops in the world."

Pushing him out of her way, she went towards her cubicle, but much to her anguish, he followed her around. She began packing her bag, stuffing her laptop and charger inside. Picking her water bottle, she gulped down the contents and twisted the cap shut as violently as she could because his sniggers hadn't really stopped.

Finally, when her patience snapped, she banged the bottle on the table. "What is it?"

His eyes glimmered with mirth. "Shall I tell your boss that you are a scaredy-cat? A chicken who thinks devils are real and bumblebees are monsters?"

Her nose flaring in anger, she tried to reach the mini desk behind him and pick up the plastic box containing her favorite dessert.

But swerving, he grabbed it before she could even lay her hands on it. "What is this?"

She attempted to snatch the box back from him, but he was quite tall compared to her short form, and he deftly raised it above their heads. She could only make futile attempts to jump while he snorted at her. When she finally gave up, glaring at him, placing her hands on her hips, he grinned and lowered the box.

"What is it?" he said.

Huffing, she took it from him and opened the lid. "Rice pudding. I had made it yesterday and packed it. But I couldn't get the time to eat it after lunch."

He scrunched his nose. "This stayed out for the entire day?"

"No. I just brought it back from the fridge." She pointed towards the stainless steel refrigerator next to the kitchenette.

He nodded slightly and peered at the pudding with milk and rice coming together in a rich consistency, dry fruits and nuts scattered so generously that he couldn't help himself but pick a spoon and consume it with his eyes closed. When his tastebuds were hit with the dessert, reminding him of the pudding his mother made back at home, he murmured words of appreciation.

She was amused at the way he was relishing the dish, moaning every now and then, and a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "You liked it?"

"It's amazing," he said, beaming. "I am going to eat the entire thing. I hope you don't mind."

She chortled. "Feel free to, but what about the calories? After all, you are a man with only muscles and no brain. With the loss of the muscles as well," she patted his toned forearm, "you would just be a... a daft running amuck in San Fransisco."

Glowering at her, he snapped the box shut, rolling up his sleeves, preparing to argue with her.

However, he was cut off when Pete spoke up from his cubicle. "Hey, Nan! Will see you on Monday. Need to leave now." Then he picked up his bag and went away.

But Aditya's eyes glittered with mischief. "Ah! Nan!"

She facepalmed herself, knowing full well she would be teased mercilessly by her mortal enemy now.

***

Nope! There were no doubts left in his mind anymore. He loathed the girl from the bottom of his heart, and he couldn't exactly see what his friends saw in her. Yes, the rice pudding from the other day was exceptionally delicious and decadent, and he had savored it for three successive days, not even sharing it with Abhi. But apart from that one tiny impressive trait, she was quite annoying.

Her voice was screechy, whiny. Her black hair was too curly, just like those noodles from the shoddy horror movie. She could prattle ceaselessly like she was doing when sitting inside the car, babbling non-stop over topics that he couldn't be bothered about, giving him a massive headache.

The day had only just started, and he was praying for a miracle to unfold so that Nandini Basu would not accompany them on a trip to the Golden Gate Bridge. According to Rishi, she was utterly in love with the beauty of the bridge and was hoping to visit the spot again, and the guy had jumped at the chance, offering to take her on a date there until she suggested that the entire clique should plan a visit. Hence, Aditya was left with no option that entertain her presence inside his car, and that meant he was in for a brutal day of torture at her hands.

When the conversation steered towards movies, he wanted to have some fun at Nandini's expense too. "I know how much you love movies, right, Miss Car Murderer? It was evident the other weekend with the way you were so engrossed in the horror movie, scratching my arms."

An expression of disgust crept up her face. "I am not going to apologize for that."

He had to bite his cheeks to prevent himself from guffawing. "Were you able to sleep that night?"

"How could I sleep when a dimwit came to intrude my slumber past midnight?"

"Wasn't it the devil?"

She flashed her eyes at his back. "Who needs devils and monsters in their lives when they have you to keep them company!"

"Of course, it was the devil," he said, disregarding her remarks. "But before the devil arrived, you reenacted the movie scenes with a bumblebee."

Piyali couldn't help herself but snort and Abhi snickered quite audibly, hiding their mouths behind their palms, looking out of the windows as the car sped past the city, heading towards their destination.

Nandini's wide grin faltered, and she shot an accusing glare at the man behind the wheels. "You told them?"